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Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 11-21-1999, 02:44 AM:
I mean REALLY on your own with no help whatsoever...Mine was "The Spy Who Loved Me". It was 1978 at the drive in and I was 12 years old. I remember being SOoooo nervous waiting for the changeover to come. Just love that 'heart up in your throat' feeling.
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 11-21-1999, 02:55 AM:
The first movie I ever ran alone was the first movie I ever ran."Chris" showed me how to thread the machine and then said "go try that one, I'm going to grab a smoke and I'll be right back."
Never saw him again, to this day. I can't even remember what the film was. Oh well, unbelieveably the show ran smooth.
Posted by Scott Shepard (Member # 196) on 11-21-1999, 03:16 AM:
The 1st movie I ran on my own was First Blood.
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 11-21-1999, 03:23 AM:
So THAT'S where you gained all this wisdom, Brad. I think this is the sort of intensive training given to many floor staff even today. 
Posted by Christopher A Kerr (Member # 151) on 11-21-1999, 11:07 AM:
See my new topic "Note to new members". I can relate to having no training. I was shown how to thread a Century SA and a potts platter and given keys to the theatre as my training. I started by myself the next day.If I remember correctly the shows playing at the time were - Wild Wild West, Notting Hill, Arlington Road, Muppets From Space, Austin Powers 2, and Big Daddy.
Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 11-21-1999, 11:27 AM:
The first 16mm film that I ran for a college film screening was "Grosse Pointe Blank" with a Woody Woodpecker cartoon. The training was little more than how to thread the projectors (the wrong way, I might add). The screening went fine, except for the changeovers (the Eiki EX-6100 projectors had a weird changeover that has a two-second delay between when you hit "changeover" and when the changeover actually occurs...I didn't figure this out until the second film that I ran on these machines).
The first 35mm film that I ran was "Amistad"; again, the only training was in the wrong way to thread the Century projectors. The film was on three 6000' reels. The first and third reels went fine. I somehow misthreaded the second reel so that the film bunched up in the soundhead. Fortunately, I caught this quickly and fixed it in under a minute.
First 35mm film with carbon-arc lamps: "Red Violin"; this show was pretty much flawless (since the guy who showed me how to run carbons was actually highly knowledgeable), although at one changeover, I accidentally hit the "curtain" switch instead of the changeover button. Oops.
Posted by Rob Brooks (Member # 186) on 11-21-1999, 11:30 AM:
The first film I ran solo was on Thanksgiving Day in 1972. Actually it was 2 movies since back then all theaters had double features and a short. They were always known as the A picture and the B picture. That's why Ronald Reagan was known as a B Picture Actor. So the B picture was "Dollars" with Goldie Hawn. The A picture was "The New Centurions" with George C Scott and Stacy keach. And wouldn't you know at night I couldn't get one of the carbon Peerless lamphouses to light, so I had to stop the show every 20 minutes to run on one machine. It turned out it was a problem with the lamphouse wire. But I sure was relieved it wasn't my fault. I remember walking in with a huge attache case of tools. Not that I knew how to use them. ------------------
Rob
Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 11-21-1999, 12:31 PM:
My first film was "Grease" in 1977. But, we got it second run about 2 months later (in Nov, if I remember), and the print was totally beat. I remember thinking; 'This is the way prints come?' The theater I was at had a 50 foot screen, (2) V8's, Ashcraft lamps, 70mm, adjustable top and side masking, it sat 800 people, had a loge. The seat spacing back-to-back was 38". It was a real premium theater. A seperate, "hard ticket" sales office, ladies room had a sink and toliet in each stall. But the company (Consolidated theaters) had invested heavily in, "Hello, Dolly!" and, since 1969, had been running out of bankrupcy. It was strange, because I was surrounded by high quality equipment, but there was no money for anything like maintaince, parts, or even decent quality carbons. One of the owners came around with a box of 25watt light bulbs that we were to use from now on.
Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 11-21-1999, 12:39 PM:
My first changeover was on "Teach Me" (appropriately titled) and "The Foursome" double-bill, at the Circle 25 d/i, Lexington, KY, on 9/7/74. I was TWELVE!I couldn't tell you which picture was which, and at that age, I didn't care. I was more entralled with the big machines than big boobs (although it's the other way around today)!
I guess the first picture I ran all by my lonesome was "Silver Streak", in 1976, at the Leeds Theatre, Winchester, KY. The regular operator stepped out for supper one night, wished me luck, promptly left town and I never saw him again!
Posted by Erick Ojeda (Member # 216) on 11-21-1999, 02:26 PM:
If I remember correctly, the first movie I have ever ran by myself was Doug's 1st Movie. At the theater I work at, the booth is manager operated, so only new managers are trained how to run the booth. I really didn't have a problem, but the frist movie I did have a problem with was Instinct. There was about 15 minutes left in the film, and the print spiraled around the brain. The film around the brian actually looked like a cone. I was extremely nervous because I never came across this problem, so I gave out passes, and allowed patrons to stay for the next showing, which did run. Man, there were a lot of mad people. lol....
Posted by Daniel J. Durtschi (Member # 212) on 11-21-1999, 02:40 PM:
The first movie that I ever threaded, and ran was Batman. I was working with a Balyntine projecter, and forgot to put some tension on the rollers above and below the sound drum so they could float. Abviously the sound was really deep, slow and hard to hear. The guy that was training me got all nervous and couldn't figure out what was wrong ( thinking that it was something more involved then what it actually was). Well he finally figured it out, and I learned an important lesson. So it was a good experiance for me.
Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 11-21-1999, 04:39 PM:
The first movie I projected to a paying audience was 'Take This Job And Shove It' back in June 1981 at the Clover Cinema in Cloverdale, CA on Brenkert 60s, Magnarcs, and of course 2000' changeovers. There was a bit of 'practice before that using thrashed prints of such classics as 'Beyond And Back' and 'Guardian Of The Wilderness' and a few hodgepodge trailer reels History repeats itself, as I am currently doing the sound and projection installs on this very same theatre, although it is now a stadium 4-plex...Aaron
Posted by Erika Hellgren (Member # 22) on 11-21-1999, 04:59 PM:
Well, I don't remember the first movie I ran on my own since I was working at a 12 plex, but the first movie I built up and screened by myself was "Outbreak". I screwed up royally because I think I'd had about 60 seconds tops of build-up training. I got one reel out of frame, and another one backwards. Good thing I screened it.
Posted by Christopher Seo (Member # 7) on 11-21-1999, 05:16 PM:
I trained at a 12-plex, so I also don't remember which movie it was exactly that I started without having someone check it first. But the first official movie I ran was the movie my theater opened with: the ever-popular "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace"! A group of us projectionists started the movie on five screens at midnight on May 19th. I remember the excitement with which I watched the Fox fanfare and Lucasfilm logo... but then it got pretty tiring, and I had been at the theater probably 15 hours straight already, so I stopped watching.Mr. Walsh: what is the name and location of that theater? The only Consolidated Theaters I know of is in Hawaii, and I think that company does business on the West Coast under the name Pacific Theaters.
Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 11-21-1999, 05:40 PM:
Hey there, Chris...There are probably several "Consolidated Theaters" around. The theater I worked at was in Greenwich, Connecticut. They also had a few theaters in nearby Stamford. They had run those theaters from about 1949 to 1978, when the place I worked at (and the others nearby) were sold to Trans-Lux Corp. (yep, "Felix the Cat" people.) You could ask around at your company if they were related, but you'll have to talk to a real old timer. The name of the main guy who "ran" us was Melvin Miller. I don't know many other details, because they were sold off just when I got there.
Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-21-1999, 07:27 PM:
The first movie I ever ran was Jurassic Park, and not when it originally opened. We were a 1st and a half run theatre (kinda) so we got it a few weeks after it opened. Even though we were 100% mono, it still had the DTS logo attatched to the print, and we were not allowed to take it off. I wanted to steal it. I was shown how to properly thread the Century SA 3 times before I got it down pat. That was it. Come to think of it, I really haven't been running movies for all that long...5 or 6 years maybe. I am still working for that same company now, after an interesting but ultimately distasteful affair with United Artists.
Posted by Jon Miller (Member # 163) on 11-21-1999, 08:32 PM:
My first movie I ran unassisted? It was some obscure ska music film whose title I've forgotten, that was being shown in a cafeteria at a local university, sometime in 1982. I had gone to see the film, and found a tails-up print, an old DeVry supplied without an empty reel, and an operator without the slightest clue. Even though I never ran 35mm before, using my extensive 16mm experience, I gave it the old "college try"...I sent one of the people from the group in search of a reel at the school's theatre. When a reel was found, we rewound the film manually, using pencils to support the reels. I then figured out the DeVry and ended up running the show for them, with breaks to thread up each successive reel. The group who organized the showing was *sooo* glad I showed up!Of course, if we're talking a real installation, it would be the "Festival of Animation" at a local museum--changeovers, Simplex E-7s, SH-1000s, and 2k Christies--in 1991. I relieved the chief projectionist one-third way into the show with one full show yet to go. Even though I was nervous as all get-out, that first night went without incident. Things went fairly well there in the four years that followed, even though I always feared lamp explosions (fortunately, they blew when I wasn't around!).
Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 11-21-1999, 10:17 PM:
Star Wars in 1977. We had it at the Drive-In for almost 5 weeks in August, and early September. Sid was a brilliant old-school film handler, and taught me the right way to do things. I started R1. I turned around, and Sid was gone. Later I found out that he had previously arranged for his wife to attend, so he sat in the car. I was terrified for the first couple of reels, but I got used to things.The first time I built trailers, I got 2 out of frame. Thats what I get for not pre-screening.
Posted by Chris Erwin (Member # 176) on 11-21-1999, 10:34 PM:
I think it was Deep Blue Sea. I help in the booth, usually thread, and then the manager starts the film. One night,a girl called in sick,and the assistant manager and I ran the place by ourselves. (a single screen in a small town) The Asst. Manager ran box and I did concessions and booth. Unlike other places that do this commonplace (concessions runs booth) I was taught and had good education on the correct operations. (between here and a good manager/mentor) The show ran beautifully, but I sure was alot of nerves hitting "the button" without my manager to double check me. Remember that feeling you STILL get right before you start the show?--Chris
Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 11-22-1999, 01:15 PM:
I first started in the cinema in 1985. I was working for Landmark Cinemas back then. It was the Vogue theatre and I still have a soft spot in my heart for the Vogue. We had a Union projectionist named John Slot. John was a brit who went to sea during WWII at the age of 17. He had lots of stories. He ran Super Simplex with Peerless Magnarc lamhouses.We used to leave John in the booth running the show and would go next door for a beer. It was a glorious time not to be repeated.
The next year, Landmark closed the Vogue, fired John and put Xenon lamps in the rest of the theatres. They cut back the unions hours and trained the managers how to run the projectors. The Union wouldn't train any of us so our city manager did. He told me that it would take two weeks to train me and turn me loose in the booth. He gave me a couple of hours of instructions that first day and told me he would meet me on my next shift. That was the full extent of my training in the booth. He never showed up for my next shift.
My next job was for a 10-plex for UA. I worked with the techs for two weeks before the theatre opened. That was my best education. It helps to see how the booth is put together.
The rest of my education came by teaching others how to run the booth and by learning from them. I have been in the business for 12 years and I feel that I have more to learn now than I did in that first 1/2 hour with the city manager. Never stop learning.
Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 11-22-1999, 06:56 PM:
My first movie on my own, I don't know, some piece of R-rated teen/skin flick from the '70s I think.My first movie as a theatre owner was something called "Rivals," it was a four-wall rent-out. Right after that was "Every Which Way But Loose" followed by "Animal House." My partner and I thought we were going to be rich after that 3 weeks!
Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 11-23-1999, 07:56 AM:
I was finishing my freshman year in engineering at the State University of New York at Buffalo. I car-pooled to school with a high school friend, who's Dad managed the Grandview Drive-In in Angola, New York. My friend knew that I was into photography and electronics as hobbies, and said they needed a projectionist, as their backup just quit.My mentor was a guy named Carl, who fancied himself a "cool cat" and always dressed in black from head to foot. His day job was as an auto mechanic at a Chrysler dealership. He showed me how to clean, lube, and thread the Century C projectors, and the care and feeding of the Ashcraft Super Core Lites. First changeovers by myself were quite the thrill. First night was a double feature of "Alfie" and "Georgy Girl" in May 1967.
The manager of the drive-in gave us the freedom and responsibility to run the projection as we wanted, as long as the picture and sound quality were good. I built an AM transmitter for radio sound (first in NY), and we installed magnetic sound and played three films in stereo (left channel over the car radio, right channel over the pole speakers). Funniest incident was when we advertised "Funny Girl" in stereo, and the print arrived with mono optical sound the day of the first show. We quickly hooked up a "pan pot", and one of us sat in front of the booth each night with stereo headphones, panning the sound to match the action on the screen (The the skating routine where Fanny Brice skates back-and-forth kept us busy with the pot). Our audience comment cards came back saying "it was the best stereo we ever heard".
Carl and I used to have "contests" to change the intermittent and retime the shutter, or some other type of "emergency maintenance" between reels. We never missed the next changeover.
Biggest negative to working a drive-in: RATS! 
We had to patrol the lot, and had to be careful not to step on the rats that came to feed on the food thrown from cars. Only real scare was when a rat got cornered in the booth one night. I managed to show it out with a broom.
Worked at the Grandview and a local indoor house until I joined Kodak in June 1970. I filled in vacations for the IATSE local, and their business agent Ken Kavanaugh is the guy who said I should apply to Kodak for a job. One of the best pieces of advice I ever received, as I've been "in show business" ever since.
------------------
John Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Professional Motion Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Eastman Kodak Company
Rochester, NY 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Fax: 716-722-7243
Posted by Joe Odenthal (Member # 217) on 11-23-1999, 08:25 AM:
My first was a no-name.. a movie with a moral that was being run as a fund drive for some local do-good group. My first night of training consisted of how th thread up in frame (no film handeling skills yet). Mid way the first show, my instructoe slipped back into the generator room and returned with beer (Miller High Life, don't know I remember this)and I'm informed that to be an operator you must acquire a taste for room temp beer. End of night one.Night two... my instructor is a NO SHOW. The manager is beside himself and I'm told to start the show, help is on the way! Down on the stage is someone givind the audience a motavational talk. H finishes his talk, raises his left hand to the screen and says NOW I PRESENT BLAH BLAH BLAH. I open the big red curtain right on que and hit the screen... TAILS UP.. (but inframe) My instructor had not rewound! (remember tonight was going to be my film handeling lesson, I had never inspected a film, didn't know a head from a tail yet)
The above was at the Jefferson Theatre (now a Chili's Rest. Arlington Blvd & Annandale RD Falls Church VA, XLs with Peerless and the biggest anamorphic head I've ever seen, musta been 24" long)
Posted by Michael Barry (Member # 237) on 11-24-1999, 08:43 AM:
My first solo effort was an arthouse double feature on 35MM of Jean Cocteau's 'Orphee' and Ingmar Bergman's 'The Virgin Spring'. The prints were old and brittle but they ran...this was late 1992, when I was finishing a film course. I used to be 'part of the furniture' at this arthouse venue not far from where my course was held, because I thought it was important that I saw as many classics as possible in order to get the most from the course. One night after a screening of 'Cries and Whispers', the projectionist asked me if I'd be interested in a job...I was trained quite thoroughly before I was allowed to 'go solo', but it was nothing compared to the master class that I received years later from maestro John Wilson!
