Unfortunately I used to work in a place that had really bad projection problems. Films would break down in the last 20 minutes (when the really important stuff happens) at least twice a week. But we weren’t allowed by the company to have a projectionist dedicated to watching the films, so I’d invariably be trying to close out the day upstairs and somebody yell loud enough so I’d hear it. I’d come down and there’d be 20-40 angry patrons. Or I’d just be doing whatever it is I had to do that day and not notice immediately that something went wrong with one of the theaters. Most patrons seem to think that if something goes wrong, somebody will know about it right away. Most places aren’t adequately staffed, and ours certainly wasn’t.
The problems were almost never easy to fix. It was supremely embarrassing and I would have regular breakdowns from the anxiety. Eventually the projection guys figured out what was making everything break and it calmed down after that. But stuff was still permanently out of focus, anamorphic lenses were oddly tilted, and the sound mostly sucked. I was still embarrassed at our presentation regularly. I’m really glad I left that job.
Twice, sort of. Once, for a dim image (but there was no one to actually report to, so I returned to my seat and fumed for the rest of the show). The other time was much more satisfying; reporting that the show had started about ten-fifteen minutes into the movie (for no apparent reason), and scored a free ticket, as did everybody else who bothered to add their names to the list.
The year was 1980, the film was Popeye, and I was eight or nine years old. I was seeing the flick with a friend - one of my first trips to the movies with a friend and no parental chaperon - and there were three guys down front (they seemed old at the time, but now I’m guessing they were 16 or so) who were hollering and laughing and making noise nonstop.
After this had gone on for a while (don’t remember how long), my friend and I went out to find someone who worked there and politely said, “There are some people making a lot of noise down front and we’d like it if they’d please stop” or some such. Just then another, adult patron came in behind us and shouted “SHUT THOSE ASSHOLES UP!” The noise stopped shortly after that and didn’t start again.
I once turned around to the guys behind me who were having a conversation at regular volume and said, “BE QUIET!” and they kept talking as if I hadn’t said anything. I was bewildered and just moved to a different part of the (near-empty) theater.
Not exactly. When the film gets caught in the gate, the xenon bulb will automatically burn a hole through the film (something which can’t happen if each frame is only in front of the bulb for a fraction of a second). No overheating, just the natural result from a bulb that has to be bright (and hot) enough to project the image a hundred feet or more.
Well, Cervaise did mention it was at his local rep house. Rep houses, for the most part, don’t have platter systems because older, archival prints are made out of acetate and can’t stand up to the punishing demands of modern projection systems the way modern polyester prints can. They still rely on the good ol’ reel-to-reel method, which means rethreading every 20 minutes for the changeover.
No, No, No!–it is not “video.” That is an entirely different media. We’ve gone over this before, Enderw24. One more outburst like that and your cinephile membership’s revoked!
I took my wife to see the re-release of The Exorcist. Two problems. One, some genius brought a brand new baby to the movie, and the poor kid screamed at the top of her lungs. Two, the theater was filled with 12 and 13 year olds that had no business being in the theater in the first place, laughed and giggled at the urinating on the carpet, the swearing, etc. Scenes which were meant to be powerful were turned into gigglefests by immature children. I complained loudly to the manager, who gave me my money back.
You really are the Archive guy! Gads, that was well over two years ago.
While I don’t wish to hijack this thread and I know my response will…I think my bone of contention back then was with your definition of “broadcast.” Why must it exclusively be through radio or television? To break the word up, I understand that broadcast means to broadly cast but why must it be scattered in all directions for it to be one? Is surround sound broadcast? What about an planetarium’s solar system exibit? I don’t see why it cannot be other things besides radio and television and, if so, why it cannot include movie screens as the “broadcasting visual images of stationary or moving objects.”
Cinephile? You can take my membership away, man. I’ll say “video” 'til the cows come home if it means I don’t have to fuck my Betamax.