8mm Forum: Video About Carbon-arc Projection, Chicago, 2011

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Topic: Video About Carbon-arc Projection, Chicago, 2011

Claus Harding
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1149
From: Washington DC
Registered: Oct 2006

posted November 09, 2014 02:01 PM

Hi All,

After having seen Joe Griesbach's 16mm carbon-arc machine at Wildwood, I came across this 17-minute video of the last operator in Chicago who (as of 2011) was licenced to run carbon arcs. A nice 'tour' of the booth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txaRcg8_iVc

Claus.

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"Why are there shots of deserts in a scene that's supposed to take place in Belgium during the winter?" (Review of 'Battle of the Bulge'.)

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Maurice Leakey
Film God

Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007

posted November 10, 2014 02:56 AM

A strange positive carbon, was it copper coated, and did it rotate when burning?

I never understood why American cinemas laced up and over, whereas British cinema lace over the top.

I last used a carbon arc in late 1982 when we changed to xenon and from two projectors to a tower.

I am surprised that the gentleman in the video seemed to overwork himself by using 2000' spools whereas his projectors could accommodate much larger spools.

I never knew a cinema had to be licenced for using a carbon arc. I don't think that applies to British regulations.

An interesting point is that there is only one cinema in Britain which is licenced to use nitrate film. This is the British Film Institute's screening theatre at their archives at Berkhamsted which I visited in 1999.

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Maurice

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Chris Bird
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 218
From: Kingston upon Thames, UK
Registered: Jul 2013

posted November 10, 2014 05:35 AM

Actually Maurice, NFT1 at Bfi Southbank are also licensed to run nitrate. I've seen a nitrate print of The Red Shoes there in 2000, and a nitrate of The Yearling there in I think 2010. They run the lamps dimmer than usual though, and do a complete run of the print with the lamp off first as a further check. They had a major fire in the late 70s while running Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

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Maurice Leakey
Film God

Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007

posted November 10, 2014 06:47 AM

Obviously, my guide was ill-informed, although perhaps he meant the BFI as a whole.

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Maurice

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Brian Fretwell
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1785
From: London, UK
Registered: Jun 2014

posted November 10, 2014 10:57 AM

Yes I was on a backstage tour of the NFT and saw the projectors used for nitrate. They had scissor type cutters on either spool box and a CO2 cylinder with piping aimed at the gate so that if there was a fire it would cool everything down quickly as they were operated by a fire detection system (Gun cotton IIRC by the gate holding it open and if it caught fire it would break and everything would operate fast). The projection ports had metal shutters as well.

We were also shown a demonstration video of a nitrate vault fire (the film had been copied beforehand). A concrete bunker with a steel door, the door got flung a long way by the built up pressure of the fire.

It was many years ago I saw this so there may be a few things I don't remember completely.

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