@@SatyamSaxenaLethalVenom Because the cost of the film on 70mm for two damn hours of video at 23 frames per second is ABSURD, and indeed not every cinema in the world is capable of making such an investment on the rent. You dont want to mess up that roll, mate. That's without having in acount the framer, the cooler, wheels... Everything coordinated at absolute zero error margin. Digital, in the other hand, needs only a powerful but simple projector and a computer capable of run a 4k film, AKA your laptop for example, besides the inherent royalties of the film.
Marqués de Gruñón thank you for your reply:) could you please guide me as to where I can find resources as to expand my knowledge on celluloid science. And how film cameras and projectors work.
I was an IMAX projectionist (well, technically OMNIMAX, since we had a curved dome) at the Clyde W Tombaugh Planetarium in New Mexico back in the mid- to late-80s when I was still in my teens (yeah, they let an 18-year-old run it - and I never scratched a single frame in three years of doing it). This video brings back so many memories I didn't even know were there buried inside my head. The twirling of film around your finger was exactly the way we did 35 years ago. The sucking sound as you frame up the START frame. Hitting the button take up the slack on the tension arms. The single biggest difference is that our soundtrack was on 35mm magnetic tape on 18-ish in reels linked by selsyn to the projector. Looks like yours is digital (theirs probably is now, too - haven't been there in years). Our projector was on a lift in the basement. The last task before showtime was to raise the projector up into the dome behind the Spitz star projector (and lower the star projector) before firing up the movie. I now also remember the ultrasonic welder to patch pieces of film together. Every piece of that projector was custom made by hand, and of the highest imaginable quality. Oh, and the joy of replacing the arc lamp. We had a WWII era flak vest and helmet/visor we had to wear, and they literally cleared the building when we brought the old bulb upstairs and outside for disposal. We'd pitch it into an arroyo behind the theater where it would explode like a bomb when it hit bottom. Memories...
please read my comment, I share the (almost) exact experience as you, being Imax projectionist at the age of 17 in Australia back in 1981. You mention the 'arc' lamp. What type was it? If I remember correctly, ours was a 4.5 kW xenon, air cooled. It blew once during the period that I worked there. You could scrape off of the ceiling. More frightening than a rifle shot at point blanc. The lamp-house was severely damaged. So were my eras! (LOL). Did you also still work with the field flatteners that you had to change manually if dust appeared on the frame?
@@John_van_Kleef Didn't run an Imax Project, been around them, due friendly cross entertainment venue courtesy between us. Two different facilities across the street with an open door for each other to see shows/soundchecks, but ran and relamped the larger Xenon lamped follow spots. When the bulbs go , they are loud as large caliber rifle with high charge of gunpowder behind it.. In the follow spots they're inside a steel housing, that inside another steel housing. Minus the light leaking around and bounsing inside to come through cracks and seams. They had a small harden thick safety welding glass view port about the size of pencil, to see if it was on. Only trained people are allowed to re-lamp followed by a double check from another trained person for that it was installed correctly for voltage path and the no finger prints/ oil on the glass envelope of the Xenon lamp housing. Because as you know dropping a bulb is bad and loud. Cost wise is pucker factor mistake. Didn't pay more, just meant you got the jobs that meant a bigger bite of the behind if it went wrong..... I saw 300+ pound 6'9" guy jump over 3 foot rail and down into the seats below his follow spot on a circus show, when his spotlight lamp blew unexpectedly mid show. The 20,000 seat colisueme looked up from the 3 rings to see what that was..... You heard the 1st boom as it came the shortest path to you, then that same boom came rolling around the coliseum walls closet towards you , then the same boom rolling around the walls from longest direction came a second later, with a bouncing echo of the boom. No one talked down about his diving the hell out of doge when it went, although none of thought he could ever move that fast. For those reading that may not know, If Xenon Lamps were bad, they would normally not start(strike/ignite/light up) or if they were going to blow up it was on striking(sending power to start the arc inside) the lamp, which was usually not the case but there was always that chance. Lamps were change for age often before they were worn to failure levels, especially in theaters, in the coliseums with 12-20+ lamps around entire upper circle they could be missed After the initial replacement and safety/function check heating up for any stray finger prints causing the light and heat to build up on the glass envelope , which lead to high enough temperature that the glass weakened and then the pressurized Xenon blow itself out and apart. Which you had to cool the follow spot down by waiting with the fans running for 15 minutes before putting the dust covers on them and pulling out that shows color(if load out) , so you away were sure to hit the post show/game traffic. So when turning the Follow spots on, after doing the power to the big Ballast, then the fans, Came the Lamp Strike switch. People would step away and flip switch that one at arms length and back up waiting for it to ignite and warm up to running temperature. Most of those were in the 2K- 2.5KW range. Getting to throw an old lamp into the dumpster so the glass broke was always loud boom that was fun, when you were safe and metal dumpster acted as echo & boosting volume chamber. Wearing safety gear was norm back, often surplus military style body Armour back when the industry didn't use any safety gear(no hard hats, safety glasses, harnesses etc.). Which was sign how much the lamps were respected and feared.
There's an OMNIMAX theatre in Scheveningen, The Netherlands (the Omniversum), that has a viewing window to the projection room so you can see all that going on. It also doubles as a planetarium and used to have (probably that's all digital now) a real star projector as well. I used to love watching that as much as the actual films. 😄 Actually I still do, I should go back there...
Yeah. They don't do shit like that anymore. I remember when I was a kid at a terrible big chain digital cinema, I went to see some Harry Potter film, and everyone's heads were cut off! I went out and tried to find someone, anyone on staff who understood what I was saying when I said "The aspect ratio is wrong!" or had any idea what "anamorphic" means, but the teenagers on staff had no idea and it took until about 40 minutes in to the film to fix it. No refunds. Apparently that was good enough for those jerks. Anyway fuck Event Cinemas in Sydney. I think these days in the digital cinemas it's all automated, probably lucky if there's even one projectionist on staff to sort stuff out when it goes wrong.
Yeah but operating a projector that isn’t digital is a lot of work because you have to thread the film through the projector and synch the film with its audio DVD because IMAX film can’t have sound printed on it
@@JosephChou-z7t Real imax films are shot with imax cameras. Usually the educational and documentary type. Imax film cameras are shot natively at 70mm.
FILM movies = 1 damn pixel... it does not matter how big is the screen... is like in old photography... you have infinite resolution... FILM is NOT DIGITAL.... we are in 2019 and some of you still don't know this shit... so stop comparing digital with film... because it's pointless. Film will always have a better quality... ALWAYS!
It honestly seemed kind of magical till that point. I expected it to make the clicking sound but not a lawn mower sound. Guess that's movie magic for you.
These systems are freaking amazing. 70mm was the future. Digital may be more accessible but it's nowhere near as impressive. I tip my hat to the projectionist..
@@medanfreepress2152 Nowhere near. Stuff shot with 70mm IMAX cameras can be scanned for 18k resolution. Although we have cameras making their way towards such a res, the file size is too large. The film process is just better.
@@icydec3346 I've shot with digital cinema cameras for years. I've worked with Blackmagic, RED, Arri Alexas. And I cannot agree more -- film is truly an art. The engineering and expertise that went into producing the machines shown in this video is beyond impressive.
@@hundredfireify as someone who has seen plenty of "IMAX" media , ive never enjoyed an imax film enough to actually justify going to the cinema to see it when the light hits the screen its usually pretty shit quality so that 18k image never reaches the actual people watching the movie meaning its a waste of time for idiots who think they mean something to the world no one will remember the creator of imax cameras i sure as hell dont , and honestly majority of people see imax as how cinemas advertise more expensive seating not a higher res movie ive gone to see movies back to back imax and non imax there is usually ZERO difference other than being sat towards the front stuck staring up at the screen creaking your neck so why the hell bother
Well from what I hear now. a lot of movies come in on a hard drive and the video is rendered as JPG 2000 (yes this in an actual format) and the sound in separate on the same hard drive. The projector reads a script on the hard drive that syncs the audio and all the high quality images together to simulate what an actual film projector does. Don't know if that's still the case, but from what I read that's how they do it now.