Posted by Greg Anderson (Member # 235) on 11-24-1999, 12:53 PM:
I worked for UA in Southern California in the early 1980s. In the Fall of 1982 the company couldn't reach an agreement with the union and, suddenly, the assistant managers were running projectors while the union projectionists were picketing outside.A couple of weeks into this situation, it was the manager's night off and an assistant manager was tired of doing everything, so grabbed me (an usher at the time who thought projectors were neat) and she said "You're smart. Come here."
She quietly took me to the booth (because policies stated that only assistant managers could touch the projectors) and showed me how to thread one of the machines. It was one of those confusing, rapid-fire teaching moments when she was saying "Go here. Do this. Over this roller. Under this roller. A loop as big as two of your fingers. Then press start."
Then she unthreaded it and told me to try. I did. She pointed out one mistake I had made and then that was it. She put me in charge of projecting for the rest of the evening. (Unfortunately, she didn't teach me how to thread the machine so that it was already properly framed at start up.) Also that night, I found a 35mm trailer in the garbage and I saw the splicing block sitting on the table. So I took out the trailer, cut it in a few places and taught myself how to splice it back together.
A few days later the real manager asked me to take some boxes upstairs and leave them in the booth. Without revealing how I had gained projectionist knowledge, I asked if I should thread up the machines as long as I was in there. She was surprised that I knew how, but she let me try. She liked my work, but she had to teach me how to thread the film so that the picture was properly framed. Within no time, I was the only projectionist in the place who wasn't also an assistant manager. I read an awful lot of operator manuals trying to improve my skills, but I had no other formal training.
And... by the way, would that early 1980s ska film be none other than URGH! A MUSIC WAR? We often used that one as part of our midnight show selections.
Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 11-24-1999, 09:37 PM:
the '80s obscure Ska film' mnight also be 'Dance Craze' perchance?-Aaron
Posted by Wallace Logan (Member # 225) on 11-24-1999, 11:40 PM:
The first movie I ran on my own was the
Vanishing Point starring Barry Newman and
Cleavon Little, before Blazzing Saddles.
On twin Century lamp house Century film
and sound head carbon arc. It was 1974.
A week later I ran a salvation army benifit
on a satrday afternoon 7 min. cartoons for
2 1/2 hours threading trimming carbons
rewinding, the good old days.------------------
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 11-25-1999, 04:47 AM:
Wallace Logan...
All I can say is...Indeedy do da day!
------------------
John
Posted by Joseph Pandolfi (Member # 223) on 11-26-1999, 02:20 AM:
After 4 weeks of training and testing with the head projectionist on Century and Christie's. One day he told me that he was going down to see a movie. I asked him what movie and he left the booth without telling me. After the show was over he came back up and congradulated me on a flawless job. I asked him "Bye the way, what movie did you see"? And he said "Notting Hill". I said "That's great, but I ran three prints! -- Which show did you go"?. He would not reply.
Posted by Jim Ziegler (Member # 86) on 11-26-1999, 03:01 AM:
First show I ever ran alone was Jurrasic Park, 3 months into it's run.. I had one day of training.
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 11-27-1999, 05:02 PM:
My tutor was my dad. He said he'd be back and was just going down to the cafe for something. He only came back at the end of the show. I wasn't worried for him though. I knew exactly what he was up to. (I could see his shadowy figure in our car which was parked on the ramp.)
Posted by Robert Throop (Member # 61) on 11-27-1999, 05:51 PM:
My first show was the 1965 reissue of Disney's "Cinderella" on Simplex regulars with Brenkert Enarcs and Western Electric sound.------------------
Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 11-27-1999, 09:48 PM:
For me it was _Ordinary People_ in 1980 at the MacArthur Theatre in Washington DC. Carbon-Arc and Reel-to-reel (as God intended film to be run)Steve
------------------
"Old Projectionists never die, they just changeover!"
Posted by Joe Odenthal (Member # 217) on 11-28-1999, 03:53 PM:
MacArthur, Norelco 35-70s & Big water cooled Strongs?Ran a special show for school safety patrols one year. Brought my dog to the booth with me. He realy wasn't a dog yet, still a puppy and he wasn't housbroken.
I was inspecting the print when the manager (relief manager and drinking buddy) comes into the booth and informs me that I should go get my dog in the upper lobby, behind the cry room... and bring some paper towels with me.
I had entered by the close booth door, and closed it but the far booth door was open to the lobby. And, yes he did... right in the middle of the upper lobby.
Good news, It was just the manager and me.
Bad news, He brought it up for years,, second or third beer and .. did you guys hear about the dog.....
The MacAuther where Star Trek (I think) premered is now a CVS Drug store...
Posted by Mike Bianchi (Member # 271) on 11-28-1999, 05:26 PM:
I'm not sure of my first actual film, but it was at the Academy DI in Loveland, OH. in 1987.It was probably Crocodile Dundee - I got that silly film 5 times that summer - 5 different weeks. They kept sending it back to me. Chanses are that was my first.
TIM REED: email me direct, would ya?
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 11-29-1999, 12:42 AM:
Crocodile Dundee?Silly?
Strewth, mate! Just waddyya think you're goin' on about. THAT, my friend, is an Aus-tra-lian CLASSIC!
Any more talk like THAT an' I'll get Bruce and me mates to take ya' out the back an' try and talk some sense inta ya!
Pickle me grandmother!
Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 11-29-1999, 04:09 PM:
First Movie EVER = Mission Impossible
First Movie ALONE = Truth about Cats & Dogs
I trained at the 6-Plex before the tt17 opened. I always had help at the 6.When we opened the tt17 there were so many other problems that the 'trainers' were to busy to help anybody. Luckily they hired about a DOZEN projectionists at opening. Every projector was literally double-teamed and was baby sat 100% of the time.
(Eventually, all the Goof-up projectionists washed out in the first month and we were left with about 6 good guys.
The first time I ran a show at Mercyhurst College I was S***ing my pants. The guy from Entertainment Equipment came in and set it up and then called me up on the phone to tell me how to run it! A week later was the first movie. (When We Were Kings) I had no support at all. After a couple of films, things got easy but I was saying my prayers on that first night!
Posted by William Hooper (Member # 71) on 11-30-1999, 04:41 AM:
The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie.Wile E. Coyote is the patron saint of all techs. You can brain it all out perfectly, but stuff can still go wrong...
Posted by Gordon Leslie (Member # 139) on 11-30-1999, 09:01 AM:
I went to a boarding school out in the country, we had 35mm movies every weekend, saturday night for the regular boarders,sunday shows for the school next door the first movie I ran on my own was "Its a mad mad mad mad world" on a set of Racophone J3 projectors.(showing my age here) I was paid 40c per feature (thats about 30c US) everything went fine saturday but after the sunday show I found I had'nt screened spools 7&8....they were still sitting in the rack!! The show was that long ,around 10 spools no one noticed!!!! Might be a moral here!.
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 12-01-1999, 01:55 AM:
They were probably all asleep anyway.
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 12-02-1999, 01:10 AM:
William,Not only is Wile E. Coyote the patron saint of all techs...I hear he is also a genius.
Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 12-02-1999, 06:08 PM:
Yep, the very same MacArthur (Joe). It did run the World Premier of Star Trek the Motion Sickness.The lamps were Strong Futura IIs
Steve
Posted by Frankie Angel (Member # 249) on 12-04-1999, 11:20 AM:
My first feature was WAR OF THE WORLDS in 16mm in a college dorm theatre. I booked it because I loved it as a kid. Then when I showed it years later to my college chums, I was totally embarassed because it was very hokey compaired to the sci-fi stuff they were used to. My first feature in a commercial theatre was THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX. Century's, Ashcraft monsters, 4 track mag. It was a Fox film with the Fox CinemaScope logo. Warner cartoon and trailers first. The old guy showed me how to thread and the rest of the stuff in the booth and left after I ran my first two reels. Then after the first show, I got a little cocky.
I started the cartoon and turned up the sound abit to give it a little drama. Then when the feature started, and the fox logo music played, I grabbed the fader and turned it way up. Nothing more exciting than hearing that music with the surrounds kicking in at the CinemaScope frame and the curtains opening up simultaniously. The NEXT time around, I did the same thing, but when I turned up the volume, I took my hand away and saw the fader knob go back down to the original setting. This really puzzled me, so I turned it right back up again, only to see it return to its original setting. How freaky is that?! So, I grabbed the dial and HELD it at the higher position....and felt it forcing itself back down. I just stared at it in disbelief. When the old guy came back at the end of the day to show me how to close, I was very hesitant to tell him about the fader dial that had a life of its own. Finally I blurted it out asking him how the control could reset itself and especially how it could fight me when I tired to turn it back up. He asked me if I was on some kind of drugs....damn hippies, he said. I thought better if I just dropped the subject when he began laughing himself silly. I asked what was the joke. He explained that the volume fader was outfitted with a small selsen motor that is in turn connected to its selsen counterpart down in the theatre. The manager with a key could adjust the level from the theatre floor. Either control mimiced the other. If he turned his control down, the booth's followed. If I resisted, I would be able to feel his movements.
He told me he wanted to keep a straight face and not tell me about the interlock controls, but he couldn't do it. He asked why I wanted to turn up volume and I said, just at the beginning when the curtian opens and the Fox music plays. He said, "kid, you have the showmanship spark....don't pay any attention to the manager, and don't worry, in most booths they don't have an idiot box that can overriding the booth."
Little did I know that the days of the big, classy, first-run movie houses was about to come grinding to an end, and there would be little need for showmanship in the dank, dark miniscule boxes that would come to pass for cinemas.
------------------
Frank Angel,
Brooklyn Center Cinema
www.BrooklynCenter.com
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 12-06-1999, 01:46 AM:
Yes indeed. The showmanship spark. That's the drug that enters your veins and won't let you stop. Keep it up guys. Don't let the beancounters drive you mad with their petty cost cutting and money grabbing tactics. Always do your best and be proud of it. The patrons have paid to be entertained and it's up to you and you alone. To all the new projectionists out there, remember... always imagine you are in the theater watching your shows. If you think there may need to be focus adjusted bcause it has drifted a little and you feel for a moment, ah it'll be alright, think for a moment that just maybe it's not and you're in the theater watching it. Wouldn't you like to have it in focus? It's up to you.
...and only you.
Posted by Wallace Logan (Member # 225) on 12-06-1999, 05:49 PM:
Here here John.On Wednesdy I ran MAN ON THE MOON for the
staff the focus was a little soft the manager
who considers himself a professional did not
move I went up and fined it up when I got back everybody 5 to be exact thanked me now
you don`t get that every day.
Wally
Posted by Jeff Stricker (Member # 224) on 12-07-1999, 06:16 PM:
About 1961, a short 16mm Christmas flim titled "The Littlest Angel". It was animated and I remember it had excellent color.
Posted by Mike Beerbower (Member # 363) on 12-08-1999, 06:51 PM:
The first movie I ran alone hasn't started yet. In fact, I've got... 20 minutes yet. I'm a workstudy at Mercyhurst College in Erie, PA (check out our facility in the Projection Picture warehouse), and Randy (Stankey) left a message on my machine this weekend and said "This week's film is yours." Of course, I didn't panic (much). After regaining consciousness, I figured it couldn't be that bad. After all, it's only a 13-year-old print on acetate stock. It's just a one-time show in front of 250+ people, some of whom happen to be wealthy benefactors of our auditorium. No biggie. :-)
So now, the film's built up, the projector's cleaned and threaded, and the film looks a hell of a lot better after a few screenings than when it first came in (we run FilmGuard, and I cut out all the awful splices).
Fifteen minutes left. Barring exploding lamps, breaking film, or Acts of God, I think it'll go fine...
Later!------------------
Mike Beerbower
thespian99@hotmail.com
"We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything."
-Albert Einstein
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 12-17-1999, 06:19 PM:
(cut)
The first movie I ran alone hasn't started yet. In fact, I've got... 20 minutes yet. So, Mike...
How did it go? What was the movie? Any comments from the punters?
Posted by Stephen Jones (Member # 16) on 12-17-1999, 07:38 PM:
I ran my first movie back in 1970 can't remember the title.It was at a country theatre, the manager who was in his 60s and liked betting on the horses.After a few weeks he failed to turn up and the start time was fast approaching so I threaded up and waited and waited for the big moment to arrive the sweat was pouring off me and the heart was pounding. Well I got the show up and running whith out to much trouble then came the first change over Checked everything over and over and praying that I wouldnt miss the c/o cues And thank heavens I didnt even miss a beat it all went perfect.After the show finished he appeared from the bookies next door to the theatre with a smile on his face and said everything go all right and from that day on I did all the projection at the theatre at the tender age of 16 a couple of years later I sat for my projectionist licence and passed it wasnt long after that I obtained work at a major chain which I worked for 23 years and now about to start work with a new company.I remember my first projectors with many good memories, Centrex projector heads (Australian copy of the century) W.E universal base sound heads, W.E amps and Peerless arcs.Do any of you guys remember your first projector you first worked on I would be interested to find out
------------------
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 01-08-2000, 06:29 AM:
Hey, Mike BeerbowerIt couldn't have been THAT bad! Don't you want to share your new experience with us or are your nerves still so shot you can't get that glass of whiskey to your lips to steady your keyboard fingers?
It's funny, even now, some 20 years after that first night, I still get the same feeling doing a changeover in a new booth.
MMMmmmmmmmm... whiskey...
Posted by Ari Nordström (Member # 288) on 01-08-2000, 07:20 AM:
The first one I ran on my own was "Poltergeist 2". I was on my second or third day of learning the craft but the projectionist that was supposed to work that evening thought I knew enough, so he gave me his keys and went home to watch some sports event on TV.The theatre had a changeover booth with AGA Ultra projectors using small reels, and a mono tube amp. It closed down a year or two after I ran my first show.
Posted by Per Hauberg (Member # 529) on 07-11-2000, 05:50 PM:
First 16mm (1969): Jacques Tati's PLAY TIME
Wonderful film - but not to be seen on 16mm
or 35 - This one for 70 only. -Wish i had the time to be in Oslo for that one performance august 2000....First 35 (1971): There's a girl in my soup (Peter Sellers, Goldie Hawn). Sweet little nothing - but it was my first all by myself...
First 70 (1974): Where Eagles Dare -Maybe because it was my first, but it's stille one of the greatest - even though its a blow-up.
One single print ran in almost every 70mm house in Denmark (60+ cinemas at that time) again and again. Junked 1981. -My oh my, it was used !
Posted by Stephen Brown (Member # 292) on 07-12-2000, 06:05 AM:
When I started out I got the enviable job of doing the Saturday Matinees. The actual first movie was "Kiss and the Attack of the Phantoms" (1980). I still fondly remember arriving Saturday morning to make up the Cartoon reels and find cartoons on cores with every second sprocket broken. MMMM what fun.One of the first major movies was "Grease". I think I had shown it 168 times at last count, all off 20 min reels with Carbons....
