Misplaced Pages

#426573

63-396: Phonofilm is an optical sound-on-film system developed by inventors Lee de Forest and Theodore Case in the early 1920s. In 1919 and 1920, de Forest, inventor of the audion tube , filed his first patents on a sound-on-film process, DeForest Phonofilm , which recorded sound directly onto film as parallel lines. These parallel lines photographically recorded electrical waveforms from

126-1020: A Phonofilm soundtrack, but only at the New York City premiere at the Century Theatre on August 23, 1925. Max Fleischer and Dave Fleischer used the Phonofilm process for their Song Car-Tunes series of cartoons which introduced the " Follow the Bouncing Ball " gimmick starting in May 1924. Of the 36 titles in the Song Car-Tunes series, 19 used Phonofilm. Also in 1924, the Fleischer brothers partnered with de Forest, Edwin Miles Fadiman, and Hugo Riesenfeld to form Red Seal Pictures Corporation, which owned 36 theaters on

189-517: A dual failure. Having failed to create a workable sound-on-film system by 1921, de Forest contacted Theodore Case to inquire about using a Case Research Lab invention, the Thallofide ( thallium oxysulfide) Cell, for reproducing the recorded sound. Case provided de Forest with that major upgrade and later provided him with another Case Research Lab creation, the AEO Light, to use for recording

252-641: A feature film The Clue of the New Pin , a part-talkie based on an Edgar Wallace novel, was trade-shown with The Crimson Circle , a German-UK coproduction which was also based on a Wallace novel. Crimson was filmed in Phonofilm, and Pin was made in British Phototone, a sound-on-disc process using 12-inch phonograph records synchronized with the film. However, the UK divisions of both Phonofilm and British Phototone soon closed. The last films made in

315-624: A means of transmitting and recording speech. In 1914, he opened the Case Research Lab to experiment with the photoelectric properties of various materials, leading to the development of the Thallofide (short for thallium oxysulfide) Cell, a light-sensitive vacuum tube . The Thallofide tube was originally used by the United States Navy in a top secret ship-to-ship infrared signaling system developed at Case's lab with his assistant Earl Sponable. Case and Sponable's system

378-736: A microphone, which were translated back into sound waves when the movie was projected. The Phonofilm system, which recorded synchronized sound directly onto film, was used to record vaudeville acts, musical numbers, political speeches, and opera singers. The quality of Phonofilm was poor at first and while it improved somewhat in later years, it was never able to match the fidelity of sound-on-disc systems such as Vitaphone , or later sound-on-film systems such as RCA Photophone or Fox Movietone . The films of de Forest were short films made primarily as demonstrations to try to interest major studios in Phonofilm. These films are particularly valuable to entertainment historians, as they include recordings of

441-486: A movie theater. After General Electric's Pallophotophone fell out of use in the early 1930s, optical multi-track recording did not have a resurgence for nearly three decades when high fidelity and stereophonic recordings became available commercially. Walt Disney made an attempt in 1940 when he began sound production for Fantasia with the Philadelphia Orchestra . Disney set up 33 microphones at

504-476: A second lens-less "sound camera" served as an optical recorder which was mechanically interlocked with the picture. Fox continued making Movietone Newsreels with single-system cameras due to their ease of mobility. For half a century, cinema sound systems were licensed to either RCA or Western Electric, and motion picture producers elected to license one or the other, or even both. This continued until 1976, by which time optical sound recording had been converted to

567-416: A sound-on-film process in 1919, though it was the Case Research Lab's inventions which made de Forest's systems workable. Case Lab first converted an old silent-film projector into a recording device in 1922, using the projector's light for exposing a soundtrack onto film. The process (which de Forest called Phonofilm ) recorded sound as parallel lines of variable shades of gray, photographically transcribing

630-435: A standard incandescent bulb to expose amplified sound onto film. The bulbs quickly burned out, and, even while functioning, never produced a clear recording. To reproduce his nearly inaudible soundtracks, de Forest used a photocell that could not react quickly enough to the varying light coming to it as the soundtrack passed through the sound gate, resulting in an incomplete reproduction of sound from an inadequate recording –

