The Ghost in the Machine February 1st, 2007 11:16 am

[Link] What does a projectionist actually DO?





Anyway, I felt that this was a textbook case of what is happening with movie theatres and movie piracy everywhere, and I actually got a little panicked when I thought that it could have been at my theatre that this happened. I emailed the guy and he confirmed that it actually happened in Ontario somewhere. He emailed me again with the following:



Dear Heidi,



Here's a question for you that my wife and I were asking ourselves after our experience on the weekend: what does a modern projectionist actually do? Is training a matter of apprenticeship, college or employer-provided training?



What happens to projectionists come the widespread adoption of digitally-delivered cinema?



Love,

Cheeseburger Brown





I started thinking and formulating a reply, which took me a long time to write.

Anyway, I thought I'd share it with you, because it's what I do, and you probobly don't really know what a projectionist does. I hope you enjoy!



:)





Hello Cheeseburger,



Sorry this took so long.

I'm glad you asked.

I'll tell it all. It might be a bit long winded, but I enjoy telling it, and I don't often get to. I hope this answers your questions.

...probably more than you ever wanted to know.... :)



I've been a projectionist for TWO years now, and that's TOO long. But dang, I gots to pay off my student loans!

I have a diploma from the Vancouver FIlm School (Film Production) and, while my film training no doubt helped me to get the job, anyone with the right motivation and work ethic can do it.



I make $9.00 an hour (minimum wage in BC is $8.00), and that's AFTER I asked for a raise. While new booth folk get a $.50 raise after being a projectionist for three months, raises are unheard of at Cineplex. (I should clairify that we were a Viacom Paramount, but were bought, and are now a Cineplex Galaxy.... but I learned a few days ago that Scotia Bank bought us, and they are changing theatres everywhere to "Scotia Bank Theatres". I died a little inside when I heard that.) But I digress.



Projectionists are trained within the company. We are trained by the projectionists that came before us. There is usually a huge decay of knowledge when a projectionist is trained, mainly because, at my theatre, we get THREE shifts to teach them everything they need to know. It's not enough time. Mostly new people learn things as they go, from mistakes they make. I know things no manager knows. Very few of them know what it takes to run the booth, or what we actually do up there, what it's like to be alone, all day, with loud machines everywhere you go. Even the managers that were once projectionists forget, as if the office somehow erases their memories of it.



I run nine screens simultaneously. I'm alone for my usual eight hour shift.

I am fortunate enough to have a boss that values the maintenance of our projectors (everyone else just wants you to BUY BUY BUY our grossly unhealthy popcorn [http://www.everything2.org/index.pl?node_id=1766252], snacks, and sugar water), and the morning shift starts a full two hours before the theatre opens to preform maintenance.



So: I get in around 10 am, get the days show time schedule and the elevator key that lets me access the booth, and I head upstairs. I read our Booth Book, which tells me what's been going on (but since I'm there five days a week, very little goes on that I don't know about), and get to work on maintenance. Maintenance is cleaning; lots of q-tips, rubbing alcohol, compressed air, windex, WD-40, and attention to detail ensures that a projector is clean, that all the parts are functioning properly, and that the picture is getting to the screen perfectly (lenses and port-glass projection booth windows are cleaned). I do two or three machines a day, so that each machine is done once a week. We have more rigorous maintenance types that happen every three months (oil changes, coolant changes and the like).



After maintenance, I thread. This involves getting the film in place to run the film. We have a platter system which feeds the film in one continuous piece through the projector and back onto another platter. Thus, a film cannot be rewound or started again. Once it goes, it GOES, unless I use my l337 skills to carefully unthread and get it going again, but that's only really possible in the first few minutes. Threading is automatic when you've been doing it for long enough. I have muscle memory for it. I can thread in one minute, five seconds (though this more than doubles if I do it with my eyes shut). It's what most of the training centres around, because it's what you have to know right away, and you have to do it perfectly twenty times a day. Threading is the hardest thing to learn. It's where most things go wrong. Everyone scratches a print in their time in the booth. Mine was Kingdom of Heaven. I almost cried. I felt like writing to Sir Riddley Scott and apologizing. Prints are EXPENSIVE and we sure get a talking to if we scratch one. ...They don't always replace a scratched print, even when I recommend that they do. Who wants to pay twelve bucks to see a bunch of vertical black lines all over James Bond? Not me. But people do, and it pains me to have to show them an inferior print just because my managers won't get a new one.



