Motion Picture Herald (1954)

More and more Drive-Ins are demanding these fine lenses. The Super Snaplites are guaranteed to give you Sharper Pictures, More Light on the Screen, Greater Contrast, and Greater Definition. ..and this under the most trying outdoor operating conditions. Actually 7 out of 10 new Drive-Ins install Super Snaplite Lenses... and more and more established Drive-Ins are turning to Super Snaplites. Ask for Bulletin No. 212, it gives you complete information on these lenses. KOLLilllMeSGifl Plant: 347 King St., Northampton, Massachusetts COKIMIKATIOK New York Office: 30 Church Street, New York 7, N. Y. Sold thru Theatre Supply Dealers Exclusively BE PREPARED FOR ALL New Screen Presentations with MIRRO-CLARIC ALL-PURPOSE SCREEN Some of the features: • Excellent for VistaVision, SuperScope, CinemaScope, 2D and 3D. • Welded invisible seams — will not show in picture I • LOWEST PRICE ANYWHERE On/ySl.OO Sq. Ft. Prompt Shipments » Kollmorgen I Wide Angle Lenses>— Order Now! | S.O.S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP. Dept. A. 602 W. 52 St., N. Y. 19 Phone; PLaza7-0440 Cable;S0S0UND of sufficient width to do the new pictures justice. In these cases the new screens should be relocated in front of the proscenium arch. The improvement in appearance, the effect of modernization of an auditorium, when such a change is made, is almost unbelievable. The confining framework of old-fashioned massive arches and surrounding decorative plaster can be eliminated and the whole forward area of the auditorium will seem to open up and give dynamic “presence” to the wide-screen pictures. ADAPTATION TO STRUCTURE New screens and frames should be sized in proper proportions to allow for the presentation of all present and future product. Each theatre must be carefully surveyed to determine which of its sightlines will impose primary limitations. The height of the picture may be limited by low balcony soffits. From the rear seats in the orchestra, determine what height can be made visible. From the rear seats in the balcony determine if any main ceiling structure will limit the picture height. If the projection beam is lowered to bring the picture forward or down, determine whether standees in balcony seats will interfere with the picture. For onefloor houses, determine if persons entering or leaving forward rows can cause any interference. The width of the picture may be limited by old-style boxes, organ-lofts and air-conditioning grille-work, and possibly by fireexit doors. In any such case, careful consideration must be given to the removal of such obstructions. Boxes are obsolete, and should have been removed long ago. Very few theatres now have organs in use and blanking out the grilles should not create any difficulties. The worst obstacles are fire exits when they are located on either side of the stage. By checking with the municipal building department it may be found possible to eliminate them, to build over them, or to move them to another location. SETTING UP A PLAN Having determined what the final limiting factors will be for the picture, whether it be the height or width, a set of data should be worked out for the new projection throw similar to those in Figure 1 (page 26). Here a throw of 120 feet was selected and picture sizes were computed for several different picture heights such as are most common, ranging from 14 to 24 feet. In each group the widths are indicated for all the common aspect ratios, from 1.33to-1 up to 2-to-l ; and also for the anamorphic aspect ratios of CinemaScope and 24 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, SEPTEMBER 4, 1954