The Exhibitor (1956)

Trade Show Planned For SMPTE Meet New York — A display of the latest de¬ velopments in professional equipment for motion picture production and for tele¬ vision studio use has been arranged by the Society of Motion Picture and Tele¬ vision Engineers. To include film pro¬ cessing and editing machines, motion pic¬ ture and high-speed cameras, lenses, sound and animation equipment, and TV color cameras and projectors, this exhibit will be held in conjunction with the Society’s 79th semiannual convention at the New York Statler, April 30-May 4. Everett Miller, exhibit chairman, an¬ nounced that the 32 booths originally planned for this exhibit have been sold, and that as much additional space as the hotel can provide is now available to accommodate other manufacturers and distributors interested in participating. In addition to exhibits all other arrange¬ ments are nearing completion for what promises to be a record SMPTE conven¬ tion. Sixteen technical sessions have been scheduled, as well as the usual gettogether luncheon, banquet and meetings of all SMPTE engineering and standards committees. The Association of Cinema Laboratories will also meet during SMPTE convention week. Technical sessions to be held at the Statler will offer papers and discussion on laboratory practice, motion picture pro¬ duction and viewing, TV studio lighting, TV commercials, high-speed photography, motion picture screen brightness and edu¬ cational TV. Sessions away from the Statler include a tour of the DuMont Telecenter, a screening of “Oklahoma!” in Todd-AO at the Rivoli, a TV studio lighting symposium at the NBC Colonial theatre and sound recording sessions at the Fine Sound Studios. The list of exhibitors is as follows: Andre Debrie of America, Animation Equipment Corporation, Audio Instru¬ ment, Auricon division of Berndt-Bach, Bell & Howell, Camera Equipment, Cam¬ era Mart, Cinekad Engineering, Fairchild Camera & Instrument, Florman & Babb, General Precision Laboratories, Harwald, Hollywood Film, Houston Fearless, Kling Photo, Magnetic Sound, Motion Picture Printing, Neumade Products, Peerless Film, Precision Labs, Pretoseal Manufac¬ turing, Radio Corporation of America, Reeves Soundcraft, S.O.S. Cinema Supply, Strong Electric, W. M. Welch, Westrex and Zoomar. TESMA, TEDA Set Plans For Sept. International Trade Show New York — Final details of agreement have been worked out between Theatre' Equipment and Supply Manufacturers Association (TESMA) and the Theatre Equipment Dealers Association (TEDA) for participation in the forthcoming Motion Picture Industry’s International Trade Show at the New York Coliseum, starting Sept. 20, according to a joint an¬ nouncement by Lee Jones, TESMA presi¬ dent, and Tom L. Shearer, TEDA’s chair¬ man of the board. Also sponsoring the International Trade Show with TESMA and TEDA are the Popcorn and Concessions Association, and the Theatre Owners of America. Initial Transistorized Amplifier For Cinemiracle Camden, N. J. — RCA stereophonic film¬ recording equipment — including the film industry’s first transistorized seven-track mixer amplifier — has been leased by Cinemiracle Corporation for use with its new wide-screen motion picture process, it was announced recently by Elmer Rho¬ den, president of the Los Angeles film firm, and D. H. Bradbury, manager. Film Recording, Theatre and Sound Products department. Radio Corporation of America. The newly-revealed RCA transistorized amplifier is only a fraction of the size and weight of conventional recording amplifiers and requires 25-times less power, Bradbury said. It represents a significant advance in equipment port¬ ability and promises film studios greater efficiency, economy, and flexibility in both stage and location operations. The tranl sistorized amplifier also makes possible sound recording over a wider frequency range. RCA expects to begin delivery of the amplifier and associated location record¬ ing equipment early this year, he reported. Cinemiracle’s stereophonic sound record¬ ing system also will include RCA seventrack stereophonic playback equipment, and equipment to transfer daily sound recordings to magnetic tape for editing. The recorder and playback equipment will be installed in a Cinemiracle truck, since production plans for the film com¬ pany’s first picture emphasize outdoor scenes, it was said. “RCA’s transistorized amplifier equip¬ ment,” according to Bradbury, “will in¬ troduce new simplicity and flexibility in film recording because its compactness, convenient weight, and low power re¬ quirements add up to maximum port¬ ability. “The successful application of transistors makes it possible to build seven-track equipment into a package which is as small and light as single-track equipment using electron tubes. The transistorized amplifier is smaller than overnight bag, compared with the trunk-line dimensions of tube-type multi-channel stereophonic equipment. “Contributing importantly to the new mixer amplifier’s portability and economi¬ cal operation,” he said, “are the extremely low power needs of its transistors. The transistorized mixer amplifier requires 25times less power than would be needed for similar tube-type equipment — an ad¬ vantage which also makes possible a re¬ duction of more than 10 times in the size and weight of power supplies which must be transported by production crews on location trips.” Rhoden pointed out that the combina¬ tion of RCA’s transistorized amplifiers with seven-track stereophonic recording and Cinemiracle’s high film speed — 146.25 feet per minute — can be expected to intro¬ duce new realism and fidelity in motion picture sound recording and reproduction as well. Cinemiracle Corporation, he said, ex¬ pects to introduce its new motion picture film process early this year. An ultra¬ wide screen system, Cinemiracle utilizes three cameras on a single tripod for film production, and three projectors in a central booth for film projection. A newly developed, electronically controlled system of lenses makes possible a composite merging, with maximum precision, of the three separate films on a single wide theatre screen. Filter Prevents Print Damage As a tip to drive-in operators and projectionists. Allied Artists Distributing Corporation’s Philadelphia branch has isused a letter pointing out that black and white prints are damaged by excessive heat, and that the principal cause of the damage is failure to insert a heat filter in front of the projector arc lamp. CENTURY^POJEPON 4S0UN^ EQUIPMENT your CENTURY dealer or write: j projector CORP. NEW YORK 1 9, N. Y. CENTURY . ... for proof look at the terrific picture CENTURY puts on any screen under any conditions. Then realize what this means in customer satisfaction and repeat business. TOBUr You’ll like the low maintenance and ease of operation for which CENTURY holds the highest score in the industry today. CENTURY Sound is tops (it won an Acad¬ emy Award for unusually high fidelity) — leave it to your patrons to appreciate this! fn other words, see and hear CENTURY to see what we mean. March 28, 1956 PHYSICAL THEATRE DEPARTMENT of MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR PT-29