The Washington times., 1929-02-20
By ANDREW z. KELLEY

ing LneSe IlImS mas uHueESouS
q complete change in method,
involving greater knowledge OF
theater mechanics and sound
technique and a considerable
amount of more difficult and
skilled labor for the booth
operator.
II want to say here that the
Motion Picture Operators Union
has not been idle during this
development. 1t has spent an
appreciable amount of money to
provide its members with first
hand and accurate knowledge
of sound picture Improvements
and the mechanics of operation.
While the work in the booth has
been practically doubled, the
operating force, numerically re-
mains substantially the same as
it was in the reign of all silent
pictures.
Audiences like synchronized,
sound and dialogue pictures and
theaters which show them draw
the greatest proportion Of the
motion picture public. To. es-
tablish such a popularity it
necessarily follows that they
must have been presented in
an appealing and satisfactory
manner when shown in the thea
ter IN THE GREAT MAJOR
ITY OF CASES. Occasionally
things go wrong and who is
to blame? Generally the oper-
ator is picked on to be the
goat. Is it fair?
/ can name a feature film
shown for full week in Wash
ington which never had 100
per cent reproduction. Portions
of the feature were inaudibIe
or heard family and unintel-
ligibly. When it was shown in
one of New York's greatest
theaters the same defects were
apparent. An investigation dis
closed that the fault was a
defect in the making of the fea-
ture and one which could not be
corrected by sound engineers or
by any other projection expert.
That's q remote case but many
an operator was cursed and
blamed for something over
which he had no control.
"The operator in the booth has
his monitor to tell whether
sound is recording 4 the the
ater, but he has absolutely no
way of telling whether in vol
ume and clarity it is satisfac-
tory. He must depend upon
some observer of acoustics
within the theater to keep him
informed. He is too busy and
otherwise occupied with his ma
chimes to peer outside and
listen and he cannot leave the
booth while the machines are in
operation. The union provides
a 500 fine FIR an operator who
leaves a booth while q picture is
being projected and he is in
charge. He has an interior tele-
phone on which he is. expected
to be kept informed of how che
screening and the synchroniza-
tion and sound is being received.
But too often this duty of OBJ
serving within the theater is
left to some minor employe as
a detail and he has other work
considered more important.
Then a newspaper critic
comes in and roasts tie repro
duction as Unsatisfactory. The
operator is asked, "How come 2"
Often it is the first he has
heard of any complaint and it
turns out that the employe who
was supposed to report on pro-
lection has been so busy with
other things he has not both
cred to notify the operator
Reproducing horns are af.
fected by atmospheric condition.
Extra volume-from 10 to Is
percent must be provided for
crowded houses. Singing voices
require regulation of apparatus
and the adjustment of the
fader on wet days is another
problem. Reels come with the
starting point plainly marked
but the sound record which is
expected to synchronize, may
have a starting point that is
entirely at variance, thus I'M
perfect reproduction unless cor
rected before shown. We fol-
low cue sheets and frequently
find they are wrong. These are
just few Of our problems and
another is that you can't visit
one exchange in Washington
and get an intelligent answer
on any technical question con-
nected with the projection OF
sound pictures. The experts are
too busy with installations and
the operator is left to his own
resources with his perplexity.
Dialogue and sound pictures
are here to stay and the opera
tors are going right along with
thew kaonino abreast with the