@@SantiagoVelezRestrepo Which when spelled out the way you have, sounds pretty damn cheap but in reality, it's not. We have come a LONG way since the emergence of 35mm and 70mm cinematic filming. So while yes, the file might be completely digital now on a "small" drive BUT the formats used and the equipment used to decode and playback these formats is still equally as high-quality at the end of the day. The fact that we can now reproduce the quality of film in digital formats is amazing. That said, that absolutely doesn't mean there isn't a place for film, it's just now the market of film production is becoming a bit more competitive. Obviously filming movies digitally is relatively new (Gamer being one of the first to be filmed completely digitally) but it has come far enough to give traditional formats a run for there money, quite literally! And unless you're a serious film critic like some of us might be sometimes, the average person will NEVER be able to tell the difference in a movie theater...
@cgwworldministries you are not getting anywhere near the resolution off of digital IMAX that you are getting off of true film based IMAX. The FAUXMAX that is at most suburban theaters like Regal's and AMC's are merely big screens, but the typical 4K projectors used in any other theater. The resolution produced by the film can approach 20K or more!
@@audvidgeek Woah~! I didn't know that! I love old tech, I was geeking out while watching this video so much xD! I love analog stuff, and the sounds, the the whole room is awesome! But I always thought new tech was just better, didn't know old films were that good!!! :D
@cgwworldministries Sorry but you simply have no clue as to what you are talking about. 70mm film is at 18k resolution and has a far better color grade than any digital process. There are no digital screens that are anywhere near the size of an Imax 70mm projection. I wish people would understand what they are talking about. The reason why Cinema went digital is due to the fact it is a dying industry and the only way to maintain profits was to make the process cheaper and in doing that they made it nasty and cheap.
@@bighands69 but can you actually see all those colors and 18k tho just saying but not hating because both of them have their pros and cons even tho i would stop more to the digital than analog side
@@bighands69 many of the old 15/70 screens have the GT laser system on the same sized screens. Even a new build in Pooler, GA (opened last year) with GT laser (sadly no 15/70, yet). And a bunch more have the single laser system on those same screens, limited to 1.90 aspect ratio though most releases are no taller anyway.
Man brings back memories I was an IMAX projectionist for years when I was much younger... I was there when we switch out to dual film projectors for one of the first IMAX 3D systems... where you had to do everything twice! Despite it being over 20 years ago watching you do it I realized I still remembered the process... I can still hear the guy's voice telling me during training "now run your hand over the complete film path to make sure everything is perfect... now do it again" granted can not remember his name!
@@paularose9407 our church has a digital cinema and I've volunteered in it for three weeks. Maybe it's me, but I love all the networking stuff you have to do
@@FAB1150 yes but I refer mainly to the actual preparing the film for showing on the screen ..the technical things... the networking in church is a very separate thing . I am pleased for you with your duties and hope you find happiness there .. bless you :)
Thank you so much for sharing this! I was a 35mm projectionist, worked in a motion picture film lab for 3 years, and I always thought, “how huge must all this IMAX equipment be”. Closest I got to examining it was back in the nineties in Houston, the Kennedy Space Center. They were kind enough to give me the projection room tour, and I was blown away. My Mom still has the 70mm Kodak film can and IMAX core/leader they gave me as a present. You’ve made my day man!
I thought to myself when I was watching this "Wow, would love to go an old IMAX like this". Was shocked to hear the loudspeaker say it was in my small state of Connecticut, turns out I've been to this exact same one a handful of times as a kid. Small world.
Now go back as an adult, you'll enjoy the films more and see the details that such large screens holds. Be warned that other real IMAX (not that movie chain liemax bullshit) may have much smaller screen, first one I ran across on tour after being used to my multi story dome at our science museum, I was like all wtf? is this shit..... The screen it is so small, which was at that city's science museum. Be thankful you have good large screen facility.
I was lucky to go here before the pandemic shut everything down. I bet that the imax that will be open post-pandemic will not be this piece of history sadly.
Only demonstrates some tech ages faster than other. Also, some is just too difficult and expensive to replace while other stuff is much cheaper to upgrade from time to time.
Touch screens were also a thing in the 90’s. This one in particular may have been an upgrade, but for such a sophisticated system, the IMAX projector had top of the line technology even back then.
I appreciate all of the double and triple checking you did at the end. Nice job to ensure everything was done properly. That shows you really care about your work!
Yeah, right, and no credit to the film's _makers?_ If you're gonna have goose bumps just because you're watching a movie, I guess that's fine. But do it for the right reasons: that the story gives them to you, and that you have appreciation for the people who _made_ the dang thing!
I have a 16mm projector--and that's complicated enough as it is. I would hate to be the technician on duty when/if that 70 mm film ever became tangled, especially at the speed at which it travels. The cost alone to replace that film would be, I'm guessing, astronomical. My grandfather was a projectionist at a large (3000 seat) movie theater for many years. He dealt with 35 mm film. I watched him (and even helped once) as he'd load up a film. Getting it set correctly so it would properly overlap the end of the preceding reel and still look like it was totally continuous was indeed an experience. And those reels were huge--20 Minutes per reel--and they were HEAVY! Cleopatra, which I saw from the projection booth, took incredible endurance. Each reel needed to be properly prepped and tagged for proper sequence. And then it needed to be rewound and cleaned when it had completed its run so it would be ready for the next showing. This was in the day when films were run continuously throughout the day and patrons came and went whenever they felt like (quite unlike today's process of clearing --and cleaning--the theater between showings). Long gone are the days when one could see a particular film three times in a row without having to pay in between each time. Such a routine meant my grandfather had to rewind reels between reel changes, all the while keeping them in order. There were very few times he got to sit down just to catch his breath. He said the absolute worst mistake he had even made in the 20+ years he did the job was when he forgot to rewind one reel. He set it up and ran it as is--not realizing that in effect it ran in reverse AND upside down! The other things he told me that created problems were reels that kept skipping because of torn sprocket holes, thus making the sound track get off kilter with the visual. And he was paid $2 an hour for the job. That, to me, was dedication. Very few of those who attend film showings in theaters today have any clue to what it took to maintain the same screen presentation then as what we see when we pop a DVD or Blu-ray into our home theater players!
The another video of his where he sets the Batman movie is even more impressive, the reels, discs or whatever are on the furthest corner whilst the film is flying and twisting over the room.
You commenting that reminds me of how people still call it filming, despite the fact that technically most cameras today (like the one used to record this video) don't use any film at all.
I remember being a kid growing up in the 90s and going to the drive in. There were three screens all being fed by film projectors in a small building in the middle of the lot and being managed by one guy sling film around. Whenever I got bored of the film, I'd go and watch the projectionist work. I really want to be a projectionist when I grew up, but by the time I was old enough to work, cinemas had pretty much gone digital. Ended up becoming a sound engineer, which is great, but there's still something that pulls at me a little bit when I see this.
There's a great drive-in in Monetta, SC called The Big Mo. I used to go there when I was stationed on Fort Gordon. 2 current hit movies for only 10 bucks, plus the drive-in experience? Nothing beats it, especially if you have a nice car sound system, because they broadcast it over a short-range FM station.
Back then it was skill now I believe movies are now streamed so that’s probably why the quality sucks compared to watching at home nowadays when digitally happened it was all on a disk drive or something but now it’s full robotic streaming from a hub that displays what movies they are playing but I suppose where they are they have good internet connection for it a connection that never fails or if it has then it must suck I don’t know what they use nowadays I seen someone have a box of digital films they play but others you see internet cables going into the back of the equipment so I say it’s mostly streamed
@@jonathanoxlade4252 I've seen a youtube video a few years ago where they explained all that. As far I can remember, they use big, encrypted hard drives they hook into the whole system, and I believe they use a digital license to unlock the movie on the drive. And yes, that system is a server based system, though it is locally (inside the building)
I used to work at a 13 screen cinema and yeah it would be one lone projectionist taking care of all 13 screens, with all the projectors being in two long rooms
When I went to see Dunkirk I had to drive 5 hours each way just to find an actual film IMAX. Can’t believe how rare these are now. Used to have one 15 min away.
@@John-pp6xy IMAX gives whole different level of immersion. Unfortunately didn't had the chance to catch Dunkirk on IMAX but boy it'd be great. So to sum up basically, sound is great. A jet taking off? You *feel* that jet taking off. Screen is also huge, bright and very detailed. It also doesn't get that dark on 3D movies like standard projectors does. Worth the money and hassle in my opinion.
