Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers (1930-1949)

Record Details:

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1949 16-Mn ANSCO COLOR PRINTS 147 by optical reduction to Kodachrome. The original camera film, Type 735, which is being used for 35-mm printing cannot be used inasmuch as available reduction printing equipment is not equipped to make filter changes scene by scene. However, the 35-mm release print is color-balanced scene for scene and, therefore, it can be used as the master for the 16-mm reduction printing. The 35-mm print is first carefully timed, although very few light changes are needed, and with the proper filter pack, customarily used in printing Kodachrome duplicates, a 16-mm reduction print is made. A Depue reduction printer, using a 250-watt lamp, with a blower added to dissipate the heat for filter protection, is used for this work. Although the print being used for the picture reduction work is a composite print with track, this track is not used for sound printing. A 35-mm directpositive variable-area track with additional compression for 16-mm reproduction was recorded for this assembly immediately after the re-recorded track was made for the 35-mm prints. An RCA 35 to 16-mm optical reduction sound printer, running 180 feet per minute, prints the sound on the 16-mm Kodachrome print stock. Although the resulting 16-mm Kodachrome release print is a second-generation print, it is quite acceptable, and compares favorably with 16-mm Kodachrome contact duplicates from 16-mm Kodachrome originals. This is, no doubt, due to the fact that the original was shot on 35-mm film and that a reduction print results in better quality than a 16-mm contact print. Approximately fifty 16-mm reduction prints each of two 2-reel pictures were made by this method, and the 35-mm Ansco release print used did not show any noticeable scratches, shrinkage, or warpage from its runs through the Depue printer. Both 35 and 16-mm prints were released within three weeks after the day the last scene was photographed — an excellent record for fast service, and credit is due the two laboratory crews who helped make such a record possible. In the production of commercial motion pictures, problems of location work, economy of operation, making the best of conditions as they are found in the field, and transportation of photographic equipment have a direct bearing on the increased use of business films. Therefore, a practical solution in producing commercial films in 35and 16-mm color has been desired for a number of years. Although the method just described of how 35-mm Ansco professional color film Type 735 was used to produce 35 and 16-mm release prints may be improved in the future, the method still did make possible an