Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Training Resources

This is topic Training Resources in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Jared Malament (Member # 5121) on 02-10-2009, 07:31 PM:

I've worked at various theatres over the past ten years and have worked with a few different kinds of projectors (mostly Strong and Christie). I'm pretty strong on my film handling skills, but I don't have nearly as much knowledge as I'd like about the more technical maintenance of the projectors themselves. Does anyone have any recommendations, as to where I can find more training and/or information?

On a side note, I'm also interested the history of film projection (nickelodeons, silent film, advent of color, etc.), so if anyone knows any good resources for this kind of information, that would be greatly appreciated as well.

Posted by Ken Lackner (Member # 1002) on 02-10-2009, 08:51 PM:

Welcome to Film-Tech! (Wow. I've never been the first to reply to a new member's first message. I feel privileged.) Your best bet in regards to your first question is to make friends with your service technician. To this day, I credit my desire to be a technician to my first service tech. Were it not for him, it's quite possible I may never have developed the desire to become one myself. In addition to that, read the installation and operator manuals for all your equipment. Whatever you don't have, you can likely download from this site.

As for your second question, well, others will surely chime in here with resources they have found valuable, but the one that immediately jumps to my mind is the American Widescreen Museum .

Happy reading!

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 02-10-2009, 09:04 PM:

I second what Ken has said, one of the best resources to learn is to become good friends with your service tech. It is how I got started as well.

That and reading every manual and other paperwork I could get my hands on in regards to my projectors and sound systems.

My very first cinema job was on an Air Force Base, and there was one tech for a 4-state region, so I had to learn a lot of repairs and quick fixes while being coached on the phone... [Smile]

Posted by Laurie Higgins (Member # 4843) on 02-11-2009, 01:00 PM:

try the film tech training video. worked for me. zapp-kaboom [thumbsup]

sorry that was a joke.

Posted by Eric Robinson (Member # 2966) on 02-11-2009, 03:53 PM:

I always hung out with the technicians when they came by to fix stuff. Some of them let me do the work while telling me what to do. Almost got myself zapped once while working on a rectifier, luckily the tech stopped me just in time.

Taking electronics classes at a local college is invaluable.

Don't be afraid of trying to fix something. Most likely if its already broken and no one else is going to fix it, you can't do much harm. (most of the time.)

Ask a projection tech if they let you tag along on one of their repair jobs, who knows maybe if they like you, they'll give you a job.

It all comes down to getting your hands into it rather than sitting around and talking about how you would like to do it. Take the initiative and you'll end up where you want to be.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 02-11-2009, 05:42 PM:

I agree with all of the above even Lauries! It will help greatly if you know electricity and electronics and a little basic understanding of optics really helps too. So school may be the best place to start. You can start by reading manuals of all sorts!! [thumbsup]

Do something with the booth gear to make your service tech notice your abilities on his next visit.

Mark

Posted by Jared Malament (Member # 5121) on 02-13-2009, 12:38 AM:

Thanks for the input, everyone. I've been wanting to learn as much as I can from my service tech, but unfortunately, our schedules don't always line up. Hopefully this will change sometime soon.

Posted by Ken Lackner (Member # 1002) on 02-13-2009, 03:23 AM:

Your schedules rarely will line up. I made mine line up with my technician by getting up early and coming in on my own time just so I could learn.

Posted by Eric Robinson (Member # 2966) on 02-14-2009, 12:12 AM:

[thumbsup]

Posted by Mike Moreno (Member # 4887) on 02-14-2009, 12:53 PM:

the way i am learnig is reading a lot the instruction manuals and making phone calls to tech support. and another thing to do is always take a look to film-tech.com it really helps.

mike moreno