So funny story - I very briefly worked at this exact location, in this exact room (this was filmed before my tenure). Alas, the job wasn't for me, though my infinite respects to all projectionists out there who have to complete this very intricate process, and multiple times a day! They truly are unsung heroes, going through a time crunch that many people would not be able to bear. It's an absolute shame that this venue is tearing down the IMAX theater to only construct a lame 4D theater in its place.
35mm SImplex XL projectors at the Byrd Theater in Richmond VA is close to 70 years old :) was used daily up until about 8 years ago. It's now just used for special events. but ready to go with the flip of a switch!
i was amused at the fact that people spend fortunes on home cinema projectors for "quality" and "performance" when a imax cinema is taking a cheap office projector and throwing that up on a giant screen even if they dont project to imax size its still gonna be bigger than most home cinema screens
@@Sarge92 Yeah, but it's just the projector used for advertising and advertising only, who cares about quality, it's all profit at that point. The home projectionists that spend so much are showing feature films, just like the outrageously expensive iMAX projector here is.
@@bellanorton4808 That'll keep people from being able to quickly convert your country's technology. Meet the new encryption method , old measurement systems. Now try to calculate our "SMOOT" distance.... Note who Mr Smoot went to become, the involved with standards agencies.... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoot Can you guess the irony of which ones?
I saw that "Special Effects" film from the poster on the wall at 0:10 in the IMAX theater at the Liberty Science Center on a third grade field trip in 1997.
That is for reaching out. Yeah no matter what you still need someone up there. Is your theater running Tarantino on 35mm. The theater are currently work at, we will run.
Automated systems don't leave fingerprints and dirt all over the valuable film stock. Oh that's right there is no film stock with digital. Problem solved.
@@internettoughguy Exactaly and there is less staff to employ and pay every week or 2 weeks = more profit for the theater along side the extortion rates for concessions..
Well, an automated system probably _could_ be designed to do this. But, there are only a handful of theaters where it could be deployed, and the RnD costs would likely exceed any savings it could generate.
I can't get over watching this video that at the end of the 8 minutes I sat in my chair with this huge smile and giggling like a little kid! This was just so terrific to see from start to finish...Loved watching your experienced hands threading all those rollers...and I thank you so much for sharing this!
Well that is what had to be done every time a movie was started before the digital age. You all have just forgotten because you can watch the same quality on your phone. But all of those nice old things are slowly dying
@@theretep6494 if you are the same person as the one depicted in that profile pic of yours, I am not going to take the time to continue further, for its not worth my precious Millenial Entitled Time.....
Solara Solarwind lol pretty sure u deleted my comment so I’ll type up another. You’re just proving my point by saying ur a piece of shit, annoying, good for nothing millennial... god ur so embarrassing as a human. “Gadgetry and calibrations” fuck off you grade A ape.
Solara Solarwind just shows me how insecure you are and how you can’t take fair honest criticism. Probably one of thoes who scream when daddy and mommy can’t get you want you want in life.. Awwwww baby wanna bottle?? You gross me out seriously.
@@Heopful if by "half the footage" you mean "half of the absolutely empty portion of the film" - then ok. touching film is bad because you can ruin the image. can't ruin anything if there is no image
That's the leader, blank part before the movie starts. The blank part after the movie is over is also called a leader. "Head leader and Tail or Foot leader. Found on wikipedia: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_leader
@@slshanklin Please - if you use mobile phone to insert links, make sure to edit out the mobile portion of the URL in order to NOT bully computer users who have to click the link. Wikipedia automatically redirects to mobile domain if user is on a mobile device.
I agree totally Keep FILM alive.. There is nothing like the sweet sound of film treading through the projector ....behold the power of that Projector.. Beautiful job !! Thank you for showing this to everyone .. A projectionist is an art and a passion not just a job , We love what we do... IMAX is incredible.. I used to run projectors for Cineplex 35 MM and also ran 70 MM IMAX projectors here in Canada , it's my passion.... double check and Triple check to make sure everything is set perfectly .... We will keep Film Alive , Film will never die !! Appreciate that you recorded this my friend .. Thanks again :)
Seeing movies in this theater as a kid blew me away, particularly the films flying over landscapes that made you feel like you were in an airplane flying over mountains and oceans. An unforgettable moviegoing experience.
This is awesome and I've always wanted to see how IMAX works. I run 35mm & 16mm film but the most unexpected small joy in this vid was when you dropped that piece of cardboard in front of your eiki projector. Manning "the cardboard" used to be part of my job as a trainee when I was starting out and I had forgotten all about that until this. So, double thanks for the cool film vid and the trip down memory lane.
I remember the first time I went to an Imax theater at the Ontario Science Center. It was 6th grade. The introduction of the Imax theater where it shows how the screen is perforated and the speakers are behind it blew me away. The laser show and the sound test were enough to make me love Imax. It was life changing.
Back in the 1980s I knew a girl whose brother was a projectionist at a regular 35mm cineplex, and I got to see the projection booth. Holy God! I had just graduated as a film student from Columbia College Chicago at the time and was absolutely floored when I saw the platter system, which had an entire 35mm feature on one giant platter similar to what is shown here. I was amazed at the intricacy and, on the other hand, the Rube Goldberg-like contraption of rollers that led the film across the room (once again, much like we see in this video). When watching your video, I was absolutely shocked to see how much more preparation and technical prowess is needed to show a 70mm IMAX print. I'm presuming today's IMAX features are all digitally projected with no sight-and-sound sync required. Two quick memories: Number One: I remember seeing two films actually shot in Omnimax and shown on the domed screen. Magnificent! I felt like I was there. I've also seen IMAX films incorrectly shown on the domed screen. That should be outlawed. They weren't to be shown that way and it just distorts the images. Number two: When it first came out, I saw T-REX: BACK TO THE CRETACEOUS in that 3-D IMAX process where you had to wear the LCD goggles with the little headphones close to your ears to hear close-up stuff. Man, that was one one of my best movie-going experiences. I remember the opening of the film, with shots of the expedition on the river (in the Grand Canyon as I recall), and thinking, "Oh yeah, this looks like pretty good 3-D, like every other 3-D film I've seen," and then the titles came on the screen and it looked like they were one foot away from my face. I have never seen better 3-D effects in a movie than in this process.
You should see what they did when a film was so popular that it needed to be shown on multiple screens at once... they'd thread the film from the platter through the projector as normal, but then run it over ceiling-mounted rollers to another screen's projector, thread it, and thread that projector's platter for takeup as normal. Then at show time, you just start both projectors at the same time. It's called an interlock.
Man this gave me such nostalgia, I used to work a movie theatre 10 years ago, and I loved threading movies through the projectors, putting films together, breaking them down, etc. Was sick
24 years ago, that was my job. I almost get tears in my eyes. At that time I was 16 years old and still went to school. The view from the hatch into the cinema room to adjust the sharpness was often a surprise. Kissing couples, cuddling pensioners, excited children who all enjoy the magic of cinema. Thanks for the video
This is why they want everyone to convert, so they can sell the equipment down the line to 3rd world nations and the like, just like weapons and missles.
@@medusa2935 I'm saying this machine is looked at as outdated and valuable by some people, to go and sell a brand new expensive digital system, and take out the old one for free. Then they will sell the old projector to a european/middle eastern/russian/chinese/etc movie theater for boatloads of money because in that cou try, they have never had this kind of state of the art technology
old film projectors are so cool especially the high end complex ones, Wish i had a opportunity to use one but it seems rare to see in the age of digital.
I am a production Engineer in the live events industry... this actually got me emotional when the film started rolling and you can hear the vacuum marking every frame.... incredible machine and amazing how carefully the Operator double checks... well done in keeping analog alive
When the projection starts and the image shows up on the movie screen, oh man, gives me goosebumps! :D I still remember my first IMAX experience in Prague, the image is HUGE
Funnily enough so was I, ran 35mm for a few years both for an independent cinema and then a multiplex. I would love to thread a projector again just for nostalgia
Damn, imagine being tasked to do that without having been trained, just trying to figure it out from having watched some youtube once (no cheating and replaying as a reference for each step). Was very much like an aircraft pre-flight.
Wow, Well Done, Never thought there was such a complicated process just to setup a projector, looks like rocket science to me, but I think I will stick with my Eumig projector :)
Every Now and then, I come back to this Video. I love it even more every time. If I wasn''t working in Movies right now, You'd defiantly find me doing this
@@RyadMax I love how you had to specify "in five month" because on other comment saying the same thing, some /IAmVerySmart dumb*ss said "nah 30 yers ago it was not 90 still, you don't know math".
