The Bolex System - Text 7
Logically enough, after the 1929 economic crisis Paillard sought to join this expertise in audio equipment with the expertise it had developed in cinema. Although amateurs were already concerned with adding sound to their films, the Bolex “sound cinema” system presented at the 1932 Foire de Paris intended to offer them nothing less than synchronism, meaning “complete home entertainment.” Coupling a gramophone and a projector was a hodgepodge of equipment, but also an early attempt to individualize what had become “talking” cinema. Bringing this equipment together was just the first step in the quest for complete home entertainment, which would continue in 1939 with the GS projector’s sound on film process.
Automation
The technological development of amateur cinema was by and large driven since its beginnings by a trend to simplify equipment and democratize its use. Already in 1924 Duclair-Northy, the author of Pour bien tourner: guide du cinégraphiste amateur, had complained that “amateur” cameras were too heavy, too expensive, too high end: in short, incapable of “creating amateurism.” He was nevertheless quick to praise the Pathé-Baby, which appeared to him to open the path to the future with its great simplicity of use. Initially, Paillard would go against this trend with its model H camera. Even though it was advertised as “the simplest-handling of all the cine-cameras in the world,” it was nevertheless a sophisticated and versatile machine intended for the knowledgeable amateur.
