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Topic: Slate Magazine predicts the end of projectionists

Richard May
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1057
From: Floral Park, NY USA
Registered: Aug 2004

posted 12-09-2010 08:11 AM

I have a feeling that it's not going to be as simple as that. You have certain AMC theaters that have left the lamps on all night. The manager operators I have spoke to do not do ANY kind of maintenance on the equipment now. They don't even clean the port glass. The problem right now, in NYC anyway, is there are not enough technicians to handle everything.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 12-09-2010 09:30 AM

quote: Kenneth Wuepper
One service method would have the technician carry all of the circuit boards for a system on the service call.

Thats something along the lines of whats being done today except that a "Crash Kit" is located very near to a large number of projectors... usually with in 30 minutes drive time.

Mark

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Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

posted 12-09-2010 12:25 PM

Richard--it sounds as if some projectionists need to get into the service business. They would probably get a nice pay raise, as well.

This might make a nice business for someone with more skills than the average button-pusher, but without the knowledge or inclination to be a full projection and sound technician. Frequent (weekly? bi-weekly?) service calls to all-digital or mostly-digital multiplexes to serve the quality-control function that a full-time projectionist would have provided. It could involve checking light and sound on every screen, general cleaning, bulb changes, and anything else that would need to be done by on-site staff. Obviously, there would be fewer jobs for this sort of work than for full-time operators, but these jobs would probably also pay a bit better and would be more sustainable over the long term (at least as long as the theatres themselves last).

Somehow, I don't think that the usual two or three contract service calls per year will be enough for a theatre that has no one with technical knowledge on staff to serve that quality-control function. It wouldn't help to save a show in the event of equipment failure (since the technican would need to be called in), but it would help to reduce the chances of such failures.

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Tony Bandiera Jr
Film God

Posts: 3067
From: Moreland Idaho
Registered: Apr 2004

posted 12-09-2010 12:36 PM

Scott, it is not a simple thing to become a technician. In addition to the required training on the specific hardware to be serviced, there are very few people who have the troubleshooting savvy to be a good technician.

With the rates that D-Cinema technicians will be commanding, the owners (and companies employing said tech) will have ZERO tolerance for a tech that is not quick and efficient at doing the repairs.

There are so few people who can adequately OPERATE 35mm projectors, much less repair them, so good techs are few and far between. Sadly, so are good projectionists who could make that leap.

You are quite correct that the standard two-three contract service calls a year is not enough.

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Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

posted 12-09-2010 01:42 PM

Uh-oh .. kinda reminds me of when a person had his CNA/CNE licence that he can go anywhere with it.

Now, wonder if every film projectionist heads off to BARCO/NEC/CHRISTIE/SONY school to be educated on these respective equipment, could we have a palor of DCI technicians?

Can you see a DCI tech carry with him a spare BARCO lamp module in his travel kit?

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 12-09-2010 04:00 PM

It's already possible for an all digital multiplex to have its shows remotely scheduled and run. I think most movie theaters will have their shows handled that way within a few years. The technical service provider will take over as the "projectionist" and manage hundreds of screens instead of the dozen or so run in the current manager/projectionist model.

In the new system the manager's only job regarding projection will be to phone the service company if something goes wrong. That may be all he can do since I can visualize the guy being locked out of the booth! With such a heavy reliance on remote operation the situation will be loads of fun when something breaks.

Naturally more staff cuts are going to occur. Remote operation of projection guarantees that. Unfortunately, the folks working the projection gear (manager, assistant manager, etc.) are often helping the limited number of floor people. More staff cuts equals fewer people to help customers. That translates to longer lines at the ticket booth and snack counter and fewer staffers to monitor what's happening in the auditoriums. And that means the situation with bad customer behavior is just going to get worse and convince more people to stay at home.

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Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

posted 12-09-2010 04:28 PM

quote: Bobby Henderson
In the new system the manager's only job regarding projection will be to phone the service company if something goes wrong

Can I add to this comment with a possible step further?:

Also, with digital, there is the factor in of networking with the addition of network switches in the console of these units. Thus, the assigned area technician can log in to each unit and bring up the operations/error log within the server and the projector to see how they are running in real time and while during off-hours operation.

Thus, that area tech can plan out his routes on a much more routine basis as a precautionary prevent mainentance practice schedule.