As a former 35mm projectionist I'm happy to see someone still using film in 2019, especially the marvelous 15/70 IMAX format. IMO the digital cinemas these days are great for everyone except the projectionists. All the fun is gone.
Not really that great for the viewers either. FWUIW there are still 35mm venues and 5/70 venues too. I plan to see Oppenheimer in 15/70 IMAX, GT laser IMAX, and 5/70. It will be years before such an opportunity exists and who know if the film options will be as close to me then.
Man, these escape rooms and their intricate puzzles are becoming more and more involved. Wow.
omg this is so funny! LOL
It's been a long time to see an original comment
yes
yes
It’s not an escape room it’s an actual IMAX projection room
This is the speed and precision of a guy who must've done this a million times.
technically not possible, but sure.
@@agarcia8800 I bet you're a blast to be around.
He checked those tape multiple times
Ha
Sir Williams being a smartass wont get you nowhere its just gonna make you hated lmao
What my parents think I do when I restart the computer
LOL that is a good one! :D
@@meade916 I did not expect to see you here. A pleasant surprise.
At one time you had to restart you computer manually.
Personnel computers have been in almost ever home and school and business for over 30 years now. I hope you're joking.
😂😂😂
I noticed he has the film weaving process tattooed to his arm, that's dedication
it says 80's diehard
That's the job's requirement :D
The youtube algorithm has ONCE again brought us back together to see some epic film projectors, thanks youtube, very cool!
@Mauler Tiberium why
@@maximek5616 i think he is annoyed at seeing this type of comments everywhere
Thank you, very cool!
I haven't seen you guys since the time we all watched that dude open the old canned food!
TrZdent maybe they’re just lonely in life and hate when other people say something good. Lol
The sound of the film coming up to speed, and then running, is so viscerally satisfying. ^ - ^
"The sound of the film coming up to speed, and then running, is so viscerally satisfying. ^ - ^"...I think I'm in love :D
@@klyvemurray i would watch asmr of a film projector lol
A train becomes a lawnmower.
Please tell me that this guy wears ear protection.
As a former IMAX Projectionist myself, thanks for taking the time to film this. Brings back lots of great memories. 🙂
I stopped at 35 mm and had projectors for 16 from the 40's but sold them.
Still have a 8 and searching for a super 8. 😊
Why did this 70mm imax on a imax GT stop being mass produced?
@@Dr.K.Wette_BE Super 8 projectors are all over the place. Should be easy to find a decent one.
@@SatyamSaxenaLethalVenom Because the cost of the film on 70mm for two damn hours of video at 23 frames per second is ABSURD, and indeed not every cinema in the world is capable of making such an investment on the rent. You dont want to mess up that roll, mate. That's without having in acount the framer, the cooler, wheels... Everything coordinated at absolute zero error margin.
Digital, in the other hand, needs only a powerful but simple projector and a computer capable of run a 4k film, AKA your laptop for example, besides the inherent royalties of the film.
Marqués de Gruñón thank you for your reply:) could you please guide me as to where I can find resources as to expand my knowledge on celluloid science. And how film cameras and projectors work.
I was an IMAX projectionist (well, technically OMNIMAX, since we had a curved dome) at the Clyde W Tombaugh Planetarium in New Mexico back in the mid- to late-80s when I was still in my teens (yeah, they let an 18-year-old run it - and I never scratched a single frame in three years of doing it). This video brings back so many memories I didn't even know were there buried inside my head. The twirling of film around your finger was exactly the way we did 35 years ago. The sucking sound as you frame up the START frame. Hitting the button take up the slack on the tension arms. The single biggest difference is that our soundtrack was on 35mm magnetic tape on 18-ish in reels linked by selsyn to the projector. Looks like yours is digital (theirs probably is now, too - haven't been there in years). Our projector was on a lift in the basement. The last task before showtime was to raise the projector up into the dome behind the Spitz star projector (and lower the star projector) before firing up the movie. I now also remember the ultrasonic welder to patch pieces of film together. Every piece of that projector was custom made by hand, and of the highest imaginable quality. Oh, and the joy of replacing the arc lamp. We had a WWII era flak vest and helmet/visor we had to wear, and they literally cleared the building when we brought the old bulb upstairs and outside for disposal. We'd pitch it into an arroyo behind the theater where it would explode like a bomb when it hit bottom. Memories...
AMAZING technology, really.
please read my comment, I share the (almost) exact experience as you, being Imax projectionist at the age of 17 in Australia back in 1981. You mention the 'arc' lamp. What type was it? If I remember correctly, ours was a 4.5 kW xenon, air cooled. It blew once during the period that I worked there. You could scrape off of the ceiling. More frightening than a rifle shot at point blanc. The lamp-house was severely damaged. So were my eras! (LOL). Did you also still work with the field flatteners that you had to change manually if dust appeared on the frame?
@@John_van_Kleef Didn't run an Imax Project, been around them, due friendly cross entertainment venue courtesy between us. Two different facilities across the street with an open door for each other to see shows/soundchecks, but ran and relamped the larger Xenon lamped follow spots. When the bulbs go , they are loud as large caliber rifle with high charge of gunpowder behind it.. In the follow spots they're inside a steel housing, that inside another steel housing. Minus the light leaking around and bounsing inside to come through cracks and seams. They had a small harden thick safety welding glass view port about the size of pencil, to see if it was on.
Only trained people are allowed to re-lamp followed by a double check from another trained person for that it was installed correctly for voltage path and the no finger prints/ oil on the glass envelope of the Xenon lamp housing. Because as you know dropping a bulb is bad and loud. Cost wise is pucker factor mistake. Didn't pay more, just meant you got the jobs that meant a bigger bite of the behind if it went wrong.....
I saw 300+ pound 6'9" guy jump over 3 foot rail and down into the seats below his follow spot on a circus show, when his spotlight lamp blew unexpectedly mid show. The 20,000 seat colisueme looked up from the 3 rings to see what that was..... You heard the 1st boom as it came the shortest path to you, then that same boom came rolling around the coliseum walls closet towards you , then the same boom rolling around the walls from longest direction came a second later, with a bouncing echo of the boom. No one talked down about his diving the hell out of doge when it went, although none of thought he could ever move that fast.
For those reading that may not know,
If Xenon Lamps were bad, they would normally not start(strike/ignite/light up) or if they were going to blow up it was on striking(sending power to start the arc inside) the lamp, which was usually not the case but there was always that chance. Lamps were change for age often before they were worn to failure levels, especially in theaters, in the coliseums with 12-20+ lamps around entire upper circle they could be missed After the initial replacement and safety/function check heating up for any stray finger prints causing the light and heat to build up on the glass envelope , which lead to high enough temperature that the glass weakened and then the pressurized Xenon blow itself out and apart. Which you had to cool the follow spot down by waiting with the fans running for 15 minutes before putting the dust covers on them and pulling out that shows color(if load out) , so you away were sure to hit the post show/game traffic.
So when turning the Follow spots on, after doing the power to the big Ballast, then the fans, Came the Lamp Strike switch. People would step away and flip switch that one at arms length and back up waiting for it to ignite and warm up to running temperature. Most of those were in the 2K- 2.5KW range.
Getting to throw an old lamp into the dumpster so the glass broke was always loud boom that was fun, when you were safe and metal dumpster acted as echo & boosting volume chamber. Wearing safety gear was norm back, often surplus military style body Armour back when the industry didn't use any safety gear(no hard hats, safety glasses, harnesses etc.). Which was sign how much the lamps were respected and feared.
There's an OMNIMAX theatre in Scheveningen, The Netherlands (the Omniversum), that has a viewing window to the projection room so you can see all that going on. It also doubles as a planetarium and used to have (probably that's all digital now) a real star projector as well.
I used to love watching that as much as the actual films. 😄 Actually I still do, I should go back there...
How does IMAX manage the powerful bass ?
That moment when you realize 30 years ago was the 90’s not the 70’s
PS.
I just did an approximation
Calm down
Except it was the 80's not the 90's
Shit man. Now I feel old.
Emmah Stone 30 years ago was 1989, that’s close enough.
Dam I'm old
For me, 30 years ago used to be the '60s, because I grew up in the '90s.
