Motion Picture Herald (Jan-Mar 1956)

BUY WITH CONFIDENCE FROM RAYTONE a manufacturer who has been successfully marketing outdoor screen paint for over twenty years. White Screen Coating for Outdoor Theatres LET'S FACE FACTS. , . If your tower needs resurfacing, the time to resurface is now! And CINEMAPLASTIC is the surface to use! CINEMAPLASTIC is a tough, flexible vinyl plastic that smoothly eovers any surface and lasts for years and years. It is water-proof and weatherproof, cannot chip, peel or flake, and is completely washable . . . you can even steam clean it ! When you use CINEMAPLASTIC your evenly coated surface dissolves and disappears under the projected image, leaving only the bright, clear picture your audience enjoys. CINEMAPLASTIC has been field tested in hundreds of installations and proved best. Laboratory tests indicated an expected life of up to eight years for a sinsle coat. That is why CINEMAPLASTIC in the long run is the most economical surface you can use. See your dealer or write to RAYTONE for additional information and prices. RAYTONE VINYLKOTE is the new easy to apply water-base screen paint that is quick, inexpensive and remarkably long lasting. It can be applied over any painted or unpainted surface by brush, // roller or spray. VINYLKOTE dries quickly and x’ brushes come clean in warm, soapy water ... It is non-yellowing, completely washable and a single gallon covers up to 300 square feet. Not to be used until all danger of frost is passed. RAYTONE SUPER WHITE (Alkyd Oil Base) is still the most popular paint of all . . . used for years by hundreds. It can be brushed, rolled or sprayed on any surface and it sticks to the job! RAYTONE SCREEN CORP. 165 Clermont Ave., Brooklyn 5, N. Y. MIDWEST'. Ravtone Screen Corp., 401 West St. Charles Rd., Lombard, III “Rt-AP T-HH nu(^/ mirrors? cart haXm tjouA. pho^Cam. voitk. •HEYER-SHULTZ UNBREAKABLE METAL REFLECTORS 5 YEAR GUARANTEE •{Mtudmmi SCREEN ILUIHINATION SEE YOUR THEATRE SUPPLY DEALER • Manufactured b4 +lEYER-SHULTZ,INC.,Cadiir&rove,M.J. remaining theatres are limited to using CinemaScope prints with a single optical track. A few months ago the ToddAO projection and sound system was inaugurated with “Oklahoma” using 65mm film for the picture, the Todd-AO system carries six magnetic tracks on a separate strip. The brilliant quality and the tremendous range of the sound reproduction of “Oklahoma” has been widely acclaimed. Stereophonic reproduction is accomplished with five tracks and five loudspeakers behind the screen. Special effects and wonderful musical scoring are reproduced by the sixth track and the surround speakers. The quality of multi-track sound reproduction of Cinerama, Todd-AO and CinemaScope serves to confirm the promise made by “Fantasia”. Sound has been liberated from its original single monaural source ; it has been provided with location, space and timing in order to give it fidelity, impact, realism. These qualities are most brilliantly and obviously realized in six-track recording and reproduction. It is quite possible that the use of this technique by Cinerama and Todd-AO will be extended by the exhibition of certain 20th Centur\--Fox productions with 55mm prints and six-track sound. All of these uses are in the area of “roadshow” presentation. But what might be done for theatres of regular operation which have, or eventually will have, three-channel stereophonic sound ? THREE AND FOUR CHANNELS We all realize that a great step in quality and range was taken when the art went from single optical track to the four magnetic tracks of regular CinemaScope. Many theatres installed only three-channel amplification, however, on the assumption that stereophonic reproduction from behind the screen was sufficient for the operation of CinemaScope pictures. Other theatres even mixed the three-track sound into existing single channel amplifiers and speakers. Experience has indicated that the public reacts most immediately and positively to the effects and sounds coming from the fourth, or surround speaker, channel. An unfortunate fact is that most producers do not make sufficient use of the fourth channel. The fault probably lies both at the recording and the theatre end. Insufficient effort and care has been expended in the selection and installation of good quality surround speakers in theatres — in fact, most of them have none. 'I'he producers have mainly limited the fourth track to mere efforts, infrequently and briefly, and not to good-quality, sustained musical scoring. Both with Cinerama and Todd-AO, the surround track is of quality equal to that 30 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY II. 1956