-
https://projectionproject.warwick.ac.uk/files/original/b94f09f29396594e7d6a936b15e6af0c.mp3
c179cf7c6f7a1ca3e59a91e26a777397
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Projectionists' Memories
Subject
The topic of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Description
An account of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
University of Warwick
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recordings
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Richard Wallace
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Neil Thompson
Date of Interview
2014-11-11
Location
The location of the interview
Gateshead
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
When you used to get the films in at the Odeon there, again used to come and in the transit cases. Five, six, or seven or eight parts. And used to make them up onto a split spool, again on a bobbin. And then you used to put the 6,000 foot of film horizontally onto a little table, and from the table you used to run it onto the platter. But, of course, what you used to do was you’d put a leader on the beginning and you’d put the ads and trailers on ‘cause that's how we used to work. Used to put the ads and trailers on there and then join the feature to it you see. And you put all the parts on, but you put them all head out because you’re working from the middle not from the end. And you ran all your show onto a ring and once it was all on the platter you used to pull the ring out in the middle, and in the middle of the plate you had a feeder unit. Some people used to call it the brain, I don’t know why, but we just called it, well it’s the platter feed unit. You always started from the middle and as you pulled it you went over the rollers on the wall to the machine at the other end. And you pulled it until you got to the countdown leader, say about maybe nine, you laced it up and then you brought it back onto another plate where there was another ring and the ring used to take up the film. Once the machine started, this plate used to revolve. As I say, it started off, ‘cause it was all interlinked with the projector. As soon as you started that the feed would start and the take-up would start. And the take-up was controlled by an arm, so if the arm was right across like that the take up would be quick but as the film increased the arm would go towards the column, it would go slower because, of course, there’s more film being taken up. And that's how it worked, it was quite an ingenious piece of equipment. When you saw it working, when people used to come in and see it… I remember when we opened people used to come in and they were just astounded. They said, “What’s this? ‘Cause we thought you was still working on reels.” I said, “Oh no, this is what you call the non-rewind system.” Because once the film had taken up on the bottom… say you started on the top, and it was feeding from the top of the projector onto the bottom, taking up on the bottom, once it finished on the bottom you just pulled the ring out again and you started again so you didn’t have to rewind it. You see all that had gone. But, of course, what you had to do as well because you’d made it up on the plate with your ads and your trailers and your feature all together, when you’d finished with it, you went from that plate onto the make-up table then used to put the film onto a bobbin and you had markings to where each part was. Used to mark it so you knew how far you had to go, and then once you got that you snapped it and put the leader back on and put that back in the tin. That's how it worked. And you had to do that on a Thursday night when you’d finished so there was two of you on a Thursday night. Say, the guy would be upstairs doing that one, while you would be downstairs doing this one. And sometimes you’d be there to like one o’clock in the morning plating off these films because they’d be picked up in the morning, they’d be picking up, say, it might have had to go to another cinema. Or there were times when we had to move the film off which, again, was another headache. I mean at first we had to put them on a big board which was about, you know, five foot square. Used to have to pull the ring out so far, but not right out, so it would slide onto a board and then two of you would have to carry it to another screen. But it was quite heavy ‘cause you had about 12,000 feet of film in your hand and you had to carry it somewhere. And, of course, the rings were made of like a reinforced plastic but that doesn’t mean to say that they wouldn’t break, because when you got hold of it and you let it go you could feel it sagging. ‘Cause there was once or twice I got hold of a one, after I’d carried it and, you know, put it against the wall and I could see the ring, instead of it being sort of like round it would be starting to go oval shape and I’d be thinking, “That’s gonna break!” So you better get it off and get it on a board because if it broke and the film went like that, that was it. You were in trouble, you were in ghastly trouble.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
One-to-one interview
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
PT00H03M57S
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
320kbps
Cinema
Odeon Newcastle upon Tyne, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
Empire Cinema, The Gate, Newgate Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Using platters (Neil Thompson)
Subject
The topic of the resource
platters
Description
An account of the resource
Projectionist Neil Thompson describes the process of using a platter (cake stand) projection system.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Interview with Neil Thompson
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
The University of Warwick
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-12-29
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Richard Wallace
Neil Thompson
Relation
A related resource
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/3307
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/25181
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recording
interview extract
