As early as the issue of November 1904, the editors are complaining about the extreme overspeeding of projectors in British cinemas:
David PierceNeed for a Standard Speed.
It is a well-known circumstance of Anima-photography, that unless the projecting of the subject upon the lantern screen is conducted precisely at a speed corresponding to that at which the negative picture was taken, false representations of nature will result. It is true that certain cinematograph cameras are provided with speed indicators, by which the operator is able to ascertain the rate at which he is passing the film through his camera; and it is also a fact that an operator may become so used to his work that he is able to sustain a uniform speed without resorting to any such guide; but to obtain satisfactory results at the time of exhibiting a positive from a negative so produced, it is absolutely necessary, as we have already intimated, that the picture be passed through the projecting apparatus at a regular and corresponding velocity. There is no reason why a standard, both for taking and exhibiting a picture, should not be established, just as we base today a certain recognised pitch for perforating films. If some practical hand, with money and brains, would give this question serious consideration, and finally establish a suitable standard for speed, he would be rendering a service to the anima-photography world of inestimable value. We should then rid the art of illusional freaks, which, though curious and interesting, are undesirable. Our beloved art becomes a cause for laughter when men march at a running speed; when artillery guns skate over the ground on carriages with stationary wheels; and when the wheels on the Royal carriage revolve backwards. We should be glad of any data on this subject.
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