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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Topic: The Advanced Projection Manual
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 10-01-2007 12:43 PM
I bought a copy at GEH at the AMIA conference last week. I've only had a chance to skim-read it so far. My first impressions are that it offers very comprehensive coverage of the issues and problems involved in archival print handling, setting up a booth for legacy format presentation and the operations and maintenance stuff which comes with that. It would be perfect for an advanced projectionist or tech who is moving into a well-equipped booth and/or a job that will involve handling legacy format prints or physically problematic (e.g. shrunk) ones on a regular basis. I suspect that it's pitched at too high a level for someone with less than 5-10 years of experience.
It doesn't cover the basic theory or operations at all - for example, the book assumes that you know the theory behind the operation of the intermittent or shutter, or how analogue optical sound is recorded and reproduced. The emphasis of the book is completely on the things you need to know to handle and present archival, special format and other non-standard prints, which you probably don't need to know in a mainstream/multiplex environment.
Strengths
- The chapter on bench handling techniques gives a thorough account of what you need to look for when getting an archive print ready for projection.
- The chapter on 35mm aspect ratios is great, with excellent frame scans as examples and a good 'how to make an educated guess at the correct ratio if the print doesn't tell you' section.
- There's a very good discussion of the different types of optical mono track and how these affect playback on modern cinema processors.
- The chapter on video projection has very a clear and effective discussion of the signals theory, TV standards and other background knowledge needed to understand how electronic projection actually works.
- The standard of illustrations - both photos and diagrams - is good throughout.
Weaknesses
- Some issues are covered in great depth, while others are brushed over or just aren't there. For example there's a big chapter on 3-D projection and short-lived sound formats which even rep projectionists are unlikely to ever encounter (e.g. 70mm CDS), but nothing whatsoever on nitrate projection.
- There is no reasoning or explanation for many of the book's recommended practices. For example, why does the author regard the DP-75 as suitable but the Vic 8 as an unsuitable projector for use in archival projector?
- The chapter on booth equipment doesn't cover automation and non-rewind systems (i.e. platters, double-MUTs and towers) at all - not even to say 'don't use them'. For something claiming to be an advanced projection manual in general rather than an archival projection manual specifically, leaving this out is a major problem.
- The chapter on small gauge projection doesn't really work. It offers no comparative discussion of the different theatre-scale 16mm machines in the way that the book does for 35/70 (though there are few brief paragraphs on this in an earlier section), and nor does it offer much in the way of practical pointers for optimising the quality of 16mm projection. Given that many archival projection prints in circulation are 16mm, I felt that more space needed to be given to this topic.
- The chapter on digital projection will very quickly go out of date, but I guess that can't be helped.
- At 55 euros or $80, it probably costs more than many individuals or smaller theatres are willing to pay (though in my opinion, almost all of FIAF's publications are overpriced, relative to what they offer).
In short, my initial reaction is that this book does a lot of very good things, and understandably concentrates on the areas that the BKSTS manual either doesn't cover at all or only very briefly. But some of the 'recommendations' really need to be explained and justified (given that this claims to be 'advanced', it should cover fors and againsts rather than just say 'do this' or 'don't do that') and I get the impression of some problematic gaps in its coverage. I'd guess this is because (according to his bio on in70mm.com), Mr. Sætervadet's background is exclusively as a theatre tech and projectionist, and therefore probably isn't bringing in the archivist's perspective to the discussion. Hopefully, sales will be good enough to be able to think about a second edition which could enlarge this aspect of the book a bit.
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 10-02-2007 02:53 AM
If you look at the typical range of books published by, say, Focal Press or Routledge on technical topics (which also sell comparatively short print runs, of usually well under a thousand copies), you'll see that almost all titles are also available in paperback and that the prices rarely exceed £20 (35 euros or $40). And these are produced by for-profit publishers! FIAF is supposed to be a non-profit professional body and advocacy organisation, and so either they're raking in a big profit on book sales or their production practices are inefficient. Their costs will be slightly higher than those of the big publishers, but not that much. My point is that the price is high enough to deter people who are interested but not that interested from buying it, or who simply don't earn enough to be able to spend nearly $100 on a book.
I agree that the book achieves a lot of very good things, and covers aspects of projection installation, operation and training which no similar manual published in the last 30 years does. But the coverage is too patchy (something which could have been addressed by consulting with archive technicians and access officers more than I suspect the author did) and contains too many unsubstantiated opinions for me to consider it definitive or the last word.
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Christie and Strong have good and bad points; it depends what the end user considers good for their situation.
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It will give them time to build a 100 digital machines a day. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
One manufacturer I know dropped a model due to the "bottleneck" regarding intermittents...better to sell a more expensive projector than a cheap model using the identical time/labor/materials to make the heart of the machine. ![[Cool]](cool.gif)
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