The New Era

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 508, 10 November 1928, Page 25

The New Era

SPEECH IN PICTURES

Astonishing Results Achieved

A N interesting and authoritative review of progress in sound and talking pictures is supplied by Mr. E. Rutledge, general manager for Fox Films in Hew Zealand, who returned recently from Sydney. “Can you imagine moving pictures with a voice and a soulf” he asks. “If you can, you have summed up briefly the Movietone.” Although Mr. Rutledge mentions sound and talking pictures as a whole, he refers particularly to the Fox machine, which is one of the most popular now on the market.

Because a Yale student became convinced 19 years could be photographed, the world to-day can hear the cheering at a football match, while seeing it on the screen; can listen to the sounds of a political meeting; can watch George Bernard Shaw as he delivers a speech, says Mr. Rutledge. The student was Theodore Case, who conducted a series of experiments and joined forces with Earl L. Sponable, who invented the Aeo light bulb, which records all the sounds near a camera with little flashes which made marks on the side of the film. A little over two years ago Messrs. Case and Sponable placed their project before William Fox, who financed further experiments. Movietone is the result. First Experiments Production work began in New York in April, 1926, in the studios of the Fox-Case Corporation. One of the first subjects was Raquel Meller, the Spanish danseuse, with her songs. This was an instantaneous hit when shown early in January, 1927. On March 25 the first complete movietone programme was shown with the New York screening of “Seventh Heaven.” The sight and sound pictures included Lindberg’s take-off on his New York to Paris flight, and the drilling of West Point cadets. The following September, Mussolini spoke in Italian and English on the films, the Vatican choir was heard, and other interesting subjects introduced. In the meantime sound stages were constructed so rapidly at the Fox West Coast studios that the company was able to announce that approximately 50 per cent, of its releases could be introduced to the world with sound, musical accompaniments and talking pictures. Colour And Sound

To Fox movietone goes the credit of the production of the first coloured film with sound accompaniment. The Fox organisation was able to do this with the aid of technicolour, and this has been recently demonstrated by a violin selection, in colour, done by Marie Conway. The reproductions were perfect. Miss Conway stood in front of a gaily decorated drape and played “Souvenir” and “Esrelita.” To-day, Fox is issuing weekly, a news reel, to sound accompaniment, which will be released in Australia and New Zealand, in the not far-distant future. In movietone the sound is recorded photographically on motion picture film in a narow space adjacent to the pictures. Perfect synchronisation between the picture action and the cor-

responding sound is assured, because the picture and the sound record are made at the same time in the camera. Recording Method The sound vibrations are received in a high-quality microphone. The varying currents thereby produced in the microphone are increased by amplification and passed through a special glow discharge tube, called an Aeo (pronounced “A-E-O”) light. The light from the Aeo tube shines through a narrow slit, and is brought to focus by lenses upon the film as a narrow cross-wise line. When the film is developed, the sound record appears as a series of alternate light and dark lines af varied spacing and density. Reproduction The film is run through a standard

moving picture projector fitted with a sbund attachment. In this attachment a beam of light shines through the sound record, and emerges varied in intensity and frequency due to the sound lines. The varying light falls upon a light sensitive device known as a photo-electric cell, and causes electrical variations corresponding to the original sound variations. These are amplified and conducted to a powerful loud speaker directly behind the moving picture screen. The sound is thus in perfect synchronism with the picture appearing on the screen. The invention was too valuable to be retained solely for Fox productions, and, by arrangement with the FexCase Corporation, other producers have sought the opportunity of also coming into the talking picture field, with the consequent result that all big theatres through the United States are installing the standard installation for the use of movietone subjects.