View report page

It is proposed during the year 1933 to hold similar examinations
for nursing.
During the year an attempt was made to bring our films
more into line with the "Talkies" at present in general use, and
for this purpose, it was proposed to prepare gramophone records
with running comments synchronised with the films. The film
selected for the experiment is about 1,500 feet long, and entitled
"Our Food Supplies." After deducting the captions there
remained about 1,000 feet of the picture for which the speaking
part had to be written. It was necessary so to time the words
that they fitted in exactly with the portion of the picture being
described, and so that the last word was spoken as each section
of the picture finished.
After a good deal of careful thought, this was managed
without any alteration at all in the photography. The next
step was to get the records made, and, for this purpose, the wellknown
gramophonecampanies were asked to give quotations.
The cost of this work, however, was so high that it became
impracticable. In fact, the records for the film would have cost
almost as much as the film itself. We then endeavoured to
obtain an apparatus to make our own records, but, so far, have not
been successful. There are a number of self-recording machines
on the market, but they are really only toys, and quite unsuitable
for our purpose. Many enquiries have been made during the
year, but, as far as we can ascertain, no British manufacturer
can supply a suitable apparatus, and it seems that eventually we
shall be compelled to purchase abroad.