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1980-2014
POINT(-179436.52103875 7356795.9379675)|16|-179284.2441465|7356537.4591398|osm
Odeon Newcastle upon Tyne, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
POINT(-180105.94220043567 7356484.908683271)|15|-179782.2791588|7355922.5665422|osm
Empire Cinema, The Gate, Newgate Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
Neil Thompson
North-East England
preparing the print
things going wrong
working conditions
-
https://projectionproject.warwick.ac.uk/files/original/4d0d0d306d4ad4b39307d2975364cc57.mp3
19b005a6ef8cac8e36ebba176724b48b
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Projectionists' Memories
Subject
The topic of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Description
An account of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
University of Warwick
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recordings
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Richard Wallace
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Neil Thompson
Date of Interview
2014-11-11
Location
The location of the interview
Gateshead
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
And you had to keep an eye on the speakers on the stage, make sure they were still working all right. And every now and again we used to put a test film on from what I can remember. Somebody used to go in the auditorium while you put this test film on just to make sure that each speaker was working. So they knew that the ambiance was working from this side. And they’d say, “Right, we’ll try the left speaker. Yes, the left speaker is working. The centre speakers’ working. The right speaker is working”. And then you had an outside speaker which was like on the stage. So, again, we used to do that. Then you had to go up to the amplifiers which are in the boxes as well, you had to keep an eye on those ‘cause you had a standby amplifier which I had to check, put that in, make sure that's okay in case it went off during a show. So it was, it was interesting. I mean for a lad 16 year old coming from school and going and seeing all that, I mean it was just horrendous at first, my god. But I was so interested I just went in, I just went in head first.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
One-to-one interview
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
PT00H00M51S
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
320kbps
Cinema
Queens Theatre, Northumberland Place, Newcastle upon Tyne
Odeon Newcastle upon Tyne, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Setting up sound (Neil Thompson)
Subject
The topic of the resource
setting up sound
Description
An account of the resource
Projectionist Neil Thompson describes the process of setting up and checking cinema sound systems.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Interview with Neil Thompson
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
The University of Warwick
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-12-29
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Richard Wallace
Neil Thompson
Relation
A related resource
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/26353
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/3307
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recording
interview extract
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1974-1990
POINT(-179195.26666826 7357428.1856528)|16|-179058.5160474|7357492.1755381|osm
Queens Theatre, Northumberland Place, Newcastle upon Tyne
POINT(-179436.52103877 7356806.6869249)|16|-179310.5193750|7356523.1271973|osm
Odeon Newcastle upon Tyne, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
1970s
1980s
1990s
Neil Thompson
North-East England
presentation and showmanship
sound and music
-
https://projectionproject.warwick.ac.uk/files/original/8a9875da41e0f4934cac673d997e0e17.mp3
45fe00183c3ff0070a83da20520fe39c
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Projectionists' Memories
Subject
The topic of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Description
An account of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
University of Warwick
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recordings
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Richard Wallace
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Neil Thompson
Date of Interview
2014-11-11
Location
The location of the interview
Gateshead
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
And I think presentation was the order of the day. Presentation and showmanship for me was spot on. And that’s what I was taught. How to put the film on properly. I've been to so many cinemas where they’ve put a film on, but what they’ve done is they haven’t opened the curtains at the right time, they haven’t took the lights down at the right time. Now that to me is bad presentation. ‘cause I mean when you start a machine you’ve got, I don’t know if you are aware, you’ve got a countdown leader. We used to start on number eight and what we used to do was used to start the machine and then take the lights down and then open the curtains because it took a long time for the curtains to open because they were very slow. So in actual fact when the film went on, the curtains would be, say, two thirds of the way open. So your picture went on the screen and not on top of them, you know? And I think that’s to do with presentation. And keeping an eye on the sound levels, that's another thing you had to be careful of. You had to go downstairs into the stalls and think, “Right, well can I hear that?” You had to be able to hear every whisper. Doesn’t matter whether the music’s loud, or the effects is loud, that’s deliberate. But you had to be able to hear every word. You’ve got effects banging and music that you need to hear, and I think music needs to be heard not, not fantastically loud but it needs to be heard in order to make an impression. There has to be plenty of bass there to make you think, “God, listen to that, that’s fantastic”. You see that's what presentation is all about. When a curtain opens and you see a picture come on the screen, I used to look right in the corners to make sure there’s no fuzzy lines. Because obviously the aperture plate had to be cut exactly right. Because if the aperture plate inside the projector was over cut you got the picture going onto the masking. Again, bad presentation.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