Ahhh. UA-cam Recommendation doing it's job properly once again.
AY CARAMBA!
_yes_
Hopefully better alternatives will slowly come to light, ones with much less censorship too!
@@sc0tte1-416 I agree.
Yes I was also recommended, really enjoyed, I never get tired of the rush I feel when starting a film projector.
I really appreciate that double and triple check at the end. That's how you do things right.
Yeah. They don't do shit like that anymore. I remember when I was a kid at a terrible big chain digital cinema, I went to see some Harry Potter film, and everyone's heads were cut off! I went out and tried to find someone, anyone on staff who understood what I was saying when I said "The aspect ratio is wrong!" or had any idea what "anamorphic" means, but the teenagers on staff had no idea and it took until about 40 minutes in to the film to fix it. No refunds. Apparently that was good enough for those jerks. Anyway fuck Event Cinemas in Sydney. I think these days in the digital cinemas it's all automated, probably lucky if there's even one projectionist on staff to sort stuff out when it goes wrong.
@@phxf They must had given offer to rewatch the movie for another show later
As a pilot 👨✈️ I give that pre check procedure a 👍🏻 😀
Amazing to watch. 'Feeling' your way around the film path to make sure it is correct. It's like his hand was one with the film.
“Projectionist” still sounds like an amazing title to have
John Weber
Engineer of light.
watch fight club. it truly is
@@callumhardy5098 "Engineer of Photons"
Yeah but operating a projector that isn’t digital is a lot of work because you have to thread the film through the projector and synch the film with its audio DVD because IMAX film can’t have sound printed on it
i think you might be projecting
Long live 70mm IMAX and it’s 18K native resolution.
How this cliche with that small frames can give 18K resolution? 😳
Could you tell meHow a image that taken from 5k/4k camera can auto scale up to 16k after converted from digital video to tho 70mm film?
@@JosephChou-z7t Real imax films are shot with imax cameras. Usually the educational and documentary type. Imax film cameras are shot natively at 70mm.
@@Radex99 A 35mm film frame is 22x18 mm and has an equivalent resolution of approximately 4K. An IMAX frame is 70x48mm. You do the math.
FILM movies = 1 damn pixel... it does not matter how big is the screen... is like in old photography... you have infinite resolution... FILM is NOT DIGITAL.... we are in 2019 and some of you still don't know this shit... so stop comparing digital with film... because it's pointless. Film will always have a better quality... ALWAYS!
*Projector starts*
*Slaps over the cover*
This bad boy gives you an entire film in a single tank of gas!
Hah! Thanks for that
It sounds like a steam engine
It sounds more like playing cards put in the spokes of a bicycle.
THE POWER OF THE TWO STROKE ENGINE.
It honestly seemed kind of magical till that point. I expected it to make the clicking sound but not a lawn mower sound. Guess that's movie magic for you.
1000th like
These systems are freaking amazing. 70mm was the future. Digital may be more accessible but it's nowhere near as impressive. I tip my hat to the projectionist..
Actually digital is as impressive- or at least is starting to be- as digital. This is not underestimating film, but digital is equally as amazing.
@@medanfreepress2152 Nowhere near. Stuff shot with 70mm IMAX cameras can be scanned for 18k resolution. Although we have cameras making their way towards such a res, the file size is too large. The film process is just better.
@@icydec3346 I've shot with digital cinema cameras for years. I've worked with Blackmagic, RED, Arri Alexas. And I cannot agree more -- film is truly an art. The engineering and expertise that went into producing the machines shown in this video is beyond impressive.
if you think using 70mm film was the future you probably think lead pipes were beneficial for health
@@hundredfireify as someone who has seen plenty of "IMAX" media , ive never enjoyed an imax film enough to actually justify going to the cinema to see it when the light hits the screen its usually pretty shit quality so that 18k image never reaches the actual people watching the movie meaning its a waste of time for idiots who think they mean something to the world
no one will remember the creator of imax cameras i sure as hell dont , and honestly majority of people see imax as how cinemas advertise more expensive seating not a higher res movie
ive gone to see movies back to back imax and non imax there is usually ZERO difference other than being sat towards the front stuck staring up at the screen creaking your neck
so why the hell bother
Imperial serviceman prepares the death star for firing, colorized.
"Hey man, do you think they'll ever spring for putting a rail guard here? I mean, this IS kinda dangerous"
commence primary ignition
@@StaticFanfare Serviceman: "Ah shit... buttcheeks....IN!"
I thought its only some fancy projector and a computer with a official copy of a movie playing on VLC media player
I thought so
Well from what I hear now. a lot of movies come in on a hard drive and the video is rendered as JPG 2000 (yes this in an actual format) and the sound in separate on the same hard drive. The projector reads a script on the hard drive that syncs the audio and all the high quality images together to simulate what an actual film projector does. Don't know if that's still the case, but from what I read that's how they do it now.
ThePhantomLives it is, but this is an original imax projector, if you go today to Avengers is just a ssd card playing a movie in vlc
@@SantiagoVelezRestrepo Which when spelled out the way you have, sounds pretty damn cheap but in reality, it's not. We have come a LONG way since the emergence of 35mm and 70mm cinematic filming. So while yes, the file might be completely digital now on a "small" drive BUT the formats used and the equipment used to decode and playback these formats is still equally as high-quality at the end of the day. The fact that we can now reproduce the quality of film in digital formats is amazing. That said, that absolutely doesn't mean there isn't a place for film, it's just now the market of film production is becoming a bit more competitive. Obviously filming movies digitally is relatively new (Gamer being one of the first to be filmed completely digitally) but it has come far enough to give traditional formats a run for there money, quite literally! And unless you're a serious film critic like some of us might be sometimes, the average person will NEVER be able to tell the difference in a movie theater...
😂
It's sad how film projection has become a lost art. Thanks for keeping it alive.
@cgwworldministries you are not getting anywhere near the resolution off of digital IMAX that you are getting off of true film based IMAX. The FAUXMAX that is at most suburban theaters like Regal's and AMC's are merely big screens, but the typical 4K projectors used in any other theater. The resolution produced by the film can approach 20K or more!
@@audvidgeek Woah~! I didn't know that! I love old tech, I was geeking out while watching this video so much xD! I love analog stuff, and the sounds, the the whole room is awesome! But I always thought new tech was just better, didn't know old films were that good!!! :D
@cgwworldministries
Sorry but you simply have no clue as to what you are talking about.
70mm film is at 18k resolution and has a far better color grade than any digital process. There are no digital screens that are anywhere near the size of an Imax 70mm projection.
I wish people would understand what they are talking about. The reason why Cinema went digital is due to the fact it is a dying industry and the only way to maintain profits was to make the process cheaper and in doing that they made it nasty and cheap.
@@bighands69 but can you actually see all those colors and 18k tho just saying but not hating because both of them have their pros and cons even tho i would stop more to the digital than analog side
@@bighands69 many of the old 15/70 screens have the GT laser system on the same sized screens. Even a new build in Pooler, GA (opened last year) with GT laser (sadly no 15/70, yet). And a bunch more have the single laser system on those same screens, limited to 1.90 aspect ratio though most releases are no taller anyway.
Man brings back memories I was an IMAX projectionist for years when I was much younger... I was there when we switch out to dual film projectors for one of the first IMAX 3D systems... where you had to do everything twice! Despite it being over 20 years ago watching you do it I realized I still remembered the process... I can still hear the guy's voice telling me during training "now run your hand over the complete film path to make sure everything is perfect... now do it again" granted can not remember his name!
It's important, you're dealing with a big expensive hunk of film.
@Eternal Rambler Lol
Thank you switch, Very cool!
@Eternal Rambler You don't have to be sarcastic and mean about it even if it's a dumb comment x)
@Eternal Rambler Well yeah, but I try to be positive as much as I can even on the internet (>^w^)/ ~!!!
It's crazy how complicated these are when you think it's essentially just shining light through film.
Thanks a lot for uploading this. I really loved that double-triple check.
ua-cam.com/video/PS9AeDD-6R0/v-deo.html
Sim JY ditto!!!
Somewhere, Chris Nolan sheds a tear of joy
And Tarantino.
so this is what happens in the backstage during the movie show.
If i could back in time in my life i would do this job
Before smartphones it sucked. You're alone all day in the dark.