Granted, the manager still needs to call-in if there is an sudden problem like: start failures, display and macro failures, and the like...in which the individual location can momentarily remedy some of this issues if trained correctly, but still all of these crucial areas needs to be reported and documented.

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Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

posted 12-09-2010 10:00 PM

Remote monitoring is great, but it won't help track down a blown horn diaphragm, fingerprints on the lens, or a broken masking motor....

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 12-09-2010 10:07 PM

quote: Bobby Henderson
Naturally more staff cuts are going to occur. Remote operation of projection guarantees that. Unfortunately, the folks working the projection gear (manager, assistant manager, etc.) are often helping the limited number of floor people. More staff cuts equals fewer people to help customers. That translates to longer lines at the ticket booth and snack counter and fewer staffers to monitor what's happening in the auditoriums. And that means the situation with bad customer behavior is just going to get worse and convince more people to stay at home.

If that's true, I'm surprised some company doesn't recognize that and take steps to emphasize it. "100% guaranteed GREAT presentations!" could be a marketing ploy.

The more likely thing is, though, that all this doom and gloom is misplaced. In other words it's NOT AS BAD as the negative people say it is. Sure there is the occasional botched show -- it's been that way since the beginning of time. But there are probably about 150,000 or more other presentations a day in this country alone that go off without a hitch.

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Martin McCaffery
Film God

Posts: 2481
From: Montgomery, AL
Registered: Jun 99

posted 12-09-2010 10:28 PM

quote: Bobby Henderson
The technical service provider will take over as the "projectionist" and manage hundreds of screens instead of the dozen or so run in the current manager/projectionist model.

The possibility of a "hostage" situation is stunning.

"Nice little chain you've got there, pity if anything should happen to it>

Kinda makes the old Chicago IA look like pikers [Wink]

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 12-09-2010 11:03 PM

quote: Scott Norwood
Remote monitoring is great, but it won't help track down a blown horn diaphragm, fingerprints on the lens, or a broken masking motor....

I'm not convinced the folks running major movie theater chains really care about sound quality anymore. It was a bigger deal 15-20 years ago. Now it's more of an afterthought. If extra attention is paid to the sound system as a company policy matter it's now being bundled in with some over-priced "premium" auditorium showing the same 2K rendered movie, but only doing so on a bigger screen.

quote: Mike Blakesley
The more likely thing is, though, that all this doom and gloom is misplaced. In other words it's NOT AS BAD as the negative people say it is.

I'm talking about what may be possible in the future once the whole transition to digital is complete.

Audience behavior is already a really serious problem for theaters; it's by far the primary reason why I don't make as much of an effort to get to the theater as I did years ago. If theater chain executives fully remote automate the projection booths and use that to further reduce staff it will allow unruly audience members to disrupt the shows in bigger ways and do so more often.

The current situation may not be all that bad, but it's not all that great either. Presentation quality varies wildly from one theater location to the next. If it's good it's usually only because that particular site has at least a few people on the staff that give a damn about what they're doing and probably fight hard to keep the equipment maintained. If their morale is run into the ground by the higher ups they'll either stop caring or quit.

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Frank Angel
Film God

Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 12-12-2010 07:42 AM

Projectionists Predict The End Of Slate Magazine

The printed periodical, magazine, newspaper -- print in general -- are all quickly being replaced by digital delivery systems. People get their information digitally on the iPads and Kindles and the web, and actually prefer them to the environmentally unfriendly physical print medium. Trees are happy about this as well.

(Two can play this game). [Razz]

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Louis Bornwasser
Film God

Posts: 4441
From: prospect ky usa
Registered: Mar 2005

posted 12-12-2010 10:09 AM

Those who have bad 35mm will learn how to have bad digital. . . . .I believe this is what I said years ago when Cinemark announced its digital program.

Sadly this is now industry-wide withg only a few exceptions. Louis

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Frank Angel
Film God

Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 12-12-2010 10:35 AM

How right you are, Louis. Only thing is, they won't have to do much learning in how to do digital badly....they already have a few legs up on that, given the years of practice in their 35mm-done-badly booths.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 12-12-2010 12:56 PM

Of course none of this film to digital transition has really done anything for sound issues. Theaters with crappy sound in their film setups will continue to have crappy sound with digital.

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