One-to-one interview
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
PT00H01M45S
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
320kbps
Cinema
Queens Theatre, Northumberland Place, Newcastle upon Tyne
Odeon Newcastle upon Tyne, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Presentation (Neil Thompson)
Subject
The topic of the resource
presentation
Description
An account of the resource
Projectionist Neil Thompson outlines the process of starting the film, checking sound levels and checking the aperture plates as part of good presentation.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Interview with Neil Thompson
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
The University of Warwick
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-12-29
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Richard Wallace
Neil Thompson
Relation
A related resource
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/26353
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/3307
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recording
interview extract
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1974-1990
POINT(-179195.26666828 7357426.543451)|16|-179069.2650045|7357540.6951361|osm
Queens Theatre, Northumberland Place, Newcastle upon Tyne
POINT(-179438.90969589 7356798.3266248)|16|-179240.0539895|7356569.7060113|osm
Odeon Newcastle upon Tyne, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
1970s
1980s
1990s
Neil Thompson
North-East England
presentation and showmanship
running the show
sound and music
-
https://projectionproject.warwick.ac.uk/files/original/e63dac39bcfdef756e08fb6b58edc788.mp3
678382b61e5d6fd52ec3473043d16800
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Projectionists' Memories
Subject
The topic of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Description
An account of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
University of Warwick
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recordings
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Richard Wallace
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Neil Thompson
Date of Interview
2014-11-11
Location
The location of the interview
Gateshead
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
We started using polyester, and polyester was sometimes problematic because, as I say, it had static problems. And sometimes you would see the film feeding through the feeder unit, and maybe instead of taking one loop out, it would take two or three and it would go round like that and you’d think, “Ah god! That’s gonna pull or snap or do something.” We used to have a solution of stuff, we used to work with, we used to use at the Gate called Film Guard I think it was called. And we used to put this Film Guard on, when we knew it was a polyester copy we used to cover it with this Film Guard and it used to keep the static down but it didn’t eliminate it. But used to reduce it by about 30%. And what they fitted, once we started using static… the polyester prints, there was a device that fitted to the platters. And what happened was if it jammed up due to the polyester, if it sort of tightened itself around the feeder unit, there used to be a cut off system. You see it wouldn’t snap. Polyester was very hard to snap. It would pull all your rollers off and cause a lot of damage. And we used to use one of these, it was an anti-tension unit, and you had to lace the film through this tension unit, it was just a roller. And if the film pulled the roller went down and shut everything off. ‘Cause if it didn’t shut everything off, if you’re using polyester and it jams somewhere and it pulls, it would pull all your rollers right off the wall. It would, it would cause an awful lot of damage. It could be a headache sometimes. If you saw a problem starting like that, you’d say to whoever came on at four o’clock or five you’d say, “Oh, keep an eye on screen six because, you know, it’s polyester and I nearly had a snap with it or nearly had a stop. Because it pulled too much film out at the same time. It wrapped itself round, you know.” And of course, with polyester as well when you lifted it off you would get a crack on your hands because it was static. So you’d be pulling it off and your hand would touch the metal plate and boom! You know.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
One-to-one interview
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
PT00H01M59S
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
320kbps
Cinema
Odeon Newcastle upon Tyne, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
Empire Cinema, The Gate, Newgate Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Polyester film (Neil Thompson)
Subject
The topic of the resource
polyester film
Description
An account of the resource
Projectionist Neil Thompson describes the characteristics of polyester film, including its static properties, the difficultiy tearing it and the problems that these caused.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Interview with Neil Thompson
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
The University of Warwick
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-12-29
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Richard Wallace
Neil Thompson
Relation
A related resource
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/3307
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/25181
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recording
interview extract
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1990-2014
POINT(-179434.13238159 7356799.5209532)|16|-179284.2441465|7356508.7952542|osm
Odeon Newcastle upon Tyne, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
POINT(-180101.1648861764 7356477.74271167)|15|-179796.6111016|7355889.1253420|osm
Empire Cinema, The Gate, Newgate Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
