Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: What is it??

This is topic What is it?? - Misc theatre objects in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Nate Lehrke (Member # 1460) on 05-25-2003, 04:04 AM:

We have four of these 20 foot rods with hooks on them.

Haven't a clue to the purpose? Do you?

My only use:

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 05-25-2003, 06:55 AM:

Perhaps it's for hooking onto the latch of a window, roller blind or air vent located towards the top of a very tall room in order to open and close it. One student film society I ran operated in a general-purpose hall which had very high windows with blackout blinds, and there was a pole a bit like yours (which we called the buggery stick) which was used both to open the windows and operate the blinds.

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 05-25-2003, 07:46 AM:

It's not insulated so that leaves out the sticks the electric utility workers use to open and close pole-mounted high voltage switches.

And the hook is not big enough to remove bad vaudeville acts from the stage. [Smile]

I'd go with Leo's guess.

Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 05-25-2003, 08:57 AM:

I use to have a pole that looked similiar to the one shown but it had a grip with a lever and we used it to change our marquee letters while standing on the sidewalk.

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 05-25-2003, 09:21 AM:

They look like manual pull rods for a curtain? Perhaps the hook end fit over a pipe and it was used to draw a curtain manually? I've seen rods something like that before and that's what they were used for.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 05-25-2003, 01:24 PM:

Are they "rigged up" or were they manufactured that way?

Looks to me like they were rigged up. In other words, the person who made them might have had a specific purpose in mind. A little deductive reasoning from looking at how they are made might give you some clues.

My first guess would be a window opener/blind puller. It could be a marquee letter changer but the hook seems to be going the wrong way.

My second guess would be that they hang over the top pipe of your screen frame in order to facilitate some kind of manually movable masking. In other words, affix the inboard edges of the black Duvetine (or whatever fabric the masking is made from) to the pipe then affix the other end to the wall. By hanging the hooked end over the top of the screen, a person would be able to open and close the masking by sliding the hooked end of the pipe back and forth in front of the screen.

This is what we were going to do with the masking here at the college until we figured out a better way.

Posted by Gerard S. Cohen (Member # 994) on 05-25-2003, 01:55 PM:

I first thought, "Why would a theatre need five?"
Then I noted the little reverse-hook lip on the end of the larger curve, which suggested to me they were used to add and remove letters to the marquee, which usually has three sides and has several workers changing it at once, which might be done faster with five poles rather than ladders.
I'd look for letter sets, possibly obsolete ones, to see if they can be engaged by the hook on the end. Perhaps these tools were once light-bulb changers, with the grasping "fingers" removed and the compound hook added for title use instead.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 05-25-2003, 04:29 PM:

At the last cinema I worked we did have a grappling pole for changing light bulbs in the auditoria house lights. But these consisted of 5ft sections which were screwed together in a way which linked the grappling piece at the top to a lever at the bottom. When the pole was in position you pulled the lever to make it grip the light bulb, and then rotated the pole to unscrew it.

I discounted this because if such a mechanism (or any evidence of it) were left, I would have expected Nate to mention it.

An object for positioning letters on a readograph sounds feasible and would certainly answer Gerard's question as to why Nate has four of them.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 05-25-2003, 05:19 PM:

It's one of those mandatory ADA devices. It allows handicapped projectionists in a wheelchair to thread interlock rollers on the ceiling. [Big Grin]

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 05-25-2003, 09:07 PM:

What is this? It is located in the booth about 2 feet above the floor on the wall near a corner:

There are no other phones in the theater like this. Even the technician from the phone company was perplexed at this.

Posted by Daniel Fuentz (Member # 1684) on 05-25-2003, 09:21 PM:

That looks like some sort of antiquated intercom system. I assume there's no dialtone or anything like that when you pick up the reciever.

EDIT: Aha! I was right... a search for "Aiphone" reveals they are in fact an intercom manufacturer: http://www.gate-opener.com/aiphone_prod_appl_comm.html

Posted by Sam Hunter (Member # 1119) on 05-25-2003, 09:24 PM:

Looks like a paging intercom, notice no pound or asterix buttons.

