Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: When was your first booth visit?

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Posted by Rick Raskin (Member # 1561) on 09-14-2008, 09:05 AM:

Continuing along the lines of first cinema experience, when did you first visit a booth?

Mine was the Tivoli Theater in Washington, DC when I was about 11 years old (1957). I remember the projectionist inviting a friend and I upstairs. I also remember asking him what type of equipment it was and he responded that it was all Simplex. I responded that it looked all complex to me.

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 09-14-2008, 09:54 AM:

For me it was when I was first hired at the Feather River Cinemas in Oroville, California. I was 23 at the time. I was hired as floor staff when the theatre first opened in 1996, but started running projectors within a few months. First film I built up was Last Man Standing. I guess that was almost exactly 12 years ago.

Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 09-14-2008, 10:10 AM:

My first booth visit was at the old now-closed STARLITE D-I in Asheville. It was an old booth at the time... old equipment, parts, amplifiers stacked in the corners, old posters on the walls. This was about 1966.

The BEST booth visit was at the FOX Theatre in Atlanta.

I had just finished watching Raiders Of The Lost Ark in 70mm there, and was standing at my seat in the balcony waiting for the crowds to clear out.

I looked up toward the portholes, and saw a guy with his head sticking out watching the crowds. I hollered up at him and asked if I could see the booth? The guy that was with me was mortified, but the guy in the porthole pointed toward the back of the balcony. We went back there, and in a few moments, the wall opened, and there was our man. His name was Joe Patten, and I quickly found out that he was the driving force behind the restoration of this palace.

He gladly showed us the lovely Century projectors that had been removed from the Lowes Grand down the street and installed here after the "fire" that happened there. He showed us the sound systems, and film prep areas, talked to us about the Moller pipe organ and its ongoing restoration.

I spoke to him several more times over the next few years, Got to meet Bob Van Camp, the house organist, and hear the organ play when he was practicing.

Mr Van Camp is gone now. I dont know about Mr. Patten. I do hope that he is still kicking. This booth visit was the BEST of all to me.

I remember on this night, Mr Van Camp announced to the full house that even though Raiders was playing in at least 20 theatres in the Atlanta area, we all chose to see it HERE in this fine old theatre. We all applauded each other. Ah, memories. [bruce]

Posted by Mike Olpin (Member # 1115) on 09-14-2008, 10:25 AM:

When I was 13 or 14 we went to see Liar Liar at the new AMC Mission Valley 20, the first stadium seating theatre in the area. AMC had these ridiculously huge port windows, and the projectionist spotted me staring at him while he was threading. A few minutes later, he came into the theatre and invited me and my family up to the booth for a quick tour. I had never seen a modern film system. The projectionist explained how the platters work, and then went on about the torus screens and how they were the only theatre in town that had them.

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 09-14-2008, 10:39 AM:

My earliest memory of being inside a projection booth was at the Family Drive-In, in Lexington, KY. We were watching "Gone With The Wind", so it must have been during the 1967 re-release. I also remember my mother talking about Vivian Leigh dying of tuberculosis, which was also in '67, so I would've been 5 years-old.

On a trip to the concession stand, I peered into the open booth door and stood gawking in utter amazement. At the time, that booth had two Ashcraft Super Cinex lamps on slanted Brenkert bases, with BX-100 projectors and 9030 soundheads. 20-minute reels, of course. Now, those were huge lamphouses by any measure, but they must have looked supremely enormous to a 5 year-old.

The projectionist kindly offered to let me have a closer look at the projector so I walked between the machines, looking at the reels spin reciprocally, not knowing entirely what to make of it all. I must have asked him why there were two projectors, because I remember he said, "This other projector will be running in a few minutes." I wondered how that could happen, since the one on the left was obviously running the movie at that moment? About then, my father appeared in the doorway and told me to leave the man alone.

Later that night, as we went back to the concession stand, I peered once again into the booth and the other projector was, indeed, running. I distinctly remember wondering how that had happened without us knowing about it.

That event had a lasting effect on me. Just 7 short years later, I made my first changeover; across the street at the Circle 25 Drive-In!

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 09-14-2008, 10:48 AM:

Oddly enough, I don't remember which one I went into first as a "guest."

It was either the K-B Bethesda or the K-B Studio. In either case, it would have been the summer of 1980.

Via a mutal friend, I met my best friend (for the 2nd time...long story there) on July 4th 1980...he was a projectionist for K-B Theatres. I was invited to a couple of movies and at least one was at the K-B Bethesda and the other was at the K-B Studio. The Bethesda was his primary theatre but he worked relief all over the K-B chain. So I definitely spent more time at the Bethesda that summer.

