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Author Topic: "Waning Art of the Projectionist" Photos Joseph Holmes Film Handler Posts: 7 From: Brooklyn, NY, United States Registered: Nov 2012 posted 12-05-2012 03:35 PM                        I'm the photographer behind the booth photos that were discussed here recently, the series that ran in the NPR blog they called "The Waning Art of the Projectionist." (The whole series is on my portfolio.) It was great reading all the forum comments here -- both the positive and negative. I don't expect that my particular take on a projection booth could possibly reflect what everyone would want to see. That's the photography biz. But one comment especially struck me. Robert E. Allen wrote, "I did not see one picture of the guys who pioneered this field: the two projector, change-over operators." I would love to photograph those pioneers! It's actually been hard to get in touch with projectionists of any age or era. So far I've managed a portrait of everyone I could reach. But I'd like to keep shooting the project for a couple more months. If anyone here could recommend projectionists I can contact in the NYC area (that includes northern NJ, eastern PA, southern CT). I'd love to include them in the series. Please pass along my email address: joe at streetnine.com.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 12-06-2012 06:34 PM                        C'mon, you can just take any old guy and put him in a booth and say he used to be a changeover operator. It's not like you can tell just by looking at them. Hell, I've run changeovers myself. So now there's a picture of a changeover operator in this thread. Since everything about this has pretty much already been discussed, I'd just ask what camera and lenses you used.  |  IP: Logged Joseph Holmes Film Handler Posts: 7 From: Brooklyn, NY, United States Registered: Nov 2012 posted 12-06-2012 07:46 PM                        No, no, no, I'm hoping to find some of the old-timers who are still working. I know of at least one guy I'm trying to reach who's retired but still works part-time. Also the projectionists at Film Forum are still switching projectors for some rare films. Really, I'm just looking for some of the older guys who lived through the various eras. I don't have anybody like that for the series. (Actually Ed Ko in my series has run every kind of projector, here and in Hong Kong.) But here's my setup: Nikon D800 dslr and most shots with the 24mm f/1.4 and the 14-24mm f/2.8. I used a Nikon SB600 in a softbox for the portraits.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 12-07-2012 02:40 AM                     You know there ARE some great projectionists in their 20s and 30s. They don't have to be "old" to be good at the craft.  |  IP: Logged Joseph Holmes Film Handler Posts: 7 From: Brooklyn, NY, United States Registered: Nov 2012 posted 12-07-2012 07:54 AM                        Of course! I met and shot many of them. I just have so few of the older projectionists. If you look through the series you see it's pretty much dominated by projectionists in the 20s and 30s.  |  IP: Logged Mark Ogden Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 943 From: Little Falls, N.J. Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-07-2012 08:20 AM                     Why not contact IATSE Local 306, which covers New York City? John Seid or Barry Garfman may be able to hook you up with an old-timer that is still active, if you explain your project to them and show them what you have so far. 212-956-1306 or Projection306@aol.com  |  IP: Logged Joseph Holmes Film Handler Posts: 7 From: Brooklyn, NY, United States Registered: Nov 2012 posted 12-07-2012 08:23 AM                        I contacted John, who turned me over to Joe Rivierzo of 306. I had a great talk with Joe, a third generation projectionist. Unfortunately, he says there are barely any union projectionists working in film booths at all in this local, though he did introduce me to a guy who services the equipment and who seems to be a great resource.  |  IP: Logged Brent Francis Film Handler Posts: 84 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Nov 2008 posted 12-13-2012 11:32 AM                        Incidentally, changeover screenings were/are still common in whatever film labs are left. My lab didn't stop until they closed in March. One reason was to screen rolls individually so clients could see the academy leader beep at the head & tail, to assure them about the sync. But our theatrical changeover screenings were (IMHO) as good as a platter.  |  IP: Logged Joseph Holmes Film Handler Posts: 7 From: Brooklyn, NY, United States Registered: Nov 2012 posted 12-13-2012 01:52 PM                        Brent -- I believe it. I was just in the Dolby screening room on 6th Avenue this week, and I'm sure the lab upstairs does the same. Film Forum and Anthology Film Archives still do changeover because they get prints that are too valuable to splice. I've never watched a manual changeover, just the automatic, at Film Forum.  |  IP: Logged Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 12-14-2012 01:11 PM                     We still do manual change-overs here.