The projectionists motto is "On time, in frame, in focus" (to which I have added "incognito"), and our job is to be there when the film starts, focus it, make sure it's in frame, make sure there's no hairs in the gate (removing them if there is), focus it after the adverts and trailers, and focus it once more in the middle of the film. The heat of the bulb can actually effect the focus, which is why it is so important to have someone there to keep it in check. Cinemas that have less than twelve screens are not supposed to have an employee who is solely a projectionist. A manger threads, or one of the concession people. Our nine screens are lucky to have someone up there all the time. We have one of the best and cleanest booths in the country, according to many people that see many a booth.



Thursdays are out of the ordinary, and far more hectic... that's when all the new films arrive, in six or seven reels, and I have to put them together. Also, old advertisements must be removed from prints, and new ones put on. Same goes for trailers. So much splicing. It takes so little time to say, but hours and hours to do.



We have to move prints from theatre to theatre. Prints are heavy. Everyone drops one. ONE. Though, I never have, and I mention it as frequently as possible. ;) They are really hard to get back together when dropped. A print is around a mile of film.



We clean the projectors not just in the morning, but quickly in between each and every show. Also, at the end of the night they get a once over.



We look in on the audience from our "eye in the sky" vantage point and catch the ones trying to record our films, or the little buggers with the laser pointers, or the guys with their feet up the on the back of your chair. When the lights dim I get the pleasure of seeing a wave of cell phone screens come aglow as their owners turn them off.



We program a system that automatically starts the film for us. We tell it what format (Flat, or Scope) and the time, and it starts it for us. Not many theaters have this system (called "CineQ") but it sure makes things easier. A sensor on the projector reads little strips of foil I put at certain places on the print to dim the lights, shut off the lights, and bring them back up again. It's my friend. We must always have our radio on us at all times so this system can communicate with us. All day we hear "SHOW NINE- STARTED" (of course we'd be right beside show nine when this announcement comes on) and "SHOW FIVE- BUNG-BING-BONG" to let us know it's out of trailers and into the actual feature (at which point we go there and focus it). "SHOW TWO END IN- MINUTES" tells us the credits have started, and "SHOW SEVEN- END" ...obvious.



I think it's not so much a matter of when digital cinema takes over, but rather how many theatres will be left when the change happens. Theatre attendance is down down down, and our theatre is like some sort of white elephant, loosing loosing loosing money. Yet there is talk of one of our screens going digital. Well, I am of two minds about this. On one hand, I can hardly ignore the flecks of dust flickering by as I watch a movie (even though we use 'cleaning rollers' to take it off), the little scratches, the not quite right framing... "Bring on the advancement!" I say. Superior sound! Unflawed picture quality! I get quite upset when people tell me "Oh, you're a projectionist, eh? What do you do then, push play on the DVD player?" NO! NO YOU MORONS! WE ARE NOT DIGITAL! I HAD TO TAPE THAT DAMN THING TOGETHER WITH MY OWN TWO HANDS! Sorry. People just don't know at all what it's like. I know all our machines. I know that number four is temperamental with it's platters, and that number nine is so well behaved no one notices that it's bulbs last twice as long as other projectors. It's so novel to have actual film. It's real. You can feel it, hold it up to the light and SEE what will appear on screen. I feel privileged to have worked with it. Yes, digital will take my job. Let it. I'm done anyway.



...But I will still bore my grandkids with "Back in the day, when you used to go to a movie theatre to see a film, I projected this heavy 35 millimeter film through these noisy machines" stories. And I will smile on our way to the holodeck and wonder what else is just around the corner.



-Heidi

I found a disturbing post that made the front page of reddit , about one couples very bad experience at a movie theatre. You can read it here . In short, the picture was out of frame so they couldn't read the subtitles (Pan's Labyrinth), there was a hair in the gate, and it got twenty minutes into the feature with no one fixing it. Inexcusable. When they tried to get their money back, they had to deal with a very unaccommodating manager... they then went home, downloaded the film, and watched it in the comfort of their livingroom.Anyway, I felt that this was a textbook case of what is happening with movie theatres and movie piracy everywhere, and I actually got a little panicked when I thought that it could have been at my theatre that this happened. I emailed the guy and he confirmed that it actually happened in Ontario somewhere. He emailed me again with the following:I started thinking and formulating a reply, which took me a long time to write.Anyway, I thought I'd share it with you, because it's what I do, and you probobly don't really know what a projectionist does. I hope you enjoy!:) Page 1 of 2 << [1] [2] >> From: rzep Date: February 1st, 2007 09:00 pm (UTC) (Link) That was *awesome* thanks for sharing it!! Reply ) ( Thread From: nesdroc Date: February 2nd, 2007 05:11 pm (UTC) (Link) I'm glad you liked it.

