Motion Picture News (Apr - Jun 1929)

1066 Motion Picture News S. M. P. E. Spring Meeting Announced for May 6-9 in New York City THE Spring meeting of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers will be held in New York City, May 6th to 9th. and the official headquarters will be the Park Central Hotel. Heretofore the meetings have been held in Boston, Washington, Norfolk, Virginia, Lake Placid, Hollywood, Rochester, etc., which were difficult for some members to reach and to some extent limited attendance. The meeting of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers have been uniformly successful, but the one to be held in May will undoubtedly be the largest ever held by the society. While it is true that there has been a gradual growth of interest in the technical departments of the Motion Picture Industry the introduction of sound has undoubtedly greatly increased the realization of their importance. It is too early yet to announce even the tentative plans of the Spring meeting, but the personnel of the Convention Committee will convey some idea of the preparations being made. W. C. Kunzman, National Carbon Company, is Chairman of the Convention Committee which is as follows : Reception: W. C. Hubbard, H. T. Cowling, M. W. Palmer, W. C. Kunzman ; Registration: Kenneth Hickman, W. C. Kunz man ; Hostess : Mrs. L. C. Porter, (Assisted by Mrs. Palmer); Banquet: W. C. Hubbard ; Master of Ceremonies Banquet: J. I. Crabtree; Sound Equipment : R. V. Terry, Bell Telephone Laboratories; Projection: Harry Rubin, Publix Theatres ; Entertainment and Amusements : M. W. Palmer; Bulletins and Transportation ; A. N. Goldsmith ; Press : I'. A. McGuire; Official Photographers: H. T. Cowling, Irl Gordon; Announcements : C. E. Milliken. J. W. Coffman, Chairman of the Papers Committee, in the near future will issue a preliminary list of papers to be read at the Spring meeting, and announcements will also be made at the earliest possible date. sound track with no dupings of scenes required much careful manipulation, and the results are said to be strikingly novel and developed to the same state of perfection which the simpler lap dissolves had attained in the former silent pictures. Another achievement recently was accomplished by Cunningham in completing a process for double exposure in picture and sound, whereby a talking character can play a dual role, conversing with himself on the screen and using two different voices. First use of this will be made in a new Christie talking play to be started this week. Perfects Lap Dissolve for Dialogue Scenes Lodge Cunningham, sound engineer of the Christie staff, has worked out what is believed to be the first perfected lap dissolves done with voice and picture in the current Douglas MacLean feature, "Divorce Made Easy." Scenes which dissolve back and forth between various characters in which the voices as well as the pictures merge on one picture and 5,953 American Projectors Sold to Foreign Countries 5-953 American projectors with a declared value of $950,202 were exported to 71 different countries throughout the world during 1928, according to figures published by the U. S. Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. The figures quoted include both 35 and 16 millimeter projectors. Europe, our best market for motion pictures, says the report, is likewise our leading market for the instrument required to show motion pictures. During 1928 there were exported to this region 2,092 American projectors of both types valued at $348,910 as compared with 991 projectors valued at $241,850 in 1927. THE SECRET OF PERFECT SOUND REPRODUCTION —THE MACY HORN The most costly and elaborate Sound and Talking Systems may be counted as useless if there is the slightest imperfection in the operation of the Sound Reproducing Apparatus. The MACY HORN claims the following advantages: No Drumming Tone No loss of pitch The Finest Acoustic Properties Extremely easy installation. Let us solve your horn problems through our expert engineering service. Model S-120 Illustrating a 10 foot exponential air column horn c(|Mi|i|M'(] with giant unit complete ready for installation Tear off and mail now MACY MANUFACTURING CORP., Pioneer Makers of Acoustic Horns, 1451 39th Street, Brooklyn, N. Y. Please send full particulars on the MACY HORN. Name Theatre City State. . .