@@apatheticjester I think this would be a dream job, sad it's all computers now.
Same thoughts
@@paularose9407 our church has a digital cinema and I've volunteered in it for three weeks. Maybe it's me, but I love all the networking stuff you have to do
@@FAB1150 yes but I refer mainly to the actual preparing the film for showing on the screen ..the technical things... the networking in church is a very separate thing . I am pleased for you with your duties and hope you find happiness there .. bless you :)
Thank you so much for sharing this! I was a 35mm projectionist, worked in a motion picture film lab for 3 years, and I always thought, “how huge must all this IMAX equipment be”. Closest I got to examining it was back in the nineties in Houston, the Kennedy Space Center. They were kind enough to give me the projection room tour, and I was blown away. My Mom still has the 70mm Kodak film can and IMAX core/leader they gave me as a present. You’ve made my day man!
Christopher Nolan: **Heavy Breathing**
I thought to myself when I was watching this "Wow, would love to go an old IMAX like this". Was shocked to hear the loudspeaker say it was in my small state of Connecticut, turns out I've been to this exact same one a handful of times as a kid. Small world.
Ooh! Amazing how this things happen, right?!
Small world I'm in ct too
Now go back as an adult, you'll enjoy the films more and see the details that such large screens holds. Be warned that other real IMAX (not that movie chain liemax bullshit) may have much smaller screen, first one I ran across on tour after being used to my multi story dome at our science museum, I was like all wtf? is this shit..... The screen it is so small, which was at that city's science museum. Be thankful you have good large screen facility.
Yeah. When I first started watching, I was thinking of the Maritime Museum. Then when the announcer mentioned it I was "Oooooooh...."
I was lucky to go here before the pandemic shut everything down. I bet that the imax that will be open post-pandemic will not be this piece of history sadly.
I'm highly amused how they're working on this ancient projector... then turns around and uses a touch screen XD
Kind of reminds me how I listen to my old tube console radio from 1939, and poke around on my touch screen smartphone.
Ancient? How old are you, twelve?
@@christopherbuilder5354 Apparently older than you are =P
Only demonstrates some tech ages faster than other. Also, some is just too difficult and expensive to replace while other stuff is much cheaper to upgrade from time to time.
Touch screens were also a thing in the 90’s. This one in particular may have been an upgrade, but for such a sophisticated system, the IMAX projector had top of the line technology even back then.
I appreciate all of the double and triple checking you did at the end. Nice job to ensure everything was done properly. That shows you really care about your work!
It shows it would be a small disaster if the film comes off any part in the part, not so much he cares.
No, it shows OCD big time.
@@donmoore7785 if he didnt care he wouldnt care about the disaster though right?
I dunno why this is on my recomendation but its freaking amazing
“The size of two large school busses end-to-end.”
Yeah but you’re watching Superpower Dogs on it...
@Notwo Islamb What do YOU got against Muslims?
@@SumitKumar-ce7ov shame it got edited
It's a documentary about rescue dogs, actually looks really well shot.. at least the parts they shot with IMAX.
@@kasentrujillo1806 what do you have against people who don't like things you like?
Berserk sumit and i would have committed suicide if i played pubg mobile
Woooow....now that's called dedication. Guys like you are the reason behind every goose bumps we get while watching movies. Amen
Yeah, right, and no credit to the film's _makers?_ If you're gonna have goose bumps just because you're watching a movie, I guess that's fine. But do it for the right reasons: that the story gives them to you, and that you have appreciation for the people who _made_ the dang thing!
Um, no, @Pleasantly Rusty the troll, I'm actually not.
Hello Kitty Lover Man! I’ve seen you disagree on a couple comments now in this video. You need to chill
I have a 16mm projector--and that's complicated enough as it is. I would hate to be the technician on duty when/if that 70 mm film ever became tangled, especially at the speed at which it travels. The cost alone to replace that film would be, I'm guessing, astronomical.
My grandfather was a projectionist at a large (3000 seat) movie theater for many years. He dealt with 35 mm film. I watched him (and even helped once) as he'd load up a film. Getting it set correctly so it would properly overlap the end of the preceding reel and still look like it was totally continuous was indeed an experience. And those reels were huge--20 Minutes per reel--and they were HEAVY! Cleopatra, which I saw from the projection booth, took incredible endurance. Each reel needed to be properly prepped and tagged for proper sequence. And then it needed to be rewound and cleaned when it had completed its run so it would be ready for the next showing. This was in the day when films were run continuously throughout the day and patrons came and went whenever they felt like (quite unlike today's process of clearing --and cleaning--the theater between showings). Long gone are the days when one could see a particular film three times in a row without having to pay in between each time. Such a routine meant my grandfather had to rewind reels between reel changes, all the while keeping them in order. There were very few times he got to sit down just to catch his breath.
He said the absolute worst mistake he had even made in the 20+ years he did the job was when he forgot to rewind one reel. He set it up and ran it as is--not realizing that in effect it ran in reverse AND upside down! The other things he told me that created problems were reels that kept skipping because of torn sprocket holes, thus making the sound track get off kilter with the visual. And he was paid $2 an hour for the job. That, to me, was dedication. Very few of those who attend film showings in theaters today have any clue to what it took to maintain the same screen presentation then as what we see when we pop a DVD or Blu-ray into our home theater players!
This is truly amazing how crazy the process is. Makes me have a ton more respect for the theaters
I tought your name was "FBI" but then i realized your name was "Not That Guy"
I liked that lmao
@@bryayen Same
The another video of his where he sets the Batman movie is even more impressive, the reels, discs or whatever are on the furthest corner whilst the film is flying and twisting over the room.
Your skill in operating the projector and double checking your work was as impressive as the projector itself :P
*triple checking
Absolutely beautiful! Gave me goose bumps to hear that projector get up to speed. Thank you for keeping film alive!
same
*Teacher:* _I can't turn on the projector_
I just press a button.
*What the teacher see:*
I get tingles whenever I see that IMAX intro. Amazing, thanks for sharing!
Exactly. Seeing it from " behind the scenes" gave me more goosebumps
@@mg-lm6tg Same here!
@@scorpiososixtynine man I'm very happy to see that I'm not alone when it comes to admiration for IMAX
Its so awesome.
I was a regular movie theater projectionist and this footage just makes me smile, thank you so much for filming this!
You commenting that reminds me of how people still call it filming, despite the fact that technically most cameras today (like the one used to record this video) don't use any film at all.
Seen you comment stuff like this on everything how you used to do this you must do a lot of stuff
@@rileyrichmond7321 I live an interesting and Diverse life!
gary paiz, did you ever return from the bathroom and see a sea of film on the floor?
greg h I accidentally created a sea of film once mid transport that was not fun...
5:10 me pretending to do work when someone walks in on me
LOL. Only that is real work. Check your film path, when you're done, check it again.
I remember being a kid growing up in the 90s and going to the drive in. There were three screens all being fed by film projectors in a small building in the middle of the lot and being managed by one guy sling film around. Whenever I got bored of the film, I'd go and watch the projectionist work. I really want to be a projectionist when I grew up, but by the time I was old enough to work, cinemas had pretty much gone digital. Ended up becoming a sound engineer, which is great, but there's still something that pulls at me a little bit when I see this.
There's a great drive-in in Monetta, SC called The Big Mo. I used to go there when I was stationed on Fort Gordon. 2 current hit movies for only 10 bucks, plus the drive-in experience? Nothing beats it, especially if you have a nice car sound system, because they broadcast it over a short-range FM station.
Back then it was skill now I believe movies are now streamed so that’s probably why the quality sucks compared to watching at home nowadays when digitally happened it was all on a disk drive or something but now it’s full robotic streaming from a hub that displays what movies they are playing but I suppose where they are they have good internet connection for it a connection that never fails or if it has then it must suck I don’t know what they use nowadays I seen someone have a box of digital films they play but others you see internet cables going into the back of the equipment so I say it’s mostly streamed
@@jonathanoxlade4252 I've seen a youtube video a few years ago where they explained all that. As far I can remember, they use big, encrypted hard drives they hook into the whole system, and I believe they use a digital license to unlock the movie on the drive. And yes, that system is a server based system, though it is locally (inside the building)
I used to work at a 13 screen cinema and yeah it would be one lone projectionist taking care of all 13 screens, with all the projectors being in two long rooms
IMAX, still unrivaled. Long life to the best cinema format ever. I was thrilled watching you prepare it with so much expertise and care.
