Page 6 - RD_2021-03

I think Ron is right. Back in the early 30s the
Wilart would be an ideal camera for use in an
Optical Printer - a very new concept at that
time.
An Optical Printer consists of a projector head
and lamp house mounted on one end of a lathe
bed and mechanically coupled to a movie
camera head at the other end of the lathe bed.
Both can be moved back and forth to enlarge
or reduce the picture size. An optical system
between the heads focuses the image from the
projector onto the camera aperture, and, when
combined with masks, prisms and other bits of
optical wizardry, can produce a multitude of
optical special effects in the camera, providing
an optical dupe negative or master positive.
The fading shutter in the camera can produce
fades in and out, lap dissolves and control for
double exposures, supers etc. The camera
and/or projector mechanism should also be
capable of being disengaged for single frame

Below: (Left) As with the Pathè, the right hand
lateral guide runner moves sideways as the gate is
The mechanism is, like the Pathè, an almost exact opened, to facilitate threading.
copy of the original Lumiere movement, but with
some improvements like ball race bearings and (Right) Gate closed with film pressure plate in
automatic press button position. Again an almost exact copy of the Lumiere
and Pathè gates.

6 REEL DEALS March 2021