1990s
2000s
2010s
Neil Thompson
North-East England
things going wrong
-
https://projectionproject.warwick.ac.uk/files/original/8c6d4e9a7f9cd91cb694f461f98032d2.mp3
07c91193a2d7237d3bacb022c5bd7528
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Projectionists' Memories
Subject
The topic of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Description
An account of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
University of Warwick
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recordings
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Richard Wallace
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Neil Thompson
Date of Interview
2014-11-11
Location
The location of the interview
Gateshead
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
Obviously making up a show you had to make sure that each part was like, you know, in line, say, one, two, three and four, five and six. Because if you mixed them up, you know, which it has been done, I didn’t do it, but I have known where it’s gone to one, two, four and then three, five and six, you know, it has happened, but it didn’t happen at The Queen’s. Again it was down to you to make sure that these parts were made in the right order. ‘Cause what you used to have to do when you actually made a film up, if it was a brand new film the leaders were attached to the parts, what you had to do is when you cut the leaders off to join up each part, so you didn’t see anything in between, you used to leave a frame of film on the end so you had the leader and a frame of film so you knew when you put them back in the tins that that was the right leader, it would match up. Some projectionists used to just cut the blinking thing off and they never left a frame so you didn’t know whether that was the leader that went… “I mean if that's part four, is that part four because there's nothing to match it?” And a lot of projectionists used to just put the part in the tin and wrap anything round. And, of course, the next person to get it didn’t know where he was because he thought, “Hang on, is that part four or is it not?” Because there was nothing to identify that leader with that. And before you knew where you were you put the show on and you’d get a call from somebody saying, “Well hang on, that part there, there's a guy been killed and he’s shown up again in the film so there’s obviously something not right.”
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
One-to-one interview
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
PT00H01M33S
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
320kbps
Cinema
Queens Theatre, Northumberland Place, Newcastle upon Tyne
Odeon Newcastle upon Tyne, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
Empire Cinema, The Gate, Newgate Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Making-up films (Neil Thompson)
Subject
The topic of the resource
making-up films
Description
An account of the resource
Projectionist Neil Thompson descibes the process of making-up film prints, including the projectionist's trick of leaving one frame on the leader to help reassembly.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Interview with Neil Thompson
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
The University of Warwick
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-12-29
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Richard Wallace
Neil Thompson
Relation
A related resource
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/26353
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/3307
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/25181
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recording
interview extract
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1974-2014
POINT(-179195.26666825 7357427.7377796)|16|-179075.2366473|7357562.1930503|osm
Queens Theatre, Northumberland Place, Newcastle upon Tyne
POINT(-179432.93805304 7356805.4925963)|17|-179329.6286320|7356674.8069252|osm
Odeon Newcastle upon Tyne, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
POINT(-180105.94220043 7356472.9653974)|15|-179877.8254442|7355934.5098276|osm
Empire Cinema, The Gate, Newgate Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
Neil Thompson
North-East England
preparing the print
presentation and showmanship
-
https://projectionproject.warwick.ac.uk/files/original/00105cf05986bcb8e57a5044ebd41f32.mp3
63c59e29593e7937184fbeb69572f570
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Projectionists' Memories
Subject
The topic of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Description
An account of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
University of Warwick
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recordings
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Richard Wallace
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Neil Thompson
Date of Interview
2014-11-11
Location
The location of the interview
Gateshead
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
And it makes such a noise, I mean when you start the machine up and you can hear it rat-tat-tat-tat. I don’t know how the people outside in the auditorium didn’t hear it. It made you more aware of what you were doing, when you had hold of all this massive film, and you’re showing it on a massive screen and you had a full audience, that's what drives you on, that’s what the adrenalin is all about. You think, “I'm in charge of this. This film’s cost so many millions to make and it’s me that’s in charge of showing it. I’m the last link in the chain. Which is what I always think a projectionist is. ‘Cause you are the last link in the chain from a story to a screenplay, then a crew’s got ready and then they get the actors and it’s filmed, it’s processed, then it’s sent to cinemas for people to see. You’re the last link in the chain so it’s up to you to present it properly.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
One-to-one interview
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
PT00H00M51S
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
320kbps
Cinema
Queens Theatre, Northumberland Place, Newcastle upon Tyne
