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Topic: The Joys of Mechanical Film Projection
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Mike Peckham
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1461
From: West Sussex, UK.
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted April 04, 2006 11:49 AM
Paul
What a wonderful picture, I have opened this thread several times just to see it and it has made me smile each time. I think it represents this forum and this wonderful hobby of ours very well. I'll explain;
Most of us will remember growing up in an era where there were more mechanics and fewer electronics, somehow, we had to work harder to make an impact on our immediate environment and the rewards, I think were sometimes greater. I wasn't lucky enough to have a cine projector when I was growing up, not even a toy one but I had a train set and of course Meccano, but best of all was my little Mamod Steam Engine. This little toy was my most prized possesion and I cared for it meticulously, dismantling it and cleaning it and then reassembling it using the 'Mamod' recommended lubricants before filling the water tank and firing up the little meths burner. Over several Christmases and birthdays I collected the various accessories, the grinding wheel for sharpening my pen knife and the little dynamo that lit a very small lamp!
Years later, when I was a teenager and had my first car I spent countless Saturdays under the bonnet, tinkering. One weekend I removed the engine and stripped down the top end, decoking it and fitting it with new valves and valve springs, I took hours grinding them all in and then ultimately tuning the engine so that it ran sweetly. The satisfaction of driving that car to work on the monday morning was extraordinary, hearing the engine purr and feeling the response from the accelerator was ample reward for the hours I had spent over the weekend covered in engine oil and surrounded by odd looking components!
It is a little like the oft used analogy of the view from the top of Snowden, you can get there by train or on foot, either way the views are just the same but somehow, with the satisfactioin of having walked it the views seem all the more impressive.
Which brings me back to young Jacob, he is growing up in a marvelous world, full of new and exciting technologies and oportunities, but he has the advantage of having turned the little handle and listened to the sweetly running mechanism whilst delighting at the image that he has made move across the screen.
I can't imagine life without my computer and the internet or for that matter without DVDs and CDs and everything else that comes with them, but I would equally hate to live in a world where I wasn't able to operate equipment that has an individual charector and responds to me differently every time.
Mike
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Auntie Em must have stopped wondering where I am by now...
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Paul Adsett
Film God
Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted April 04, 2006 01:53 PM
Thank's Mike, and I agree with your sentiments about things mechanical. It was obvious to me that when Jacob first turned the handle on the little Pathe Baby, that a connection was made in his head- as you said, he was making Popeye throw that can of spinach! This is something that today's DVD crowd will never experience, never mind about appreciate. They are so accustomed to moving images on demand that they give no thought to the history and magic of the film process. Movie projectors let people see, feel, and touch movie magic in a way that DVD will never be able to offer. Of course I'm preaching to the choir here- we all know that! But I think the moral is this. We should all be proud of our movie projectors and film collections- they are a link with the past that will be more and more appreciated by other people as time goes by. I find that friends of mine that I bring to my home are amazed and intrigued with cine equipment and film. Those who have discarded their films and equipment to become exclusively DVD will, I think, surely regret it when they find downstream that the supply of desirable cine equipment and films has dried up.
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The best of all worlds- 8mm, super 8mm, 9.5mm, and HD Digital Projection,
Elmo GS1200 f1.0 2-blade
Eumig S938 Stereo f1.0 Ektar
Panasonic PT-AE4000U digital pj
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Steve Klare
Film Guy
Posts: 7016
From: Long Island, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted April 06, 2006 10:41 AM
Thanks for posting the photos, Doug!
There we were a few weeks back and my wife wanted to clean up without "help". She said, "Please keep him occupied a few minutes?" No problem!
This always works!
Fuel is solid camp stove fuel. It stinks up the house a little, but it's much safer than the liquid stuff, especially indoors, especially where the engine is vehicular, especially with inquisitive little hands in attendance.
If it had been dark, a few cartoons on the big screen would have done the trick, but this is always fun!
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All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...
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Steve Klare
Film Guy
Posts: 7016
From: Long Island, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted April 06, 2006 04:37 PM
"Toddler"? This guy can run a lot faster than an adult can walk, so we prefer to call him "HEY!!!, COME BACK HERE!!!"
As you can see, he's very interactive. He's toned back his involvement in my movies from the time he wrapped himself up in a 200 footer like an acetate mummy, but now he drags a dining room chair over to the light switch (for altitude) and runs the room lights for me!
Unlike many of the things we pine for on this forum, Mamods are still being made today (the company was revived a few years back), although they cost about 3 times what they did when I bought mine!
http://www.mamod.co.uk/
Ok Mike: Did your engine have the cylinder and flywheel on top of the boiler or down on the baseplate? Did it have a whistle or not?
[ April 06, 2006, 08:35 PM: Message edited by: Steve Klare ]
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All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...
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