An insight into the projection room at The Phoenix Cinema, East Finchley, London
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- Опубліковано 10 тра 2010
- A chance to see how film projection works, set in the projection room of The Phoenix Cinema, Britains oldest purpose-built, continuously operating cinema. Starring Peter Bayley MBE, the cinemas Chief Projectionist, who has worked here for 50 years and is the first projectionist to receive an MBE for services to the UK film industry.
From September 2010, The Phoenix will be holding regular behind-the-scenes tours. Keep an eye on our website for more information: www.phoenixcinema.co.uk
I feel incredibly lucky to have been a projectionist before the digital age took over. I ran 16 projectors back in the early 2010's while in college. Once a movie set started I had to clean, swap, thread, start, and check one movie every 5 minutes, not including the time it took to get from one side of the building to other and make adjustments as needed. I had my walkie talkie, small flashlight, toolset, and wristwatch. I felt like a Swiss army Macgyver man up there in the dark lol.
I started my training in 1957 on Kalee 21s with President arc lamps. In those days we were still running nitrate film on Saturday mornings with every safety precaution still in full use - even down to surprise visits by the Fire Chief. No smoking in the Box (aka booth or projection room) and certainly more than one projectionist on duty at a time. As I worked my way up the ladder I worked on several makes of projector, including BTH SUPAs, Ross GC3s with Peerless Magnarc lamps, Phillips FP 20s and DP 70/35 at Elstree Studios back in the early 1970s. The trade has changed out of all recognition since I last took a changeover.
This is what Cinema is all about..the magic of watching film...Modern day digital projection has snuffed-out the enjoyment of going to the cinema. Digital has turned me away for good from the Cinema. Watching this clip makes me pine for the love of Film projection. Tkns for posting. ....memories never die.......
Yes the young people will never see a technicolor scope print displayed with carbon arc light, we used to take it for granted, but i miss it now, i like the50-35 towers, i still have spares for these...the good old days.
Good glimpse into the projection room!
Very informative. Thank you
Sad i was a projector operator and mobile cinema also open air cinema was very interesting now feel very sad.the sound of the projector nice to hear
The smell of the film
Thanks for posting this wonderful video. Its sad that so many cinemas can no longer show 35mm or 70mm films. Digital has destroyed cinema. Of course the saddest part of all is the ending of the role of the Cinema Projectionist. Many thanks to all our great Cinema Projectionists of the past - you will be missed!
Enjoyed
Most do. You can find theaters that use this kind of reel-to-reel system though. The Coolidge Corner in Boston runs a couple screens that way. The Amherst Cinema also uses reel-to-reel for archived prints. You can find this olden days style in the States. But you're right - platters are most common. Nowadays, if they don't have platters, it's likely because they don't have "film."
movie theaters in the states that use film, use a platter, instead of big reels.
how is the sound synched to the frame in the gate as the bottom loop allows for human guesstimate of its size so could be out of synch by a frame or two at least
Ahhh i see. Good work
Amazing!!
this is a real cinema,digial is only a big tv for home.
Rewind Project listening music.
Was operating carbon arc.
Enjoy this technology while you can before it becomes obsolete. These gigantic digital hard drives (about 300 GB) are taking the place of film. They may be more convenient for use because of the ability to re-use the drive, but I hear the maintenance costs are higher.
It's a very, very different world to the digital cinema of today.
Personally, I was never happy about using any type of long-play system (towers or cakestands). At least with a tower you could pause rewinding to examine the print between screenings.
Call me old fashioned, but as far as I'm concerned, the only way to project a film is on two machines with changeovers and carbon arc lamps.