Journal of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (1950-1954)

tures, but great simplicity, for maximum compactness and economy. A new line of theater loudspeakers was manufactured by Ampex under license from James B. Lansing Sound, Inc. G.B.Kalee, RCA and Western Electric have produced excellent magnetic recorders and multitrack apparatus in England. In Germany,29 the Bauer, Philips and Zeiss-Ikon factories have developed all sound and projector accessories for CinemaScope and other anamorphic processes. Installation is proceeding slowly in Germany because of the reported high investment required under present boxoffice conditions. Vista Vision Paramount introduced the Vista Vision process during the latter part of 1953. The most important feature of this new photographic system is the use of a large original negative in the camera, coupled with a substantial optical reduction to obtain standard release prints. Since the grain and resolution of a negative are much poorer than print materials, the use of the large negative produces a marked reduction in grain as seen on the theater screen coupled with a considerable increase in resolution. Release prints will carry a single optical track and can be played on any standard theater equipment, without modification, anywhere in the world. The photography is being composed for best projection at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 but sufficient latitude has been allowed for projection at standard aspect ratios of 1 . 33 : 1 up to 2 : 1 . Higher aspect ratios are not recommended. Figure 8 shows the Vista Vision camera frame dimensions for an aspect ratio of 1.66:1. White Christmas was the first feature production completed in the VistaVision process. Using standard 35mm negative in a special camera, a double-frame area is exposed which has an area 2\ times larger than that used in standard cameras. Standard camera lenses which will cover the double-frame image are used in a special camera,30 originally known as the Lazy 8, which has the negative travel horizontally through the camera. A negative area 1.472 X 0.997 in. is exposed. This special camera is equipped with a remote-controlled focusing device and a remotecontrolled finder. The negative is handled in the standard manner through normal developing machines. An optical printer rotates the image the required 90° and reduces the image to standard release-print size. The release prints use standard positive perforations. Todd-AO31 The wide-angle photographic process developed by Dr. Brian O'Brien for 65mm film is the basis for the Todd-AO Corp. entrance into the wide-screen field. While not yet publicly released, this system is said to approach Cinerama in spectacular presentation, using, however, a single camera and projector! Ampex produced a series of record and playback mechanisms for the Magna Theatre Corp. to be used with the ToddAO process. Magnetic record and synchronized playback machines of multichannel construction were built using 35mm sprocketed magnetic film. These were used for a number of private showings in Buffalo and New York. Magnetic Striping The four magnetic stripes used on CinemaScope tremendously expanded the use of striped magnetic sound films. Reeves Soundcraft produced a new striping machine (Fig. 9) for Twentieth Century-Fox Film which applies the four magnetic soundtracks to the color release prints at 150 ft/min. The machine uses the familiar method of flowing a suspension of magnetic oxide onto the film from a properly shaped and calibrated orifice. Reeves Soundcraft have made available prestriped raw stock in a variety of Daily: Progress Committee Report 345