Just wait. Some new things in development that will blow your mind
When I went to see Dunkirk I had to drive 5 hours each way just to find an actual film IMAX. Can’t believe how rare these are now. Used to have one 15 min away.
why do you have to watch on a film projector?
@@John-pp6xy IMAX gives whole different level of immersion. Unfortunately didn't had the chance to catch Dunkirk on IMAX but boy it'd be great.
So to sum up basically, sound is great. A jet taking off? You *feel* that jet taking off. Screen is also huge, bright and very detailed. It also doesn't get that dark on 3D movies like standard projectors does.
Worth the money and hassle in my opinion.
Where is it?
Is there still have real film imax in the world?
@@hunghsinliang824 Dunkirk is in Scotland
@@Koffiato what he was talking about film not sound. I'm so confused. explain.
That thing sounds like a lawn mower when you start it up
I was looking for the Briggs & Stratton!
I imagine it's pretty deafening in real life. I liked the way it muted once the lens assembly retracted, then even more when the dome lid closed.
Or even a helicopter!
So funny story - I very briefly worked at this exact location, in this exact room (this was filmed before my tenure). Alas, the job wasn't for me, though my infinite respects to all projectionists out there who have to complete this very intricate process, and multiple times a day! They truly are unsung heroes, going through a time crunch that many people would not be able to bear.
It's an absolute shame that this venue is tearing down the IMAX theater to only construct a lame 4D theater in its place.
Seriously 4D🥲🥲
4D for IMAX? That is a shame
@@dyna6448 Yep. Historical 70mm chucked away in favor of 15min thrill movies for kids
Did they have the palm pilot running the quick turn reel unit?
Imax projectors were built to the very highest standard. The fact that it still works after 30 years in hardly a surprise.
35mm SImplex XL projectors at the Byrd Theater in Richmond VA is close to 70 years old :) was used daily up until about 8 years ago. It's now just used for special events. but ready to go with the flip of a switch!
Not much to break, right? I mean you got a couple motors, fan and a light bulb.
@@zackburkhart8693 Yeah? Well, I'm an idiot so your point is moot. 🙃
@@ichoozjc haha actually they use lots of moving parts, film is held by vacuum, etc, etc... kinda complex setup compared to regular projector.
Thanks so much for uploading been needing to learn how to load my own 70mm projector. Now it won’t just sit around
how the hell do you have a 70mm projector
@@jonoghue his name is X-Treme TV. It's self explanatory really.
@Swag Land yup i'm an idiot lol.
Xd
@Swag Landr/foundthemobileuser
Lol, when he turns off the living room projector with the advertising screen and covers it before he turns on the big boy projector.
I loved that touch with the physical cover, no chances taken.
i was amused at the fact that people spend fortunes on home cinema projectors for "quality" and "performance" when a imax cinema is taking a cheap office projector and throwing that up on a giant screen even if they dont project to imax size its still gonna be bigger than most home cinema screens
@@Sarge92
Yeah, but it's just the projector used for advertising and advertising only, who cares about quality, it's all profit at that point. The home projectionists that spend so much are showing feature films, just like the outrageously expensive iMAX projector here is.
@@VioletGiraffe There is probably an unfortunate story of a quiz popping up mid film behind that :)
In the Projection world we call that a "Manual Dowser".
"As tall as a six-story building and as wide as two school buses" Americans will really use anything to avoid the metric system
I don't know if they still do it, but in IMAX in Prague (we use metric here) they used to announce how many elephants would fit above each other.
is this coming from a certain English country that uses "stones" as a weight measurement?
Able Magawitch yeah
The volume of an Olympic swimming pool, the length of a school bus, the size of a football field. American measurement system.
@@bellanorton4808 That'll keep people from being able to quickly convert your country's technology. Meet the new encryption method , old measurement systems. Now try to calculate our "SMOOT" distance.... Note who Mr Smoot went to become, the involved with standards agencies.... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoot Can you guess the irony of which ones?
15 hours later: still spinning film on his finger
Be Kind, Rewind!
@@BrianHanifan I went looking for a cassette and a pencil
its called twiddling apparently
that's one giant fidget spinner
*_killmenow_*
That’s called diddling, and he does that to get the start of the film ready to thread through the projector
Years ago, i own with my family a Film Theatre, this take me back those days when i set up the movies, great job and amazing equipment!
This looked too easy.
Proof this would be a massive panic attack and headache for anyone else.
This was incredible. Thank you for the experience !
Do you know how you recognize a true master of his own? He makes the job look easy.
I saw that "Special Effects" film from the poster on the wall at 0:10 in the IMAX theater at the Liberty Science Center on a third grade field trip in 1997.
It blows my mind when the machine starting the Movie. It looks so cool.
I'm lucky enough to have walked through a 35mm projection room...so the size of this rig is pretty overwhelming. Keep on keeping film alive! God bless
Greetings from the El Capitan theatre in Hollywood! And this is the reason why people need "Real" projectionist not automated systems.
That is for reaching out. Yeah no matter what you still need someone up there. Is your theater running Tarantino on 35mm. The theater are currently work at, we will run.
@@the80sdiehard Hey :) quick question. Do you know the speed of that "outer ring"? I got a feeling that the top lid isn't made of plastic :p
Automated systems don't leave fingerprints and dirt all over the valuable film stock. Oh that's right there is no film stock with digital. Problem solved.
@@internettoughguy Exactaly and there is less staff to employ and pay every week or 2 weeks = more profit for the theater along side the extortion rates for concessions..
Well, an automated system probably _could_ be designed to do this. But, there are only a handful of theaters where it could be deployed, and the RnD costs would likely exceed any savings it could generate.
I love the care this person puts into making sure everything works exactly how it should.
I can't get over watching this video that at the end of the 8 minutes I sat in my chair with this huge smile and giggling like a little kid! This was just so terrific to see from start to finish...Loved watching your experienced hands threading all those rollers...and I thank you so much for sharing this!
No problem. Thanks for watching. Sad these machines will ultimately be non existent.
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What with all this calibration, configurations, and gadgetry, I thought we were getting ready to go into space!
Well that is what had to be done every time a movie was started before the digital age. You all have just forgotten because you can watch the same quality on your phone. But all of those nice old things are slowly dying
And the fact that 39 people liked this is extra concerning... ew.
@@theretep6494 if you are the same person as the one depicted in that profile pic of yours, I am not going to take the time to continue further, for its not worth my precious Millenial Entitled Time.....
Solara Solarwind lol pretty sure u deleted my comment so I’ll type up another. You’re just proving my point by saying ur a piece of shit, annoying, good for nothing millennial... god ur so embarrassing as a human. “Gadgetry and calibrations” fuck off you grade A ape.
Solara Solarwind just shows me how insecure you are and how you can’t take fair honest criticism. Probably one of thoes who scream when daddy and mommy can’t get you want you want in life.. Awwwww baby wanna bottle?? You gross me out seriously.
They moment when he rolls the film by hand, and you be like "what?"
Yea what the hell was that
We were always told not to touch film and this greasebag gotta get his fingers over half the footage
@@Heopful if by "half the footage" you mean "half of the absolutely empty portion of the film" - then ok. touching film is bad because you can ruin the image. can't ruin anything if there is no image
That's the leader, blank part before the movie starts. The blank part after the movie is over is also called a leader. "Head leader and Tail or Foot leader. Found on wikipedia: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_leader
@@slshanklin Please - if you use mobile phone to insert links, make sure to edit out the mobile portion of the URL in order to NOT bully computer users who have to click the link. Wikipedia automatically redirects to mobile domain if user is on a mobile device.
Mate I thought my OCD was bad but you take the cake !!! That process of preparation is so awesome to see thanks' for sharing.
I agree totally Keep FILM alive.. There is nothing like the sweet sound of film treading through the projector ....behold the power of that Projector.. Beautiful job !! Thank you for showing this to everyone .. A projectionist is an art and a passion not just a job , We love what we do... IMAX is incredible.. I used to run projectors for Cineplex 35 MM and also ran 70 MM IMAX projectors here in Canada , it's my passion.... double check and Triple check to make sure everything is set perfectly .... We will keep Film Alive , Film will never die !!
Appreciate that you recorded this my friend .. Thanks again :)
I had a tear in my eye, I was so happy to see actual film still running in 2019.