It feels good to have writen it down! Reply ) ( Parent ) ( Thread From: serenalita Date: February 2nd, 2007 03:19 am (UTC) (Link) Thanks for posting that, Heidi.

That was really interesting.

Serena Reply ) ( Thread From: serenalita Date: February 2nd, 2007 05:55 am (UTC) (Link) Also, now I get the "ghost in the machine - enjoys seeing you turn off your cell phone" thing. Reply ) ( Thread From: nesdroc Date: February 2nd, 2007 05:09 pm (UTC) (Link) Lol, I guess I never really explained it....

Glad you enjoyed it! Reply ) ( Parent ) ( Thread From: tijnat Date: February 2nd, 2007 07:05 am (UTC) (Link) Hi, Heidi, I'm Samatwitch from the BC Browncoats. That was really interesting. Mind if I friend you? Reply ) ( Thread From: nesdroc Date: February 2nd, 2007 04:50 pm (UTC) (Link) Browncoats rule!

I will add you too.

:) Reply ) ( Parent ) ( Thread From: ibsulon Date: February 4th, 2007 10:07 pm (UTC) reminds me... (Link) of the good old days when my dad was a projectionist at a drive in (back when they were union) and I'd thread the films and he'd check to make sure I did it right - I don't remember there being any opportunity for things to scratch like yours does, but I was 7 years old at the time. :) I also remember getting to play with the little box that did the splicing - mostly I ripped up old film. :)



Reply ) ( Thread From: (Anonymous) Date: February 5th, 2007 04:03 am (UTC) Re: reminds me... (Link) Thank you so much for sharing this. I had no idea what's going on in projectionist's booths.

Reply ) ( Parent ) ( Thread From: acidtaoist Date: February 5th, 2007 04:33 am (UTC) rocks (Link) congratulations, you are on reddit ;)



great piece of writing. reading about how little time you have to set everything up, i wonder how tyler durden in "fight club" found the time to cut in snippets from porno movies.

Reply ) ( Thread From: (Anonymous) Date: February 5th, 2007 05:15 am (UTC) Re: rocks (Link) I've heard rumors that projectionists actually do splice bits of porn into Fight Club. Reply ) ( Parent ) ( Thread Re: rocks - nesdroc Expand From: (Anonymous) Date: February 5th, 2007 04:44 am (UTC) damunzy (Link) Great read - thanks! Reply ) ( Thread From: (Anonymous) Date: February 5th, 2007 05:05 am (UTC) Nice explanation! (Link) I was a projectionist for a short time back in the day...back before the entire movie was spliced together. This was back before muiltiplexes, when a movie theater showed ONE movie at a time. We had two projectors in the booth, and there was a bell that sounded when there was one minute left on the first reel. When the bell sounded, the projectionist had to jump up and look out the window to be ready to see the "cue marks", which you can still see on old movies shown on TV. (A cue mark is a little circle in the upper right hand corner of the frame that would appear for a second or two). When you saw the first cue mark, you started the second projector, and when the second cue mark came up a few seconds later, you flipped the switch and the second reel began displaying on the screen. Then it was time to run over to the first projector and change reels.



A bad or inattentive projectionist didn't last long at that job! It doesn't sound like things have changed an awful lot since then. Reply ) ( Thread From: (Anonymous) Date: February 5th, 2007 04:39 pm (UTC) Re: Nice explanation! (Link) Wow, I've heard tell of this before, and it scares me. Definately IMPOSSIBLE with nine screens!

We still have the cue marks (cigarette burns, a la Fight Club) on the print.

Three frames of burn occur near the end of the reel, like you said, but the ones I use are exactly one second before the end of the reel (this helps me know where to make a cut, especially if there's a blasted FADE OUT).



I like the old time projectioniost stories... back when the pay was great, but the projectionist also had to be a fire marshal! I'd like to hear more, if you'd care to tell! Reply ) ( Parent ) ( Thread From: heuteistmeintag Date: February 5th, 2007 06:15 am (UTC) (Link) I remember back in '99 or '00 there was a projectionists strike over at the SilverCity in Metrotown and I've wondered about it since. Later on a friend that is the manager at a small indie theater showed me how she starts a film so I got a rough idea. Very informative. Thanks! Reply ) ( Thread From: nesdroc Date: February 5th, 2007 04:43 pm (UTC) (Link) Glad you liked it!

