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Topic: My Last Video
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Paul Adsett
Film God
Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted November 02, 2019 08:17 PM
In all the world there is no place like Scotland, there is something wild, awesome, and mysterious about the place. My first encounter with this magical land was on a bicycle in 1958, I had cycled from Cardiff in Wales and was heading north through Scotland for John'o Groat's, which is the most northern part of Scotland. Riding through the southern uplands and then into the Highlands at Aviemore I was almost overwhelmed with the wild beauty and majesty of this wonderful country. That cold fresh air, the smell of the heather, the sight of Osprey's gliding overhead was incredible. When your touring by bicycle you get to know the local people pretty well, and everywhere I went I found the Scott's warm and welcoming, and with a healthy dose of great humor (and Scotch!) I have been back many times since and have always cherished each visit. One time was to the Isle of Skye in the western highlands, and here the hills are grey and purple, almost surreal in the evening sun. and in the summer it doesn't get dark until 11.00pm and dawn is at 3.30am. But that first encounter on a 1,500 mile round trip on a bicycle was a lifetime experience, never to be forgotten. In 2004 I took my wife on a tour of Scotland, this time to the Oban, Fort William and Glencoe area, and her reaction was the same as mine. She just loved it there and we had a wonderful holiday. So if any one is visiting the UK, make sure you head up to Scotland. If you prefer to sample Scotland from your home cinema seat, grab a glass of Scotch and pop in the DVD of Local Hero which is a truly wonderful film.
-------------------- 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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Graham Ritchie
Film God
Posts: 4001
From: New Zealand
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted November 03, 2019 11:43 AM
Thanks folks I will make one up on just the projector soon
Paul that's a really nice story. I remember once it must have been around 1972. I drove during the night to arrive at the boat crossing for Kyleakin on Skye. That particular Friday had been a long day with working in Paisley during the day,, then later the long night drive from Dunoon to Skye. I went to Skye to help a friend of mine move printing presses in, for he was starting a local paper. I shared the driving up to Skye and was completely out to it when we arrived in the dark. The thing I remember the most waiting at the ferry crossing, was the beautiful sunrise coming up over Skye, it was amazing to watch, such a wonderful place.
PS. Steve so you want me to speak, but can you understand my accent when I spent the day showing young Chris how to thread up those projectors at the cinema, all he did was smile and said nothing. I thought later on he was having me on, so I said right, thread the 6 o'clock ones up. He did and the threading was perfect so he got the job …..,,now years later I asked him why on that day he said nothing except smile, his reply was he could not understand a word I was saying ...he was watching how I did things that's how he learned it...clever lad
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Graham Ritchie
Film God
Posts: 4001
From: New Zealand
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted November 03, 2019 08:47 PM
Good question Maurice, I am not sure the age of the Bauer U4, my only guess, during the 60s-70s might even be earlier.
Brad thanks for that, the projectionist started when he was 15 years old he new nothing about projectors or film, but after around less than 20 hours training I gave him the keys to the place. He stayed with us until it closed. I was up against it at the time giving him that job, most people thought I was nuts, but I still think it was the best decision I made during my time there....he never let me down. To be honest Brad he would have run circles round some of those old timers in this business
Regarding the platter, all we ever used was a "wrap" ie a strip of old film with Velcro on it. When I started, we did have trouble with static, but in time that problem disappeared. The only time I used suction cups was when the films were a bit out of shape, due to fitting the "snake" when we changed the ads and trls every week, other than that never really used them.
All the films had a wrap with the title on it.
Excuse the spelling I was in a rush over the weekend The decks were wiped down with meths weekly The snake fitted...that allowed me to remove/change the weekly ads and trls then its back on the screen as quickly as possible.
I would snake the films on Wednesday after there last sessions, work on then on Wednesday night and if needed come in early the next morning. The ads had to be done for t5he first session Thursday as that's what the advertising people required, plus it was good money for the cinema.
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Graham Ritchie
Film God
Posts: 4001
From: New Zealand
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted November 05, 2019 01:25 PM
Brad....is this the Goldberg split reel you are thinking of?
We used it all the time for feature film work...still got it.
Going through old paper work this morning, I came across "The Film Spinner" so I was wrong to assume it was home made all these years. Reading the instructions for the first time, I never used it the way they describe. I started projecting in 2000, so the people before me must have bought it, but opted to use the foam snake method instead.
Brad....I did try a few times to actually brake a splice but never got the hang of it. There is a knack to doing it that you and others must have.
Working as a projectionist was a good experience for those 10 years I did it, and am glad I managed to record on video some of the things we did, as its all history now. I did give copies of the videos to the young staff that appeared in the videos 100 year life ones so they can show there family/friends/kids what they once did. Of the three projectors we used, it was the Kinoton I liked the most, had 35mm continued I would have pushed to replace the Bauer and Simplex with new Kinoton projectors.
Maurice...out here most of the films were also on cores, but at times the odd one would arrive on reels.
Like Lawrence of Arabia did...
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