American Cinematographer - August 1994 - 97

the

camera in a single operation,
utilizing the principle that an ob¬
ject of a certain color is invisible
when viewed through a filter of

the

color, but is

same

seen

dis¬

tinctly when viewed through a fil¬
ter of contrasting color.
Ironically, the silent
movie reached near-perfection
and the brink of extinction simul¬

taneously. Edison, from the be¬
ginning, attempted to make talk¬
ing pictures; many others also
tried, but failed to impress audi¬
At last, in 1927, Warner
Bros, made the part-talking/sing¬

ences.

cally for cinematography began
to
replace the makeshift
perambulators of the past.
Optical effects, which
had been part of the industry al¬
from the

most

ited

by

poor

start

but

were

lim¬

duping stock, blos¬

somed in the sound

era as

film

emulsions

improved. Before
World War II, "projection print¬
ing" was accomplished with
home-made rigs made from cam¬
eras

mounted in lathe beds. The

Acme-Dunn

Optical Printer, de¬
signed by Linwood Dunn, ASC
Above: At MGM in 1932

ing The Jazz Singer, and this time
the public cheered. Many in the
industry considered talking pic¬
tures a fad, a nightmare from
which they would soon awaken,

which has been blimped
for sound. Left: The

but audience demand for

1939 for Northwest

Oliver Marsh, ASC sets up
a scene

using a Mitchell

huge Technicolor camera
on

more

location in Idaho in

"talkies" decreed the doom of the

Passage. Director King

silent film.

Vidor sits

For the

cinematographer,
a giant step
backward. Suddenly, the sound
recordists were in charge, and ac¬
this evolution

tors

had

to

was

Technicolor technician
Paul Hill stands at right
and assistant director
Red Golden holds the

huddle around hidden

megaphone.

microphones. The clattering of
the

cameras

ated,

could

not

next to camera,

Sidney Wagner, ASC
leans on the blimp,

be toler¬

they were relegated to
soundproof compartments the
size of telephone booths. These
were
a

so

called

"iceboxes," but what

misnomer!

Cinematographers
gasped for air, and

sweltered and

their creative instincts
stifled

were

well.

Lighting had to be
planned for multiple camera set¬
ups (no, this technique didn't
originate with TV). Camera move¬
as

ment was

outdoor

stilled, while action and

pictures were threatened

with extinction.
The situation

was

intol¬

and Cecil Love in 1943,

made

a

factory-crafted printer available.
By 1930, the novelty ap¬
peal of talking pictures had waned
sufficiently to set the studios
searching for other means of en¬
ticing audiences. Most of them
launched wide-film productions
on stocks ranging from 53mm to

erable.

70mm, but these failed because

This cumbersome method

Depression-stricken exhibitors,
already forced to acquire sound
equipment, were unwilling or

George Folsey had wheels
put under his "icebox" so assis¬
tants could move it during scenes.
was

displaced by a wide and
weird variety of blimps and
barneys in all the studios, all de¬
signed to snuff camera noise and
soon

allow the

camera to move.

Several

unable

to

install the necessities for

wide-film

presentation. Color
photography, which had been at¬
tempted since the early days with
only token success, was suddenly
"in."

Technicolor, Multicolor,

lic acceptance made color an un¬
desirable undertaking at that time.
Once the
was

over,

clumsy period

it became obvious that

sound had

brought

many

bless¬

ings.

Background projection
officially called "synchro-pro¬
jection composite photography"
-

-

became feasible with the

coming of the talkies. Earlier at¬
tempts at rear-sereen projection
by Norman Dawn, ASC at Univer¬
sal, Paul Eagler, ASC at Inceville,
and Karl Freund,

ASC

at

UFA in

Germany, among others, were
thwarted by the low sensitivity
of available film stocks, the limi¬
tations of available projection

people simultaneously found
ways of moving the microphones
around the set on fishing rods and
other improvised ancestors of the
mike boom. Increasingly efficient

enjoyed a boom that
proved transitory because the
added expense, unresolved tech¬

viable in 1930 because of the in¬

dollies and

nical

troduction of new film stocks with

cranes

made

specifi¬

Nature Color and other two-color
processes

problems and

August 1994

a

lack of pub¬

equipment, and the difficulties in
trying to synchronize projectors
with cameras. It suddenly became

American

Cinematographer

95
American Cinematographer - August 1994

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