By the fall of 1980, I too was showing movies for K-B Theatres.

Steve

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 09-14-2008, 11:03 AM:

I was working at the luxurious Mann's Kipling Place 6 Theaters when I probably followed my friend upstairs (who was an assistant manager) as he closed down the booth. Maybe I helped him move a print. I can't quite remember. He was the one who eventually taught me how to thread a month or two before I became an assistant manager. He appears in Projection Training 1 as well as the commercial for the mighty Mann Tamarac Square

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 09-14-2008, 11:32 AM:

For me, I think that it was at some point in the early-mid 1990s at the Saco Drive-In in Saco, Maine. My family was visiting the area over the summer and I convinced them to go to the drive-in one night. I poked my head into the booth sometime mid-show to take a look and was invited in. I was most impressed.

At the time, they still had Simplex E7s with Ashcraft lamphouses. The theatre is still around but now has a single Brenkert with a platter.

Posted by Don Furr (Member # 1469) on 09-14-2008, 12:38 PM:

I might have been 10 or 11 but my father got me a tour of the booth at the Varsity Theatre in Columbus, Ms. The operator was Frank Highsaw who was a 16mm collector and was my source for 16mm film. The old Varsity burned to the ground in the late 70's but not before I operated the booth part time for several years. That theatre had a HUGE curved silver screen that went from wall to wall.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 09-14-2008, 05:37 PM:

Always fulfilling my role as a total movie geek, I was the first person in line at the box office for the grand opening of the Edwards El Toro 5. I bought a ticket for Supergirl. I have it stuck in my head that the grand opening was 1985, but imdb says that movie was released in 1984. As was the custom with Edwards grand openings, the theater was not finished. The snack bar was only about half set up and they were still installing Edwards-red Formica on the countertops and stuff like that.

Anyway James Edwards Sr. was there, I struck up a conversation with him, and he asked me if I'd like to see the booth. Hell yeah! He told the projectionist to show me around. At the time I didn't know projection heads were not necessarily the same brand as the lamphouses and all I saw was "CHRISTIE" on all the lamphouses so I figured they were Christie projectors. They may not have been, since the largest house had 70mm capability.

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 09-14-2008, 06:06 PM:

When I was a kid, my folks used to take me to the drive-in, I would spend most of time not watching the film, but hanging out at the open projection-room door... peering into the projection booth being amazed at the magic that made the images show on the screen. I would bug the projectionist to let me in so I could get a better look at it all. ...he usually did. [thumbsup]

In HS and college, I ran a lot of 16mm films. That was my downfall for my 1st 35mm "job".

When I was at Ft. Monmouth army base, I saw a job posting for a projectionist at the new 1000 seat base theatre. AS usual for a young punk, I BS'd my way in and got the job. [thumbsup]

My 1st show... I totally screwed up. Having only projected 16mm B4, I threaded with the supply reel film exiting CW instead of CCW as is common for 35mm. When the image hit the screen, it was upside-down and the optical track was visible on the screen. I didn't have a clue as to why... [Eek!]

I could hear all my friends jeering me from the auditorium with "nasty" comments. [fu]

FINALLY, the head projectionist came in and got everything running right. [beer]

I learned ANOTHER life-lesson the hard way...I NEVER did that again! [Big Grin]

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 09-14-2008, 07:07 PM:

quote: Phil Hill
When I was a kid, my folks used to take me to the drive-in, I would spend most of time not watching the film, but hanging out at the open projection-room door... peering into the projection booth being amazed at the magic that made the images show on the screen. I would bug the projectionist to let me in so I could get a better look at it all. ...he usually did.

Ditto for me Phil! It was at the Sky Hi Drive In near my house and I was probably 10 or so. It was a twin D.I. and there were two projectionists back then. Century SA's with Super Cinex's on the back... The one projectionist there used to repair TV's and run the show on one side... am glad he never fixed our TV between 20 min. reels! Donno what the other guy did cept run shows... I think every D.I. after that I went to I got to know the projectionist.

