Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Projectionists training

This is topic Projectionists training in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Patrick McDonough (Member # 1363) on 08-13-2002, 08:55 AM:

I read an artical in boxoffice mag, about the minimum wage projectionist, and there ability only to thread film. I was wondering if anyone might know where one could find places to go to get training. If there not being properly trained at there theater.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 08-13-2002, 09:22 AM:

Start out right here on Film-Tech, reading the Film Handlers Forum postings, and the "Tips" and "Manuals" section.

Kodak has lots of good information free on-line:
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/newsletters/pytlak/
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/support/h1/
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/support/filmIndex.shtml
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/digital/system.shtml

Kodak also offers Kodak ScreenCheck Projection Training:
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/screencheck/projTraining.shtml

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: +1 585 477 5325 Cell: +1 585 781 4036 Fax: +1 585 722 7243
e-mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 08-13-2002, 10:00 AM:

I was trained right here on film tech myself. I was given two hours of instruction before I was made a GM. I had no clue. I found a mailer that was filed in the round floor file, and it was from film tech. IT CHANGED MY LIFE FOREVER. No really.

I learned more here then I think any one person could ever teach me. That and there was the time I had to rebuild a projector overnight without a clue what I was doing. Perhaps a history of mechanical engineering in my spare time may have provided a background for understanding, but FILM TECH was my god. Brad is my hero, always has been. I even traveled all the way to heaven (denver) to meet him. He told me to go away, that satans lost seed wasnt allowed in heaven. I cried that day, but still post regardless.

Facts.. I have met the creator of this forum, Brad Miller
I met him in denver
He did not call me satan,
he did call me santa,
he sat in my lap and asked me to make technicolor be nice to film,
I told him he could have a GI JOE instead.

Dave

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 08-13-2002, 11:20 AM:

Dave,
what is a GI JOE?
Patrick,
the BKSTS (British Kinematograph, Sound and Television Society) has published a very nice Projectionists` Manual. It is structured as a step-by-step course and has lots of graphs and pictures, and quiz sections. Of course, it can not be more than an introduction, but I think it`s a very good starting point. It can be ordered from their website.
I can only confirm what has been written above. The resources offered by this website are awesome. A lot of valuable information can be learned simply by carefully reading the manuals of the equipment you work with. The Dolby manuals often contain sections with interesting background information. For instance, in the CP500 manual there is an introduction to the Dolby Digital process and another section about checking and upgrading an existing installation. This alone will give you some insight into how a cinema sound system works.
Also check out www.dolby.com. There is a lot of free information about their technologies.
Another good source is www.jblpro.com. The Cinema Sound System Manual and the information offered under General Audio in the Technical Library will answer many questions.
As to the practical side of projection, the best thing you can do is learn as much as possible from experienced people such as can be found on this forum. Unfortunately, in this business it is very difficult to find good people in real life, so you will have to train yourself and apply common sense to what you are doing!
Michael

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 08-13-2002, 12:16 PM:

"GI Joe" is another incarnation of Mr. Redifer, with millions of these soldier dolls patrolling the world.

:
http://starbulletin.com/98/03/17/features/story1.html
http://www.warweb.com/gijoe/
http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze34fnk/pages/gijoe/gijoe-custom-mummy.htm

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 08-13-2002, 12:33 PM:

The Kodak course sounds great and it (or another formal training program, possibly union-run) would be ideal.

If that isn't an option, I'd suggest finding a job at a smaller, older, independent theatre where the owner and manager care about presentation quality. A single-screen house with a manual booth would be ideal, but pretty much anything with older equipment would be good. Learn everything possible about the equipment and fix it when there are problems. Learn how to put on the best possible show under less-than-ideal conditions. This should be a far more educational experience than the typical multiplex would be, and you will spend plenty of time cursing the people who sent you crappy prints (thus giving some incentive to ship out films in good condition). Of course, the pay will probably be worse as well.

Meet as many other projectionists as possible, particularly the older ones who were around when film presentation was a real craft instead of the button-pushing that is common in typical multiplexes. Also, try to work in as many different types of booths as possible--from changeover with carbon-arc to a fully-automated gigaplex with the latest sound equipment.

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 08-13-2002, 02:30 PM:

What Scott said.

I started out in commercial exhibition by working in a multiplex with a less-than-ideal setup.

Every projector had at least one "quirk."
Four booths for six screens.
Horrible ORCON platters that kept dying, tossing prints or having head-wraps.
Hot booths with the fluorescent lights right over the booth windows (which meant that you had to work in the dark if the movie was running).
Makeup Tables that did not work the way they were designed to work.
Xenons that "might" light.
No automation.

You name it...It was probably wrong or non-existent back then. But I think it forced me to organize myself and I know that the experience I gained there taught me how to remain calm under pressure.

I have to also add that the Film-Tech website has helped me take my abilities to a higher level now that I've decided to get back into exhibition services.

