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December 13, 1924
MOVING PICTURE WORLD
669
Film Damage!
What’s the Real Cause?
By F. H. RICHARDSON
The Famous Players-Lasky Corporation has been conducting research work with relation to damage done to film in the course of projection, and the causes contributing thereto. I have, through the courtesy of the above-named corporation, been permitted to print a series of photographs which were taken under the direct supervision of Earl J. Dennison, to whom the work has been intrusted by the company.
I feel it is impossible to compliment either the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation or Mr. Dennison too highly. The work accomplished has very large practical value and should result in a great reduction of the entirely useless and utterly senseless damage done to film through wrong procedure, or perhaps through lack of proper procedure •fits better, on the part of the projectionist, and through failure of exhibitors and theatre managers to provide suitable projector repair parts, plus a diminishing, but still present tendency to overspeed projection unreasonably, and thus set up great overstrain on the projector mechanism and upon the delicate film sprocket hole edges. This latter compels an excessive projector gate tension, which automatically tends to overload the sprocket hole edges.
With this prelude I shall print the first photographs, with Mr. Dennison’s own comment appended to each picture.
MY OWN COMMENTS: It must not be forgotten that the dirty mechanism shown in plate No. 1 speaks eloquently of a careless, lazy, sloppy man in charge of projection. There is and can be no possible legitimate excuse for such a condition. Those worn sprocket teeth will add a hundred times the cost of a new sprocket to the overhead of
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PLATE NO. 1
Above: Projector mechanism from a
theatre in Tucson, Arizona. Note the badly worn sprocket teeth and the hole worn in the apron, or film guard. Also note the extremely dirty condition of the entire mechanism, which if it "were kept clean and in proper adjustment would still pass film through without damage to same.
PLATE NO. 2
Left: This photograph shows corner
fractures in perforations. This is a most common form of film damage. It is caused by excessive projection speed, together with too much tension at the aperture. However, him in this condition may still be used a good many times, if properly handled.