Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1932)

431 The picture on the screen HERBERT C. McKAY Good screening is made certain by a few simple tasks MR. FILMER, after several weeks consideration, purchased a camera. He had great sport making his first film and, when it had been processed and returned, he looked it over curiously. He then telephoned the store to send him a projector. Four weeks to purchase a camera and four seconds spent in purchasing a projector! Yet that expresses the attitude of too many amateurs. Few realize that, of the two, the projector is, if anything, of greater importance than the camera. But even the best of projectors will not give the expected results if it is not given proper attention and care. Most projectors are dusted externally — and receive no further attention except when a bulb burns out. The service given by projectors in spite of this neglect speaks highly for the quality of these machines, but they will work at their best with proper care. The projector should be protected from dust by a case or cover. Dust contains fine grit which works into delicate bearings and, in time, this will cause excessive wear. At least once a month the projector should receive a thorough cleaning. Naturally the exterior is cleaned first. Then the projection lens should be removed and the lens surfaces carefully cleaned. A well washed handkerchief will serve but lens cleaning tissue is preferable. Cloth picks up dust and carries it over the lens surface, scratching the soft glass. In time, the fine polish is ruined and the lens will obstruct as much as half the light which should pass through it. Oil and dust films will also do this. Clean lenses are of greatest importance in home projection. The condensing lenses, which are located in the lamp house directly in front of the lamp, should also be cleaned. If they cannot be readily cleaned by wiping, the solution used for cleaning spectacle lenses may be used to remove films of oil or dust. These lenses are purposely mounted loosely. Do not alter the mount to hold them tightly or the intense heat may crack the lenses by expansion. Open the gate and examine it carefully. Some projectors are arranged so that the gate cannot be fully opened but, in any case, the lens can be removed and a long handled camel hair brush can be used to brush the edges of the aperture. This should be done, not only when cleaning the projector, but just before every projection of film. This prevents the disturbing fringes so often seen at the edges of screens in amateur projection and so rarely seen in theatrical projection. No metal instrument of any kind should ever be allowed to touch the film gate or aperture edges. A steel knife blade, for example, could not touch the polished surface of the gate without leaving a microscopic scratch, which would permanently mark every film projected. The scratch itself is not the end of the injury, however. A scratch in a projector gate may not have an immediately apparent effect on the films but. as it cuts a tiny amount of emulsion, this emulsion piles up, becomes hardened by the action of the heat and soon the scratch becomes a pile of rough gelatin which literally gouges a track in the emulsion of every film run through the gate. A projector scratch, if not promptly attended to, will continue to grow worse. The only remedy for a scratched gate is repolishing or replacement. Some amateurs have the ability to do this but, as it is a delicate and accurate job, the projector should be returned to the service depot for repair by polishing or replacement. At the first suggestion of a scratch, stop the projector immediately, for a film once scratched is permanently scratched, and duplicates made from that film will show the scratch just as badly as the original. It should be mentioned that scratch proofing treatment may be given any film, and will often save films from bad scratching. When the lenses and gate are perfectly clean, the projector should be oiled. All oil holes are usually indicated. One well known projector has each oil hole marked with a small spot of red enamel. The instruction book which accompanies the projector indicates every oil hole and tells how much oil should be used and the frequency with which the machine should be oiled. These instructions should be followed to the letter. If they state that a single drop of oil should be used every week, it does not follow that an ounce of oil once a year will serve tli e same purpose Most projector owners oil their machines at too long intervals and use too much oil when they do it. An oil flooded projector [Continued on page 454] The real reward of good filming lies in good projection William A. Palmer