693-637: A wide variety of both well-known and less famous American vaudeville and British music hall acts which would otherwise have been forgotten. In November 1922, de Forest founded the De Forest Phonofilm Corporation with studios at 314 East 48th Street in New York City, and offices at 220 West 42nd Street in the Candler Building . However, de Forest was unable to interest any of the major Hollywood movie studios in his invention. To record on film, de Forest tried using

SECTION 10

#1732772692427

756-496: Is a 1923 American two-reel short film made in the De Forest Phonofilm sound-on-film process. The film was directed by J. Searle Dawley and stars Louis Wolheim , Donald Gallaher , Ernest Hilliard , and Una Merkel in her film debut. This was one of the few two-reel films produced by Lee de Forest in Phonofilm due to problems with changeovers when the film was projected in theaters. In June 1923, de Forest and

819-455: Is then amplified and converted into analogue sound waves through a speaker. Three types of optical sound-on-film technology emerged in the 1920s: Phonofilm, Photophone and Movietone. A fourth major contender for the sound film market - Warner Brothers ' Vitaphone sound-on-disc system which synchronized large-size (16") phonographic records with a film's projector was used on early talkies , such as their' 1927 hit The Jazz Singer (which

882-625: The Academy of Music and ran these into eight independently operated mixing stations. The eight tracks were then recorded optically onto 35mm film, with a ninth track adding tempo for Disney's artists to synchronize their animation to the soundtrack. Disney later mixed these nine tracks down to four for use with the Fantasound system that toured with the film to select theaters in 1941. As an early cinematic surround sound system, Disney had to refit each theatre with special Fantasound equipment that

945-796: The Empire Cinema in London, including a short film with Sidney Bernstein welcoming Phonofilm to the UK. According to the British Film Institute website, the UK division of De Forest Phonofilm was taken over in August 1928 by British Talking Pictures and its subsidiary, British Sound Film Productions, which was formed in September 1928; it is believed British Talking Pictures acquired De Forest's primary assets, including patents and designs for theatre audio equipment. In March 1929,

1008-777: The John Barrymore film Don Juan . One month later, the Phonofilm Company filed for bankruptcy . Case and Sponable went on to implement their optical sound-on-film innovations as the Movietone sound system , and the UK rights to Phonofilm were bought up by theater chain owner Isadore Schlesinger, who used the technology to release short films of British music hall performers through 1929. While Lee de Forest struggled to market Phonofilm, Charles A. Hoxie's Pallophotophone had success as an optical recording device through

1071-617: The Paramount Pictures features Bella Donna (premiered April 1, 1923) and The Covered Wagon (premiered March 16, 1923) were filmed with Phonofilm as an experiment. In the case of The Covered Wagon , Hugo Riesenfeld composed the music for the film. However, the Phonofilm versions were only shown at the premiere engagements, also at the Rivoli. "Siegfried", the first part of the Fritz Lang film Die Nibelungen (1924) had

1134-482: The Tri-Ergon corporation and researching the development of European sound film systems. There, he met Finnish inventor, Eric Tigerstedt ("Finland's Thomas Edison"), who improved Phonofilm's amplification system to be audible in a large theater. Phonofilm was used mainly to record stage performances, speeches, and musical acts in and around New York City, but Hollywood movie studios expressed little interest in

1197-464: The incandescent light bulb . A resurgence in interest in the Optigan has led to a circuit of collectors trading program discs. Though originally marketed as a toy instrument , the Optigan was used by professional musicians to achieve unusual sounds, and the instrument made cameo appearances on recordings by Bruce Haack (1973), Alan Steward (1976), Steve Hackett (1980) and Devo (1981). In

1260-617: The ' RCA Photophone '. The first demonstrations of the Photophone, were given in 1926, and in 1927 a sound version (music plus sound effects only) of the silent film Wings , toured to a dozen specially equipped theaters. While Hoxie's work found its way into national theaters through RCA, Theodore Case and Earl Sponable found a home with the Fox Film Corporation after leaving de Forest and Phonofilm. Case and Sponible's Movietone sound system made several modifications to

