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W.P. Kirkwood from New Zealand,
who held the Australasian rights,
demonstrated De Forest Phonofilms at
the Piccadilly theatre, Sydney in 1925.
A sound film company was floated in
1925 - De Forest Phonofilms
(Australia) Ltd. - and small scale
production eventually got underway at
(9/p22)
Rushcutters Bay Sydney.
In 1927 the Majestic Flinders Street
became the Melbourne outlet for
newsreels from DeForest Phonofilms.
Western Electric of the U.S.A.
released a comprehensive operators
manual for their new sound projection
equipment on 1 December 1928. This
was capable of reproducing
synchronised sound-on-disc (Vitaphone)
and sound-on-film (Movietone),
although dual purpose projectors were
not always supplied.
The invention of the electronic
amplifier enabled very high quality Western Electric explains the features of their projection and sound system 1928
sound to be recorded on gramophone
were soon producing sound projectors W. E. went to some length to
discs and reproduced from them. The
or ‘add-on’ sound reproducing heads. explain the use of the sound fader and
Vitaphone system used sixteen-inch
These were eagerly sought by smaller the fact that at the end of each record or
diameter (400mm) recordings, one for
exhibitors. film, the music must overlap with the
each reel of film, but unlike the earlier
In their manual, W.E. stated that: start of the next, so that with proper
mechanical systems, the latest sound-
The main purpose of this equipment is operation the audience is unaware of
on-disc equipment was located in the
to reproduce speech, music or any change being made.
projection room. Only the loud
incidental sounds in connection with The importance of operating the
speakers, driven by electrical signals
moving pictures in a manner so projection equipment at the correct
from the amplifier, were located behind
realistic that the effect is practically constant speed was emphasised:
the screen.
equivalent to having the speakers, In ordinary moving picture
The disc replay equipment was
artists or occurrences actually present, projection, the film is usually shown at
mechanically linked to the picture
every sound being heard at the same a faster speed than it was taken.
projector head and physically locked in
moment that the action accompanying However, this cannot be done with
synchronism - well in theory it was (10/p3)
it is seen on the screen. synchronised film or a sound film, as
locked in. It was still possible to start
The introduction of talkies was a the pitch would be changed and this
the film or disc in the wrong place and
quantum leap for cinema owners and would cause the voice or music to be
a heavy-footed projectionist was often
their employees. One example of W. distorted and spoiled. All synchronous
to blame for loss of sync! If a section
E.’s forward-thinking was the way they subjects have therefore to be shown at
of film was damaged, it had to be
designed their equipment in modular exactly the same speed they were made,
replaced with a blank piece of exactly
form for easy servicing. which is 90 feet per minute.
the same length; otherwise, the
remainder of the reel would be out of These were heady pioneering days. No more early nights for the local
sync. In outback venues there were Technicians were trained to nurse the projectionist - racing to the end of the
often reports of more black screen than equipment along and projectionists film was no longer possible!(10/p8)
image, the result of screening well-used were discouraged, indeed warned not to
and damaged films! tamper with many aspects of the
equipment such as altering the battery-
Nevertheless, the advent of Western
charging rate which had been
Electric equipment is generally
accurately set by W. E. engineers.
considered to be the start of the large-
The change-over from one projector
scale exhibition of sound films - if for
to another must have been another
no other reason than W.E. clout forced
challenge for a projectionist trained in
some industry standardisation and
the silent era. Initially, change-overs
product flow.
were about ten minutes apart, making a
W. E. equipment was very
swap from one machine to the other
expensive and controlled under strict With amplified sound every surface can be
without noticeable disruptions to the
contracts. Consequently many a source of echo
flow of the ‘photo-play’.
manufacturers in Australia and New
Zealand and other parts of the world,
CINEMARECORD 2007 27