Josh
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"where to they teach you to talk like this, in some Panema City wana hump-hump-bar? sell crazy someplace else. we're all stocked up here" As good as it gets
, but what do the changover cues mean in sequence for a changeover setup? And are they still useful for the majority of you when you're making up your prints for the platter?PS- If I'd have noticed them back in high school, then they'd have set a great pace for beers at the drive-in! One (or two) each reel, so long as I wasn't driving!
Sounds great Josh, I've noticed in my own "theatre dorking" that alot of the old booths were green, is that a prevailing colour do you think, or was that just the cheapest colour at the paint store?
Your beer drinking idea with the cues would be fun...especially if you had seen 'Shout At The Devil' starring Roger Moore and Lee Marvin at the drive in. The there were nine reels in that one and some reels only ran four or five minutes!
MMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmm....beer drinking changeovers...
I haven't had the privelege of doing a change-over in many years, I must admit I miss keeping my hand in as they were a magnificent part of being a really professional projectionist.
I still check for the cues out of sheer habit as well as using them as part of ensuring that I really have the end of the spool.
John, The Olympics have arrived. The opening ceremony is playing on the tv at this very moment!
Regards to all,
Michael.
You don't necessarily need changeovers for drinking beer in the booth, though. Just think about how unfair the system would be if you run from a platter or if you spliced together a couple of reels.
I have a '30's feature in the collection with cues every 10 minutes!
A friend and I do shots at every reel change, and by the time the thing is over... Can you say Jagermeister? (not too sure of the spelling)
Good thing the thing fades out at every changeover anyway. Mine were getting a bit sloppy toward the end of the feature. I forgot to switch the sound once. 
as for the green paint, I couldn't tell you.
our booth was pea green floor to ceiling(yuck). I would guess the color was so ugly paint stores marked down the price on it
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"where to they teach you to talk like this, in some Panema City wana hump-hump-bar? sell crazy someplace else. we're all stocked up here" As good as it gets
Stephen.
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Jagermeister shot at each c/o.... hummm... interesting possibilities... Actually sounds a lot better than playing, "Have a Witch" or "Bizz-Buzz."
Fun- From what I've seen in Jersey (at least in mid state) there really isn't much anymore. There are a couple of small theatres that convereted over to stage shows that will run movies maybe every three years. The only theatre the I know of in the area that still has changeovers is the Bradley Beach Cinema, which is only during the summer and they too took out the carbons and replaced them with xenon. 99 percent of the stuff around here is the "new" Loews multiplexes, Regal, Reading and Clearview. There are two General Cinemas in my area (one that I work it) that are about 13 to 30 years old that they want to unload in about 4 years when the leases are up. GCC built a big mother 16 plex in Clifton two years ago.
Water cooled - At my one GCC I'm running a Victoria 8 70/35mm that is running a water cooled aperature. Other than myself, I don't think anyone that works in the booth (ushers and managers) even knows what it is. And from what I remember of the Bethlehem, it didn't have water circulators (put it this way, there wasn't any in sight in the booth) but a direct feed to the projector from the water pipe with a valve to shut it off.
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alot of the old booths were green, is that a prevailing colour
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Better Projection Pays!
Yes, I use water-cooled gates for any installation with a lamp 3000W and greater.
>>I'd also like to have a huge picture window in my booth so that everyone can "see the action".<<
We have a booth in our Angels Theatre that used to be a cry-room so it has a big picture window in it and its low enough to see everything inside. We designed one of the booths in our 16-plex (that unfortunately we had to sell off to Pacific) that had a 'show booth' with a glass wall that patrons could see the workings as they entered the main hallway to the auditoria. Pacific must not have like that idea as the wall was ultimately built solid.
Aaron
http://www.cinema-west.com
Talk about needing your shades to operate the machines! 
It would be kind of neat if the audience could see the 'magic' that puts the film on screen by having huge windows by the machines, but I don't even want to think about what kind of sound-proofing measures would have to be taken! >_<
Heh, bigger portholes would be nice though. In my Dungeon, there are three portholes by each machine, one for the slide projector, one for the film projector, and one for the projectionist to spy on the autiorium. Relatively small portholes too. The third porthole is relatively useless to me.
I'd like them to be a twisker lower on the wall. Because I'm short. Well, sort of. (5'5") And the bottom of the porthole is exactly eye-level for me. Meaning that I have to stand on my toes to see the screen from the booth! 
(Unless I want to glimpse through the same port from which the image is projected, then there is a nasty glare to cope with...)
Oh well, maybe I ought to just get a nice pair of platform soled converse all-stars... 
~Gracia *The projectionist with the purple hair* Babbidge
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In some cultures, what I do is considered normal.