1323-402: The 1920s. Most of the inventions which led to optical sound-on-film technology employed the use of an electric lamp , called an 'exciter', shining through a translucent waveform printed on the edge of a film strip. When the light shines through the film, it is read by a photo-sensitive material and fed through a processor which converts the photovoltaic impulse into an electrical signal that

SECTION 20

#1732772692427

1386-451: The 1990s the Optigan became popular as a vintage synthesizer, and samples of its sounds were released as digital software, making the sounds accessible to musicians not able to obtain the actual instrument. Since then, Optigan music has been used by numerous artists working in popular music, television, film, and is the featured instrument for the band Optiganally Yours. Love%27s Old Sweet Song (1923 film) Love's Old Sweet Song

1449-657: The Case infrared system used by the Navy, the Pallophotophone was also intended for wireless communications at sea, but was then adapted for recording speech. With GE's backing, Hoxie's invention was used in 1922–1923 to record then-Vice-president Calvin Coolidge and others for radio broadcasts. The early work by Case, Sponable and Hoxie was instrumental in the development of sound-on-film systems for motion pictures during

1512-476: The East Coast, extending as far west as Cleveland, Ohio . Hollywood studios largely rejected Phonofilm, and instead introduced different systems for sound film . In 1924, Western Electric was developing both a sound-on-disc system, where the film is synchronized with a phonograph containing the sound, and their own optical sound systems. They had settled on 24 frames per second (90 feet per minute) as

1575-710: The Fleischers in their " Screen Songs " series, through Paramount Pictures, with new soundtracks recorded in RCA Photophone) (***) Found in a trunk in Windsor, New South Wales , Australia in early 1976, and restored by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia Optical sound Building on the principle first demonstrated by the Photophone of Alexander Graham Bell in 1880, optical sound

1638-693: The Phonofilm process, with many preserved in the collections of the Library of Congress (45 titles) and the British Film Institute (98 titles). In 1976, five Phonofilm titles were discovered in a trunk in Australia, and these films have been restored by Australia's National Film and Sound Archive . (*) Included in program of Phonofilms at the Rivoli Theater in NYC on April 15, 1923 (**) Fleischer " Song Car-Tunes " series (some titles later re-released by

1701-417: The Rivoli Theater at 1620 Broadway in New York City. The Rivoli's music director Hugo Riesenfeld co-hosted the presentation. The printed program gave credit to the "DeForest-Case Patents", but according to a letter Theodore Case wrote to de Forest immediately after the event, no credit was given to Case during the presentation itself. De Forest later took his show on the road, pitching Phonofilm directly to

1764-592: The U.S. (see UK section below). de Forest was in financial difficulty due to his lawsuits against Case, and had resorted to selling cut-rate sound equipment to second-run movie theaters wanting to convert to sound on the cheap. His company declared bankruptcy in September 1926. The Fleischers stopped releasing the Song Car-Tune films in Phonofilm shortly thereafter. Even so, in June 1927, producer Pat Powers made an unsuccessful takeover bid for de Forest's company. In

1827-474: The UK in Phonofilm were released in early 1929, due to competition from Vitaphone, and sound-on-film systems such as Fox Movietone and RCA Photophone. The release of Alfred Hitchcock 's sound feature film Blackmail in June 1929, made in RCA Photophone, sealed the fate of Phonofilm in the UK. In June 1925, Phonofilm opened its first Australian office at 129 Bathurst Street, Sydney . On July 6, 1925,

1890-418: The UK rights to Phonofilm. Schlesinger filmed short films of British music hall performers such as Marie Lloyd Jr. and Billy Merson , along with famous stage actors such as Sybil Thorndike and Bransby Williams performing excerpts of works by Shakespeare , Shaw , and Dickens , from September 1926 to May 1929. On October 4, 1926, Phonofilm made its UK premiere with a program of short films presented at

1953-491: The Western Electric (dubbed "Westrex") stereo variable-area system. Due to film grain and possible dust on the sound track, optical sound could be noisy or have crackling sounds, especially when projecting worn release prints . In low-volume sections (where the noise would be especially noticeable) noise reduction was originally performed either by partly masking the track, or, in variable area recording, narrowing