Posted by William T. Parr (Member # 677) on 08-13-2002, 03:36 PM:

I recieved my training from my brother while he was employeed by Cinemark as an egineer and I was not even an employee yet. Basically I helped him and the projectionist troubleshoot a speaker problem in an auditrium by running the end of Iron Eagle 2 over and over and over until they could pin point it. How did this get me into trainging on a projector you ask? Simply put is was a long walk from behind the screen to the booth so I was shown how to thread and allowe to do it 4 times with them in the booth first and then when they went into the auditorium to look for the problem I kept rethreading and starting section of the end over and over. Later when I was hired by Cinemark, I was trained completely by the Head Projectionist who was friends with my Brother. My Brother had trained him. I do miss my Century SATA projectors from that booth too.

Posted by John Westlund (Member # 913) on 08-13-2002, 05:38 PM:

I went to the Kodak Screencheck classes about 3 weeks ago in Los Angeles. The instructors were very good and were able to answer any question asked. I attended the advanced class but im sure the beginner is just as good. I would recommend them to anyone looking to gain knowledge in the business. The only problem is that I believe the only place to take the classes is in LA.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 08-13-2002, 08:35 PM:

The Kodak ScreenCheck classes have "gone on the road", usually when a theatre circuit arranges to have enough people for a class in one city.

Posted by Patrick McDonough (Member # 1363) on 08-14-2002, 08:55 AM:

Thank you all for the info, It looks like I came to the right place.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 08-15-2002, 02:53 AM:

Michael: the current BKSTS manual is easy to read and has lots of pretty pictures, but is seriously dumbed down compared to the previous edition, which was written by Bernard Happé and came out in the 1970s. It has a step by step guide to lacing up an IMAX projector but does not give you the basic theoretical background on electricity or the physics of lamps and illumination which the previous one did.

IMHO there was no need to totally rewrite it: all that was needed was to update the sections on sound and one or two minor things.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 08-15-2002, 05:50 AM:

Information about the BKSTS Projection Manual:
http://www.bksts.com/pdfs/Images.PDF
http://www.bksts.com/public.html

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 08-15-2002, 10:08 AM:

I don`t know the first version of the manual. Actually, I don`t know any other manual or book which is suitable for beginners, except for a German manual which hasn`t been updated in more than 10 years and is also not very readable. Actually, there is a little information about electricity in the BKSTS man., if only 1 1/2 pages. Maybe they decided not to go into greater depth on that subject because information about electricity is easily available from many sources?
Still, I think it´s a good starting point. I have trained many projectionists, and while I couldn`t give it to them to read (since most people don`t know English well enough), I was happy to have it for all the pictures that I could point to while explaining something...

Michael

Posted by Joseph D. Olson (Member # 1340) on 08-15-2002, 05:43 PM:

There are many many projectionists who love to show off the way they do things. I found during my training, that if I was friendly enough, I could walk into any booth and ask whomever was jockeying projectors to show me how it was done and without fail, all of them did it with a smile on their faces.

Posted by Adam Fraser (Member # 1074) on 08-15-2002, 10:43 PM:

Although outdated, I picked up the 1968 SMPTE "Motion Picture Projection and Theatre Presntation Manual" for $6.00 of ebay and it is packed with information.
Also, Richardson's Bluebook of projection I picked up for about $25.00 has a lot of information on projection theory and the basic parts of a projector. But, there is a lot of very outdated information in it as it was printed about 50 years ago.

------------------
Adam Fraser
www.pinestheatre.com

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 08-16-2002, 10:10 AM:

Shameless plug
Entertainment Equipment Corp offers Cinema Training Central contact 1800 448 1656 for more info

Posted by Pete Naples (Member # 761) on 08-16-2002, 12:50 PM:

In days gone by I used to keep awake during the late shows by reading, the BKSTS orange book was packed with detailed information, a lot of it is rather more detailed than most projectionists will need, still it impresses the rest of the staff when you quote bits at them! Another publication which is way out of date, but still fascinating nonetheless, is 'The Complete Projectionist', which was first printed in 1933 I think, the last edition I've seen was 1949. I've got a photocopy of this book that I lend to operators occasionally and many have said that despite it's age, they still found it useful!

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 08-16-2002, 07:29 PM:

I have two books from the 50s and 60s which are very good and still worth reading. They were published in the GDR. Because in communist countries everything had to be organised, they were very scientific in their approach. You could even specifically study movie theater technology in engineering schools and they also had thorough training programs for technicians and operators until the downfall of the system.
I also have a collection of issues of a magazine about picture and sound published every month by Zeiss-Ikon in the 50s which are still very informative.
Michael

Posted by Justin West (Member # 920) on 08-18-2002, 06:42 PM:

I have found both the SMPTE and BKSTS books very informative. Also, most projectionists are helpful in sharing info...although I met this one younger guy (from a family of projectionists) who had me turn my head when he worked out some trick to a problem that was appearing on screen...seems he felt it was a trade secret...but I was not even a competitor...just a novice hobbyist. Ha!

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 08-18-2002, 11:54 PM:

He probably didn't want you to see that he had put the wrong plate in.

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 08-19-2002, 08:38 PM:

Or applying spit to fingers and thence to film to extract a hair in the gate that resisted blowing out.

This could become a thread in itself. Tricks you'd prefer no one saw.