I think it’s about time I had my own ‘ask the…’ thread, so here we go. If anyone happens to be interested in scale modeling (resin and vinyl sci-fi and figures and such) or movie theater projection, ask away. If no one gives a crap, may this thread just die away like all my others. So I figure no harm done. Shoot!
shane
Or not. No skin off my ass.
Mr. Modeler/Projectionist… will you have sex with me? Gender is not an issue!
Do you really have to change those reels of film every so often, as depicted in the movie, Fight Club? I would’ve thought that with today’s technology, there’d be some sort of machine that does this automatically.
Are you allowed to work on your models while you’re in the projection room? I would imagine it must get pretty boring up there. Especially since you’ve would’ve seen the movie 20 times.
yikes…
Okay Shane, here’s an easy one: Why am I still awake an hour and :15 after I dropped you off so I could go to bed?
Taintly Macabre.
Vandal:
I haven’t seen Fight Club yet, but I think the answer is no. A movie is in one big reel, laying flat, on a big metal thing called a platter. There are three platters on a tree, the thing that holds the three platters. The film is threadded from one platter, the one with the movie on it, to the projector, then back to an empty platter. When the movie is over, I do have the rethread the projector. And when movies change theaters (the old movies go to smaller houses, while the newest, most popular movies stay in bigger theaters), I have someone help me move the entire platter to a new projector.
And I’ve thought about putting models together when I have spare time, but the glues, paints, solvents and such that I use would not be to pleasant to the managers, and the City Manager, who’s office is in our building. It’s a good thing to keep the City Manager happy. And I generally try to keep the projection area pretty tidey.
Spoofe: With sex with me, gender is an issue. Sorry.
Your conscience won’t let you sleep, because you didn’t pick up taint cream at the drug store instead of shampoo.
Do you do the build ups and tear-downs yourself, or does someone else come in every week to do it? I ask because I once worked in a theatre in San Diego, and several years ago, they stopped having projectionists run the booth and instead had them come in to build films, tear them down and do maintenance once per week and used regular staff to run the projectors on a daily basis.
Do you have any amusing stories about inappropriate trailers you’ve put into movies? (I knew a guy who put a trailer for ‘Das Boot’ before the movie ‘The Chosen’)
Do you have any wild stories about things you’ve seen in the theatre? (While I was working during Flashdance a patron who happened to be in a wheelchair had sex with his date in the theatre)
Do any screenings; meet any famous people? (Met Barbara Streisand and Nick Nolte during first showing; she a jerk, he cool).
Do you have any cool one-sheets?
Are you, like many projectionists I’ve known, very lonely since the job involves working 8 hours straight with little to no human contact?
Sorry, no modeling questions…
Jesus, man, you haven’t seen Fight Club yet? I thought you were a projectionist. I figured you’d be sick of it since you would’ve seen it so many times.
Anyway, if you don’t work on your models, what do you do the whole time while you’re up there?
I haven’t really been doing the job for that long, mind you. Not too many stories yet.
And no, I don’t just sit up there and watch movies all day. I have 12 projectors and theaters to keep an eye on. And yes, I do have to build and break down movies. I just broke down Flinstones at Viva Rock Vegas, Where the Heart is, Erin Brokavich, and built two prints of Me, Myself & Irene, and one of Chicken Run. I build two prints of The Patriot on Tuesday, and two of The Perfect Strom on Thursday. If it has to do with the projector or the movie itself, it’s my job.
And shifts are only 6 hours, but I do work about two doubles a week.
And one-sheets, I have two of Shaft (one I’m sending to Evilbeth), Space Cowboys, Hannibal, a M:I2 (anyone want that one?) and a really cool dinosaur eye from a Dinosaurs standee, the one with the flashing light behind it.
I really don’t have that much free time until late at night, when all the movies are finishing. If I’m working the next day, I just turn the machines off and go. That’s about two hours of sitting there drawing, or reading. But if someone else is working the next morning, I thread all the projectors up for them.
Oh, and a little cool side note. The City Manager has just approved raises for the whole staff. Four of them are getting more than the rest, I’m one of them. I was working for 5.15 and hour. In two weeks I’ll be making 7, and will officially be Head Projectionist. Yay me!
Oh, and about previews: I had to take the Coyote Ugly preview out of Titan A.E., because someone complained about it not being appropriate. I think it’s total BS. The preview is rated for all audiences, I don’t think the movie is even R, and there is cartoon buttocks in Titan. If I didn’t think it was appropriate, I wouldn’t have put it in. People complain about the lamest crap. The worst part about the job is dealing with lameass complaints. I just hate the movie patrons. If the theater is too cold or hot, I’ll adjust it, but don’t make me mess with my previews!