Yeah, that strike may or may not have been part of the attempt to keep the union together, before my time.

Union! Wow. $30ish an hour all the way down to a measly $8.50.

Well, it's not a $30ish an hour job anymore... a $15ish one though (at least the way I do it it is). Reply ) ( Parent ) ( Thread From: (Anonymous) Date: February 5th, 2007 07:19 am (UTC) Thanks for the great read! (Link) Thank you for the very informative and interesting read. Of course most people don't know what goes on around them I am still amazed that there are still people out there that actually go to watch films and not just to hang out because it's the thing to do while talking on their cell phones, or trying one-up the actors on film. I also feel the same way about digital, it's beautiful but at a very high price. Thanks once again



Roberto

Fontana, California Reply ) ( Thread From: baronsamdei Date: February 5th, 2007 07:37 am (UTC) (Link) interesting, and huzza for e2!!! Reply ) ( Thread From: nesdroc Date: February 5th, 2007 04:44 pm (UTC) (Link) wOot! Reply ) ( Parent ) ( Thread From: (Anonymous) Date: February 5th, 2007 07:39 am (UTC) Massachusetts, Licenses and WPI (Link) Here in Mass, the law requires that there be a licensed projectionist in the booth when a movie is being show. In addition, here at school (Worcester Polytechnic Institute) we have a sound, lighting and projection club. Now most people would think that means an A/V club. Not so, we have two fully functional 35mm projectors (yes we still do changeovers, no platter system for us) and every Sunday night we show movies for the campus to watch (tonight we showed "Flags of Our Fathers"). Students are charged $2 by the Films division our WPI's Social Committee. They pay for the license to show the film and they also pay our club to provide the projection services, so we have money to maintain the projectors.



Our club has an extensive training program including a "practical" where a projectionist in training has to run a showing with as many as five licensed projectionists in the booth hellbent on sabotage. Once they pass this test we send them off to take the state exam to get licensed.



All of this was to say that I know and appreciate what projectionists go through. And though I have a fancy digital projector in my living room, nothing beats seeing a movie in the theater on the big screen. And scratches and dust on the prints aside, nothing beats the visual quality of 35mm film (except maybe 70mm). Most people don't realize that it's still sharper than regular dvds. Anyway I enjoyed your piece and who knows when those theater sized digital projectors move in, someone's still gotta turn them on! Reply ) ( Thread From: nesdroc Date: February 5th, 2007 04:50 pm (UTC) Re: Massachusetts, Licenses and WPI (Link) WOW!

I am impressed. Licensed projectionists! I'd pay to see a movie in your state! (I get movies for FREE, so that's saying something!)

Out of curiousity, do you know what the wage of Mass. projectionists is like (against your minimum wage)?



I too would say that the 35mm and awesome 70mm film is higher quality, but unfortunately, most stadium seating style (ie NEW) theatres don't factor in to account the lenses they are using. Our lenses are not built to project such a large image to something so close up... many of are theatres can actually never be in focus to that crisp clear quality that they should. :(



Mmm, home cinema.

Thanks for your comment! Reply ) ( Parent ) ( Thread From: (Anonymous) Date: February 5th, 2007 01:24 pm (UTC) Suggestions and nostalgia (Link) I was a projectionist on and off for about 4 years and I've got to say you're absolutely right about the knowledge transfer being weak. That's why I went out and researched on my own. I can't find the page again, but the guy who wrote it was a projectionist guru. Here are the rules I learned from it:



1) Always, no matter what, keep the film off the floor. No excuses. Ever.



2) Thread bottom to top. Not only will this cut your time down (on a good day I can thread the entire projector in 40-45 seconds) but it also ensures the leader doesn't touch the floor. It will take about a week to make your muscles do it backwards, and probably another week to get fast again, but it's worth it.



3) Once you have everyone threading bottom to top, throw out all your old leaders, trailers, and exit/no smoking ads. As the film winds and unwinds, the dust and dirt moves from the inner film to the outer, gradually spreading through-out the entire film. Your movies will look dramatically cleaner, and you won't need to use the film cleaner as often (concentrating only on the more troublesome, shedding films).