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-14-2012 01:45 PM                     While I understand the point of your series; to document the names and faces of people who actually ran film projectors in the old days; you don't have to have all "old timers" in your project. I think it would be good to have some younger guys who still run changeovers in your project, too. These would be guys who were either taught by the old timers or who learned the craft by themselves. Their perspective on "how things were done in the good, old days" and why they continue to practice their craft the way they do is just as valuable as information gained first hand. A projectionist's job is part art and part science. It is the blend of the two that makes movies "magic." Much of the projectionist's art has been handed down from older operators to newer operators. I agree that it is important to capture and document the names and faces of older operators but I also think that it is important to capture that "handoff" between old generations and new generations. In another generation, we probably won't have anybody, old or young, who knows how film projection works. At least, not the way people understand today. If you capture this "handoff," your work could become a resourse for future generations who want (or need) to learn about film projection. By the way... If you want to do this project right, you should document film with film, not with a digicam... Preferably with a Speed Graphic.  |  IP: Logged Brent Francis Film Handler Posts: 84 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Nov 2008 posted 12-14-2012 02:30 PM                        "A projectionist's job is part art and part science. It is the blend of the two that makes movies "magic" ". Man... that's downright poetic. Makes it all seem worthwhile.  |  IP: Logged Robert E. Allen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1078 From: Checotah, Oklahoma Registered: Jul 2002 posted 12-14-2012 02:57 PM                     quote: Brad Miller You know there ARE some great projectionists in their 20s and 30s. They don't have to be "old" to be good at the craft You are probably right Brad. But projectionists today who are not doing film do little more than push buttons. Film projectionists had to clean the equipment daily, service it weekly, thread the projectors about every 20 minutes, check focus as the carbon arcs heated the lenses, stand by for and make changeovers, splice trailers, cartoons and newsreels (remember those?) together with daters, replace worn parts (sprockets, shoes, pressure pads, etc.). And, of course, maintain the booth. On weekends we often worked 12 hour shifts. At least that's what this I.A. operator did. Technically today's full-time projectionists are probably more knowledgeable in digital booths but I don't think they have as much to do as film projectionists even those working platter systems.  |  IP: Logged Joseph Holmes Film Handler Posts: 7 From: Brooklyn, NY, United States Registered: Nov 2012 posted 12-14-2012 03:23 PM                        Randy, I agree, on every count. I'm not just trying to capture only a specific group -- young, old, in between. I'm trying to shoot everyone I can contact who'll let me take a photo. It's just been a very slow process, especially since I can't afford to travel outside the NYC/PA/CT/NJ area. And yes, in the best of all worlds I'd shoot all these on film, but since I've never used large format, I'm a long way away from shooting in tough lighting situations with an unfamiliar format.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-14-2012 05:02 PM                     Even if you shot just part of the series on film, even if it's only 35 mm. or 120 format, that would be cool. You can pick up a used Pentax K-1000 from Ebay for only a hundred dollars or so if you look around. A Rolleiflex would be another neat option. Young or old, the main thing that makes the projectionist's art important is feedback: Input, preception, reaction & response. Having a human in the feedback loop, performing his magic blend of art and science is, I believe, the heart of movie magic. I'm a techie. I like computers and digital stuff but, unlike most people, I see the value of the projectionist/operator in the feedback loop. Digital projection, starting shows automatically with timers, everything done with computerized automation, without human interaction removes the human element from the feedback chain and it essentially sterilizes the movie going experience. We have all seen examples of what goes wrong with digital when there are no competent people in the booth to take care of things. We all predicted these things would happen and we have already witnessed examples of digital movies gone wrong. These things happen no more frequently or no less frequently when using digital than it does with film but when it does happen, there is a potential for things to go really wrong. When there isn't a competent person there to practice his art, to take care of the customers and ensure that there experience is as magical as it should be, that's when digital falls flat. Machines break, digital or film. There is no way to prevent that. The difference is the "sterility" of the digital movie going experience and knowledge on the customer's part that there is somebody there who can make good on the movie magic promise. I like to use the analogy drawn by the old "Buck Rogers" movies and TV series. Buck Rogers was accidentally transported forward in time from our present to the 25th Century where the whole world was run by machines and humans didn't have to do anything. Buck Rogers was a hero, in part, because he was the only person left who could think on his own without needing machines. We are fast turning movie theaters into a Buck Rogers movie where there are no people left who know how to think on their own. This is one of the reasons why I am urging you to shot at least part of your project on film if you can. I would like to see somebody relate to the coming generations what it's like to have to think about things and do things for ourselves without depending on machines. You can be the "Buck Rogers." I'll be "John the Savage" from Brave New World. (Randy Savage! )  |  IP: Logged

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