And the equipment was perfect... Kalee 21's with President Arcs. Now that was projection fun!!!
Regards
Steve Brown
Posted by Martin Frandsen (Member # 74) on 07-12-2000, 11:37 AM:
My first time to run a film alone would be a print of ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' in 35mm. I had a good teacher, he gave me a reel filled up with old 'crappy' trailers and said ''now it's your turn'' and i got it right the first time! 
Posted by Andrew Poulain (Member # 457) on 07-12-2000, 01:38 PM:
1991 The Rocketeer in 70mm at the Century 22 theater in San Jose, CA------------------
Andrew M. Poulain
Field Service Technician
THX Division
Lucasfilm Ltd.
apoulain@thx.com
415-492-3955
Cel: 415-302-0825
Posted by Dave Cutler (Member # 515) on 07-12-2000, 03:10 PM:
Braveheart, May 1995. Was also the first print I built (when it was re-released for the Oscars).
Posted by Antonio Marcheselli (Member # 373) on 07-12-2000, 03:53 PM:
Hello from Italy!! Sorry for eventual syntax errors...My first movie was "Il cielo in una stanza" (italian movie).
That day, the second projector broke a belt...
A good start... :-)
Bye!
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 07-12-2000, 06:40 PM:
Lordy! Someone's been trawling the archives...! See what a good idea it is to keep them here whateveryournamewas? 
Posted by Tom Wurz (Member # 42) on 07-13-2000, 10:41 AM:
My Father let me run our 8mm home movies of our trip to the San Diego Zoo.
Posted by Frank Rapisardi (Member # 435) on 07-13-2000, 12:58 PM:
The first movie I ever ran on my oun was Barberrella(Spelling???)Anyway,it was at the old Wameset Drive-In,in Tewksbury Ma.Old carbon ach machines with changeovers.I was learning at this time,but the projectionist who was teaching me never showed up that night! We held 1000 cars and the place was a complete sell-out! As luck would have it everything ran fine.The next night the owner fired the projectionist and I became the senior man in the booth!By the way I was only 17years old!But this helped pay my way through college.I've been a teacher for 30 years;a projectionist longer than that!It's really been a lot of fun.------------------
Posted by David Emery (Member # 382) on 07-13-2000, 03:15 PM:
The first movie I ran on my own was The Fifth Element. I was 17 at the time and I had 1 day of training the day before. I had a very good teacher plus my dad is into old films from Castle Films (16MM). So I was somewhat fermiliar with how projection was done. I can still remember how my heart was always pownding just before I pushed that green button that said START on it. I was always afraid something was going to go wrong with it. I started out in a 6 screen first and sometimes second run theater.
Now I am over all that and I get to run a 10 screen high class theater with Dolby Digital or DTS sound in every theater. I now get to put all the movies togeather for this theater and I get to do most of the minor repairs on the projectors.
I love this forum for all the pointers I read about all the time here.
Posted by Dwayne Caldwell (Member # 417) on 07-13-2000, 03:49 PM:
Technically speaking, Mr.Destiny (1990). It was at a theatre with a Cinemacannica V5, Christie AW3 platter setup with the Cinemation 2000 automation. I say technically speaking because I was only sixteen at the time and couldn't tell anyone. Big no no because you had to be eighteen before you could learn. Hardly worked the booth very much at the time, but that was my first solo. And I got it in frame too. ------------------
The man with the magic hands.
Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 07-13-2000, 08:38 PM:
Okay inform me please
what is a cinemation2000
esoldomatic in the UK owns the trade name cinemation
they distributed it through eprad
I know they have something new in the UK
but claim they have never exported it
pictures please
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 07-14-2000, 04:45 AM:
Look at the General Cinema pictures of Northpark 1&2. There is a shot of the automation Dwayne is speaking of.
Posted by Ben Stephenson (Member # 741) on 01-22-2001, 06:42 PM:
The first time I was left to run alone was on National Cinema Day which was when every ticket was £1 and we had 4 previews one of which was Private Parts, As the last trailers finished before the film I did a lense change as the projectionist who had made it up said it was scope only to open up on to a flat cert ( which as we all know looks crap ) so I did another lense change which is not the easiest thing on a vic 4 back to flat only to find that the film was scope but had a flat cert but to add to insult the screen was full ( around 200 people ) so again I did another lense change back to scope for the rest of the film. After I had stopped swearing and stomping round the box I got talking to the member of staff who was in the screen at the time and he said the entire anditorium was in hysterics which made me feel better but I will never make that mistake again.
Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 01-22-2001, 08:09 PM:
The movie was "Flight Of The Phoenix" Starring James Stewart in 1967. I just received my operator's license to operate the navy projection equipment. The theater was the Skywarrior Theater at NAS Whidbey Island, Oak harbor, Washington. It was a completely manually operated booth, back in the days when there were curtains, manually operated house lights and stage lights.
The booth was a complete Brenkert booth, using BX-80's, RCA-9030 sound heads, BX-10 pedistals, Tungar rectifiers, a WOPPING 25 watt rms amplifier, Brenkert Enarcs, and the orginal Brenkert picture changeovers for the BX-80. (they were not the "Zipper" style.)
It was one of the most beautiful "old" manually operated booths you could cast your eyes on. Perfectly maintained!!
Pay? HAH! But who cared then? We made a handsome 5 bucks a movie. WOW! That calculated out to $1.25 an hour, including prep time and getting things ready such as cleaning porthole glass, exciter optics, lense, etc!!! (pay sure has not changed too much since then, has it? 
)
Posted by John Eickhof (Member # 323) on 01-22-2001, 10:58 PM:
My first was a re-issue of Ten Commandments!
(13 reels!)in 1969 At the Brockway Theatre, Kings Beach (Lake Tahoe) California. on Wenzel 'Ace' projectors with Ballantyne model 6 soundheads and Strong Utility 1kw lamps! Got paid a whopping $4.50 for running two shows!And all the popcorn & soda I wanted!!!
I miss keeping sandwiches warm on the top of the tungar rectifiers!------------------
John Eickhof President, Chief Slave
Northwest Theatre Equipment Co., Inc.
P.O.Box 258
Wendell, ID. 83355-0258
208-536-5489
email: jeickhof@nteequip.com
Posted by Rachel Carter (Member # 693) on 01-23-2001, 12:00 AM:
I believe my first movie "all alone" was Titanic....but I ran others before that with manager/projectionists in the building.All I can remember is one of the other projectionists (my fiance) dropped Titanic the day after I ran it and we were at the theater untill 8AM fixing it. It was spread all over the theater....WHAT A SIGHT!
The first movie I threaded was The Lion King to a sold out crowd. Ran perfectly!
Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 01-23-2001, 05:26 AM:
Rachel:Ouch! 
Trying to pick up the pieces of a five-reeler is bad enough, but when a picture the length of "Titanic" hits the floor, you've really got a fine mess on your hands.
BTW, it is very important to properly clean a print that's been spilled on the dirty floor. Besides looking bad on the screen, leaving abrasive dirt particles on the print will quickly cause scratches and cinch marks.
At least the new Kodak VISION Print Film has a transparent conductive anti-static backing to minimize static attraction of dirt particles to the film. 
------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Posted by Chris Wootten (Member # 283) on 01-23-2001, 05:31 AM:
I dont remember the "first" film but I do remember my bestand most memorable performance........the cinema I was managing had just been totally refurbished with new sound system, screen stadium seating and a new paint job. To show off the new set up I decided to screen "Lawrence of Arabia" , in 70MM in all of its six track magnetic sound. 14 chageovers later the show was over, and I blew the socks off the audience.Thats my memory....