. We had these devices (I believe called "carbon savers") that reminded me of cigarette holders that would allow you to burn 'em down to the nubs and get through a short cartoon & coming attractions. Anybody else remember them??
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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
Speaking of obsolete equipment, I'm well on my way to mastering it. Rebuilt my changovers last night, and THEY WORK! Next up, reel-end alarm bells, optical mono sound, AM cable transmitter, carbon lamps...........
The sound running thru the photocell has more bass than it did before. I was worried about not having enough brightness for the cell, but this seems to not be a problem. Stereo prints sound better, too.
I'm still using the 1156LL 12v lamp for the exciter. And STILL have not had the first one burn out! I'm impressed considering the amount of film that I run here. I am on the 3rd DPW lamp in the lamphouse!
Oops! there's a reelchange! gotta go get a slug...
. That doesn't solve all the Dolby EQ issues, but will go along way to improving what you're hearing. regards, Jeff
Shoestring doesent begin to describe this set-up. Kite string, or maybe bailing wire more likely.
The solar cell Holmes was run thru an old EQ that helped drastically. The new PE cell system has the original fidelity controls (with new caps in the circuit thanks to the demise of an old stereo amp this weekend,) and they sound great. The reason stereo prints sound better, I think, is because the whole slit beam is being picked up on the face of the PE cell, and not just a portion, which was the case with the solar cell.
I have a Holmes page listed with my e-mail address here on Film-Tech look at the ?-who icon.
Speaking of 1st changeovers...
The last weekend was one of the most exciting weekends for me so far. Me and my friend got our FIRST commercial show last friday and continued at saturday with Mission: Impossible 2. We were a little bit afraid of the changeovers, but we managed them somahow... Not smoothly, but anyway. Practice makes us better.
We had four shows and total 18 patrons. Not bad, because the theatre is in small town and there haven't been films shown regularly for many, many years. I hope it will get better when people get used to go movies again. Because it's a small theatre, I have to take care of any other things in the theatre, not just projection. All the paperwork, ordering the films, etc.
I have to say big thanks to the Film-Tech and especially to Brad, because we have learned a lot of projection technology and practice from Film-Tech. We really appreciate this forum! Hope all forums were as good as this.
Stephen - Hi, I'm a few years up on you since my last changeover was about 2 years ago. Monash uni still runs on 2000 or 6000 footers and I know the guy there so will probably do some more soon.
Bruce - talking about manual changeovers, I was once in the bio box of a cinema where a changeover involved two people, one to turn the exciter lamp off in one projector, the other to turn the second one on, the actual changeover mechanism was a piece of curtain rail with two pieces of wood on it which slid from side to side in front of the projectors thus blocking the light from one or other of them.
Dave re: end of reel alarms, I still get films where people have put "clickers/clackers" on which is basically three pieces of tape or small round stickers evenly spaced on the film a short while ahead of the changeover. The projectionist hears a "click click click" as the film travels through the projector and knows to get his butt into gear. Or you can wind a roller bearing into the film near the tail of a reel, when it gets to that spot it falls out and you hear it drop onto the fire trap rollers, you have to make sure that it is big enough so that it doesn't wedge between the film and the trap rollers or else you will damage the film. I'm sure the old timers on the site have many other easy suggestions.
Dave re: picture window. We have a glass door to projection room three where the customers can see our Vic 8's and platter going. It is very popular as many people have no idea what actually happens inside. I overhear many funny comments such as "That is the Dolby Digital system" as they authoritively point to the platter, or as I was talking to a lady the other night she asked if we get the film in big pizza boxes!
Thats enough for now
Paul
I've worked at such a place and I can tell you that it can drive you nuts at times, with people staring at you as you thread a Victoria 5. I wish they would have built a wall there instead.
Besides, I really think that it takes some of the magic away. The mechanics of a booth should be a mystery to the general public, regardless if they think the platter is the Dolby Digital system or whatever.
On one occasion some ghastly kid in the back row gazed at me as I laced reels 1 and 2 of 'The Wizard of Oz' into the projectors. 20 mins later I did the first changeover, and the screen went blank. Quick checks. Lamp on? Yes. Douser open? Yes. C/O shutter open? Yes. Beam coming out of lens? Yes, and projecting onto the bag which the little b*****d had placed on the ledge in front of the porthole.
The first theatre I ever worked at had a somewhat similar c/o system, with spring-loaded hatches in front of both projectors. The hatches were cleverly synchronised with each other using wires and hooked to the exciter lamps through the buttons used to open the hatches.
The glorious mono sound system was an antique by its own right, btw, complete with a Klangfilm tube amplifier and a 100V line to the screen speaker. Marvellous construction, really. They don't make'em like they used to...
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I once saw a "Colombo" TV drama that involved a murder comitted in a screening room.
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Better Projection Pays!
I guess some projections can actually die, insted of merely "changing over".