Mark

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 09-14-2008, 07:27 PM:

So true Phil. And yet to this day you have NEVER projected a reel incorrectly in your screening room. [Razz]

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 09-14-2008, 07:33 PM:

Hahahahahaha. OK Brad... that's really funny. I deserved that and soooo true! [fu]

I'm not upset about your post, however I'll carefully pick a time to get even... [Razz]

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 09-14-2008, 09:56 PM:

My parents were members of the Waipahu Japanese Social Club and as part of membership service, there was a outdoor movie showing about three times a month on a Saturday evening on the grounds of a pre school up at the Oahu Sugar plantation village. The films were all in Japanese that had just completed their first run Honolulu showings at either the Kokusai with their Daie movies and the Nippon with pictures from Shochiku. The showings were in 35mm and projected from a very tiny booth on the school grounds. I cannot remember the type of projectors in the booth but it was set up for change overs because there were two machines. The projectionist was Jack Matsuura who owned and operated three independent movie theatres in leeward Oahu where we lived. He was a very nice man and provided me with a lot of information about motion picture exhibition when I used to bug him with all kinds of questions about motion picture exhibition . This was a time when I was about the age of the little boy in the Italian film, CINEMA PARADISO. Seeing that movie reminded me a lot about Mr. Matsuura and myself and how kind he was.

-Claude

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 09-15-2008, 03:04 AM:

(Mine's a bit of an unique one...and I've posted this pix before here in these forums, thus please forgive me on this one..)

Have to begin at square one with this one: Had a friend back in 6th grade, who was an avid 8mm film collector and shared the same interest with 16mm (obviously) as I was, and he would tell me about his dad that used to be our home town's projectionist at one of our more famous theatres in the city and even this part of the state.

Now, jumping up to our junior year when "The Graduate" came out in 1968: my friend and I decided to go to this film at this same theatre and he was going to show me this booth below where his dad worked at when he was early grade school:

My first impression of seeing 35mm film running through these big machines was so fascinating - like seeing a magic show and how changeovers were done.

But the biggest thrill of it all was that how one individual can run a show seamlessly and totally smooth without any notice of the reel changes...

..and to this day, when I assemble prints, I do my best to retain that smooth continuity of presentation - why I can't stand opaque splices. For to me, that is pure disrespect of how a movie is supposed to be presented and also in presenting this sloppiness to the patron. Plus, sloppy show startups, trailer pak assemblies, and the like. (sorry to get on this rant a bit here...)

Three years later, I pulled my first shift here in this booth as a sub, and in 1976 until 1984, I was chief operator for this booth when I moved over to the Boise area for MANN and they closed this theatre down the following year.

Now, the theatre has been fully restored and is a part of the city's cultural arts center.

The XL's were pulled out and sold to be installed in the town's three plex and one of the Magnarcs went on display in this cultural center.

-Monte

Posted by James Westbrook (Member # 3690) on 09-15-2008, 03:48 AM:

It looks like the picture was taken just seconds before changeover, as indicated by how little film is on the reel on the left projector.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 09-15-2008, 08:13 AM:

Or did he miss that changover...?

Posted by Sean Weitzel (Member # 244) on 09-15-2008, 12:10 PM:

In 1983 I was 8 years old and my uncle took me one saturday afternoon to see "The Black Stallion Returns" at the Town and Country theater in San Jose, CA http://www.cinematour.com/tour.php?db=us&id=2943
I was already fascinated with our family's 8mm home movies and was accomplished at projecting them as well as sometimes being allowed to help thread up 16mm at school. My uncle knew the girl running the booth that day and we were invited in. I'm pretty sure the projector was a Century and they had a platter. I was fascinated at the fact that the film on the platter "looked like the film in mom's (still) camera!" The girl opened up all of the doors on the projector and turned the motor by hand so I can see how the intermittent worked. They explained that the film came from the center of the platter and wound onto one of the empty ones. I also remember that there was a 16mm machine in that booth as well that threaded on the left side. I think it was some kind of rack mount unit.

Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 09-15-2008, 12:38 PM:

Monte's photo---neither lamp is on. My first booth experience was at the Broadway D.I., Richmond suburbs when I was about 10, ca. 1954. Parents sent me to the concession for some fries which I bought, then discovered the booth door open and stopped to watch. The projectionist saw me an invited me in and was showing me around when Dad found me with by then cold fries in hand and was starting to give me hell when the projectionist gave him an employee coupon to get a replacement order of fries and told Dad I could stay the rest of the evening. I stayed, and Dad was happy. After that night I didn't see a booth again for 30 yrs. The fascination lasted though.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 09-15-2008, 01:05 PM:

quote: James Westbrook
It looks like the picture was taken just seconds before changeover

Yea, the ball in the Hatke Rell End Alarm had just pinged its three pings when snapped the shutter on this pict.

quote: Bill Enos
Monte's photo---neither lamp is on

We were running rectifier in this booth, thus the light switch on the side of the base controlled the relay to each rectifier, thus the knife blade switch, on both bases, had to be in the closed (handle up) position.

True, the alarm had just taken off, why the switch on No.2 machine was still "OFF" whereas you can see the switch in the "ON" position for No.1 machine.

