Moving Picture World (Jan-Feb 1927)

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FROM EXHIBITORS HERALD If I Were an Exhibitor — the Kind of Projection Room I’d Have By CLELL JAY Projectionist, New Theatre, Little Rock, Ark. It is my belief that both location and size of the projection room should receive first consideration, then the equipment and last but not least, both city and state regulations. Even where the latter are not strict, special attention should be given to making the booth as fireproof as possible for your own protection as well as that of the projectionist and the audience. If steel is used, the seams should be on the outside and preferably welded. All conduits leading into the room should be tightly fitted at point of entrance. The quality of electrical apparatus and wiring are of great importance, so having this fitted to your particular requirements by one well versed in the trade (electrician) will save you much expense. Here is also a point I would like to impress on my readers, and that is, if your projectionist is worthy of t lie name, he should be allowed to make suggestions in regard to the wiring and electrical equipment, for he and others of his profession are the ones who will use it, day after day and year after year in your interest. In making this suggestion, I am prompted by the truth that neither the architect or electrical engineer are projectionists. In many instances, faulty wiring and equipment wrongly installed are the cause of disagreeable happenings which in most cases the innocent projectionist receives the blame for. As most regulations require, and rightly, that these rooms be fireproof, and as they are seldom of proper size, impure air accumulates rapidly, even with the use of Mazda equipment, I have found by experience. Intake fans are essential. But the exhaust or out-take fans are indispensable. These should be located in the ceiling, in such a position that they will draw the air away from the machines without causing undue draft. Small fans should not be set in the booth in such a position that when the projectionist is busy they will blow the water glass in his face or cause loose objects to be tossed about (water glass referred to is that used by carbon manufacturers to “bond” the carbon used in the core of carbons and not a drinking glass). I may say that Richardson, some years ago insisted, and rightly, upon at least a 16-inch ventilator pipe leading as direct as possible to the outside air, this to be controlled by a damper in the booth. Now in case of an accidental fire, this would act as a flue and carry the dense celluloid smoke directly outside, confiding most of the smoke to the booth and this outlet and preventing panics and the disagreeable adverse advertising even a small and perfectly safe fire (if there is such a thing) would give a theatre whose projection room is not equipped to take care of smoke and I am sorry to say it does yet even in the most correctly equipped and handled places. The height of the booth is a matter of much importance, and it should at least calculation be ten feet. The width and depth of the room must of course be governed by the size of the building. By all means have plenty of room for the projectionist to get all around his machine. He cannot keep them in the best of order if he has to reach some of the parts with a long distance wrench. If circumstances will allow it, you should have at least three projection machines and a special stereopticon. Even theatres without a stage will occasionally have use for a spot and flood light, and with a stage, more of these are of course, essential. As to size, I have never yet encountered or has the news reached my ears of a Mil Take it from the fellow in the booth. jJWe knows whet’s needed to put on the best kind of a picture and the best show. #TT It can’t be done when the projection room and its equipment is relegated to secondary importance. And, unfortunately, this has been rather a practice in the past. #TT7'/ie recommendation to have three TlJmac/iines is a good one and we understand that some of the largest circuits are standardizing on three projectors in the projection room. f|| The best in projection facilities and □J equipment are none too good for the exhibitor who would please his patrons. Projection deserves foremost consideration. fTJ So here is a little dope from the fel□J low whose job it is to give your patrons the best picture possible. He can’t do it unless he has the equipment and accommodations he needs. Lend an eye to his suggestions in the article herewith. HARRY E. HOLQUIST Editor, Better Theatres projection room that was too large. In spacing the equipment, care musts be taken that the units are not too widely spread. My personal preferance is for large portholes where it is possible to use them without spreading too much reflected light rays over the room. Efficient working light in the projection room is necessary to insure good working conditions and should be located with the least possible chance of its rays reaching the audience. While the quality of your projection depends much on your machines as well as the man at the arc, it may be lost on a poor screen or in the selection of an inferior lense. The task of choosing equipment suitable for your theatre and the arrangement should be considered with great care. Even the rewind should not be chosen at random. Everything that makes up these instruments of precision must be chosen carefully if we would eseape the fool killer. The best projectionist on earth cannot get good results where the showman has only a good lobby display, fancy interior decoration, and inferior projection equipment. The exhibitor’s good showmanship depends more on his judgment in choos ing his equipment, keeping it up to date and employing projectionists who really are worthy of the name than does his advertising sense and lobby display ideas. A line of the most needed repairs should be on hand as Well as a complete set of genuine, not ten cent store, tools. Each tool should have its place and be religiously kept in it when not in use. Dust and oily cloths should always be kept in a metal container. Broken pieces of film, scraps and carbon butts should be kept in respective covered containers of metal and emptied often. An offset in the booth with running water will prove of much benefit in allowing the projectionist to refresh himself occasionally and this will result in more efficient work. A “first aid” kit should have a place on a small shelf easily accessible to the operator while working. While I am a projectionist and am speaking from their standpoint, I do know that when our comforts are considered we are capable of delivering much more capable service. Where one shift man only is on duty at a time, the rewind should be placed in the back of the room central between the line of projectors, and also in such a position that he can get a good view of the screen from the rewind table. Reels must be of good quality and kept in good condition, or they will cause undue wear on the film as well as on the magazine valves and cause other troubles too numerous to mention. The change over is a matter of personal opinion and should be left with the projectionist to decide. He will usually see that a good one is installed as no part of equipment disgusts a projectionist who considers himself one, more than a bum change over. All booth switches should be in front of the operator with each machine’s individual switches to the right of the projector. A test lamp and extra fuses should be within easy reach. Where Mazda is used, an extra bulb should be placed handy to each machine. Pilot lights in the mechanism of the projectors give the operator a chance to do quick and accurate framing and gives less chance of disturbing the synchrony. Where Mazda units are used light rubber tubing can be used on several parts of the unit to help reduce the jar and noise; but for instance, if you use one on the carriage stop, be sure and align accordingly. If anything of this kind is used on the drop type dowser, it should be removed when replacing burnt out lamp, as it will throw the pinhole filament slightly out of line. Either several hand power fire extinguishers or an automatic system should be installed in every projection room. The porthole drops or shutters should be quick and silent in action, so that when it should be necessary the booth can be sealed without disturbing the audience as in case of a fire. Where any of the various motor-generator sets are used, they should be located somewhere outside the booth in a safe place with a competent man in charge of them. By safe place, I mean a place not accessible to the audience. This saves the projectionist a trip to motor room in case of trouble with the set and a shorter “stop” to worry the audience. Where a polarity switch is needed, it should be conveniently located as accidental “freezing” of carbons is likely to switch the current. Floor matting is one of the last things to be laid in the modern projection room. Mattings that cause the feet to sweat or burn should be avoided. They must also stand up to the underwriters' requirements. International Projector Corporation 90 GOLD STREET NEW YORK, N. Y.