The motion picture projectionist (Nov 1929-Oct 1930)

12 Motion Picture Projectionist August, 1930 reproducer is lower in volume than the other, it should be serviced immediately. As a rule, low reproduction is also dull in quality. Every theatre has its own normal fader setting which must first be established by tests before fader cues can be used in a manner truly promoting the illusion of naturalness. Volume Control Hearing sound in the theatre day after day sometimes so accustoms theatre attaches to it that the volume seems insufficient. The tendency resulting from this is gradually to increase volume until it is considerably greater than it should be. The change-over is generally the most ineffectively accomplished part of sound reproduction. Fast action is often slowed down, sound is distorted and continuity is sometimes even broken. Failure to keep the fader of an incoming machine at zero until the machine is up to> speed may produce blue notes or unintelligible dialogue. A break in sound-on-disc film which occurs below the intermittent need not throw a picture out of synchronization. Do not remove the film at the aperture plate nor take the reproducer off the disc. By use of the fly wheel run out enough film for winding around the take up. Then start the machine and when the motor is up to speed bring the fader to normal setting. This should maintain synchronization. Splicing can be done after the reel has been run. Film Inspection Sound film splices, if quickly made during projection to avoid a delay in the show, should always be carefully re-inspected before the reel is again run. Very often rough temporary splices are causes of further trouble. The volume of sound provided in a theatre should not be based on the judgment or inclination of any one person. What is to be sought is that which is pleasing to the ears of the majority. Opinions of persons sitting in various parts of the house often may be advantageously obtained. The fader setting should be raised as a theatre fills and be lowered as the audience decreases in number. Theatres whose business varies materially on different days will find that a uniform standard of volume for all days is not conducive to the best results. P. E. Cell Care A photo-electric cell should be kept in darkness when not in use because light causes it to throw off the electrons which are its active principle. Sound-on-film prints should never be handled with bare hands. Finger marks on sound tracks materially affect the quality of reproduction. Splices that are out of frame should never be made in sound film. There must not be more or less than four sprocket holes to a frame and never more or less than sixteen frames to a foot. Sound film should never be clinched, hammered or loosely wound. The best and most even winding affords the minimum of protection which the sound track requires. Keep Film Track Clean Good reproduction is practically impossible unless the film tracks of the aperture plate and tension pad are kept absolutely clean. So little wax, oil or grit in either of these places that it seems infinitesimal to the eye or to the touch, may cause annoying trouble and even results in permanent injury to the film. Both of these areas may be cleansed by using a pipe cleaner and a tooth brush. The film track should never be scraped with a knife because of the danger of scratching. When running new reels, especially those which never previously have been projected, it is advisable to clean the projection machine aperture plates and tension pads at the end of every reel. Wax tends to accumulate much more rapidly when the print is new than when an old print is run. Sound reproducing devices are precision equipment. Sprocket wheels which pull the film through the sound pick-up unit, if not made with extreme accuracy, will cause a distortion or reproduced sounds. The eccentricity of the assembled sprocket wheel must be less than three tenthousandths of an inch, otherwise there will be a flutter in any long sustained note. Many other parts also are very delicate and require microscopic measurement and adjustment in manufacture. All fine machinery requires proper lubrication and intelligent attention. The Colorcraft Film Process IN Colorcraft photography duplicate negatives of every scene are necessary. When those panchromatic negatives are brought to the laboratory they are first of all dealt with by continuous printers, capable of turning out over 3,000 ft. per hour. There are fourteen of these printers, which can be worked simultaneously, turning out in all nearly 45,000 ft. per hour. Thereafter these exposed films move through the various processes with clock-work precision. The film is dyed in a mixture of five dyes which can reproduce every color in the spectrum — a distinct advantage over such processes as leaves yellows out of the finished picture. There are twelve developing units in this plant, turning out film at the rate of over 2,000 ft. per hour, and it is notable that these units are flexible enough in their design to accommodate either standard 35 millimetre film or the new wide film. Secure Sharp Definition The quantitative chemical and dye method has been developed in the Colorcraft system, so that the silver image is converted to a dye image, without any loss of definition and without any bleeding or fuzziness. Moreover, the process is entirely automatic, so that all prints come through on a uniform basis. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet can all be faithfully reproduced and Colorcraft can photograph both artificially lighted scenes and natural daylight scenes. The depth of focus is the same as in black and white, and it is notable that the process does not require so much artificial light on the sets as the ordinary black and white film. Some color processes require exceptionally strong lighting; but this is not the case with Colorcraft. An important feature of the process is the Colorcraft analyser, whose pe culiar properties are dependent on radio principles. This analyser employs a photo-electric cell, especially sensitive to the visible parts of the spectrum, as well as the invisible ultra-violet and infra-red. This analyser determines and checks the color values of costumes, drapes and sceneries, and ensures the producer that the finished film will have the same color values as the objects photographed. Already 3,000 prints can be turned out every 24 hours, of a uniformity that makes each a perfect facsimile of the original. Colors are combined by secret processes and are locked in each film chemically. They cannot be faded, either by long exposure, by contact with machinery or by immersing in water for hours. Colorcraft employs a special hardening process which, by actual test, has been found to result in prints which are four to five times tougher than ordinary black and white stock, and of perfect flexibility. The process is so carefully planned and controlled that it operates with a minimum of skilled help. There is a control room, in which standard conditions are maintained by a chemist, and a color tester supervises the printing room, where he ensures proper density in the film emulsion. It is important to note that practically every modern motion picture camera can be converted so that it may be used for the Colorcraft process or for black and white work interchangeably— in five minutes' time and at a cost not exceeding $500. When Colorcraft pictures are to be taken, it is necessary to use the Colorcraft lens and a special negative stock, costing no more than the present panchromatic negative. The prints are on double coated positive stock, with the sound track printed on one side of this stock when required.