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Author Topic: old projectionist memorabilia Katherine Kendrick Sheridan-Barbian Film Handler Posts: 1 From: New York, NY, USA Registered: Nov 2003 posted 01-30-2004 11:45 PM                     In search of old projectionist memorabilia/photographs (1890-1980) for a documentary film that sheds light on the history and development of film projection as a craft and tells the story of a few operating projectionists in America who struggle to resist the dawn of digital projection. Needed: -Pictures of projectionists inside projection booth -Any memorabilia (ie: union cards, personal posters etc.) -Old projectionist booth pictures (1890-1920) -Pictures of itinerant movie palaces, projectionists who traveled with the circus-- memorabilia. -Any obsure films (ie: not Cinema Paradiso) that deal with projectionists in any way. If you have anything that fits the above descriptions or anything else that you think might be helpful in preserving the legacy of the film projectionist on 16mm please email: ks742@columbia.edu For more information visit: www.behindtheglass.com  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 01-31-2004 04:06 AM                        What "dawn of digital projection"?  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 01-31-2004 06:06 AM                        My favourite obscure projectionist movie is Clash by Night (1953, Fritz Lang) which also, incidentally, features Marilyn Monroe's first screen appearance in a supporting role. The projectionist is, sadly, a mentally unstable perpetrator of domestic violence - not the greatest advert for the profession! I take it Sherlock, Jnr. does not count as obscure. In Gremlins (1984, Joe Dante), little furry animals take over a projection booth and provide a demonstration of 'film done wrong' similar to one of Joe Redifer's training videos.  |  IP: Logged Dominic Espinosa Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1172 From: California, U.S.A. Registered: Jan 2004 posted 01-31-2004 11:14 AM                     MMM...Digital... The (Digital) Revolution will not be televised. (It will however be filmed.) If you want good stuff just search google for a few film collector websites. That's all I can add. Sorry  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-31-2004 11:19 AM                        I recommend looking around the attics of older theatres. You never know what you'll find. I've found lots of stuff in places like that: old spare parts, film (yes, even nitrate in good condition!), trade journals, film inspection reports from the '30s, magazines, catalogs, etc.  |  IP: Logged Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 01-31-2004 11:46 AM                    If "projectionists in America who struggle to resist the dawn of digital projection." is the theme of this documentary then obviously someone seriously has not done her homework on the topic. That is just so far from reality that it leaves most of us dumbfounded. No one is out there struggling to stave off digital projection. At the moment the digital systems in the field are a drop in the bucket, do not present a picture comparable to good film projection (once you get past the "it's digital so it must be better" BS), take many hours of technician time to load a new movie on, and have economics so bad that the several major companies which sought to enter the field of providing them to theatres have since left the business or scaled back their operations to existing units. None of that jives with your thesis. That is not to say that digital will not have a significant impact in the future--it will. But if you are dealing with current reality I would suggest a different angle. How about how being a projectionist used to be a skilled craft that people could count on as a career with decent wages, often protected (yes, some would say enforced) by unions. Then carbon arc lamps of limited run time and somewhat dangerous operation were replaced with xenon lamps of relatively unlimited run time. That in turn begat handling film as a single strand via platters or giant reel machines enabling single projectors per screen instead of 2-projector changeover, greatly reducing labor-per-show requirements and enabling relatively unattended operation with simple automation taking care of routine tasks like dimming the lights. That in turn made the multiplex theatre feasible but also allowed minimally skilled people to do the work or for the job to be handled by managers. Thus began the long downslide in projection as a craft. Now it's largely done by young people who do not view it as a long term profession nor can they given the typical wages paid. There is a story there that should be told and it makes more sense to document reality and record historic fact than to speculate about the future. Even if it comes to pass that digital projection eliminates every projectionist job the story will be less interesting than what has happened up until now simply because these are no longer career positions being eliminated. If McDonalds someday automates the back room and the burgers are cooked, finished, and wrapped by robotic devices the job loss would be less interesting than, say, robots on the auto assembly lines eliminating high wage, career jobs for auto workers. In other words, the most interesting stuff has already happened and would make for a good documentary.  |  IP: Logged Greg Mueller Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1687 From: Port Gamble, WA Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-31-2004 12:58 PM                        "...What "dawn of digital projection"?..." Sunset of digital projection?  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-31-2004 01:13 PM                     "The projectionist is, sadly, a mentally unstable perpetrator of domestic violence - not the greatest advert for the profession!" _________________________________________________________________ Well, Thats not too far off as per what happened recently to the union in Chicago..... http://www.ipsn.org/indictments/projectionist_union/brenkus11-7_rel.htm "then obviously someone seriously has not done her homework on the topic She has way too many last names to have been able to do her homework. Lets face it, the sunrise of digital projection has been very dim to say the least.  |  IP: Logged Aaron Sisemore Flaming Ribs beat Reeses Peanut Butter Cups any day! Posts: 3061 From: Rockwall TX USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 01-31-2004 01:47 PM                     From "Behind The Glass": "...However, it is predicted that by 2005, a majority of mainstream movie houses in the US will have made the transition [to digital projection], spelling the end of the motion picture projectionist" They have been saying this since 1999: just change '2005' to '2001', '2002', '2003'... If even the (once?) mighty George Lucas couldn't 'impose' his 'vision' of the digital nightmare upon us en masse, I don't think anyone will for many years to come. Someone needs to get their head out of the digital clouds and do some additional research on the MODERN motion picture projectionist: We may be far smaller in numbers than 30-40 years ago, but we certainly aren't extinct!!! Just my .02 -Aaron  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 01-31-2004 04:01 PM                        I wonder where people still get the basis for statements like "it is predicted that by 2005..." etc, while virtually everyone in the business knows by now that the "digital revolution" didn`t take place and will not take place any time soon. Of course, it is always easy to make such broad statements and then say "oh, these people don`t want to see the truth because they are film fans or because it is about their jobs". But we actually have 6 digital projectors in San Diego, I think that is about the the highest concentration of digital systems in the world. Boeing who set up the systems gave up and bailed out. We will still be able to use them in the future, but right now they are just sitting there while we work out the logistics. It really doesn`t look like the digital revolution happens next year. The topic change suggested by Mr Kraus would be much closer to the truth, but I bet it will be ignored - it is much more complex and also less "dramatic" than to predict the end of film once more. It is the general tendency to fast, cheap business without any regard for quality which brought the end to conventional cinema projection.  |  IP: Logged Larry Shaw Expert Film Handler Posts: 238 From: Boston, MA, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 02-02-2004 12:47 AM                        Aaron....1999 !?!?!? How about this from 1930: "With this successful experiment, the technical arrangements are virtually complete for projecting on normal-sized motion picture screens... Television will be a regular feature in large theaters before the new year." [see http://www.dcinematoday.com/gallery/start.htm ,click "1930 GE"] Michael....you ask "where people still get the basis for statements like 'it is predicted that by 2005...' ". The answer is: from the never-ending BS-filled press releases from the video projector manufacturers. IMHO these companies couldn't care less about our industry; they just want to be able to advertise that their home/business video stuff "uses the same technology as top motion picture theatres"; thus (they hope)allowing them to sell zillions more low quality high profit boxes. When the market saturates they'll drop these products and move on to whatever is hot at that time.  |  IP: Logged William Hooper Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1879 From: Mobile, AL USA Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-02-2004 12:53 AM                        quote: projectionists in America who struggle to resist the dawn of digital projection I think the biggest construction made there to create a romanticized & saleable tale is that today most projectionists in the US are near-minimum wage employees who come in, punch a clock, & are unconcerned with what kind of machine they run at the job - digital, film, electrical, steam, blue buttons, red buttons, whatever. You need to go to a large sample of theaters & see how it works not so much technically, but organizationally, employee-wise, & not create a mythos. I am continually confronted with & amazed at how many folks undertake & have a personal stake in a romanticization of a technology understood not even superficially, from nostalgia to flying-cars futurism.  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 02-02-2004 08:59 AM                        Here's the "Chronology of Kodak Motion Picture Films" on the Kodak website: http://www.kodak.com/country/US/en/motion/about/chrono4.shtml Kodak Digital Cinema: http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/digital/ The views of Richard Sehlin, Chief Technology Officer of Kodak Entertainment Imaging: http://www.kodak.com/country/US/en/motion/products/v2/sehlin.shtml Last year was the best ever for Kodak Entertainment Imaging, with over 10 BILLION feet of film sold. About 70% of Kodak Entertainment Imaging R&D is still for FILM related programs, with several new Kodak VISION2 films introduced, and more in the pipeline. Today, there are over 100,000 35mm film theatres in the world, and only a few hundred theatres equipped for "Digital Cinema". There are still significant issues that need to be resolved and business issues that need to be negotiated: http://www.natoonline.org/DigitalCinemaSecurityLetterv.pdf http://www.natoonline.org/digitalcinemauserreq.htm http://www.natoonline.org/digitalcinemaletter.htm http://www.mpaa.org/dcinema/ http://www.mkpe.com/articles/index.htm http://www.mkpe.com/cinema/standards.htm  |  IP: Logged Andrew Duggan Expert Film Handler Posts: 127 From: Albany, NY, USA Registered: Jun 2002 posted 02-02-2004 02:55 PM                        I like how everytime there's some kind of article, film, show, or what not, regarding projectionists and the "impending digital age", operators are always handled with kid gloves as these tragic "sad clown" figures that the world is leaving behind, never accounting for all of us who make sure to stay on top of new technologies to make our jobs and the entire moviegoing experience the best they can possibly be.  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 02-02-2004 03:13 PM                        Those pundits also look at Kodak as a "buggy whip manufacturer", forgetting that Kodak is a leader in digital and hybrid imaging technology, as well as FILM technology. Yet they complain when Kodak shifts emphasis to digital imaging in some markets, or decides to invest some of its' generous dividend payments into digital imaging. http://www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/researchDevelopment/techProdHighlights.shtml http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=2/8/12&pq-locale=en_US  |  IP: Logged

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