[Jukebox-list] Movie Sound

[Ron Rich]

Thanks, Ray. I think, but I'm not sure, that there was some type of speed control lever on the turntable, but I think my Uncle said something like "it wasn't much use--he could do it better with his finger". Ron Rich

Ray Finch <babylon at swcp.com> wrote:  Vitaphone was a short-lived "talkie" system that had a phonograph 
mechanically coupled to a projector. The projectionist would line up the 
needle to a mark on the label of the record and the projector to a 
specifically marked frame on the film.

The system work reasonably but would experience sync issues if the record 
skipped (which it often did) or if the film broke and had to be repaired. 
Unless the same amount of blank (black) film was spliced into where the 
break in the film was, the film would get out of sync with the record.

The system also had a lever to temporally advance or retard the record to 
get things back in sync when the film got out of sync with the record.

Each record and film reel only lasted 11 minutes. The records were 33 1/3 
RPM and were 16 inches in diameter. The record spiraled from the inside 
out to make it easier to line up the needle with the mark on the record 
label.

Variable density soundtrack is indeed the sound on film process. The film 
has a track that has sound encoded in varying widths of black on the film 
representing the amplitude of the sound at that moment. This is very much 
the same as how sound is encoded on a record as varying height bumps in a 
grove that represent the amplitude of the sound at a particular moment.


Ray



On Mon, 3 Dec 2007, Ron Rich wrote:

> Ed,
> Wasn't "Vitaphone" a news reel type short--or am I getting it mixed up with "Movie Tone"--or did Movie Tone use Vitaphone?
> What are "variable density soundracks"--the sound on film process??
> Ron Rich
>
> Ed Inman wrote:
> I believe playing records in sync to produce a film's soundtrack was called the "Vitaphone" system and was largely phased out by the 30s when variable density soundtracks became common.
> Ed
>
> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Ron Rich
>> Sent: Dec 3, 2007 11:00 AM
>> To: Jukebox mailing list
>> Subject: Re: [Jukebox-list] Movie Sound
>>
>> David,
>> Perhaps my memory is failing here, or perhaps this was a later set-up, but I believe that the turntable was totally independent of the projector. I definitely remember two switches on the wall, one, next to each projector, that "turned on" what I think to be the TT motor.
>> As for "turning slow"--that was probably my comparison to a 45 ( or maybe 78) rpm home phono.
>> Also, now that you brought it up--I remember that my uncle told me about the nitrate film, at the same time. He had this one locked in a special "fire proof" safe, in a side room, ajoining the projection room. I think he told me that there was some type of "law", or company regulation, that required that no more then three rolls of the film could be in the projection room at any time. Ron Rich
>>
>> David Breneman wrote:
>>
>> --- Ron Rich wrote:
>>
>>> Do you know--were the old film rolls only 15 minutes long? The
>>> ones used in the 60's were 20-22 minutes each.--just wondering
>>> here--wonder if that's the reason many movies were ( and possibly
>>> still are) made without sound during the first few minutes (
>>> usually while the studio's name/logo appears on screen).
>>
>> 1000' of 35mm film runs 11 minutes at 24fps. Nitrate based
>> film was limited to 1000' reels due to fire codes. When
>> safety film came out, 2000' reels became more standard.
>> Nowadays, many films are distributed on four foot diameter
>> core loads for platter systems. I think the silence over the
>> logo bit was considered artistic in many circles in the
>> 60s and 70s. Remember, even Fox lost their fanfare until
>> George Lucas used it in Star Wars for a "retro feel".
>> Many early sound films begin with sound right from the
>> start.
>>
>
>
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