Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1949)

E-20 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, November 12, 1949 The Progressive Encyclopedia of Theatre Operation (Continued from Page E-16) mechanical film splicers, mechanical picture changeover, telephone connection to the manager, and projection reels so the picture need not be run on shipping reels. —PC, UO. (For projection room ventilation arrangements, see under "safety.") Projection Equipment All projection rooms should be equipped with both hand and automatic rewinds where legally permitted and with mechanical cue markers, and necessary tools. —PC, UO. The theatre, not the pro/jectionists, should supply needed tools. Tools should be kept under lock and key. Keys should be entrusted to the projectionists, but tools should be inventoried periodically and the manager should do it himself. — PC, MO. Following is a list of the tools the majority of the Projection Advisory Council thinks the theatre should supply: Screwdrivers of various sizes, pliers of various sizes, cutting pliers, open-end wrenches of various sizes, soldering iron (not torch), projector-lamphouse alignrod, trouble lamps, rubber tape, friction tape, alien wrenches, test phones, tube puller. Life of Projection Equipment. In the experience of the members of the Projection Advisory Council sound and projection equipment properly ynaintained has the following life expectancy: Arc Rectifiers, tube type: 10 years to indifinitely, Arc Rectifiers, stack types 5 years to indefinitely. Motor-driven Rewinds: 5 years to indefinitely. Projector Mechanisms: 10 years to indefinitely if overhauled every 18 months to 5 years depending on severity of service. Sound Systems: 10-15 years. Projection Standards Operating Standards. Inspect all equipment before each day's show. Inspect every reel before running it for the first time. Repair all faults in film or equipment without delay. (PC, UO). Have sound and projection equipment serviced by outside experts. (PC and TC, UO). No matter how small the theatre or how limited its budget it cannot afford to give patrons less than the best in sound and picture quality at all times. — PC, UO. Rewind by hand (where permitted and practical). Follow SMPE screen brightness, power line voltage variation, projection angle and viewing port standards. Exceed Academy sound power standards. Keep flutter distortion to not more than 0.15 per cent.— ^PC, MO. In modernizing speakers do not put new units on old baffles, replace the entire speaker system. Do not add modernized speakers to old-type sound systems — modernize throughout. It is no longer necessary to stock spare speaker units in the theatre.— PC, MO. Don't continue old-fashioned low-intensity arcs in operation, they are uneconomical. Replace them.— PC, MO. Don't fail to complain about poor prints, and don't let the projectionist do it. Complaints should be made by the person who does the booking. — PC, MO. Theatre circuits larger than 10 to 25 theatres (according to local circumstances) will benefit economically and in efficiency by retaining the services of a competent Supervisor of Projection. — PC, MO. Projectionists' Inspection Routine. The following schedule for inspections by projectionists is recommended: Inspect Daily: Exciter lamps, lamphouse reflectors, power line voltage (this depends on location; where voltage is well regulated inspections as infrequent as once a month may be adequate), projector fire shutters, projector lenses, smoothness of take-up action, tube readings (with builtin meters), and volume and quality of each loudspeaker unit. Inspect Weekly: fuses, motor-generator brushes and commutators, non-synch condition and turntable speed (or leave this to the service inspector) port safety shutter action, projector and soundhead gears, rectifier tube filaments, reserve of carbons, sound track alignments, spare parts suply, tube readings requiring portable test meter (or leave this to the service inspector). Inspect Monthly: backstage speaker connections, condition of power switch blades, condition of screen, flutter or wows in sound, lamphouse asbestos leads, projector and soundhead sprocket teeth, soundhead frequency response, amplifler frequency response, and sound system ground connections. — PC, MO. Projection Room Maintenance Projection Room Cleanliness. The projection room and its fittings should be on a continuous clean-up program, not given a "spring cleaning" once in a while. Sweeping and mopping the projection room floor, however, should be the responsibility of the janitors and not of the projectionists. Projectionists should clean the following items daily: lenses, lamphouse mirror or condenser, lamphouse interior, film compartments of projectors and soundheads. Weekly or oftener: projection and viewing port glass. Monthly: clear dust out of interior of rectifiers and amplifiers. Semi-annually: drain and change motorgenerator lubricant. — PC, MO. Where the projector mechanism is one that has an oil sump and automatic spray or splash system, lubricant should be drained and changed monthly. — PC, PO. Projection room walls and ceiling should be painted every two years. Projection room floor (unless covered with linoleum, which is not permitted everywhere) should be repainted as often as paint wears thin.— PC, MO. Safety Safety. In planning a new theatre or remodeling an old one, keep ramps and steps out of the path of patron traffic if at all possible. Ask local fire authorities for their safety suggestions and adhere to them — this reduces not only the chance of accidents but also the chance that the manager can ever be accused of negligence. Flame-treat all curtains and draperies, repeat the treatment as often as necessary (usually yearly). Hold regular and repeated fire and panic drills for all employes. For the cigarette hazard: train employes to watch for lit stubs at all times and particularly on closing; flame-treat all flammable materials in sections where smoking is permitted; provide enough sand urns, extinguishers, and ash trays with mats under them. For the popcorn oil and candy wrapping hazard: train the staff to pick up packages and bags as fast as dropped; provide plenty of waste cans for such trash; store only a minimum of popcorn or candy outside a fireproof storeroom; train the operator of the popcorn machine carefully. — TC, MO. Protect Audience Keep the auditorium as bright as safety requires. (PC and TC, MO). If that is too bright for the picture, put in more powerful projection lamps. — PC, MO. Inspect chairs daily; repair all faults promptly. Carry the fullest and broadest possible liability insurance. Provide adequate emergency lighting (not necessarily consisting of full normal lighting) with duplicate controls; locate one set of emergency light controls in the projection room.— TC, MO. Provide the theatre with a first-aid kit. (TC, UO). Train all employes in its use. — TC, PO. Projection Safety. Adhere to Underwriters Tecommendations; they have proved in practice to be adequate and not excessive. (PC, MO). Scrupulously foUov/ all officially required safety measures regardless of what the competition may do — these m.easures are not so expensive as to justify taking risks with human lives. —PC, UO. Severely discipline or dismiss any projectionist who violates a safety rule. There is no labor union local in the I. A. that will ever object. — PC, UO. Protect Employes All lamphouses must be vented to outdoors; arc lamp fumes are dangerous to health. (PC, UO). Ventilating provisions that will automatically exhaust smoke and fumes out-of-doors in case of projection room fire are indispensable. Adequate projection room ventilation is essential for prolonging the life of projection and sound equipment by avoiding undesirable temperature rise in operation (PC, MO) and it is also essential to the health of the projectionists. (PC, UO). In air conditioned theatres, conditioned air should be supplied to the projection suite through suitable ducts and whatever safety shutters, etc., in the ducts local regulations may require — not from the auditorium. Air from the projection room, however, should not be re-circulated back to the conditioning system, but vented out-of-doors.— PC, MO. In non-conditioned theatres, air should be supplied to the projection suite from outdoors; and the projection rooms supplied with radiators or other heating facilities for winter months. — PC, MO.