This is wonderful. I LOVE IMAX-Projectors!!
Seeing movies in this theater as a kid blew me away, particularly the films flying over landscapes that made you feel like you were in an airplane flying over mountains and oceans. An unforgettable moviegoing experience.
This is awesome and I've always wanted to see how IMAX works. I run 35mm & 16mm film but the most unexpected small joy in this vid was when you dropped that piece of cardboard in front of your eiki projector. Manning "the cardboard" used to be part of my job as a trainee when I was starting out and I had forgotten all about that until this. So, double thanks for the cool film vid and the trip down memory lane.
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I am just glued to what you are doing. Thank you very much for sharing this.
Now that's a "Reel" projector which requires you to have a Degree in 70mm Rocket Science from Nasa.
Real* but ok
@@fishbitzgaming8248 It's REEL mein friend.
I remember the first time I went to an Imax theater at the Ontario Science Center. It was 6th grade. The introduction of the Imax theater where it shows how the screen is perforated and the speakers are behind it blew me away. The laser show and the sound test were enough to make me love Imax. It was life changing.
Back in the 1980s I knew a girl whose brother was a projectionist at a regular 35mm cineplex, and I got to see the projection booth. Holy God! I had just graduated as a film student from Columbia College Chicago at the time and was absolutely floored when I saw the platter system, which had an entire 35mm feature on one giant platter similar to what is shown here. I was amazed at the intricacy and, on the other hand, the Rube Goldberg-like contraption of rollers that led the film across the room (once again, much like we see in this video). When watching your video, I was absolutely shocked to see how much more preparation and technical prowess is needed to show a 70mm IMAX print.
I'm presuming today's IMAX features are all digitally projected with no sight-and-sound sync required.
Two quick memories: Number One: I remember seeing two films actually shot in Omnimax and shown on the domed screen. Magnificent! I felt like I was there. I've also seen IMAX films incorrectly shown on the domed screen. That should be outlawed. They weren't to be shown that way and it just distorts the images.
Number two: When it first came out, I saw T-REX: BACK TO THE CRETACEOUS in that 3-D IMAX process where you had to wear the LCD goggles with the little headphones close to your ears to hear close-up stuff. Man, that was one one of my best movie-going experiences. I remember the opening of the film, with shots of the expedition on the river (in the Grand Canyon as I recall), and thinking, "Oh yeah, this looks like pretty good 3-D, like every other 3-D film I've seen," and then the titles came on the screen and it looked like they were one foot away from my face. I have never seen better 3-D effects in a movie than in this process.
You should see what they did when a film was so popular that it needed to be shown on multiple screens at once... they'd thread the film from the platter through the projector as normal, but then run it over ceiling-mounted rollers to another screen's projector, thread it, and thread that projector's platter for takeup as normal. Then at show time, you just start both projectors at the same time. It's called an interlock.
watching this just now simply blew my mind .... I had no idea about all this work that goes on to show an imax film ... this is amazing !!
This is so ridiculously cool. I love the old processes of dealing with film. I had no idea some Imax's were still analog.
He's tripple checking it, so much love for these amazing 15/70mm Films. Keep it going!
Man this gave me such nostalgia, I used to work a movie theatre 10 years ago, and I loved threading movies through the projectors, putting films together, breaking them down, etc. Was sick
24 years ago, that was my job. I almost get tears in my eyes. At that time I was 16 years old and still went to school. The view from the hatch into the cinema room to adjust the sharpness was often a surprise. Kissing couples, cuddling pensioners, excited children who all enjoy the magic of cinema. Thanks for the video
We are still running IMAX 15/70mm projectors in our cinemas in Mersin, Turkey. (They are from year 1991)
This is why they want everyone to convert, so they can sell the equipment down the line to 3rd world nations and the like, just like weapons and missles.
Adaptive Rider wtf
@@medusa2935 I'm saying this machine is looked at as outdated and valuable by some people, to go and sell a brand new expensive digital system, and take out the old one for free. Then they will sell the old projector to a european/middle eastern/russian/chinese/etc movie theater for boatloads of money because in that cou try, they have never had this kind of state of the art technology
Did your theater play Interstellar? I'm so glad I got to see it in 15/70mm imax. I hear it was the longest IMAX 70mm ever.
How's the quality compared to digital? Like the one on Bursa for example? I don't live near an IMAX theatre but check movies in Bursa time to time.
What a glorious machine. Film truly is an amazing technology and we better keep it alive as long as we can.
From one projectionist to another. Wonderful. Fantastic insight.
WOW that was spectacular. Thank you so much for sharing!
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old film projectors are so cool especially the high end complex ones, Wish i had a opportunity to use one but it seems rare to see in the age of digital.
Film, not tape. Tape stores the movie magnetically, it's what VCRs use.
Go see Oppenheimer if you can! I’m too far from any cinemas that show it in 70MM IMAX format.
Mannnn I teared a bit watching this. I threaded dark knight rises and interstellar on 70mm mannnnnn what a time. Miss those days. 😢
I've went to this specific one when I was younger. Didn't even think about how much work goes into getting the movie set up
I am a production Engineer in the live events industry... this actually got me emotional when the film started rolling and you can hear the vacuum marking every frame.... incredible machine and amazing how carefully the Operator double checks... well done in keeping analog alive
So you man the popcorn machine huh?
@@coloradostrong you have no idea what you’re talking about
When the projection starts and the image shows up on the movie screen, oh man, gives me goosebumps! :D I still remember my first IMAX experience in Prague, the image is HUGE
This makes me want to go back to the movies so bad! 😭
Slaps roof of imax projector
This baby can fit so many movies in it
I used to be a 35mm projectionist about 15 years ago. Seeing this brings back memories! :D
Funnily enough so was I, ran 35mm for a few years both for an independent cinema and then a multiplex. I would love to thread a projector again just for nostalgia
Holy shit the amount of work required is mind boggling. That should be a full blown apprenticeship.
Well most modern theaters have automatic digital projectors that start by themselves all over the country at the same time, most are even 1440p!
@@Grywng imax 70mm film resolution is more than 1440p.
Used to be able to get a projectionists licence. Doubt there's much point in having one now.
@438295 $1000 says u couldn't do it on ur own after a week, lol.
@@88Petry **do it well**
Literally i had goosebumps when the show started
Damn, imagine being tasked to do that without having been trained, just trying to figure it out from having watched some youtube once (no cheating and replaying as a reference for each step). Was very much like an aircraft pre-flight.
I would hit the wrong button or put the film in backwards lol
It's no fun if you haven't played at least a trailer backwards!
this was amazingly interesting to watch, thank you for recording and uploading :D
Wow, absolutely incredible! Didn't want this video to end. Very satisfying end with the imax intro. Couldn't wait to give this one a thumbs up!
IMPRESIVE!!!What a piece of machinery!
I've seen a handful of shows at this theater.. but i've never seen the booth. As an old 35mm projectionist myself, thanks for the upload!
Wow, Well Done, Never thought there was such a complicated process just to setup a projector, looks like rocket science to me, but I think I will stick with my Eumig projector :)
Brings back memories. I was a projectionist for Cinemark around 1999/2000
Every Now and then, I come back to this Video. I love it even more every time. If I wasn''t working in Movies right now, You'd defiantly find me doing this
When you realise that in 5 months,30 years ago will be 1990.
Fck im old....
*will have been
too soon man too soon... I still think 30 years ago you mean the 70's
@@jarheadJGG Too soon?now 30 years ago is 80's
@@RyadMax I love how you had to specify "in five month" because on other comment saying the same thing, some /IAmVerySmart dumb*ss said "nah 30 yers ago it was not 90 still, you don't know math".
Wow that is more complicated than a pre-take-off-check on a jet.... Amazing!
I was thinking the same thing. For a moment you'd think he's launching a space ship.
As a former 35mm projectionist I'm happy to see someone still using film in 2019, especially the marvelous 15/70 IMAX format. IMO the digital cinemas these days are great for everyone except the projectionists. All the fun is gone.
Not really that great for the viewers either. FWUIW there are still 35mm venues and 5/70 venues too.
I plan to see Oppenheimer in 15/70 IMAX, GT laser IMAX, and 5/70. It will be years before such an opportunity exists and who know if the film options will be as close to me then.
I was not prepared for the lawn mower starting up at the end. But it was a nice touch.