Motion Picture News (Nov-Dec 1917)

4060 ACCESSORYNEWSSECTION Vol. 16. No. 23 IPIIIillllllllllllllllM i THE CAMERA ] ::„ ! IK ■! .■ I I'':. '!! : !il . 'Ml: ,1 ' ;, , ':i :'l 'IM, " " I, , ■!! !!:. ■ M,l '! h , 'M :,;l ■ llll ., ' 'III Z1 ,1,, M !il 'h, 1 ,,: ' : . : ' I ' Illlllllllilllllllltllilllllllllllllllllll An Outline of the Cinekrome Color Process AS a sure proof of our oft repeated contention that color cinematography is coming to the fore as a logical advance in motion picture presentation we have here to record the results of another color process which has arrived at the stage of practical demonstration. We refer to the Cinekrome process, which has been evolved by the Kunz, Wheeler Moffat Company at their laboratories in Boston, Mass., and is being exploited by the American Cinekrome Corporation, of which J. C. Gibson is president. The new process was demonstrated at Wurlitzer Hall, West Forty-first street, New York City, on Friday evening, November 9, and we proceed to give an outline of the new method. While we have examined the mechanisms used in taking and projecting the Cinekrome pictures we must state that at the present time it is unfeasible to give the same our customary thorough treatment, as many patents on the new process are still in abeyance and we have no wish to work a hardship upon the gentlemen who have labored to bring the Cinekrome process to its present stage. As the result of our observations at the demonstrational exhibition may be of some interest we shall, however, describe the quality of the results by the new method, and as a necessary prelude we give a slight outline, in very general terms, of the manner in which the Cinekrome process is worked. The Cinekrome process is a two-color process but is not an alternating or successive method, as the red and green-sensation pictures are projected simultaneously and are superimposed on the screen, as in the Technicolor process recently described. Aside from this point there is no similarity between the Cinekrome and Technicolor systems, having, as the component pairs, or cycles, of red and green-sensation images are adjacent to one another on the film strip in the Cinekrome process, instead of being separated by the height of two pictures as in the Technicolor process. It is at once apparent therefore that entirely different optical devices are required, both in photographing and projecting the Cinekrome pictures, in order to record and to project simultaneously the adjacent pairs of red and green-sensation pictures. The Cinekrome color-sensation negative images are photographed in sets of two (a red and a green) and the red and green images adjoin one another on the film. Both the red and the green-sensation image of each set or cycle are recorded simultaneously and through the same lens, which is a desirable consideration in any method of color cinematography and constitutes an important feature of the Cinekrome process. It will be obvious to students of the color processes that the simultaneous production of two images by one lens requires the use of a reflecting system, and it further appears that some arrangement of prisms is most suited for this purpose. While we cannot at present give a thorough description of the reflecting system of the Cinekrome camera we may draw attention to the fact that the light rays from the lens are divided and sent along two paths (necessary to the formation of two images) by the use of a selectively reflecting and transmitting surface interposed between two components of the reflecting system. It is claimed that the selective action of this combined reflecting and transmitting surface permits of the red picture receiving all of the red light (neglecting losses by filter absorption) while the same is true of the green light which produces the green picture. This statement requires substantiation, for we have not as yet seen this selectively reflecting and transmitting surface. Messrs. Kunz and Moffat, who have worked the thing out, advise us that it is a metallic coating specially deposited on one of the surfaces of the optical system of the Cinekrome camera. It is quite a difficult matter to simultaneously photograph pairs of red and green-sensation pictures right next to one another on cine film, as any experimenter knows, and systems of prisms are notorious for the number of extra and entirely undesirable reflected images which they produce. We have viewed the focussed pair of images on the ground glass of the Cinekrome camera, however, and can testify to the uniformity of the respective red and green images (produced simultaneously by one lens) and also to the absence of flare-spots or extraneous reflections. The respective red-orange and blue-green color-filters used in securing Cinekrome negative records are apparently mounted just in front of the exposure apertures for the respective red and green pictures. We turn with enthusiasm to a brief description of the method by which these Cinekrome color pictures are projected, because the projector used in this process is one of the most ingenious, interesting and convenient specimens of cinematographic mechanism which we have examined in many a day. The Cinekrome projector is of the duplex type (two machines in one) and was designed by J. E. Robin of the American Standard Motion Picture Machine Company and constructed under the supervision of the same gentleman. We hope in the near future to present an illustrated and detailed description of this new duplex projector, but for the present a very general description must suffice. Briefly, the Cinekrome projector consists of two complete mechanisms and two sets of magazines, fastened together and mounted on a pedestal. Between the two mechanisms is mounted a motor by means of which both machines are driven, through the medium of gearing and a shaft bearing two clutches. As might be supposed, one of the mechanisms of the Cinekrome projector is specially designed for color projection, while the other mechanism is used for the projection of ordinary black and white pictures. One large arc lamp (and lamphouse) serves both of the two mechanisms and a startling feature in the operation of the new double projector is the ability to change instantly from black and white to color projection, or vice versa, without shutting off the motor and without the use of an additional light source. Like all novelties this procedure is simple when once explained. The two projector mechanisms are swiveled to the base or pedestal of the Cinekrome projector, and by grasping a large lever and turning the same the color projecting mechanism is withdrawn from the path of the light rays and the black and white mechanism is swung around to replace it. The motor by which the mechanisms are driven remains running all the time and by means of the clutches on the ends of the driving shaft one machine is started and the other one stopped in the act of interchanging the mechanisms. W e are not especially concerned at present with the details of the black and white projecting mechanism of the Cinekrome projector, but a few generalities concerning the color projecting devices and methods are in order. As we have stated that the Cinekrome color pictures are photographed in sets of two (a red and a green) it is apparent that this process requires twice the usual (black and white) length of film to record a scene of given duration, but in projecting the Cinekrome positive the film passes through the machine at the usual rate of 16 changes per second. The film is shifted by a large 32-tooth sprocket in sets of two pictures at each shift, and while only 16 shifts per second (normal speed) are made it can be seen that 2 feet of film pass through the mechanism in each second. As the two component images or pictures of a Cinekrome cycle are immediately adjacent to one another on the film it is apparent that the two image apertures of the projector must likewise adjoin one another ; consequently the two apertures can be illuminated by a large spot of light from a single arc-lamp and set of condensers. The light rays after traversing the two apertures of the Cinekrome color projector fall upon two reflecting prisms of special form, which are mounted just in front of the picture apertures, and the rays are then directed to the projection lenses, of which there are two, spaced some distance apart at the front of the projector. These projection lenses are adjustable, both horizontally and vertically, by means of conveniently located thumbscrews, and the red and green pictures projected by the two lenses may thus be superimposed on the screen in exact register. We should like to dwell here upon the design of the reflecting prism system of the Cinekrome projector and some other features of this most novel mechanism, but our remarks along this line must be deferred for a time. One phase of the Cinekrome process we may describe in full