Phonofilm - Misplaced Pages Continue

2016-467: The aftermath, Powers hired former DeForest technician William Garity to produce a cloned version of the Phonofilm system which became Powers Cinephone. In July 1925, The Gentleman , a comedy short film excerpt of The 9 to 11 Revue directed by William J. Elliott, was made using Phonofilm, the first sound-on-film production in England. In 1926, the owner of a UK cinema chain, M. B. Schlesinger, acquired

2079-415: The appeal of his process. De Forest kept to one-reel films because he was unable to solve the problem of reel changes, and the disruption in sound which would occur, when a projectionist in a movie theater changed reels. One of the few two-reel films made in the Phonofilm process was Love's Old Sweet Song (1923), starring Louis Wolheim , Donald Gallaher , and the 20-year-old Una Merkel . All or part of

2142-413: The contributions of the Case Research Lab in the creation of Phonofilm, Case severed his ties with de Forest in the fall of 1925. On July 23, 1926, William Fox of Fox Film Corporation bought Case's patents, cutting off de Forest's access to them. Without access to Case's inventions, de Forest was left with an incomplete system of sound film. He gave up on trying to exploit the process — at least in

2205-431: The de facto speed for all sound films, whether sound-on-disc or sound-on-film. In 1926, Fox hired Sponible, bought Case's patents (they had already acquired Freeman Owens' and Tri-Ergon's), and mass-produced Case's Aeo-light for use in all Movietone News cameras from 1928 to 1939. These cameras recorded all Fox feature films during this period, beginning with F. W. Murnau 's Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927). As

2268-611: The design of these single-system cameras, in which both sound and picture were recorded on the same negative. He approached Bell & Howell to modify one of their cameras for his design, but the results were unsatisfactory. Later, the Wall Camera Corporation rebuilt the machine with improved results. De Forest also worked with early newsreel maker, Freeman Harrison Owens , who by 1921, had developed his own patented sound camera, and spent time in Berlin working with

2331-547: The earlier Phonofilm system which they had helped create. One was moving the position of the projector's soundhead from above the picture head (as it had been in Phonofilm), to 14 + 1 ⁄ 2 inches (370 mm) below the picture head (close to the present-day standard). Case also adopted the 24 frames-per-second speed for Movietone, bringing it in line with the speed already chosen for Warner Brothers ' Vitaphone sound-on-disc system, establishing 24 frames-per-second as

2394-435: The early 1920s until the early 30s, GE broadcast over 1,000 Pallophotophone recordings from its Schenectady, New York radio station, WGY , including speeches by presidents Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover , and inventor-businessmen Thomas Edison and Henry Ford . By the mid-1920s, GE adapted Hoxie's invention for motion picture sound playback, subsequently marketed as a commercial product by then-GE subsidiary RCA as

2457-506: The electrical waveforms from a microphone , which were translated back into sound waves when the movie was projected. Case Lab fine-tuned the process with an invention called the 'Aeo-light' for use in sound cameras. During filming, audio signals modulated the Aeo-light to expose the film's audio directly inside the camera, streamlining Phonofilm's process for synchronizing a motion picture with its soundtrack. In 1924, Sponable focused on

2520-400: The first professionally produced feature with an optical sound track, it included mostly music and sound effects, with a very few unsynchronized words. After 1931, Fox's feature film production moved to a two-machine system which Western Electric had developed from the RCA Photophone, with the advent of a light-valve invented by Edward C. Wente. In this system, one camera shot the frames, and

2583-794: The first program of Phonofilms in Australia was shown at the Piccadilly Theatre in Sydney. A program was also shown at the Prince Edward Theatre in November and December 1925. On April 6, 1927, Minister for Trade Herbert Pratten appeared in a DeForest film to celebrate the opening of a Phonofilm studio in Rushcutters Bay in Sydney. On May 12, 1927, a Phonofilm of the Duke and Dutchess of York arriving at Farm Cove

Phonofilm - Misplaced Pages Continue

2646-406: The first sound-on-film feature Sunrise by F. W. Murnau . In 1928, the sound-on-film process RCA Photophone was adopted by newly created studio RKO Radio Pictures and by Paramount Pictures . Since Western Electric's ERPI division dominated the theater hardware market when the sound revolution finally got underway, its standard 24-frames-per-second speed was universally adopted by Fox and all

