Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1952)

172 A RECORDING TIMER A new face on an old electric clock aided this amateur with his tape recording techniques NEAL DU BREY, ACL WHETHER you are sending your sound onto magnetic wire, tape or directly onto the film itself, it seems to me that an accurate time sheet, showing the course and development of your films, is a necessity. .On it (we'll show a sample later) you'll want to list the beginning and end, by time units, of each scene or sequence where there is a changeover in your sound accompaniment. Once such a timing sheet has been compiled, there is no further need for screening your precious film during the recording operations. NEW DIAL FOR OLD In preparing my first film timing sheets, I soon discovered that a wrist watch was of little use on the job. The scene changes on the screen, you peer at your watch, and the dial blears slowly into focus some time later. A larger dial was indicated; so I bought a used electric clock which was fitted with a sweep second hand and was of the self-starting type. This was certainly better; but it still was difficult to read at a quick glance. Fig. 1 shows the special-purpose dial which was subsequently fitted. It is of stout paper, marked off into sixty divisions; those corresponding to the hours I made wider and tinted them green. ( Actually the spaces between the divisions were inked in with black ink, this being easier than messing around with white paint.) The numbers 5 to 60 are painted on, however. An important point is that the white second lines are approximately the same width as the blackened second hand, so that as this passes across them they appear to blink. This is very useful when counting off seconds. The hour hand on this particular clock was sufficiently short to be out of the way. but some others may need clipping. Onto the minute hand I glued a conspicuous yellow pointer, with a similar one on the second hand but with the latter pointing inwards. As a final touch I painted the center of the glass to cover the distracting array of hands in the middle (see Fig. 2 ) . This clock can now be read at a glance, and with it the timing of film sequences and passages of music is greatly simplified. But, when timing films, there was still too much arithmetic involved. I wanted all my times to be based on one fixed zero — the film start-mark. THE PLUGBOARD I already had made a plugboard which enabled the projector and recorder to be started simultaneously from a master switch. By adding an extra outlet the clock also was brought into this circuit (see Fig. 3). You will note on the diagram the inclusion of a bell push and a clock-isolating switch. The need for the bell push was dictated by the fact that, although the clock's minute hand can be set to zero manually with a knob on the back, the second hand has to be inched along under power — and then switched off at exactly the right moment. While this could be done by pulling the plug, the bell push makes the job much easier. The isolating switch also is a refinement to avoid plugpulling. For it makes it possible to run either the projector or the recorder without running the timer — and thus upsetting any reading on it. This facility is essential whenever it is necessary to warm up the recorder amplifying system. USING THE TIMER And now, let's see how this timer is used. The first step is to make out a listing of all scenes, sequences and subtitles (if any) where there will occur changes in music or a recording of narrative or sound effects. Opposite each of these entries leave a space where the changeover times will be filled in later. Next put synchronized start-marks on your film and on your tape or wire, thread them up in their respective machines, start both together and concentrate on keeping the projector at fixed speed via a stroboscopic disc. During this running of the film, record on the tape a rough cueing of the changeovers something as follows: "Main title fades in . . . NOW. Credit titles fade to opening shot . . . NOW. The railroad station, train appears . . . NOW." Immediately after this run-through, check this back once against the film — and then put your projector away. For from now on you can work entirely from this cued tape, from the timer and from the scene listing. The first step is to start off your recorder and the timer together, jotting down on the scene sheet the time notations as each cue is heard on the tape. These notations should be made continuously from a [Continued on page 186] MSTER SWITCH BELL-PUSH OfTPl/T: PROJECTOR RECORDER FIG. 1: New face for a G-E electric clock FIG. 2: Blacking out center of glass aids FIG. 3: Here is the wiring diagram of author's hook-up is seen above with normal housing removed. reading of minute and sweep second hands. of projector, magnetic tape recorder and the tinier.