Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-10-21

never necessary to rehearse movie
save when the orchestra had arranged
special music. But latterly the projec-
ZIONIST has become stage manager, and
must be so thoroughly acquainted with
the production and its accompaniment
that he must nemorize every scene and
dialogue.
In recording, studios have attempted
to give the proper volume to speech
and musical accompaniment, but they
have been unable to fit the sounds to
theaterS of all sizes. Hence it falls on
the projectionist to cue" a produc-
tons scenes so that he knows when
and where to increase or decrease sound
volume. Just as an actor memories
cues to give his lines. so the projec-
zionist prepared a cue sheet that will
warn him of proper times to change
the volume. The instrument used for
this manipulation is called the ''fader."
Operation of the "fader" is delicate,
for the ear must be tuned to distortion
and one must be prepared for emer-
gency operation.
For instance, In one Of Jolson'S pic
lures the cue sheet reads:
Reel Cut title: Not so loud
Start motor as Jolson walks away from
table, following Not so loud. Change
over on title: One beer, straight
Reel 2-Open 10C. On title:
Thanks. Grace ga. cue-spoken words,
Give me five minutes Start III >tor as
JClson walks toward camera. Change
motors on G. U. of cigarette girl. Wait
for the last note"
The projectionist hangs copies Of this
sheet near the portfolios of his booth,
and when he is warned by the monitor
speaker above his head. or when he sees
the proper cue on the screen, he makes
the proper adjustments.
or course, within the booth 1t Is
difficult to know exactly how the audi
ence receives 1t. Hence during rehear-
sails the manager himself usually phones
in to the projectioniSt what adjust
ments to make for certain scenes. Other
listeners make suggestions from vari-
Gus parts of the theater.
Talkies have forced other limitations
on the projectionist. With silent films
he could hustle action as much as he
pleased, but the talkies will stand for
no hustling or bustling. They toddle
along at the standard gait of 90 feet
per second. It's mechanically possible
to cheat, of course. The talkies can be
run off, say. at 95 feet per second, but
this tends to tumble speech and cause
bOmbardment OF sound waves.
AS a rule audiovisiOn dramas are
longer than the silents. Auxiliary stage
programs must be made to fit around
the talkies, whereas formerly 1t was
possible to round out a stage program
first and fit the movie into whatever
time was left over. It is not unusual
for a talkie to run l hour and so
minutes, leaving only short time for
the incidental program.
Even seconds are important in the
theater's schedules. The projectionist
keeps log of all his operations. noting
the time when each reel and record
begins. The prevailing contracts be-
tween the managers, musicians and
stage hands provide for overtime pay
whenever an employee Is detained more
than two minutes after usual quitting
time. And he must be paid for Is
minutes work, even though he gives
but three minutes Thus three-min-
ute delay may cost the management $50
or $50.
1t happened during one rehearsal
that when the order to begin was given
no needle could be found for the disc
record. The operator hunted high and
low while the manager tore his hair
and dispatched a dozen messengers to
the booth. But to no avail. The record
could not be played until needle was
found. The manager himself arrived,