The article also went on to talk about how over time and careful maintenance, the emulsion on the film will harden and sharpen, creating much more stunning pictures. Digital film can *never* have better quality than real film, but theaters are less likely to convert because of piracy concerns.



You forgot to explain the cigarette burns / change over marks. ;)



Some historical trivia: projectionist were trained by the theater but were certified by the fire marshall. In the event of a fire (the booth is the most likely place for one to occur) the projectionist is supposed to ensure everyone else exits safely and that the fire has been deterred from spreading.



The weirdest things I have ever seen as a projectionist:



1) A bulb igniter malfunctioned and began spitting out flames and sparks as it melted through the plastic housing surrounding it. A near by fire extinguisher saved the day.



2) One of the theaters I worked for insisted on not using magnets or suction cups, and instead tucked the tail under the rest of the film. One run on "Hard Ball", (I'm speculating here) the tail was pulled with the inner film through the brain and wound back up inside the film. When I got up there when the projector stopped and burnt through the film, I found the last 10 minutes of the movie wound inside out and backwards on the platter. How weird is that?!



The first film I scratched was Driven. No one cried ;)



Regards,

Craig Reply ) ( Thread From: nesdroc Date: February 5th, 2007 05:16 pm (UTC) Re: Suggestions and nostalgia (Link) Wowza!

1) Off the floor yes, but we have such a strict cleaning regimen (sweeping and mopping a section of the booth a day, so it's done once a week) that I would not worry. Heck, our floor is so clean, the five second rule could actually be bumped up to fifteen seconds. ;) But no, I use the print covers, which are put on overnight to keep dust off, if I ever have to dump film on the floor (without getting it on the floor).



2) A projectionist that came in from the UK threaded bottom to top! CRA-zy. I would be willing to try this strange and new way, but once set in our ways, projectionists loath change.



3) I make our managers order us new clips every year. They get far too crudly to use, besides acumulating dust!



The weirdest things: Flames in the booth make for an exciting day. And I know there's nothing like the smell of burnt film... Darn the tails getting sucked up! Sometimes my night people forget to untape the tail, this happened to me TWO days in a row >:(, and the tail gets wrapped around the brain, causing a burn through or a break. At the theatre I trained at, an old school theatre, there were no film loops to keep the tail together; we just tucked the tail under the print. If done correctly, this will never fail (NO TAPE) and I still do this in a pinch!



Some of the weirdest things I've seen/done:

1) "Chicken Little" had a head/tail in the middle of a reel! Poor little kids in the opening screening had to see freaky numbers and letters flash by with demonic sound till the reel apeared to start over! Silly lab.



2) I saw a kid with a laser pointer in a busy showing of Scarey Movie 3. I stealthily radioed my managers and had them get in possition in the theatre, and then proceaded to SHINE MY FLASHLIGHT OF DOOM down upon his head. He did not turn off his laser pointer, but hid the beam in his hand. One of my larger managers climbed over his friends, none too delicately, declared "LASER POINTER. NOW." and that was how I totally got Laser Pointer Kid.



3) The only time I've ever gotten applause in the booth was for comically operating a spotlight durring someone's front-of-house speech.



4) While I was doing builds, the projectionist getting on neglected to look at the schedule! We had TWO screenings, and many moves to do to accomodate for them. She did not do moves, threaded, and cinemas started played completely the wrong films. We had managers up with us helping; we had to stop the print, cut the advert/trailer pack, move the feature, without an o-ring and re-attache the A/T pack later, on four or five prints. Not a fun night for the one that messed up.



Heh, the worst miss-thread evar was the mix-up of "Hostel" and "Thec Chronicles of Narnia". WOWza. No good.



Thanks for your comments!

-Heidi Reply ) ( Parent ) ( Thread From: (Anonymous) Date: February 5th, 2007 02:11 pm (UTC) Two words of horror (Link) Brain warp.



You forgot to mention the absolute horror of having the film wrap itself around the brain. Reply ) ( Thread From: (Anonymous) Date: February 5th, 2007 03:31 pm (UTC) Re: Two words of horror (Link) Brain wraps aren't that bad. Tail wraps are a pain. Or there's the craziness I dealt with (see above).



-Craig Reply ) ( Parent ) ( Thread Re: Two words of horror - nesdroc Expand From: (Anonymous) Date: February 5th, 2007 03:07 pm (UTC) Nice!!!!!!!!!!!! (Link) Very nicely written, thanks for sharing. Reply ) ( Thread