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This topic comprises 9 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
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Topic: Theaters still running 35mm (please read the specifics)
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 04-23-2015 12:08 PM
That Sprocket School site is interesting to put it mildly - symptomatic of the AMIA / "Film Forever" tendency who seem to believe that because they've come from an archival film handling background and then done a one-day course in which they've threaded a machine and done a changeover or two, the future of analog film presentation is safe with them.
I had one such person come in a little while back, interested in projection work: she had a master's degree in film handling and clearly knew her acetate from her polyester. After we'd chatted for a few minutes, I mentioned to her that the previous evening, a nasty ground hum had suddenly appeared on the left surround channel whenever the digital projector's bulb was on. How, I asked, would she go about trying to investigate what was causing that? Her answer: wouldn't know where to start - call a tech. Next question - the sound suddenly goes out halfway through a reel (which actually happened to me last week - exciter blew). What would you do? Her answer was the same - call a tech. And as for the DCP server and projector, she'd never even seen one!
It was clear to me, sadly, that this girl would need many months if not years under constant, full time training and supervision before she could safely be left with a show on her own. These kids don't seem to understand that to work in the dwindling number of venues still projecting film, the ability to make elegant splices (taking two hours to check and prep each reel, which their bosses won't be able to pay for - if I take more than an hour to examine and prepare a 6-8 reel print, mine will want to know why) and appreciate the rich blacks in an IB print is not relevant: the ability to understand the equipment in the booth, fix minor faults and work around major ones is what's important.
This website mirrors this tendency exactly: lots of stuff on prints and film handling, but nothing on equipment maintenance, troubleshooting and repair. The pages for projector models are blank, and there aren't even any blank pages for the common models of audio processor!
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Will Kutler
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1506
From: Tucson, AZ, USA
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 04-24-2015 12:05 PM
Jack
It is not about being put-off by "Old Timers" like myself...
Where to begin? Going back to the dawn of cinema exhibition, the people who engineered, manufactured and operated this equipment all had multitudes of skills including formal backgrounds in engineering, machining, electrical and later, electronics, not to mention being Showmen". Threading a projector and running a change-over is just "the icing on the cake".
My formal background is in aviation maintenance, tool making/precision machining and manufacturing engineering.
How many times have I been called out to repair a booth that had been heavily abused! Solutions included being in the machine shop either repairing or making custom parts.... and hitting up local "mom & pop" hardware or electrical supply stores as a MacGyver to come up with a creative and quality solution to a problem on very short notice thereby preventing a dark screen!
These are not attributes that can be taught over-night!!
What irritates me are seeing videos of so-called "projectionists" who make themselves cozy in the booth recliner...and even worse, booths that are utter pig-stys!. Step 1 is having the discipline to have a spotless booth...and I guarantee you that there is no such thing as break time in a properly run 20-plex!
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 04-24-2015 12:53 PM
Jack: I would be more than happy to spend as much time as it takes. Sadly, the money isn't there in my organization to hire and train an apprentice. My point is that if we hired someone out of film archiving school, or an experimental filmmaker who has done a bit of Super 8 or 16mm, that's effectively what we'd be doing. I suspect that most of the other venues that are trying to make a strategic, long-term commitment to preserving the ability to project film are in the same position.
I'm also conscious that the skills base above mine is fragile, too. For example, we recently had a fault with our CP200, which, for all my trawling through the service manual and having used them on and off since 1992, I couldn't identify and fix. Luckily for us, a Dolby tech visited us to tune the room for a big premiere shortly afterwards (for which we weren't using that processor at all), and kindly took a look at it for us. Simply by knowing instinctively where to look because he'd been servicing these things more or less since they were first made, he found the problem in three minutes flat. But Dolby doesn't officially support the CP200 any more, and the techs on their workforce who are experienced in working on them is only going to dwindle from here on in.
I'm not trying to p!ss off or alienate the archive-based movement to preserve film projection, but I do believe that they are not going to achieve what they're trying to achieve just by doing what they're doing. From here on in, trying to maintain and regularly use the ability to show 16/35/70 is going to be like trying to commute daily (and reliably) in a 30-year old car with 300,000 miles on the clock. It can be done, but someone who knows all there is to know about the design and aesthetic qualities of the vehicle, but not how to adjust the valve clearances, is really going to struggle.
What would really help is a workshop in which attendees are taught to strip a Norelco to the chassis and rebuild it under the supervision of someone who's been doing that for a living since the 1960s, or troubleshoot a misbehaving CP200.
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 04-26-2015 12:04 PM
quote: Jack Theakston
Archival theaters want an archival film handler, but they also want a projectionist.
They actually need more than a projectionist: they need someone with a skill set that in the mainstream days of film projection, a rank-and-file projectionist - even a chief - was not required to have. In those days, projectionists hired by a theater did film handling and basic, planned maintenance (e.g. replacing xenon bulbs). More complex maintenance and repair tasks were done by a tech working for the chain centrally, if your venue was owned by a chain, or by a service contractor if it was an independent. That layer of maintenance and repair support is now almost gone and will be totally gone within a few years.
Sorry to harp on about this, but I think the analogy with a keeping a classic car in everyday use is a good one. If you're trying to keep your 1972 Chevy El Camino in reliable enough condition for daily commuting, you're going to have to stay ahead of the game by replacing and adjusting components that the car's owner would not have had to touch (or pay anyone else to touch) during the first decade or so of its life. You're going to have to spot early warning signs of future failure, and make strategic decisions about what jobs you're going to do preemptively and what you're going to not worry about until symptoms appear. You're going to have to identify sources of model-specific replacement parts, including ones intended for other vehicles and non-automotive use that'll work on yours. And you're going to have to do all of this without the safety net of being able to take the car to a local shop if you run out of time and/or knowledge to fix something, because the local shops will probably say sorry, we're not able to work on a car that old and specialized.
The same applies to maintaining the projector heads, lamphouses, rectifiers and audio A-chain and B-chain components in a film projector booth. No-one makes or supports film projectors any more. No-one makes or supports audio processors with film sound playback capability anymore (apart from the optical sound add-on card for the AP20). If laser projection becomes the industry norm, xenon bulbs may go away as well, which will be a huge problem. I come from a film archival background originally too, but worked as a projectionist alongside my training in that (which no-one else I did my degree with did, or showed any interest in doing). In those days, being a projectionist meant being a film handler with only very basic repair/maintenance/troubleshooting skills on top. In the remaining 16/35/70 booths, someone with only those skills is not going to be able to keep the shows going for very long. If the "Film Forever" tendency really wants to keep those shows going, repair, troubleshooting and maintenance is the area of training and support that is missing from all of these advocacy/support websites and where the resources really need to be developed.
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