> On Fri, 20 Mar 1998, Lang Thompson wrote:
>
> > Is there a name for the technique where you can hear the sound (usually but
> > not always dialogue) of a scene before any visuals appear?  In other words,
> > while you're still watching the end of scene 1 you can hear scene 2.  This
> > occurs infrequently in films but it's used quite a bit in the third season
> > of "Babylon 5."
 
Yes - it's called projectionist error.  On a 35mm release print, the track is
 printed 20 frames ahead
of the picture (19 if the print is made to DIN specs rather than SMPTE ones).
 It's up to the
projectionist to lace the film in the projector so that the frame adjecent the
 photoelectric sound
cell is exactly 20 ahead of the frame in the gate (most leaders make this easy
 by printing a
diamond-shaped symbol 20 frames ahead of each countdown number).  On some
 projectors (the
Philips FP-20, for example) the space available for the intermittent loop is so
 small that it's virtually
impossible to lace up out of sync.  On others, especially 70/35mm convertibles,
 there is a large
empty space below the gate in which to leave huge loops and get the sound badly
 out.  I am told
that this happened at a glitzy premiere at the last London Film Festival, much
 to the amusement
of those technicians present in the audience...
 
Leo Enticknap
Univ. of Exeter, UK
 
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