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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Topic: effects of smoke in a theater
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Monte L Fullmer
Film God
Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004
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posted 11-17-2005 05:17 AM
Smoke is smoke, no matter how it's burned, what's burned, who burns it, who tokes it, who snorts it, who gets high, who gets sick, or who is dying from breathing in smoke.. et.al. .... It's all the same ....
..and don't EVEN try to rationalize....
-Monte
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Stephen Furley
Film God
Posts: 3059
From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England
Registered: May 2002
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posted 11-18-2005 02:53 PM
quote: Peter Hall
We were involved some years ago with a guy who ran "Cinema Fume'" in the Brixton Academy
Ah, this brings back memories. I visited the place with the CTA at that time, we were shown around by a fearsome looking man who was in charge of 'security' They had only just started the film thing, there was no screen frame, I'll come back to that in a minute, they had found an old, rather small, silver screen somewhere, underneath the stage I think, the surface was gone, so they painted it white. I think you are right about the projection being from the circle, they just hired in equipment when needed. The former projection box under the balcony had been turned into a sort of VIP area, for invited guests of the band that was playing. Large windows had been fitted in the front wall, one with a steel girder running across it. I think there was also a small bar in this room.
Because there was no frame the screen had been hung from a spare lighting barrel. The counterbalanced lines were operated from stage right, and there was a tubular metal guard rail in front of them, which was bent. The story was that somebody who was working to remove the original sgreen frame had fallen onto it. I don't know if there was any truth in this story; for their sake I hope not!
The original projectors were said to still be in the building somewhere, but wrapped up in plastic due to being 'full of asbestos'. The security man also said that there were other boxes in the theatre that used to contain 'huge effects machines', Brenographs?, which they had removed. At one time the CTA held their archives in the building, first in a former battery room, and then in what had been a manager's office.
The proscenium arch is based on the design of a famous bridge, but I cannot remember which one. There's a picture here It's possible to walk across this, it's reached by means of a small door and very narrow staircase on stage right. Once you reached the centre you could move forward through the doors onto the small balcony which can be seen in the picture. I'm told that Bella Lugosi once appeared on that balcony, with a lime on him, promoting his Dracula performance the following week.
There was something of a hazard on that bridge; it was dark up there, and everything was painted black, including an RSJ at just the right height th hit the top of your head on; as most of us did!
We visited all sorts of places with the CTA; one in the East End of London had ceased to be a cinema decades before, the previous time they had tried to visit the place it had been a used car salesroom, but had been closed down because the building was unsafe. It had re-opened some time later, without any repairs being carried out as far as I know, as a (probably illeagal and unlicenced) rave club. The operators had agreed to the visit after the place closed, which was at something like 6am on Sunday. I think the visit actually took place rather later.
Another place we visited had become a rather strange night club, complete with dungeon and torture chamber! I think some of us weren't quite sure what we had let ourselves in for there, but the man from the club who showed us round was really nice, and interesteed in features of the building we pointed out that he had never noticed. With just a few exceptions, nearly all of the places we visited would let us go anywhere we wanted, getting into long disused parts of the buildings, carrying a torch (flashlight, not the flaming variety) was always a good idea on a CTA visit. We sometimes got very odd looks by the users or these buildings which had become bingo halls, markets, churches or whatever, when their building was invaded by a load of loonies who would climb up un the roof, or under the stage, on into some plant room disused for thirty years. Great fun; I suppose the health and safety people will have put a stop to that sort of thing now.
One other place I remember was the Ex. Odeon, Northfields, which had become a nightclub, and then a church. We managed to get into the old projection box, and the projectors were still there; Vic. 8s with converted Kalee President arcs. There were no lights working, and for some reason nobody had a torch that day. We opened a spoolbox on one of the long-disused machines, and discovered that it still had film laced up in it! Because it was too dark to see we never did find out what the mystery film was.
Has anybody here had their theatre visited by the CTA?
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