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Posted by Pete Naples (Member # 761) on 10-19-2002, 06:59 AM:
Last night I was present at the opening of a cinema I've recently installed, on 'stand by' so to speak. The projy was a little rushed as he had features to make up as well as running the show, so I volunteered to mind the machines whilst he worked on the bench, ended up taking the change over during 'Moulin Rouge', it's been quite some time since I've done that, but it was a real buzz to know that I've still got the eye for such things. It's like riding a bike, you never really forget!There is a platter installed in this booth, but where's the fun in that?!
Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 10-19-2002, 08:34 AM:
A few years ago I had a man who had retired more than 30 years prior visit the booth, we chatted for a while and he asked if I would allow him to make a change over and thread a projector. It was a very slow night so I figured why not. He did both flawlessly and several more. At 88 he had some difficulty with the 56 steps to the booth but none in the booth. He sid he had not seen a projector since he retired. I guess you never forget.
Posted by Ray Brown (Member # 1449) on 10-19-2002, 10:10 AM:
"It's like riding a bike, you never really forget!"That's what I said when I threaded up a projector for the first time in 17 years. The theater I'm at now runs platters but I would love to strike up a carbon and do a change over again just for the fun of it.--Ray
Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 10-19-2002, 03:35 PM:
I work at the Berlin Film Festival every year and they insist on changeover, of course. It is always fun to do that as it has a kind of live feeling to it. Also, in practically every show you have the director or the producer or other important people sitting in the auditorium, so you don`t want to mess up a reel change!
Michael
Posted by John T. Hendrickson, Jr (Member # 849) on 10-19-2002, 06:09 PM:
Ah- we're talking nostalgia here. I still have dreams that I'm in a changeover booth and with less than a minute to go to changeover, the incoming projector is not threaded and the carbons have not been checked.Old habits die hard, don't they? 
Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 10-19-2002, 06:43 PM:
John - nostalgia? If you want, I can arrange for you to come to work at the next festival. There are moments there when you age by years in just 1 minute! Still, it`s a lot of fun, because of that live feeling. Last year we played a lot of Vietnamese films. They were all acetate and at least ten years old, so they broke constantly. Once, a leader broke when I was threading the reel about 1 minute before the changeover... The film was 90 minutes and came on 11(!) tiny reels just 10 minutes before the screening was to start. A special treat is when the print has already been in much use, and lots of people have scratched in their own changeover marks on it.
Michael
Posted by Shaun Flichel (Member # 1435) on 10-21-2002, 05:27 PM:
You never forget, especially my case, not really projecting but electrical. Never again will I leave the probes and meter set for amperage when checking for 220 voltage, its bright and melts half the probe, plus lets not forget the reflexes........