Motography (Apr-Dec 1911)

December, 1911. MOTOGRAPHY 285 If the walls of the booth are made of concrete the floor should also be made of reenforced concrete. A terra cotta tile floor may be laid with a 2-inch concrete floor over it, but unless other tile floors are being laid in the theater this will be quite expensive. A cheap concrete floor may be had by first laying a rough floor of ]/& inch matched flooring on 2 by 8 joists and covering it with 3 inches of cinder concrete, giving the top of it a cement dressing 1 inch thick. Two wood strips may be imbedded in the concrete upon which the legs of the machine may be secured. This will give a rock foundation to the machine. The floor may also be constructed the same as a wood floor on top of which may be placed asbestos board Y% inches thick. In making a floor of sheet metal, nail it down securely so that it does not make a noise when walking over it. Enough has been said regarding the height ot the room. The higher the better, as the heat from the lamp always rises and if the ceiling has a good size ventilator in it, the heat will not remain around the operator's head like it does in a room six feet high. Regarding the width of the operating room. The machine requires about five feet, but enough space should be left in the rear of it to pass by without brushing against the adjusting handles of the arc lamp. Eight feet should be the minimum. In old theaters and remodeled stores it is sometimes difficult to get this width. In this case the operating room should project out into the theater. This will not detract from the appearance of the theater if suitable brackets are placed underneath the floor of the room The length of the room is also somewhat governed by the arrangement of the other parts of the theater. Enough room should be left so that the operator can easily get on the other side of the machine, to repair the take-up or any other parts that are impossible to reach from the operating side. The laws relating to moving picture theaters in Massachusetts fix the size of the operating room as follows : For one machine, six feet long, for two machines, nine feet and for three machines twelve feet. These are all minimum lengths, the width in no case to be less than eight feet. It would not be a bad idea if other large cities would prescribe minimum sizes instead of "room enough to get around the machine." If the operator does most of his own repairing he will require a work bench and other necessary tools. In this case he should have a separate work room outside of the operating room, as most of the city ordinances are verv strict in regard to having only those things absolutely neeessary in the room. This is a matter of the operator's personal opinion. The writer prefers a separate room as the work room generally becomes a gathering place for junk, and it is well to keep such stuff outside of the operating room. Formerly the operator climbed up a ladder placed against the wall, upon which he could only find room for his toes and then crawled through a hole about two feet square into his coop ; now he walks up a stairway and enters his room through a doorway three feet wide, thanks to a little thought on the part of the designer and owner of the theater. The door leading to the operating room should be covered with sheet metal and have a metal frame if the walls are other than metal covered, but this does not mean that the door must be just large enough for the operator to crawl through. Many of the building codes of various cities require spring hinges to be placed upon the door to keep it closed, but the writer has seen many rooms in which the operator would nearly suffocate if the door was kept closed, it being the only means of escape for the heat from the lamp. If it is necessary to enter the room through a floor opening, it i* preferable to have the opening outside of the operating room, or to cover it with a trap door so that there will be no danger of the operator dropping through the opening accidentally. The number, size and location of the window openings in the operating room depend very much upon the exterior design of the theater front. It was formerly the practice to put three holes cr openings about a foot ia diameter one above each door, and one over the cashier's booth. One of the openings generally found its way into the coop and was called the window. The theater front may j.ust as well be treated with large openings, which will do some good. The windows can easily be closed if there is too much draft or cold, and they are always very welcome in summer. On account of the architectural treatment of the theater front, the windows are generally low down, sometimes on the operating room floor level, but if a decent system of ventilation is employed the fresh air can be drawn in from the bottom and heated air drawn out of the ventilator. If too much light is admitted through the windows they may be covered with shades during the day. If the operating room is carried above the roof of the building, as previously suggested for one-story buildings, windows may be placed in all four directions, taking advantage of every breeze in the summer time. Most of the ordinances require a ventilator to be placed in the top of the operating room leading to the roof. This ventilator ought not to be less than eighteen inches in diameter. This will draw off the warm air from the top of the room. A fan should be placed in the ventilator to facilitate the drawing off of the heated air. The ventilator should be arranged so that it ma)' be closed in winter. When there are other floors above the theater, making it impossible to use a large direct ventilator, a sijf-inch pipe should be run from the top of the room to a flue where there is a good draft. It is not advisable to put a skylight over the room, as the sun beating upon the glass all day will heat up the room considefably. Two peepholes from the operating room into the theater are necessary,one for the light from the lenses to pass through, and the other for the operator so that he may watch the picture. If a double dissolver is used, a third peephole is necessary for the top lens. The operator's peephole should be placed so that he may watch the picture when he is in his sitting position at the machine, because no operator will watch the picture as he should if he has to stoop down or crane his neck to see it. The peepholes should be covered by gravity shutters, arranged to close easily in case of fire. They are generally made of No. 18 iron with grooves on the sides to slide in. All of the shutters should be connected to one string, and this string secured directly above the machine head, so if the operator should "loose his head" when the film catches afire, the string will ignite and release the shutters.