Sound film
Under sound film is generally understood as a movie, which is provided in contrast to the live silent film accompanied with technical and repeatable sound accompaniment. In particular, in the English language called one early sound films as talkies ( short form of "talking pictures" ).
History
The movie was never silent. In the cinemas was worried from the beginning for musical accompaniment, mostly it was the piano player, also called Tappeure. Many cinemas also attended a theater organ for background music. For movie premieres or in large cinemas films were accompanied by orchestras throughout with up to 50 or 60 members. First attempts synchronization of phase images with the gramophone come from Wordsworth Donisthorpe from the year 1877. 1894 or 1895 then Thomas Alva Edison's combined chief engineer Dickson the Kinetographen with the phonograph and also constructed various other combinations as Kameraphon and Kinemaphon. However, the synchronous replay records the film could not prove their worth, especially as the synchronicity usually could not be guaranteed.
Important milestones for the development of sound film:
The largest European sound film recording and players manufacturer was the German - Dutch chef - Tobis - sound film group, which found its beginning, when in August 1928 the Swiss Tri -Ergon Music AG to agree with the Dutch-German chef Group and other companies merged to unify the different sound film patents in one hand. Behind the struggle for a separate patent put the intention to get rid of the competition by the American company Warner Bros., which took advantage of a patent of Western Electric.
Worldwide, Western Electric and chef - Tobis - sound movie could claim as a leading sound film equipment manufacturers. Since the company insisted that the films prepared with their devices be played on players of the same company, there were some complaints of license violations, but also for patent infringement. On July 22, 1930, the two companies agreed on a sound film Patent Convention, the so-called " Paris talkies peace." That agreement provided an exclusive division of the world market is another. A common approach against unfair competition and patent infringement of third parties has been announced. This agreement meant for every little sound film equipment manufacturer with a heavy blow, especially since they were not provided for in this Agreement. Only in individual cases other companies were subsequently incorporated into the Agreement with. For example, the Austrian Selenophon light and Tonbildgesellschaft that could not last continue to exist due to political interventions (see also: History of the early Austrian sound film ).
Method
Needle sound
The gramophone has a needle than pickups. The movies of the late 1920s were presented on roles that had a screening length of up to 16 minutes, then had to be changed on the other projector. To this end, the LP has been developed, which initially had a playing time of twelve minutes. This media group is also called Needle sound. It was replaced in the 1930s by the optical sound.
The many critics full featured as the first hands-free feature film considered " The Jazz Singer " (USA, 1927) with Al Jolson, directed by Alan Crosland was due to its prominent performer and more a music movie and still in the Vitaphone process ( sound on board, 33 ⅓ min -1) produced. The monologues and dialogues were improvised. Warner Bros. had only intended to make a film that was dubbed in the music and singing, so no dialog manuscript was necessary. Thus, the contents of the first monologue Jolson said: " Wait a moment, wait a moment! You have heard anything yet. Do you want to Toot - toot- tootsie hear? That's right, for a moment. " It was " You have not heard until now. " (You is not heard nothin 'yet ) one of his most famous phrases, which he also presented in his usual stage performances. The only other speech sequence was at least 354 words significantly longer and takes place between Jolson (340) Eugenie Besserer (13 ), and finally from Warner Oland, who was even allowed to say a single word - and, significantly, "Stop".
The first film with synchronized dialogue throughout was "Lights of New York", 1928 filmed and directed by Bryan Foy. He had just under an hour of play.
Optical sound
As an inventor of optical sound can be the Polish engineer Józef Tykociński - Tykociner (1877-1969), respectively. Another pioneer was the German engineer Hans Vogt (1890-1979), who with his colleague Joseph Massolle (1889-1957) and Jo Engl (1893-1942) in the Company's Tri -Ergon ( Greek-Latin. " Work of three " ) the sound-film idea realized. The laboratory of three, where the event was the development of the method was in Berlin, Babelsberg Straße 49 ( plaque at the entrance ).
On September 17, 1922, presented to the public first German sound film in Berlin in the Alhambra Cinema on Kurfürstendamm before 1000 spectators. Vogt had with his idea of an integrated optical soundtrack thereto major contributors. The screening was a 42 mm wide film.
One of the movies was the first dramatic dialogue film "The Arsonist ". All others were purely orchestral movies with vocal accompaniment, recorded mixed by critics. It is noteworthy that the press criticism was not directed against the technical, but against the content level of dialogues. Looking ahead, they realized that by doing the actual art of silent film, mime, would be destroyed forever.
Lee de Forest in 1923 produced his first commercial sound film " De Forest Phono Films". "Phono film " were produced until 1927, the system was sold to Fox Pictures and renamed to " Movietone ".
When sound film sound track is applied to the film in addition to pictures. With a lamp that track is illuminated and transferred to an electric photo cell. The different electric voltages, which causes the difference in brightness, is converted to audible sounds by means of amplifiers and speakers.
By coupling sound and image on the joint patrols the maintenance of synchronization between the two is guaranteed. ( fachl.: forced synchronous)
Because the film to represent the image sequence is moved sold between loops that sound information can not be placed next to their corresponding frame. You would always be just at the level of the display window, so that the soundtrack would also be stopped and bobbing. An unintelligible chatter would result. Since the soundtrack has to be moved uniformly as well as in the record or the tape, the film is passed over a roller with a flywheel. This also eliminates the remains of Transportruckens mechanically. In an internationally standardized distance ( fachl.: offset) between the image window and head of 20 images ( / - 0.5 ), which corresponds to the offset image / sound on the film, then the sound without howling and image-synchronous hear.
There are basically two methods of sound recording, the jagged script and shoot the script. In the jagged script modulation is achieved by different widths exposure in the offspring of writing by different degrees of exposure at a constant width of the sound track. Later, the prongs script prevailed. In the late 1930s, the film producers and cinema owners agreed on a sound recording and sound reproduction standard. The optical sound is still used for sound reproduction.
Magnettonverfahren
With the Magnettonverfahren been trying since the 1930s to replace the optical sound; However, these attempts were not permanently successful. In 1948, the sound recording on magnetic tape and magnetic film her debut at the wealthy Studios in Hollywood. Today, a combination is used: The original sound recording to record from magnetic tape to magnetic film. After synchronizing to the image and the intersection of these three elements Tonkopie the classic dialogue, effects (noise, "atmosphere" ) and music are mixed and made from ready-mixed master of one or two Tonnegative. Negative image and Tonnegativ be "married" in a passage, as the jargon goes, being a so-called combined positive arises demonstration.
Newer Sound Mix
In 1976, a groundbreaking sound system in the cinema: Dolby Stereo with 4 audio channels. First film after the procedure was Tommy (1975 ) with the rock group The Who. 1987 Dolby SR ( Spectral Recording ) has greatly improved the sound quality, but it remained at four channels. Since 1992 there is Dolby Digital, DTS and SDDS very high-quality sound systems that even five or seven channels of sound and a subwoofer bass channel support (Channel Scheme 5.1 and 7.1).