Talking Picture in India

Talkies, talkie studios

Wilford Deming Jr.’s write up on the situation of talkie production in India in 1932 is reproduced from ‘American Cinematographer’ in Cinema Vision India. The initial reconnaissance of the studios in India, Deming states, gave him a sense of its antedated existence compared to his own experiences in film industry. Blindest groping for fundamental facts was especially true of the laboratory processing of sound films. Mole Richardson lights proved to be of little use, due to the flat lighting practiced in Indian studios. Deming also takes note of the hindrance effected by the familial ties in the organization of studios. The relatively high humidity in Calcutta renders the microphones a lot nosier. Deming considers dynamic microphones to be a solution for year round operation in India. The microphone, Deming states, was received with complete indifference in India, and the in the films he worked on, practically no retakes were necessary due to the addition of dialogues. Barring unfortunate internal fall outs, the future of Indian talkie industry, according to Deming, looks optimistic.

Wilford Deming Jr.

Cinema Vision India

Cinema Vision India, Vol.1, No.2, April 1980, pp.19-21

1980-04

The Media Lab

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Hollywood Looks at India

sound recording and reproduction, talkies

Wilford Deming Jr.’s ‘Hollywood Looks at India’ debuts as a feature in Varieties Weekly. The article focuses on the experiences in Indian cinema industry that Deming Jr. has had as an expert on sound recording, which prompted him to concede that in the technical sense, the Indian studios considerably pre-date the American studios. Deming Jr. surveys the conditions in an average Indian studio laboratory. He states that lackadaisical laboratory processing renders the sound and picture quality inconsistent through the length of the film, an instance which even the American studios are not able to prevent.

Wilford Deming Jr.

Varieties Weekly

Varieties Weekly, Vol.1, No.4, August 22, 1931, pp.6-8

1931-08-22

The Media Lab

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The Making of Alam Ara

Talkies

B.D Garga writes about the making of Imperial Film Co.’s ‘Alam Ara’, the first talkie produced in India and his conversations with Ardeshir Irani, the director. Irani mentions his inspiration as Universal’s ‘Show Boat’ a 40% talkie. Irani and Rustom Bharucha picked up rudiments of sound recording from Wilford Deming Jr. who assembled the Tanar single system recording equipment at the Imperial studio. Irani mentions the lack of soundproof stages and the restrictions posed by the proximity of the studio to the railway tracks, to circumvent which they shot around the night time. The article as it appears in Cinema Vision India has an advertisement of Tanar single system recording device.

B.D Garga

Cinema Vision India

Cinema Vision India, Vol.1, No.2, April 1980, pp.11-12

1980-04

The Media Lab

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Eng

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