2709-409: The general public at a series of special engagements across the country. The shorts shown at one such demonstration in 1925, were as follows: De Forest was forced to show these films in independent theaters such as the Rivoli since Hollywood movie studios controlled all major U.S. movie theater chains at the time. De Forest's decision to film primarily short films (one reel), not feature films limited

2772-583: The last was the first sound feature film made in Spain. The feature film was released in Spain by Divina Home Video in 2005, after years of being thought a lost film . The Maurice Zouary collection at the Library of Congress holds approximately 45 films made in Phonofilm. A DVD produced by Zouary about the history of Phonofilm says that a short film of opera singers performing the Sextet from Lucia di Lammermoor

2835-448: The material on surviving reels is an early seven-note version of the NBC chimes , a broadcast of a high school basketball match (believed to be the world's second-oldest recording of a sports broadcast), and a historic 1929 recording of the 82-year-old Thomas Edison , with Henry Ford and President Herbert Hoover , speaking on a broadcast commemorating the 50th anniversary of the invention of

2898-568: The mid-1970s. The Orchestron featured improved recorded sounds over the Optigan, though many professional musicians of note have performed and recorded using Mattel's toy version. Efforts have only recently been made to preserve early examples of optical sound. While none of GE's original Pallophotophones are known to exist, a few reels of Pallophotophone recordings of radio broadcasts have been found. Unlike movie film , these 35mm reels do not contain sprockets . New players have been built using modern components to recover audio from old reels. Among

2961-437: The other studios as each began making sound films. As a consequence, Case's tests and de Forest's early Phonofilms, shot at about 21 frames per second, gave speakers and singers high-pitched "helium voices" if they are run on a standard sound projector. The Library of Congress and other film archives have printed new copies of some early Phonofilms, modifying them by periodically duplicating frames and correspondingly "stretching"

3024-411: The product of "his" inventions. Case also expressed his displeasure that the program credited only the "DeForest-Case Patents", as Phonofilm's success rested upon the work of Case and his Case Research Lab. Seeing that de Forest was more concerned with his own fame and recognition than he was with actually creating a workable system of sound film, and because of de Forest's continuing attempts to downplay

3087-521: The soundtrack. On March 12, 1923, de Forest presented a demonstration of Phonofilm to the press. On April 12, 1923, de Forest gave a private demonstration of the process to electrical engineers at the Engineering Society Building's Auditorium at 33 West 39th Street in New York City. On April 15, 1923, de Forest premiered 18 short films made in Phonofilm — including vaudeville acts, musical performers, opera , and ballet — at

3150-449: The soundtracks to make them compatible with standard projectors and telecine equipment. Case and de Forest had a falling out due to de Forest taking full credit for the work of Case and Earl I. Sponable at the Case Research Lab. The Case Research Lab proceeded to build its own camera. That camera was used by Case and Sponable to film President Coolidge on August 11, 1924, creating one of the films shown by de Forest and claimed by him to be

3213-500: The standard film speed for sound, as they found slower film speeds could not consistently reproduce sound well. Warner Bros. was the first to use a sound-on-disc system, Vitaphone . Warner Bros. released the feature film Don Juan starring John Barrymore on August 6, 1926, in Vitaphone, with music and sound effects only. On October 6, 1927, Warner Bros. released The Jazz Singer with Al Jolson in Vitaphone. The Jazz Singer

SECTION 50

#1732772692427

3276-471: The style of an electric chord organ or accordion . The Optigan came with a "Starter Set" of discs that featured standard instrument sounds and tempos. Other sounds were available through purchase of more disc packs. Mattel ceased production of the Optigan in 1976. The Orchestron was a version of the Optigan built by Vako Synthesizers Inc. Intended for professional use as an alternative to the Mellotron in

3339-461: The support of General Electric . The Pallophotophone utilized the entire width of unsprocketed 35mm Kodak monochrome film to record and replay multiple audio tracks. Unlike Phonofilm, this optical sound technology used a photoelectric process which captured audio wave forms generated by a vibrating mirror galvanometer , and was the first effective multitrack recording system, predating magnetic tape multitrack recorders by at least 20 years. From

