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New Book: The Art of Film Projection - A Beginner's Guide
New Book: The Art of Film Projection - A Beginner's Guide
I recently received a gift of this wonderful book, published by the George Eastman Museum. Written in clear language with the goal of introducing the general public to the importance of film projection and the skills that are required, this guide covers many aspects of the field and makes the point that we only notice a film's projection when it goes wrong.
Looks like a very interesting book. Doug, you mention that we only notice a film projection when it goes wrong, how true. You can run films hundreds of times without any problems and nobody saying anything, but if things go wrong only once that's when you get to hear all about it. I remember years ago we were chosen do do the city charity premiere of the film "Whale Rider" I put the film together and early one Sunday morning the manager me and her son did our own test screening interlocking the print with the Bauer and Simplex projectors. Everything went perfect, a few days later just before the big night when the film director, cast etc plus all the other stuff coming, the old Bauer for the first time I could remember packed up. I called our well known electrician in, he started to pull things apart, as you do,when the manager came in looked at me, then looked at the projector in bits and usually a cool person under pressure, she started to panic. Graham she said we have sold all the seats to two screens, we have palm trees coming, we have a full Maori welcoming arranged and so on. This was to be our big night and the projector we are relying on is in bits. I said don't worry our electrician friend will get it fixed in time. Well he did and the evening was a success, days later the owner of the cinema spoke to me, that while he was being introduced to the films director and actors etc, all he could think of was the picture in his mind of the old Bauer in bits the day before...never again was his conclusion, were we going to do such an event...to nerve wracking
Thank you, Doug
Just ordered from UK Amazon for GBP £20.24, post free. This will revive memories of some 50 years working in projection rooms. 344 pages of nostalgia !!!
For a 2019 publication it does somewhat laughable describe itself as "A Beginners Guide".
However it is a fantastic publication full of great photos, a lot in full colour.
It its mention of Eastman LPP stock it says "The era of Kodak low-fade prints stocks began in 1979. Things began to change in 1982 when Kodak introduced its low-fade stock carrying the "LPP" (Lowfade Positive Print) edge code. By the 1990s, the LPP edge code was dropped, even though the manufactured film continued to be low-fade stock."
We can assume the stock in 1979 was SP, although it is not specifically mentioned.
I can thoroughly recommend this book. Nostalgia ain't what it used to be.
... makes the point that we only notice a film's projection when it goes wrong.
I find this concept very similar to doing house work. The effort only seems noticed when you don't do it Thanks for the post Douglas. It does look like an interesting book.
It's also the same with film editing, Janice: Apart from very fast-cut action sequences, the audience only seems to notice it if it's not properly done...
For those of you who have read it (and were projectionists in the good days), have you thought "no, what you wrote doesn't work exactly in this way because…." or "You're not considering that..."?
There are some passages I read that made my think this, comparing to all the experience gathered both in film collecting and as a projectionist in an open air cinema (now almost two decades ago, and beer was definetly recommended in the booth and near the running projector due to more than 30°C in that tiny little space!!)
It's really difficult to understand for whom this book was written. For a trainee projectionist? Not very likely as a lot of reference is to handling rare and archive prints.
Fully fledged cinema projectionists will not learn very much.
I'm interested in buying a couple of these (one would be for the Blackpool raffle), but I'd appreciate it if one of the owners here could comment on these points:
Is it entirely orientated towards 35mm cinema projection, or is there any coverage of 16mm or other formats?
As Doug mentions "the goal of introducing the general public to the importance of film projection", is any comparison made between film and digital projection?
The cover has a somewhat retro look, so I'd just like to check that it's an entirely new book, rather than a reprint of one previously published?
Hi Adrian,
It's a new book, no reprinting (as an example, there is their email address for any comments/suggestions on the book and a reference to film-tech warehouse website for downloading manuals).
It's "Projection booth" oriented, and almost all the references are to 35mm, with some indication on 16mm. They also refer to pedestal film projectors and not to portable ones, even if the care and maintainance obviously applies to both.
And no, no reference to digital projection at all!
From my perspective, who is already used to 35mm has very little to learn. It may be useful to have an idea of how projection booth operation should be in the ideal world and with handling rare and archive prints, but some of them would not be easily applied in a commercial projection booth (at least here in Italy, from what I saw and lived by myself). Also, as collectors, you may state that what they indicate in some cases is wrong (e.g. they say that, as you have to splice back head and tale on the image frame when putting back films into rolls, a way to correctly identify what leader goes to what roll is to have one frame of the image cut with the leader/tail… well, I think that no collector would do that).
I've not read the "nitrate film" chapter yet, but I think that something interesting may be found.
Apart from that, it's a nice reading, and I think that it can be a good idea as a prize for the raffle.
Thanks, Fabrizio, that's very useful and may also help others to decide if they would like to buy a copy. While I'm glad it has been published, it's difficult to imagine a substantial market for it in this day and age, but perhaps anyone who has reason to learn about 35mm projection will find it increasingly difficult to learn from other projectionists.
That's an interesting point in relation to leaving one frame on leaders/tails - I don't think the reason ever struck me when I've noticed such splicing on 16mm features, but now I finally know!
If a cinema received a print new from the lab the leaders and tails would obviously be all intact.
If a film was cut at the beginning of picture, and the end of picture, for making up for long play running, there would be no quick identifying method of ensuring that leaders and tails were put back on their correct reels.
Therefore, the custom was to cut the head and tail in such a way as to leave one picture frame on each end. Then, there would be no doubt as to the correct part when packing away.
Also, it was common to tape only one side of the film when returning for easy removal of the heads and tails at the next cinema.
Note that the book is not cheap, and I don't really recommend it.
Maurice,
in Italy the procedure was usually different.
At the beginning and end of each roll, a piece of adesive paper was put on the film accross 2 or 3 frames and the name of the film with the number of the part and the indication if it was beginning or end was written on it.
As an example, for the film "Hunt for Red October" (Caccia a Ottobre Rosso) you would find on roll 2:
- Caccia Ottobre P2, at the beginning
- Caccia Ottobre F2, at the end
Usually leaders were not spliced back when you had to give back the film to the distributor or pass directly to other cinemas. Changeover were not common in Italy and all the cinemas ran the film on larger spools.
One thing I never understood is why in the USA 35mm reels are wound in a different way than 16mm. In Italy (and I think also in other countries), film winding is the same for 35mm as well as 16mm or super8
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