Of What Was the KMT a Prototype? - Text 5
Above all, the camera had to be made silent. Soundproofing it, however, added weight to the camera. In Ruspoli’s manifesto film, the KMT was the prototype of the small, lightweight and easily handled camera. It was not a trial version of any of the technical improvements which enabled the Éclair 16 to become the first silent (24-25dB) lightweight camera. At the industrial design stage, moreover, what influenced the new elements in the Éclair’s design was no longer the idea of a small camera, but rather a monumental camera, the Mitchell. The builders of the Éclair analysed at length how the American Mitchell company had soundproofed its studio camera to come up with its model BNC (Blimped Noiseless Camera) in 1934. With respect to the perfecting of a 16 mm reportage camera in the early 1960s, everyone – filmmakers, newsreel journalists and camera builders – were agreed on the goals to reach. These innovations, which could not be obtained through do-it-yourself, were the result of a long period of industrialization which made it possible to soundproof the entire transmission mechanism, itself insulated inside a shell: the Éclair 16 was self-blimped. The little KMT’s only prototype was its use, which made it possible to develop shooting techniques for making “experience” films. On the one hand, there was a wish for a specific device, and on the other the reality of the machine. The Éclair 16 was a compromise: it is heavier than the KMT but, taken to the industrial level, was also consistent enough to meet the need industrial needs tied to the success of French television reporting. The Éclair became firmly established the moment it was produced in 1963, even though its motor did not yet make it possible to solve the problem of synchronism. As for the KMT, no trace of it exists to this day, contributing to its legendary status.
