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Desirable Characteristics of 16mm Entertainment Film for Naval Use
By LOWELL O. ORR and PHILIP M. GOWETT
Current 16mm release prints are evaluated for sound quality, chiefly by measuring dynamic range. Projection equipment and conditions are described.
w,
E HAVE GATHERED DATA on the
quality of 16mm entertainment film release prints as we have found it at the Navy Motion Picture Exchange, Brooklyn. By way of comment, and in order to narrow the issues to be presented, we should mention that the 16mm films discussed here are those resulting from reduction of 35mm entertainment films which are circulated to all commercial motion picture theaters, and further, that such 16mm prints are not used by the Navy alone, for equal numbers are used by the Army and Air Force Motion Picture Service, and approximately half as many by the Veterans Administration. In addition, they are being used on commercial ocean liners, and in various foreign countries. We have every reason to believe that in such various uses, exhibition conditions are such that,
Presented on October 17, 1951, at the Society's Convention at Hollywood, Calif., by Lt. Lowell O. Orr, USN, New York Naval Shipyard, c/o Motion Picture Exchange, Brooklyn 1, N.Y., and Philip M. Cowett, Dept. of the Navy, Bureau of Ships, Washington 25, D.C.
while not exactly the same as those prevalent in the Navy, they are nevertheless similar to, and in many cases closely approximate, those of the Navy. We would further like to point out that in referring to the producer herein, we mean the actual producer, or releasing distributor, who is the prime contractor under Navy Motion Picture contracts. As such, the prime contractor is solely responsible for the quality of the release prints supplied.
In undertaking our study we felt that good results could be obtained from presenting a systematic analysis of prints as presently released for Navy use. It is not our intention to be hypercritical, but rather, through the relation of our observations, to tend to indicate what the current practice is with respect to the sound quality of 16mm entertainment motion picture release prints.
It is a truism that, before any suitable improvement in quality can ensue, a true picture must be had of the situation existing at this time. That, then, is our motivation: to establish a plateau, you might say, representing the current practice in 16mm film production.
March 1952 Journal of the SMPTE Vol. 58
245