3402-679: The system. Since the Hollywood studios controlled the major theater chains, de Forest showed his films in independent theaters in a short-form series, akin to vaudeville , which included Max and Dave Fleischer 's Song Car-Tunes . The Fleischers used the Phonofilm process for their animated shorts, which included the now-classic bouncing-ball gimmick. In 1924, Owens parted ways with de Forest, and Case followed suit in 1925, because of de Forest's taking sole credit for Phonofilm. In August 1926, Warner Brothers introduced their Vitaphone sound-on-disc system, developed by Western Electric , with

3465-431: The width of the transparent oscillations. Later, electronic noise reduction was used (e.g. analog Dolby A ). As digital sound became the standard of sound reproduction in the 21st century, 35 and 70mm films have increasingly included a digital version of the soundtrack on the edges of the film strip. Most films continue to be processed with both digital and analog soundtracks so they may be read by any projection systems in

3528-475: Was developed by several inventors with an interest in wireless communication through transmission of light, primarily for ship-to-ship use. The idea was that sound pulses could be converted into light pulses, beamed out from one ship and picked up by another, where the light pulses would then be reconverted into sound. A pioneer in this technology was American physicist Theodore Case . While studying at Yale , Case became interested in using modulated light as

3591-439: Was first tested off the shores of New Jersey in 1917, and attending the test was Thomas Edison , contracted by the Navy to evaluate new technologies. The test was a success, and the U.S. Navy used the system during and after World War I . Contemporary with the work of Case and Sponable was Charles A. Hoxie 's Pallophotophone (from Greek roots meaning "shaking light sound"), manufactured by General Electric (GE). Similar to

3654-536: Was later dismantled and put toward the war effort. In 1942 RKO Pictures remastered Fantasia for distribution with a monaural soundtrack. The film was remastered again for stereo in 1956 when moviehouses became equipped with duophonic sound systems. A few musical instruments have been manufactured using optical sound for playback. In 1971 toy manufacturer Mattel released the Optigan (short for " opti cal or gan ), an organ -like synthesizer whose sound library

3717-573: Was made by the "Latin American division" of Phonofilm. No further information is known about this division of Phonofilm. In 1926, DeForest released a short film referred to as Cuban Sound Documentary which included the Cuban national anthem and excerpts from The Merry Widow . However, little else is known of this film or whether other Phonofilms were made in Cuba. More than 200 short films were made in

3780-539: Was marketed as being " all singing " though the talking was sporadic, used in only several isolated sequences), utilised Vitaphone discs, but by 1931, optical sound-on-film would supplant the separate sound-on-disc technology. After the war, Theodore Case and Earl I. Sponable collaborated with fellow wireless communications pioneer Lee de Forest , inventor of the Audion tube , to apply their optical sound system to motion pictures. De Forest had been granted general patents for

3843-837: Was shown at the Lyceum Theatre in Sydney . Phonofilm had closed all of its operations in Australia by October 1927, and sold its remaining studio facilities to an Australian company in October 1928. In 1928, Spanish producer Feliciano Manuel Vitores bought the Spanish rights to Phonofilm from DeForest and dubbed it "Fonofilm". He produced four films in the process, Cuando fui león (1928), En confesionario (1928), Va usted en punto con el banco (1928), and El misterio de la Puerta del Sol (1929). The first three were short films directed by Manuel Marín starring Spanish comedian Ramper, and

SECTION 60

#1732772692427

3906-464: Was stored on interchangeable 12" clear acetate "program discs". Each program disc was encoded with 57 concentric optical tracks that spun on a turntable inside the machine. The Optigan then translated the analog waveforms on each disc to an audio signal via an exciter lamp shone through the disc and onto a photoelectric cell. 37 of the program disc's tracks were single notes , and 21 featured chords in different keys and rhythm tracks much in

3969-560: Was the first feature film to use synchronized sound for talking sequences rather than just for music and sound effects, and thus launched the talkie era. The Fox Movietone system was first demonstrated to the public at the Sam H. Harris Theatre in New York City on January 21, 1927, with a short film of Raquel Meller preceding the feature film What Price Glory? , originally released in November 1926. Later in 1927, Fox released

#426573