It's nothing to strike up a Peerless - one can do it in a flash with one flick of the wrist on the negative advance knob.

..and we did our changeovers inbetween the projectors and we laced the machines sitting down being of the port windows were so low, (this theatre wasn't designed for film, thus this booth was originally a spot light room, and when film came in why of these mods), thus all the curtains, lights and dowser/sound buttons were in the center. Plus, you noticed that the bases had 6 inches lopped off from the top

If I wanted to switch over to generator, I threw a couple of knife switches in the other room to bypass rectifier for the generator use.

Why we had rectifier, is that we went from 7 and 6mm carbons to 9 and 8mm carbons and our small "gennie" couldn't run both lampshouses during changeovers with those larger rods. BUT, we did have a spotlight "gennie" in the loop that could run both lampshouses during changeovers, but it was close in taxing out the generator until I switched off the one lamphouse.

-Monte

Posted by Richard P. May (Member # 3598) on 09-15-2008, 01:11 PM:

Harding Jr. High School in Oklahoma City had 35mm projection equipment. The school was built around 1925, and I guess was a pretty deluxe instituion.
The machines were Motiograph, complete with the original hand cranks. Motors and sound heads were added, of course. There were not very powerful carbon arc lamps.
When I went there, in the late 1940s, we ran cartoons and short subjects at lunch time when the weather was bad. We ran about two features each school year to raise money for the graduating class. Making a changeover when running a feature was a privilege.
There was a cabinet in the booth with several reels of old film, including some silent. It was very smelly, and some of it sticking together. When we had nothing else, we would experiment with this very volatile nitrate film, hand cranking the projectors to see if we could get the sound to play properly.
At that time, of course, all of the 35mm prints were nitrate. Thinking about it today, it is amazing that the fire department would let school kids run the projectors. Not knowing the danger, we had no problems, or even thought about the fire danger.
That started my fascination with movies, and I'm still completely involved with film preservation, and have always found projection to be the closest thing to showmanship in the exhibition world.

RPM

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 09-15-2008, 07:16 PM:

My very first visit to a booth was at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson in 1982. Simplex XLs, RCA 9030, Peerless magnarc with 1kw Xenon conversion, mono Altec sound. Cassette deck for non-sync. No automation of any kind, all lights, curtains, etc. on wall switches, the changeover buttons were big "mushroom" buttons on the floor. No masking, just a curtain on the stage and a single Altec A7 behind the screen.

Talked to the manager who brought me to the booth and introduced me to the projectionist. He showed me the basics, and after a few visits he let me do a changeover, then thread the machines. A week later I was hired on to run the shows.

We later converted our lamps to LP Assoc. 2kws. I got my engineering start as I had to wire up the lamphouses when the AAFES engineer had to handle an emergency phone call. The Peerless lamps and Strong rectifiers we pulled sat on the roof for several months and were still theer wehn I was re-assigned. [scream]

I later got to see the booth of the Mann Twin in Tucson, it was after a 70mm showing of TRON where we had a film break. The operator was a nice guy and the equipment was Simplex 35/70 and CP-200 sound.

Wish I had taken pics of that booth on the base.

Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 09-15-2008, 08:18 PM:

I visited every booth my father ever worked starting in the 30s. I became an IA apprentice in 1950. My first full-time job as projectionist was at the State theatre in Pomona, California the newest of four Fox West Coast Theatres to be built in that city and the first to be torn down.

Posted by Richard Fowler (Member # 893) on 09-15-2008, 08:30 PM:

22th Street Causeway Drive In, south of the port of Tampa, Florida. It has been closed for more than 35 years but you can still see the "drive in layout" on Google Earth....The pillbox booth was at the front of the drive in, shooting across a turgid mosquito laden pond, to a Cinemascope screen. The projectionist, running the giant machines (Ashcraft for sure), gave me some black and white green tinted dater strips......I was eight years old, the movie on the screen was..."Queen of Outer Space" with Zsa Zsa Gabor; this exactly 50 years ago........

Posted by Charles Greenlee (Member # 3856) on 09-16-2008, 05:22 AM:

First booth visit was my first day of work at the local Carmike in 2000. Yeah, got hired as a projectionist, and I hadn't ever seen a projector first hand. Oh, I had seen slide projectors, and I believe an 8mm movie projector at school, but we're not talking those toys, we're talking the real deals. Heh, kinda comforting that carmike'll hire someone totally inexperienced with cinema equipment as a projectionist. Though I believe it was my technical experience with electronics and mechanics that probably sold me to them. I guess. They pretty much hired me on the spot. So yeah, I was all wide eyed my first day of work. [Big Grin]