Secrets of projecting - in pictures

In the following photos I'd like to show you some moments of projecting movies. The man in the blue coat is my father.

Films arrive in cinemas in metal boxes like that in the pictures. One film consists of 5-9 reels. Those yellow-red plastic boxes are two reels.

The reels arrive from the previous cinema as they were taken out of the projectors - with the end ahead. Thus, before the show, the projectionist must rewind all reels by hand.

Rewinding is a good chance for the projectionist to check the film. He checks if there is a wrong join, if there are all the metal strips controlling the changing device at the end of the reels, if the film is in the condition determined by the storehouse, etc. If he finds some problems he fixes them. If the condition of the film differs from that given by the storehouse he has to make a record. This proves that he discovered the problem before the show and the problem wasn't caused by him.

The rewound, checked reels are kept in such numbered boxes.

It's time to begin threading the film. You can see only the film-forwarding part of the projector but not the huge lamphouse. The reel to thread is already in the upper barrel.

The film must be led through a number of cogwheels and rollers on an appropriate way. In the left side you can see one half of the lamphouse (that big gray box).

You can see the changing device in this picture. It is that little box in the lower left corner with the red buttons. (A film consists of 5-9 reels. There are two projectors in the engine room of a cinema. One reel is in the first projectors, one reel is in the second, and so on. When the first reel is over the first projector must stop and the second must start in the same time. To do this manually the projectionist must wait for the end of the reel and when he sees that it's almost over he must make the change. The changing device does it automatically. There are two metal strips on the end of all reels. A detector detects them. When the first strip reaches the detector the device gives a sound signal to draw the projectionist's attention. When the second strip reaches the detector the device automatically starts the second projector. Now both projectors run but still the first gives the picture and the sound. After a while -- the lamp needs a few seconds to warm up -- the picture and the sound is changing to the second projector. The first projector stops automatically when the reel runs out from it.) You can see a switchboard behind me on the wall. The projectionist can ring the bell, draw the curtains apart and together and switch on and off the lights with the buttons on this switchboard. The projectionist can hear the sound of the movie from that brown box on the wall. You can see two dark windows as well. Through the first the picture goes from the projector to the screen. Through the second the projectionist can see the film.

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