Posted by Nate Lehrke (Member # 1460) on 05-25-2003, 09:36 PM:

As far as I know, we have never had curtains at the theatre, have no windows or blinds (located in basement of a mall) and the angle of the hook won't allow any air vent manipulation. I will have to check the pole more carefully tomorrow for signs of "jimmy-rigging".

Joe -- I see the model is AIPHONE so From " AIPHONE Homepage " -- Aiphone is an internationally respected manufacture of intercom and entry security products

Posted by Nicholas Roznovsky (Member # 861) on 05-25-2003, 10:21 PM:

quote:
Even the technician from the phone company was perplexed at this.

Hah! That's Qwest for you! I'm sure they charged you out the wazoo for that enlightened answer as well.

One of our locations had an Aiphone system which was installed by a previous owner. I'm not sure when it was installed, but it worked perfectly until we closed that location in 1997. It linked the two box offices and the two booths. No dial tone, you just pressed the button for which one you wanted to call and it rang on the other end. The sound was kind of tinny, but it worked without any problems.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 05-25-2003, 11:17 PM:

Joe--all older theatres seem to have random stuff like that phone. The phones seem to be a '70s thing; before that, it was doorbells (or buzzers) with a button in the back of the auditorium and the bell/buzzer in the booth. Interestingly, the bells/buzzers are usually still connected and functioning, while the phones almost never work.

We had a single phone like that (it was an AIPHONE, too) at Chestnut Hill, but it only had six buttons. There was only one of them and it was only in the lower booth. Presumably it would have been connected to the manager's office and the upper booth at one time. Now they just use regular phones with an "intercom" button.

Posted by Ken Layton (Member # 133) on 05-25-2003, 11:25 PM:

Yeh that's an Aiphone telephone style intercom. You couldn't pay me to buy Aiphone products---they suck! It took 6 moths to get repair parts for an Aiphone system in a local theater and Aiphone is hq'd just 40 miles from me!

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 05-26-2003, 01:00 PM:

That first object (the 'pole') looks like the pole used in the back of the "Back to the Future" Delorean (however you spell it) - you know back in 1955 when they had to 'harness' the electricity from the clock tower.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 05-26-2003, 08:49 PM:

Or it could be one of those thngs that attaches to bumper cars to give them their power. Don't most theaters have bumper cars?

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 05-26-2003, 09:44 PM:

quote:
Don't most theaters have bumper cars?

ACTUALLY, Joe, it's funny you should mention that. A Regal Fun Scape theater near me DID have bumper cars! And Laser Tag, and go carts, and miniature golf....

Posted by Nate Lehrke (Member # 1460) on 05-27-2003, 12:20 AM:

About the poles -- They are most definitely "jimmy rigged", looks like four 5 foot rods welded together with a hook welded to the top. The old fashion marquee idea's & curtain related ideas seem to be the best answers thus far for their use. [thumbsup]

Another one for ya: This has been hanging in the booth since we opened (1 year ago). Again, we have NO IDEA what it is for, do you?

Posted by John Scott (Member # 520) on 05-27-2003, 01:12 AM:

Hmmm, If it wasn't for the fact that there was no adhesive or velcro or somethign on one end, I'd swear it looks like something similar we've used to build up a print so that we could drop in a completed trailer pack at a later time. (That is of course if the bolts do line up with your platter holes.)

Posted by Tom Fermanian (Member # 1094) on 05-30-2003, 02:07 PM:

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't most theaters have bumper cars?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well Guzzo Theatres in Quebec DO have bumper cars in their lobby's along with video arcades & mini bowlings!

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 05-30-2003, 02:35 PM:

Definitely looks like a homemade center ring to me.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 05-30-2003, 02:40 PM:

I agree with Brad: ...Definitely looks like a homemade COLLAPSIBLE center ring to me. Wind the print onto it, then squeeze the soft plastic to remove the center ring. Neat idea. Has anyone used something similar?

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 05-30-2003, 04:53 PM:

In a pinch, I have made many center rings out of 35mm plastic cans (2000' size). I just got a long nut and some bolts and would drill through the plastic can (using top and bottom) and voila...cheap center rings perfect for film festivals and such.