Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Training to become a projectionist.

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Posted by William Phillips (Member # 1162) on 04-04-2003, 12:07 PM:

This coming Monday I have a new person starting work at the theatr. He is going to be a projectionist and theate technician. Does any one have any training type info that you could email me as its been a long time since i trained anyone and was woundering if anyone fron a chain cinema had anything good that i could use and change. [Smile]

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 04-04-2003, 01:05 PM:

Do you know the BKSTS projectionist`s manual? It is well structured and a good step-by-step introduction.

Also check out John Pytlak`s Practical Projection Pointers for instructional reading.

Posted by William Phillips (Member # 1162) on 04-04-2003, 01:17 PM:

Hi Michael

Ive got the manual and most of the Kodak stuff, the sort of thing I was looking for was Health and Safety stuff and also to get an idear of what I should be realisticaly be expecting the person to achive and sort of time spans. He is very keen and shows promise which is a very good start.

Posted by Aaron Mehocic (Member # 15) on 04-04-2003, 07:09 PM:

Particular safety rules will probably vary from country to country, but stress the basics. Just recently I authored a thread in which electrical safety became a central issue, and I thank all who responded.

In terms of training, I set a year-long goal-oriented program. My belief is that it will take about one year to train somebody who has no clue what film is into a competant and respected projectionist. You can laugh all you want about that, but I really believe it takes a full year to get perfect results. Remember, a two day crash course in the booth can teach someone the basics, however it takes months to refine those basics. The biggest insult I ever received as a projectionist was from a manager who once said to me "a monkey can be taught to lace". Needless to say he does not visit this site (I'm sure he feels its below him).

Oh, and one last thing: Don't overload your student. We have a guy who teaches our new operators assume, just because he can understand something very easily, that all of his trainees could too. I brought this up to him on several occasions that "Advanced Booth 980" can not preceed "Basic Booth 101". When I finally began to work with his students after their initial training they knew all about mechanics behind the rectifiers and and the physics of mixing digital soundtracks, but very little concerning filmpaths, part names and where booth supplies were located.

[ 04-04-2003, 08:21 PM: Message edited by: Aaron Mehocic ]

Posted by Rick Long (Member # 213) on 04-05-2003, 12:34 AM:

I agree with Aaron, first, as to saftey proceedures. You would be morally (if not legally) responsible if your student should become suddenly blind while changing a xenon bulb, or electrocuted while working on equipment. This is old hat, I know, but remember it is YOUR duty to teach "Safety First".

When I apprenticed, as a projectionist, eons ago, it was considered normal that the 600-hour apprenticeship required by Ontario Law, was about correct in teaching one most of what one should know in order to be a projectiionist. I had always thought, during my apprenticeship, that this was rather long, and was based on old out-of-date nitrate film rules.

Till my first night alone in the booth.

Then I realized how little I actually knew.

Unfortunately today, seldom is a prospective "booth operator" accorded more than a few hours of training. I find this disturbing because no booth experience is obtained, thus the operator that works "only every Thursday night", is not aware that the "buzzing" sound emitting from the projector means he/she may be damaging film.

Aaron is also right when he cautions against "overloading the student". There is a lot to learn and damn little time to learn it. Just because you understand the reason for everything you're teaching, don't assume the student does.

But let's get back to the realities of the booth of today.

You just ain't gonna have that much time to do training before this person is on his/her own.

So what do you look for in a prospective "operator"?

First and formost is that indefinable quality known as "showmanship" - the desire and need to put on a perfect show to the audience. Funny thing about showmanship - if feels so good if you get it right, and so bad if you get it wrong.

A person with this quality will learn him/herself what he/she needs to know if necessary.

Without it, you are waisting each other's time.

Give me a person decidated to performance everytime.

Posted by Mark Maxwell (Member # 1355) on 04-06-2003, 01:29 AM:

After he has gotten the hang of everything, show him everything that can go wrong, how to find out what is causing the problem, and how to fix it quick. The guy who first trained me showed me by threading 2 projectors. After that, he told me "Have at it." During the rushes I was coming down asking him every minute to come and help me figure out what was wrong. I eventually learned through my mistakes, and equipment problems that could happen. I went through horrible nightmares dealing with that crap. when I finally started training projectionist, I showed them how diferent mistakes would make the film wrap around the brain in different directions. If there are no mistakes, check the microswith, or the variac. If there is no sound, check the breaker, the proccesor, exciter lamp, everything to do with the sound. Just think of anything that has happened off the bat in your' experience, and show them what to do if that happens. Just make sure you show them after they have gotten used to threading so as not to overwhelm them. But also make sure they know how to recognize and fix some of these problems before they go solo. It can be a very bad experience if you don't know what to do. Trust me, I've been through it.