------------------
"I luv the smell of napalm in tha mornin !"
Keep Smiling......Chris
Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 01-23-2001, 05:44 AM:
Chris:Anyone that has seen a 70mm print properly presented on a big screen is a fan forever, especially when the film was photographed on 65mm camera negative, like "Oklahoma!", "Ben Hur", "Lawrence of Arabia", "My Fair Lady", "The Sound of Music", "2001 A Space Odyssey", or "Patton". Screenings like yours will hopefully keep 70mm alive to live again on hundreds of screens!
------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Posted by Chris Langhorn (Member # 661) on 01-23-2001, 04:53 PM:
Hi, my first time on film-tech. I'm from a 9 plex in the north-west of England.
I can't remember my first film, but I do remember my first lense change it opened up onto a trailer for Star Wars which had been re-mastered, and if you timed it right you could open the curtains just as an X wing was coming towards the you.Magic
Posted by Joop de Gruiter (Member # 84) on 01-23-2001, 06:02 PM:
My first film screening on my own for real was "Seven Samurai´s". It didn´t go so well. In two of the eight changeovers the leader broke.
Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 01-23-2001, 06:35 PM:
Well, I am posting this again because I do not know what happened to the one I posted last night. So here it goes again.The theater I started at was a six screener so her are the ones that I remember running on my own.
Missing in Action (Chuck Norris)
Silent Night, Deadly Night
Breakin II: Electric Boogaloo
The Cotton Club
Starman
Beverly Hills Cop
All out during the holidays 1984.
Also the first time I ever had anything to do with a 35mm projector was in 1982 when I worked at the theater during the summer. I got to sit with Firday the 13Th part III in 3D and Keep adjusting the framing Knob because they set it up without the extra masking.
Posted by Christos Mitsakis (Member # 143) on 01-24-2001, 09:52 AM:
My first Movie was an Italian comedy - don't remember title - with unknown actors imitating the style of Bud Bpencer and Terrence Hill, a genre very popular at those days.
Glorious carbon arc and Zeiss Ernemann II projector.
C.
Posted by Don Olson (Member # 90) on 01-24-2001, 10:26 AM:
Mine was the original Godfather. At the Seattle 7th Avenue theatre. 2 Curtains and 3 banks of lights on motorized variacs. A huge old theatre with possibly 3 levels. It's been a while so I am hazy on that. The union projectionist who was testing me for my card was the head of the training committee, Harvey Lorenz. Long passed away. There was a little trumpet thing in the black film right before the trademark. If I didn't hit it right, and start all the lights right, and the curtains right, NO CARD. Sweat poured down my neck into my shirt. Later Harvey said I was a natural. Something about the way I opened the hand dowser. Of course I was. My Dad was an operator for 50 years and my Mom was a box-office girl. They met in the lobby of a theatre in Wenatchee Washington. Opening night of a Douglas Fairbanks Sr. film "The Pirate". Mom was dressed up as a pirate. Enough..........................
Posted by Jerry Chase (Member # 660) on 01-24-2001, 01:01 PM:
First 8mm film projected alone - age 6.
Content - World Fair of 1939 home movie by parents
First 16mm film - probably 4th grade? Some forgettable school trash.
First Super 8 film 1972? An attempt to film the space station in 2001 in a theatre and push process the thing in a hand tank. (It worked - sorta)
First 35mm film - that's a toughie. Love Story? Cactus Flower?
First 70mm - Willow (thanks to an un-named union projectionist who let me lace up even though I was in management)
First 3-D film Stewardesses
First drive-in short "Knights Must Fall" with bugs bunny.
Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 01-24-2001, 05:36 PM:
The first film I ran in a theater was in a small town in Michigan. "The Secret Of Santa Vitoria" With Anthony Quinn. All I can remember is they hid the towns wine production from the Germans. On Simplex Standards with Simplex 1KW arc lamps. The booth was ancient. Can't even remember what type of sound heads were there but they were not Simplex! This was in 1970.
First 70mm....At home on my Vic 10's. It was a nice print of "Krakatoa East Of Java". Later on alot of 70mm at the Tivoli Theater as the Union guys could'nt deal with it too well. Imagine a one armed guy threading 70mm?? They tried it but to no avail.First VistaVision on "Babies Day Out" and first film I projected on a VistaVision projector that I built was for Sir Richard Attenborough and crew while I was on "Miracle On 34th St."
Mark @ GTS
Posted by Gracia L. Babbidge (Member # 582) on 01-25-2001, 12:39 AM:
Hmmm... I've worked at three different theaters, and all three are 10-plexes. So do I remember which movie was the first one I ever started? Nope. Whatever it was, was playing in September of 1997 though.
I remember being left on my own very quickly though. I was trained by an assistant manager named Rob. He pointed me in the direction of a Christie AW3R, knowing I had seen others thread the platters a few times, and told me to just go ahead and thread the platters. So I did, and did it right. (Go me!)
Rob threaded the projector - a Christie P35GP, explaining (more or less) as he threaded, why he was doing what he was doing. I smiled & nodded, pretty much catching on to what he was saying.
Next... I was again told to thread the platters. Check - had that under control. Then I was told to thread the projector. Um, yeah, suuuuure... But, I took a deep breath, and threaded it. Rob checked it nodded, told me to go thread another.
He timed me.
When I had it threaded, his remark. "You're already threading faster than Craig. Cool."
(Craig is someone who had been working in the booth for about three months at that point, and was a little sluggish, but got all his shows started on time.)
Rob stayed in the booth until after I had punched the start button on the first one to start in that round of shows, then soon ran away to hide in the office, leaving me to my own devices...
That afternoon went smoothly, aside from some framing issues, since that had not been explained to me too clearly. I figured it out pretty quick though!First print I ever built: "Six Days, Seven Nights"
All the reels were spliced in frame, in the right order, none on backwards, no scratches! (Go me! )
Heh, and I was (for the most part) self-taught on how to build prints. 
...And they thought I had just been casually observing for those couple of minutes!
I am glad that I have learned more since then!
~GLB
------------------
In some cultures, what I do is considered normal.
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 01-25-2001, 01:10 AM:
Go Gracia! Gotta love those newbies who catch on to basic thread-ups within 5 minutes. Sounds like you're a natural.
Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 01-25-2001, 01:43 AM:
Oh, Jeez! I never considered when the question was asked that non-35mm was considered.In that case, it'd have to be about 5th grade! I used to run the 16mm proj. for my teachers. Then in High School I was on AV crew... the main benefit of which was that you got called out of your classes to go run movies for other teachers!
Right about that time my Dad was into making 8mm home movies. He would show me how to splice them up and make a "story". We did a cool movie of "Snoopy and the Red Baron". We sort of "animated" plastic models of planes, etc. When Snoopy got shot down and crashed, I was in charge of holding the cigarette under Snoopy's crashed "Sopwith Camel" while Dad filmed.
Posted by Dick Vaughan (Member # 540) on 01-25-2001, 02:16 AM:
My first film ,"To Fly " in IMAX with 35mm 6 track mag sound.Imax Theatre ,
National Museum of Photography,Film & Television,Bradford ,England
Date 18 April 1983
Time 23.30
Audience 2 My then boss,Steve Pizzey, and the Imax installation supervisor Paul Byford.
Paul was one of the greatest guys in the business and has recently retired from Imax.
Posted by Gordon Bachlund (Member # 124) on 01-25-2001, 08:39 AM:
While this will certainly date me, the first feature film I ran on my very own was "Bomba the Jungle Boy" at a very third-run downtown LA house, the Cozy Theater, in 1953 in a very clean all Brenkert booth. Within a few months, I had risen to a slightly better grade of third run house and ran my very first Technicolor print, "Samson and Delilah" - the C. B. DeMille version - in a booth with Super Simplexes, Simplex sound and Peerless Magnarcs. Ah, memories!
