Projection engineering (Sept 1929-Nov 1930)

Page 4 Projection Engineering, June, 1930 ^ EDITORIAL June, 1930 "\ r S.M.P.E. CONVENTION PAPERS IN number, and in useful substance, the technical papers presented at the S. M. P. E. Convention, held in Washington, May 5—9, stand as a large credit to the papers committee and to the authors. Of course, in a relatively new art, a fertile field, there is much to be learned and it is good to know that many bright minds are busy with the problems of light sound projection. Many of those who went to Washington for the purpose of gathering information which would be in the nature of solutions to present recording and projection difficulties, realized that the S. M. P. E. has grown. Grown beyond the point where it is sensible to longer get along without having all papers printed in pamphlet form for distribution to those who attend the technical sessions. The policy heretofore observed of requiring first publication of S. M1. P. E. papers in the Society's Transactions works out all right except for convention papers. For the Washington meeting sixty technical papers were scheduled for presentation during eight sessions. All of these papers were important and each paper was given close attention during presentation, but it is not humanly possible for any one to carry away the story intended by the authors by simply listening to rapidly spoken oral presentation. And, in the monthly Transactions, it will take a long time to catch up with those sixty papers. It is suggested to the officers of the Society that the method of convention paper handling now followed by, say, the A. I. E. E., be looked into with a view to profiting from long experience. A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SOUND ON DISC AND FILM THE paper having the above title, written by Porter H. Evans, and presented at the S. M. P. E. Convention, discusses the relative merits of sound-on-disc and sound-on-film from various angles. The experienced advantages and disadvantages of the two methods are considered in the paper from the standpoints of sound quality, operation and cost, and each factor is considered practically, as well as theoretically. The points at which the theoretical advantages are not always realized in practice are clearly pointed out. The various considerations are also discussed from the producer's, distributor's, and exhibitor's viewpoints. It is maintained that sound quality in the theatre is the differentiating factor between present production successes and previous failures. Due to lack of inertia in the film, causing speed variation or flutter, and the necessity of using more complicated and delicate apparatus in film reproduction, it is stated that better results are obtained at the present time in theatres using disc reproduction of sound. The author of the paper pointed out that the advantages from an operating standpoint of sound-on-film have been improved, stimulating the commercial development of this method. Marked improvements have been made so far, and the weak spots are gradually being discovered and eliminated and it is anticipated that at some future date film reproduction may be expected to produce results as satisfactory as those obtainable with disc equipment. A VISION OF PICTURE-SOUND DESTINY SELECTING one of many recent uses of sound-light projection to record current events, any thinking person who saw and heard the recording of the homecoming of Mr. Stimson from the Peace Conference, will visualize, even if incompletely, the future of these combined arts. Think of the box office cheer if there were at hand a talking picture of Caesar's return from Gaul; of Antony's arrival in Egypt; of Bonaparte on the foredeck of the Bellerephon; of Henry in converse with Woolsey; of Frederick the Great upbraiding his generals; of Washington's tarewell address; of Patrick Henry's "Liberty or death" oration, or of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address ! Caesar's "Commentaries," Shakespeare's plays, State papers and recorded history — in written words — are the tenueus threads which link certain outstanding episodes of the past with modern times. In mere words much of the setting; much of contemporaneous atmosphere, and about all of the dynamics of personality are lost. The Stimson pictures, with voice reproduction, as witnessed in the theatres by millions of persons give a complete impression of what was said, who said it and how it was said. The talking picture bids fair to revolutionize all ideas of recording key events of historical importance: of instruction: of education. DONALD McNICOL, Editor.