1912] on the Gaumont Speaking Cinematograph Films. 481 



a phonograph placed close to his mouth, whereby a record is obtained. 

 This is reproduced on an appropriate machine, and when he hears 

 the sounds, he makes as best he can the appropriate sounds, move- 

 ments and gestures while the cinematograph records. There is no 

 question of simultaneous recording and reproduction of the double 

 record. Consecjuently, the result is not satisfactory. .By means of 

 the Chronoi)hone large scenes as well as the effects of a full chorus 

 are obtained at one and the same operation. 



In order to arrive at full intellectual satisfaction while contem- 

 plating any scene, such as an artist singing or an actor playing and 

 speaking his part — where eye and ear are simultaneously appealed 

 to — the spectator demands that measure of pleasurable satisfaction 

 which is afforded by beauty of form, grace of movement, the allure- 

 ment of colour, and the seductive sounds of sweet music. All these, 

 I think, I can promise you to-night, thanks to the inventive ingenuity 

 and technical skill of Mons. Leon Gaumont and his collaborators, 

 the inventors of' thel" Chronophone."r;Mons.^i(Taumont has not only 

 arranged and personally superintended the whole complicated instal- 

 lation whicli you see before you, but he has also favoured us with 

 his presence here to-night. We give him a hearty Royal Institution 

 welcome. 



Difficnlties of the Problem. 



At first sight it might seem as if the problem of producing 

 simultaneously combined pictorial and audible records was a com- 

 paratively simple one. It is, however, far from being so. Edison 

 himself, when he invented the " Kinetoscope," cherished the idea of 

 combining the production of movement by the aid of animated 

 photography and of sound by the aid of the Phonograph. The 

 solution of the problem presents many difficulties. Many attempts 

 have been made both in America and Europe since the invention of 

 the Cinematograph, but at present there is only one complete solution 

 of the problem of simultaneous reproduction of the gestures and voice 

 or articulate speech of an artiste or group of actors, or the movements 

 of animals simultaneously with the vocal sounds which on occasion 

 tliey emit, be it the strident tones of a Gallic cock or the growl or 

 fierce roar of an angry lion. 



Having regard to the enormous differences in the velocity of the 

 propagation of sound waves and luminous waves, it might be thought 

 that important corrections might have to be made. It is not so, how- 

 ever. To all intents and purposes, at a short distance as in a theatre, 

 the illusion of blending speech voice and movement is complete. 



Let me remind you of some of the difficulties of the problem, for 

 the apparatus— the camera and the talking machine— must not only 

 be synchronised, but the result must be such that the sound produced 

 shall be audible to a large assembly of people. We may lay dow^n the 

 foUowino; conditions :— 



