James Hamilton

THE GAUMONT PHONOSCÈNE SOUND ON DISC SYSTEM (1905-07) Alice Ida Antoinette Guy-Blaché demonstrates a 'behind-the-scenes' 'sound-on-disc' set, filmed at the Gaumont studio at Buttes-Chaumont, Paris January 1907. Alice is in the foreground, bent over. Anatole Thiberville on camera. Runs :52. The Phonoscène is a particularly important part of post cinema history because it represents an early, practical attempt to combine moving pictures with recorded sound. At Gaumont's studios at Buttes-Chaumont in Paris, Alice directed performances intended to be experienced with sound recorded separately on a phonograph cylinder first, then a disc. The crucial distinction is that the Phonoscène was not simply a film accompanied by a gramophone record. It was part of a coordinated system for recording, synchronizing and exhibiting image and sound. The technical details—and how reliably synchronization was achieved—are worth examining separately from the films themselves. The system was developed under Léon Gaumont with the assistance of engineer Léopold René Decaux. It's development involved three main problems: recording sound, reproducing it loudly enough for an audience, and keeping the sound synchronized with the projected film. This remarkable behind-the-scenes film shows Alice at work in the glass-roofed studio. The footage reveals the camera, sound equipment, powerful arc lamps, reflectors and performers rehearsing their movements. Guy-Blaché appears to be responsible for operating the playback equipment and coordinating the start of the recording. SEE a slightly longer two minute copy at Cinémathèque française cinemathequefr.github.io/hen…