Posted by Matthew Bailey (Member # 601) on 01-25-2001, 04:33 PM:
My first movies? RUNAWAY BRAIN on my home
Simplex with 5 star. INVASION OF THE BODY
SNATCHERS on 16 mm. The stupid B&H
specialist mangled a wad of the film
while it was showing. Some kid's 8 mm
films that I pulled off the internal
platters inside some Fisher-Price toy
film cartriges that went with the matching
hand viewer. F-P also made the matching
projector/moviola style viewer.
I ran these films minus the carts they
were in on a separate 8 mm projector.
I also tried running 8 mm films on a 16mm
Excel-not Simplex mind you-projector
successfully without modification or
attention. The projector wes built to use
an ordinary household bulb for the light
source! A question in mind:I saw last night
a special on Discovery on the Challenger
shuttle. They did video to film transfers
of the explosion occuring. Besides the
slo-mo footage,did they have the mentioned footage
transferred to 35 or 16 mm film?
Posted by Michael Labbe (Member # 148) on 01-25-2001, 07:46 PM:
Ah...my first show, seems like a long time ago. Actually mid 80's. It was at a small eight screen theater in Maine. Ballantyne Pro-35's projectors and soundheads. Speco LP-270 platters,and CX-1600 lamphouses. Eprad Starlet center surround processor. Oh yea the movie was "The Bedroom Window" staring(if you can call it that) Steve Gutenberg. I believe Elizabeth Mcgovern(sp) was also in it. I was trained for about a month by the installer of the site, Scott Meader.
Posted by Carl King (Member # 398) on 01-25-2001, 09:07 PM:
The first movie I ran alone was ACT OF THE HEART starring Donald Sutherland and Genevieve Bujold. This was in 1971 and I was 20 yrs old. Carbon arcs, 2000' reels and changeovers.
Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 01-25-2001, 09:35 PM:
Gordon, you look like a professional projectionist. Your face fits the mold! Contratulations of all your years of dedicated service. You are 14 years ahead of me in this industry. Paul
Posted by Frank Rapisardi (Member # 435) on 01-26-2001, 08:10 AM:
The first film I ran was Planet of the Apes with Chalton Heston.This was at the Wamesit Drive-In in Tewksbury Ma.(Now a HomeDepot)(Damn!)I loved that theater.Old carbon arch machines and all.Later it became a triple with xenon and platters.Sold for 13 million.(NO more Drive-in with an offer like that,who can blame the owners?)What a shame!The land values here in the Northeast is what killed off most Drive-Ins!------------------
Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 01-27-2001, 04:36 PM:
Frank - I had to run the whole ape series at a drive-in once. Dusk to dawn. Wen I left the booth after that run, I felt like an ape with my knuckles dragging on the ground! It was fun, though.
Posted by William T. Parr (Member # 677) on 01-28-2001, 10:30 AM:
The first film I ever threaded by myself was Iron Eagle 2, and this was before I was even an employee at the theatre. My brother was the Technician for Cinemark in 1987-88 when the Sunrise 7 Dollar Cinema was built. During the run of Iron Eagle 2, the stage speaker developed a problem that was only apparent during the end credits song. My brother and the Projectionist went downstairs to listen to the end credits. After the first run through they did determine there was a problem, but could no isolate it. They came back upstairs and showed me how to thread the end credits so they could be run several times while they went behind the screen. After running them about 30 times, problem was Isolated and I was asked to thread the projector with the complete movie and start it. We stayed and watched the movie all the way through. That was the first I had threaded by myself, as nobody came back upstairs to check my threading.The first Movie I ever built on my own was Naked Gun the first one. by the way Joe I know how you feel about UA I did 9 years with those Idiots. I started before Pete Warzel took over so I got in on the last of the TCI Cablevision Glory Years. Things started to go downhill after he took over. I wish TCI would have taken there bunch of asswipes with them i.e. Pete Warzel, Stuart Blair, and of course they could of taken Dennis Daniels while they were at it. By the way who where you yelling at in the picture of yours? Was this perhaps the viewpoint that Pete had of you telling him how messed up he was running UA?
Posted by Joshua Lott (Member # 240) on 01-30-2001, 04:57 PM:
I can't remember the first movie I ever ran, but I do remember the first movie I ever built. It was Jackie Chan's Supercop. The only reason they let me build it was becuase it came in late (Friday Morning) and I was the opening projectionist. It went up on screen with no probs what so ever. I was only shown for the first time how to build a movie the night before.
Posted by System Notices (Member # 2357) on 09-29-2004, 09:44 AM:
It has been 1337 days since the last post.
Posted by Matthew Peters (Member # 1495) on 09-29-2004, 09:44 AM:
Official first run – “Bridget Jones’s diary”
While I had run many films without direct supervision or someone in the booth, I always had a manager downstairs in his office in case anything went wrong (it provided a good sense of security).
So for me the first “real” run on my own was “Black Hawk Down”, on a night shift without any other projection staff. Oh yeah, it was also the first run of this film… and the first time I had encountered a payout jam. At the time it seamed like complete chaos, but in reality it was just two layers of film got jammed in the payout arm, failsafe/tension halted the show. Resumed the show no big deal.
Posted by Wolff King Morrow (Member # 2226) on 09-29-2004, 06:59 PM:
I think my first on my own was Arnold's "End of Days" way back in December of 1999.
Posted by John T. Hendrickson, Jr (Member # 849) on 09-29-2004, 07:49 PM:
Nice that this thread was bumped up. It ran before I became a member. Think Gordon has us all beat! Just for fun, to date myself:
16mm- since I was five years old (1949 yikes!)
16mm first feature- Smokey, when I was in 7th grade, in the school auditorium. Used two old Ampros and pulled off a changeover.
35mm- 1970, Patton, at the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, NJ. Simplex XL's, Ashcraft Carbon Arc Lamps with water coolers, magnetic sound. Still remember the sound of the bugle in the opening scene, reverberating around that grand old 1600 seat venue. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Hey, Gary Crawford, bet you ran your first show here, too!
Posted by Rick Raskin (Member # 1561) on 09-29-2004, 08:22 PM:
First 16mm - probably in Jr. High about 1958. I think it was "The Eddie Duchin Story" or "Miracle of the Bells" -- can't remember for sure. Ampro projector.
First 35mm - I learned to thread up at the Virginia Theatre (razed) in Alexandria VA from George Giles, an old union man who was a family friend, sadly, long since gone. - sometime around 1961. XLs, Magnarcs, etc.
First 35mm on my own -- "I'd Rather be Rich" at the Beltway Plaza (razed) in Greenbelt MD. Norelco 35/70s, Strong Futura lamps and Ballantyne sound - 1963.
First 70mm - "2001" at the very same MacAuthur theatre mentioned in earlier posts. - 1975.
Posted by Don Furr (Member # 1469) on 09-29-2004, 09:12 PM:
In 16mm it would have been a Woody Woodpecker toon about 1954.
At the age of 14, I lied about how old I was.(had to be 16 years old to get in the booth)Don't remember the title though. We ran Supers and Peerless Magnarcs. What fun ![[beer]](graemlins/beer.gif)
Don
Posted by Chris Hipp (Member # 1788) on 09-29-2004, 09:56 PM:
Pearl Harbor (2001)
Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 09-29-2004, 10:02 PM:
First 16mm: Probably The Green Berets in the summer of 1970. Ran on a pair of Kalart-Victor 70-15's, borrowed from my junior high school for a city recreation department summer screening.
