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Author Topic: "The Passion Behind the Light" -- A Projectionist's Tale Mark Lensenmayer Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1605 From: Upper Arlington, OH Registered: Sep 1999 posted 03-13-2004 10:19 AM                     Get your fingers off the button, moderators, this isn't about THAT Passion! From the NY Times 3/13/04 ABOUT NEW YORK The Passion Behind the Light By DAN BARRY The Jackson Triplex in Queens had three features clicking away the other afternoon. In one theater, the thriller, "Twisted." In another, the comedy, "Starsky and Hutch." And in the middle, in the premier house, that blockbuster, "The Passion of the Christ." Perhaps only Joe Rivierzo could fully appreciate the interesting juxtaposition. Tucked away in the projectionist's booth, far up and all the way back, only Mr. Rivierzo experienced the cinematic blend of Ashley Judd earnestness, Ben Stiller wackiness, and the crucifixion of Jesus as seen through the blood-misted lens of Mel Gibson. Mr. Rivierzo has watched snippets of "The Passion" here and there from a porthole in the booth, but he has no plans to see the entire movie, considered inspiring by some and anti-Semitic by others. His girlfriend has already seen it, he explained, and besides, "I'm not that religious." He is more reverent about the vital role of the projectionist, the last in a long chain of talented people responsible for the creation of movie magic. "And nobody knows we're up here," he said. Mr. Rivierzo raised his voice to be heard above the clack and hum of his concrete-floored workplace, where reels of film as wide as Hula Hoops twirled at 90 feet a minute through three projectors to create distinctly different movie experiences - from the comic antics of two cops to the persecution of Christ. There is a monkish quality to Mr. Rivierzo's workday. He slips his rail-thin body into a tan jumpsuit and climbs 13 steep steps to a narrow room with a small refrigerator, a bathroom, a cuspidor and timetables for three movies. There he stays for the next 12 hours, making sure that the films unwind in perfection, the projectors whir uninterrupted, and the sounds and images remain clear, distinct. He considers it his duty to jut his head through the porthole at the start of every movie to hear what the audience is hearing. He knows, for example, that a roomful of winter coats can muffle sound effects and require adjustments to the Dolby system. Mr. Rivierzo's lot in life seemed preordained. His father and grandfather were projectionists, and when young Joey decided to join the union 26 years ago, he thought his pedigree ensured him of work in a top-flight theater. " 'Put him in a porno house,' " he recalled his father telling a union official. "I looked at him like he was on fire. He says, 'You're not going to ruin my reputation.' " Mr. Rivierzo smiled at the memory, then shot a stream of semisweet chewing tobacco into that cuspidor. His father, Lou, died at 87 a few years ago. He was a good man, he said, and the best projectionist he ever saw. LOU'S son is 46 now, his years of projecting pornographic movies well behind him. He serves as an executive board member for Local 306, the movie projectionists' union in New York, and works for a "sweetheart" of an owner, Manny Diaz, at this quaint theater in Jackson Heights, where the ushers wear red vests. Each day he senses the isolation known to his elders, an isolation that his father often likened to prison time. The solitude has its purpose, though. Little things - a scratch on the film, a garble in the sound - are noticed quickly. Little things. For example, in recent days Mr. Rivierzo has started the 4 p.m. showing of "Twisted," then walked to the other end of the booth to prepare "Starsky and Hutch" for its 4:10 showing. When he returns to "The Passion'' in the center of the room, the Century projector is always illuminating the same scene. "It's the scene where they're putting the crucifix into the ground," he explained, as if previewing what was about to appear on screen. "They dig a hole, like a fencepost, they lift the crucifix and drop it in. That's the scene I see, only because of the way the shows are stacked." And with the Dolby-enhanced sound, he added, "It goes right through you." With the two other movies under way, Mr. Rivierzo turned up the sound system and peered through the porthole. "Watch," he said. "They drop it in - Watch! - and I've got the 4:10 going{hellip}" BAM! "See?" he said. "You feel it?" As Jesus died and was resurrected on screen, Mr. Rivierzo sat on an upturned crate, talking about life. Before long, it was time for the 4:50 showing. He stood up and walked over to the projector. "We're going to light the candle," he said, peering through the porthole. "My old man used to say that: 'We're going to light the candle.' " He pushed a button, and the passion began again.  |  IP: Logged Gerard S. Cohen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 975 From: Forest Hills, NY, USA Registered: Sep 2001 posted 03-13-2004 10:59 AM                     I've worked the Jackson Triplex, and agree with the favorable opinion of the Diaz family as exhibition employers. In the family's several theatres, the Local 306 projectionists I worked with shared that high estimate, too.  |  IP: Logged Howard Johnson Film Handler Posts: 87 From: Felpham , West Sussex, UK Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-13-2004 02:53 PM                     I haven't come across this word "cuspidor" before . I presume it's a rubbish bin?  |  IP: Logged Paul Mayer Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under! Posts: 3836 From: Albuquerque, NM Registered: Feb 2000 posted 03-13-2004 03:01 PM                        Also known as a spittoon.  |  IP: Logged Darryl Spicer Film God Posts: 3250 From: Lexington, KY, USA Registered: Dec 2000 posted 03-13-2004 03:01 PM                    or a spittoon.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 03-13-2004 03:18 PM                     Is it just me, or are these newspaper articles written amazingly corny and overall just lame?  |  IP: Logged Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 03-13-2004 03:28 PM                     quote: " 'Put him in a porno house,' " he recalled his father telling a union official. "I looked at him like he was on fire. He says, 'You're not going to ruin my reputation.' " Mr. Rivierzo smiled at the memory, then shot a stream of quote: semisweet chewing tobacco into that cuspidor.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-13-2004 04:02 PM                        quote: Is it just me, or are these newspaper articles written amazingly corny and overall just lame? It's because writers (and the general public) think of the projection booth as a dark, mysterious, hidden world, so they try to make that feeling come across.  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 03-13-2004 04:26 PM                        Of all the projectionist cliché articles that come out from time to time, this one strikes me as better than most. OK, the isolation bit is somewhat exaggerated (I never spent 12-hour shifts totally incommunicado - I'd leave the booth and have a coffee break with other human beings every now and again), but there are little details which he does get right. I liked the section about seeing the same extract from a film many times as a result of the show timetabling - I've lost count of how many films I can vividly remember every detail of one little 90-second sequence from but have never seen the rest of! The buggery scene in Pulp Fiction springs to mind, because a changeover happens just as Bruce Willis bursts into the dungeon wielding the samurai sword.  |  IP: Logged John Walsh Film God Posts: 2490 From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way Registered: Oct 1999 posted 03-13-2004 06:06 PM                     I had to laugh at Leo's last statement, because I felt the same way. For example, at the end of the first reel of "SW:Return" there's a scene where a frog-like creature uses his tongue to snatch and eat some other creature, then burps. I stomped that c/o pedel many times. Later, the print was moved to a platter house, yet I swear my foot would twitch if I saw that scene. I have spent many 12 hour (and longer) shifts never leaving the projection room, although admittedly armed with a refrig and a toster oven.  |  IP: Logged Bernard Tonks Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 619 From: Cranleigh, Surrey, England Registered: Apr 2001 posted 03-13-2004 06:58 PM                     The changeover I will always remember is during the chariot race of BEN HUR some 45 years ago. quote: CELEBRATING 25 YEARS IN THE MOVIE BUSINESS - March 14, 1979 - March 14, 2004 Congratulations Mike on your 25th year and may you long continue. I shall always remember March 14th as it was the day I closed my cinema in 2002 after 24 years.  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 03-13-2004 09:41 PM                        I too often spend 16 hours straight in the booth... in before anyone else arrives, and last to leave, not seeing anyone the whole time. It's kind of weird. I've had people call my house or cell phone looking for me when it turns out I've already been at the theatre for 12 hours and am still there. Most of the booths I run are like caves once the first show starts. Nothing more that the light leaking from lamp houses. Good thing I've got great night vision.  |  IP: Logged Stephen Brown Film Handler Posts: 91 From: Newcastle, NSW, Australia Registered: Jan 2000 posted 03-15-2004 05:31 AM                     I recall that I could do all the changeovers on 'Grease' purely by listening to the soundtrack and not watching the picture.. Yes, I know thats pathetic........ Or Booths that used to run so hot, you'd do the show stripped down to your underwear......And no it wasn't a porno house....Of course you locked the Booth door.. Steve Brown  |  IP: Logged

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