CineSea 21 in Pictures

[Steve Klare]

So, We pulled it off!

-after the original "21" (-is "XXI" better?) was canceled last spring it wasn't hard to imagine that CineSea might never be the same, if at all! -but this weekend it not only happened, but happened well.

I need to introduce myself here, despite posting on this forum 17 years now, today I am the Vice Claus. Claus Harding normally does these, and does them well. He couldn't join us this time, so my contribution is to do my best in his place. We're going to talk about what happened in Wildwood for a couple of days. Not necessarily every day, but gradually over the next maybe 5 days so other people get the experience and we can keep our memories too.

We're starting on Thursday, October 1st, but wait! -what about the 2nd through the 4th? Well, as they say "nothing comes from nothing", and CineSea doesn't just spring out of the ground fully-formed on Friday. Quite a few people show up on Thursday to set up: maybe to schmooze a little! My son doesn't need to put on a School Bus Friday morning anymore (College), so I am freer to join in myself.

This fine Thursday was about raising the big screen (among many other things: CineSea builds strong backs!). We're going to the screen-raising now. (The Amish can do an entire barn in a few days, we're not that good, but we do OK!)

No tripod screen here:
-this starts out as a pretty impressive network of galvanized pipes joined together by thumb screws:
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Then comes the cloth screen surface:
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Then about 50,000 little bungies (-my informal estimate) secure the fabric and stretch it in place:
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-finally, able backs and arms stand it up in place and secure it to tripods with sandbags for weight.

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-now it's worth noting how tightly this fits the room. This came over from the Ocean Holiday a few inches too tall and a pipe cutter is what it took to custom fit it to our new place.

Now, of course the Elephant in the Room was in this room too! We got through it and in coming days we'll see that it didn't really rain on our parade!
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Stay Tuned!

[Patrick Walsh]

Great stuff Steve! im looking forward to more selected scenes!

[Lee Mannering]

I take my hat of to you all for dedication, taking precautions and making the magic happen. Well done.

[Paul Barker]

must agree with Lee. superb effort indeed. all events in uk are off. even our Blackpool event. so to see this makes us uk collectors look on with envy. i'm glad Shorty was able to be there. look forward to further updates. congrats to everyone.

[Dominique De Bast]

Waw. It's good to know that at least life continues in some parts of the world !

[Michael O’Regan]

Wonderful that you were all able to go ahead with this. Looking forward to more pics.

[Oliver Feld]

Looking forward, too!

[Steve Klare]

Friday
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Friday has grown up a lot since CineSea started 11 years ago. Back then it was a day to pack the car and maybe arrive if you were ambitious. Soon Friday became something all on its own. Thursday became the new Friday, but today that’s really more Wednesday!

-who knows? Maybe someday Friday will be Friday again, just Friday a week from now!

-but for now: Friday is the day CineSea comes fully to life, including Friday Night Feature. Many to most of the people are there. Much to most of the setting up is finished: it’s time to get started!

Along with this distortion of weekdays, we have a new venue. This is only our second time at the Shalimar (-even though it was supposed to be the third.). As much as we loved the Ocean Holiday (more about that later…), this is demonstrably better. CineSea now takes place in a room with a tiled and carpeted floor and actual HEAT and/or AC! (Don’t take my word for it. I go camping: as long as the roof doesn’t drip rain water and the lights come on without striking a match, I am good!). The room has a full kitchen off to the side, direct access to the elevator and same-level access to many hotel rooms.

The décor is nice as is, but I like to think we even improve it!
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This Friday Night Feature was all about 35mm. We had two 35mm features among the many, and Jumanji won the first round. Because second place was a three-way tie, a second runoff was held for the afternoon Matinee, and the 35mm Swiss Family Robinson won that honor.

There would be no 35mm at CineSea without Geoff and this wonderous machine:
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I took some time to talk to Geoff about this beast. It’s a Cinemeccanica Portacine 35mm machine from Italy. According to Geoff it’s not that ancient on a scale of many other machines we run: it’s from the early to mid 1980s. It has twin track optical sound, that he runs the photocell output directly to the mic. inputs on his mixer with good results. It is Xenon illuminated with a pretty impressive looking external power supply and a little crack of lightning whenever he strikes the lamp!

In the strictest sense of the word, this is a portable machine. It has a handle up top, just like the humblest Eumig or Elmo silent 8mm machine. The catch is Geoff estimates it weighs in at a formidable 65 Lbs. Where I work, anything over 40 Lbs. requires we get help to move. So, we should call this “Portable with Friends”!

This is also a rescue: Geoff says a local film rental company told him that despite very low hours, it was headed to the dumpster unless he took it off their hands. He gave it a home, and a job!

The Matinee came at 4PM. The sun was still up and we were grateful for that Xenon lamp.
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Later on, I had to explain it to my son (-born 2002: never heard of it). I said it was kind of like a Disney CastAway. Nice folks with cute animals also in a Survival Situation, yet without any coconuts, ice skates or inflamed molars! (-Oww!)

Then we took a break for dinner. This time the large group stood to be very complicated with the restaurants and their reduced seating, so we divided up and went many places.

We gathered again at 8PM for Jumanji, the evening feature.

We started out with a 35mm cartoon: Rupert & The Frog Song.
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The rest of the evening was Jumanji.
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Next: Saturday, the Big Day!

[Douglas Meltzer]

Great job, Steve!

Geoff is amazing. He brings so much 35mm equipment with him to make sure that everything runs smoothly. The other formats get their champions too....When a 16mm print is chosen for Friday, Gary Sloan brings two projectors and tons of accessories. David Lucidi supplied his gear for the Saturday show. Super 8mm? That's me, and I used a different GS-1200 this time (more on that after Steve finishes up). Speaking of David, he was kind enough to print up our signs and he made up the feature posters at the top of post #8.


Geoff was quite busy. He started building the prints on Thursday night so that each showing would only need one break.

[Graham Ritchie]

Fantastic I must admit I am drooling at the 35mm films and projector....all great stuff .

[Brian Fretwell]

Reminds me of when Ben Whale brought his 35/70mm projector to the BFCC in Ealing a couple of times, goodness knows how much that weighed. He managed to borrow a reel of Gremlins in 70mm for one show as well.

[Oliver Feld]

Amazing!!! Thank You!!!

[Brian Fretwell]

As I can't edit my above post here is that 35/70mm machine at Ealing. It's just in front to of Keith Wilton. 😆

[Douglas Meltzer]

That is huge!

Steve,

I'm looking forward to the Saturday section. After all, that's the day CineSea is built around!

[Oliver Feld]

Can’t wait to see it...