Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Projection: Art or Science?

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Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 05-26-2000, 11:31 PM:

I was carrying on a conversation with myself in my head this morning about whether being a projectionist is more ART or SCIENCE.

It's obvious that there are a lot of technical things to know about and this tips the scales toward science but what about the intangibles?.....

Of course just by looking at past topics you know that there's a lot of art in...

There's a million more. What do you think?

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 05-26-2000, 11:58 PM:

I'd have to say overall it is more art than science. Think about it. Even things like B-chaining, which is clearly a "science" requires a bit of "art" to it to get truly good sound. Sure focusing a xenon has a certain "science" to it, but depending on the angle of the projector, possible reflector damage, curved screen, etc will require the use of "art" to get it to appear just right. How many different ways are there to handle and inspect film? What about the little quirks each booth has that only an operator who has put in some time at that booth can know how to get the best performance out of?

Most every example I can think of right now tends to lean towards art.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 05-27-2000, 12:24 AM:

That's funny. The whole thing that got me started thinking about this was changing xenons. I changed a few of them this morning. Somebody asked me how I know how to get it focused right and I told him, "I just sorta' know."

So... There was this 'manager' running the booth by himself in a multiplex theater (that shall remain nameless) when one of his projectors went down right in the middle of a show. Try as he might, he could not get it to run again. Finally, he breaks down and calls the service tech.

A while later, the tech. walks in the door, takes one look at the machine and gives it a good, swift kick. To the manager's amazement, the projector burst back in to operation as if nothing ever happened. The tech. hands the manager a bill for $2,050.00 and starts to walk out the door.

The manager was incredulous! "Two thousand fifty dollars? For What?", he screamed. "I demand an itemized statement!", he added. The tech. takes back the bill, scribbles on it with a pencil and hands it back without saying a word. Here is what it said:

Repair projector--

TOTAL = $2050.00

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 05-27-2000, 05:14 AM:

I definitely think art has a lot to do with it, especially when it comes to running a booth with all of its own little quirks.

Projection also is definitely a learned skill. A trade. You have to have a scientific and logical mind to grasp the concepts and understand why things work the way they do. Once you understand things, then you can get creative. So science comes first, and then art.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-27-2000, 05:45 AM:

I pretty much agree with Joe on his post. Yes, the science does come first. Without science projectors and sound systems would not even exist. And yes, projection is a learned art. Each booth does have its quirks....actually with P35GP's each machine has its quirks. I have only been witness to three people in the last 15 years that have not been able to be trained to operate. All three could just not grasp it for what ever reason.
As far as technical people go that depends on how far the person wants to carry it, but he better have experience in at least these three fields if he wants to be good. Optical experience, electronic/electrical theory, electronic /electrical troubleshooting and repair, and be extremely mechanically inclined with at least some advanced knowledge in this area to be able to stay out of trouble when working on a mechanism.
Mark

Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 05-27-2000, 08:40 AM:

I also think it's more of a science than an art. A good projectionist is skillful, but he's only doing what has already been defined.

I tend to think of art as inventing something from nothing, and science as optimizing what already exists.

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 05-27-2000, 08:49 AM:

A visitor to my drive-in booth once said, "You've got this art down to a science."

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Better Projection Pays!

Posted by Patrick S. Chaffins (Member # 348) on 05-27-2000, 05:34 PM:

Projection - - - Science
Presentation - - - Art!

Posted by Scott Balko (Member # 438) on 05-27-2000, 08:17 PM:

I think of the hardware as being strictly science. Nothing more than a combination of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, throw in a little ergonomic design, and that's it.

The projectionist, however, has to understand the science of it all to make it an art. Some people can play musical notes on a piano, but it sounds like complete shit. Purely science. Others can make those notes flow into a melodic progression that will give you goosebumps. A combination of science and art.Only a true projectionist can take a bunch of steel, glass and polyestar, and make it work together in such a fashion that it can become one complete entertaining entity so pleasing to so many people.

Posted by Carl King (Member # 398) on 05-28-2000, 05:56 PM:

Patrick;

Right on, man. You are so right on

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 05-28-2000, 10:57 PM:

Patrick put it best. He is 100% correct.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 05-31-2000, 06:35 AM:

Patrick:

Well said!

Let's all remember that Oscars are given for both artistic and technical achievement by the Academy of Motion Picture ARTS and SCIENCES. IMHO, a skilled and caring projectionist is the embodiment of both. The projectionist is truly the "Unseen Showman"!

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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 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com

Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 05-31-2000, 08:43 PM:

Not to be an annoyance, but what projectionist ever received an Oscar?

Maybe Brad coud have projection Oscars awarded here?

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 06-01-2000, 10:06 AM:

You get the Oscar on the 100,000 post you make in a 1 month period

Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 06-01-2000, 01:08 PM:

I better get typing!

Did anyone ever take a BASIC programming course where one of the programs you had to write was, "A Meaningless Techinal Report?" It was a program that stored peices of a sentence in component parts (verb, nouns, etc.) They were all saved in a data file, and randomly edited together to create sentences and paragraphs. You only specified how many pages of text you wanted, and it did the rest.

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 06-01-2000, 01:49 PM:

That sounds like how some of the automation manuals and software manuals are written

Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 06-01-2000, 08:36 PM:

Picasso was an artist, but would you want this guy running your presentation? Art is interpretation in its rawest form. The science must and always come first. But like most things, you have to have a sixth sence about these things. You can teach projection, but only a few will actually be able to understand and be a great presenter.

Dave

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"If it's not worth doing, I have allready been there and done it"