First 35mm: Probably a tie between one of the Zatohichi films in LA and a three-screen interlock for the Follies Bergere at the Tropicana hotel here, both in the summer of 1972. The LA booth was equipped with Century SA's and Peerless lamps. The old Tropicana light booth had a mix of machines--Simplex and Ace picture heads, Peerless and Brenkert lamps.
First 70mm: Thrillsphere on the midway at Circus Circus in the summer of 1975. Westrex with ORC lamp.
First Omnimax: Caesars Palace in 1989. Funny, can't remember which film. Booth was a classic 1979 installation.
First Showscan: Caesars Palace in 1990. Ran a six-week festival/demonstration of Showscan titles in the Omnimax. Omnimax titles ran during the day, Showscan titles ran at night from the upper booth on a pair of screaming Century JJ's.
[ 09-30-2004, 04:54 PM: Message edited by: Paul Mayer ]
Posted by Richard Greco (Member # 2032) on 09-29-2004, 10:53 PM:
Scary Movie 3 (2003)
Last Movie before removal from theatre?
King Arthur (2004)
Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 09-29-2004, 11:49 PM:
Something back in 1966, I think.
After 3 years under the tutelage of a cranky old union projectionist, I showed up at the Port Angeles Drive-In one night to find that he had taken the night off. The sub had brought his son with him, and they were more interested in playing with their model cars than running the show. After asking me what machine I was going to thread the cartoon on... and then watching me do it, they let me run the whole nite... and yes, it scared the ![[bs]](graemlins/bs.gif)
out of me.
On the other hand, my cranky old tutor heard all about it, and taught me a whole lot more in that year than I learned in the 2 or 3 before.
Just part of growing up, I guess... something about taking advantage of opportunities.
Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 09-30-2004, 12:08 AM:
If we're going to count non-professional film formats I'll have to modify my original answer. (Mission Impossible and Truth About Cats and Dogs.)
When I was in second grade, my Dad had an 8mm setup. He had a camera, an 8mm editor (like a Moviola, except smaller) and a splicer. He also made a tabletop animation stand. We had a wall size Da-Lite rollup screen on the wall in the living room.
He would photograph family home movies, and hand draw animated titles. (He worked for Walter Lantz before I was born.) Everything was spliced up and put on large reels.
Dad would sit on the sofa with beer in-hand and MAKE me run the projector for him while family and friends gathered 'round.
As a reward, he would buy Yogi Bear cartoons and Little Rascals shorts on 8mm for me to run when I came home after school.
This was about 1972-3.
When I was in 4th or 5th grade I started showing interest in the 16mm film projectors my teachers ran. I remember the day when the Bell & Howell "Auto-Shredder" went out of whack and "blew a loop". Since I had already knew how to operate my Dad's projector I ran over and hit the reset button. That was the day I got drafted to be "Class Projectionist".
When I was in 9th grade, one of my science teachers would reward us by showing cartoons. If our class average was high enough, he would get us Pink Panther cartoons to watch on Friday afternoons. I ran the shows while he sat in the back of the classroom and dozed off.
After about 10th grade I started to lose interest for varying reasons. I was on Stage Crew for a while but, once I went to college, I didn't do much of that stuff anymore. It wasn't until almost 10 years ago that I got a job at the new Cinemark Tinseltown theater being built in my town.
I wish I would have kept up with projection for all those years in college and studied more electronics instead of drinking beer and smoking dope. I'd be light years ahead of where I am right now!
Posted by Greg Davis (Member # 2687) on 09-30-2004, 12:36 AM:
First ran - Italian Job (2003, not 1966!)
First built and ran alone - Starsky and Hutch
mmmm yeah. My supervisors first was the piglet movie. Not quite as exciting.
Posted by Dick Vaughan (Member # 540) on 09-30-2004, 02:14 AM:
To Fly! in IMAX April 1983 here at NMPFT in Bradford
Posted by Mike Olpin (Member # 1115) on 09-30-2004, 03:27 AM:
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, right here at Edwards Rancho San Diego 15 on Screen 2.
Posted by David Buckley (Member # 2600) on 09-30-2004, 03:50 AM:
At school, a 16mm education movie produced by BP when I was about 8.
35mm all on my own - that'll be 13 going on 30, just a couple of weeks ago.....
Posted by Joshua Waaland (Member # 287) on 09-30-2004, 06:48 AM:
I can't remember what film was my very first exactly but I do remember what was playing at the time in some of the theaters. Jurassic Park was late in it's run and Gladiator with James Marshall was playing.
Gladiator still remains one of my favorite movies today. When I went to see it my mom was dating a guy who's son was the projectionist there. I was the only one in the theater and he told me to come up after the movie. That was my first booth experience. From that time on I fell in love with projection. I came in the next saturday and worked for free that night to prove that I could learn the ropes and was capable of running them. I got the job!
Posted by Tommie Evans (Member # 2674) on 09-30-2004, 07:29 AM:
I remember working for Showcase Cinemas back in 1997 - I was a 'Booth assistant' and could only thread the platter system but not the head. I think this was to stop lazy projectionists sitting down all shift while the assistant ran the show. I longed so much to thread up the projector and became hot at threading platters ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
. I think this approach was also good as I wasn't thrown straight in and let loose on all those expensive prints.
I'd like to give a big thank you to my 'Booth supervisor' Paul, for actually showing me to thread the projector before I became a trainee projectioist.
I remember the first solo at the 12 plex was a Wednesday evening and I think we had Enemy of the State playing.
Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 09-30-2004, 07:45 AM:
Adverts and trailers reel, on my first visit to a cinema, I'm pretty sure it was an Odeon, because the machines were pre-war BTH's, which were the standard for Odeon; ABC used Ross. Very similar to the set-up that our friend from Faversham was running until a couple of years ago, except that these had the original BTH arcs, but his had been converted to Kalee Presidents.
This was in 1963, aged six, after being taken to see Disney's 'The Sword in the Stone'; I'm pretty sure that's what the film was. They had to give me a box to stand on to reach the projector.
Didn't run any more 35mm for several years.
Edit.
Sorry, that wasn't on my own, of course. I'm not sure what my first show on my own was; I ran a couple of shows at what is now the Ritzy, Brixton, in the early '70s, I think that may have been my first time on my own with 35mm, but I'm not sure. I do remember that one of the films was in Chinese, but not to worry, it had subtitles; in Spanish! I think there were about three people in the audience for that one.
Posted by Hugh McCullough (Member # 1542) on 09-30-2004, 07:50 AM:
First started showing educational 16mm films to an audience when at school in 1956 on a Bell & Howell. I can not remember the model. This was after they discovered that I had a GB L516 projector at home. I still have this machine.
Started in the cinema industry in 1958, when I was 17 years old, as an apprentice projectionist, and spent the first six months just cleaning everything in site, including the box floor, rewinding 2000 ft spools of film, learning how to make proper cement splices, and film handling in general. In those days in the UK a projectionist was thought to be a valued member of the cinema industry. Wish the same could be said nowadays.
Every Tuesday went to college on a projection course run by the cinema owners, and the union. Here I learnt how projector, and sound systems worked, and general electrical practise.
Ran my first film on my own to a paying audience after this six months. It was a Sunday only show of 'Rocket Ship XM' on Kalee 12s, BTH sound with film gate instead of scanning drum, and Kalee Vulcan carbon arcs.
Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 09-30-2004, 07:52 AM:
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[thumbsup]](graemlins/thumbsup.gif)
![[Confused]](confused.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
.............but all of them were fine and the screening went off without a hitch.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Cool]](cool.gif)
![[Embarrassed]](redface.gif)
![[puke]](graemlins/puke.gif)