Odeon Newcastle upon Tyne, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
Empire Cinema, The Gate, Newgate Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Being the last link in the chain (Neil Thompson)
Subject
The topic of the resource
projectionist as last link in the chain
Description
An account of the resource
Projectionist Neil Thompson outlines his thoughts as being the last link in the creative process.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Interview with Neil Thompson
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
The University of Warwick
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-12-29
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Richard Wallace
Neil Thompson
Relation
A related resource
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/26353
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/3307
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/25181
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recording
interview extract
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1974-2014
POINT(-179194.07233968 7357426.5434509)|16|-179062.0990331|7357571.7476788|osm
Queens Theatre, Northumberland Place, Newcastle upon Tyne
POINT(-179430.54939591 7356797.1322965)|17|-179320.0740035|7356633.0054255|osm
Odeon Newcastle upon Tyne, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
POINT(-180105.94220044 7356480.1313687)|15|-179815.7203587|7355896.2913133|osm
Empire Cinema, The Gate, Newgate Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
Neil Thompson
North-East England
presentation and showmanship
-
https://projectionproject.warwick.ac.uk/files/original/11a5c765029a59694924ad29329fce8c.mp3
6086927670a3da1d14a65865b6ed64eb
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Projectionists' Memories
Subject
The topic of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Description
An account of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
University of Warwick
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recordings
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Richard Wallace
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Neil Thompson
Date of Interview
2014-11-11
Location
The location of the interview
Gateshead
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
We used to have to put pulses on because everything was automated. What it did was, when the pulse went through the projector and it, you had the pick off, well we used to call it the proximity detector, that was the name for it, and when the pulse went by it just connected to a circuit. You used to have two metal drums on this Cinemation circuit and on the drums there was holes in them and you used to have pegs in the holes. And these holes corresponded to these switches. And then these switches used to correspond with your masking, the lights, the curtains. And when that pulse went through it used to advance the drum, once like that. And when the drums advanced, the peg used to correspond with the switch. And of course the switch used to do whatever it had to do you see. When the leader started going through the machine, the first pulse would strike your lamp so the first pulse would go through on the leader and you’d hear the lamp strike. And then next the curtains would open and the lights would go down, and it would switch over to film from your non-sync. Your non-sync by the way is the CD that’s playing. It’s short for non-synchronous. It did everything for you. At the end of the show used to put a pulse on about 30 feet before the end and when that went through it closed the curtains and everything for you. It brought the lights up and it stopped the projector at the end, and, of course, your leader was just hanging. So all you had to do was to switch it on again and make sure it went back onto the bottom plate, clean the machine and then take the ring out and then start and lace it up ready for the next one. So that was still interesting enough ‘cause as I say, you had to be there, you had to do everything. It was up to you to make sure the thing went on. But even though it was automated you still had to keep an eye on it, because with the pulses going through it would get dirty, they might miss when they go through, the pickup might just miss it, and the lamp probably wouldn’t strike. And you would hear it start and you think, “I never heard that lamp strike.” Even when you had automation you still had to keep an eye on these things.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
One-to-one interview
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
PT00H02M58S
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
320kbps
Cinema
Odeon Newcastle upon Tyne, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
Empire Cinema, The Gate, Newgate Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Automation (Neil Thompson)
Subject
The topic of the resource
automated projection
Description
An account of the resource
Projectionist Neil Thompson describes the process of using automated projection systems from the 1980s onwards.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Interview with Neil Thompson
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
The University of Warwick
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-12-29
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Richard Wallace
Neil Thompson
Relation
A related resource
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/3307
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/25181
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recording
interview extract
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1980-2014
POINT(-179423.68200666 7356797.8880823)|17|-179366.0556533|7356637.5961257|osm
Odeon Newcastle upon Tyne, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
POINT(-180120.27414325284 7356472.218942034)|15|-179770.3358732|7355876.4356010|osm
Empire Cinema, The Gate, Newgate Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
1980s
1990s
2000s
automation
Neil Thompson
North-East England
presentation and showmanship
-
https://projectionproject.warwick.ac.uk/files/original/f2c51133164846d05bcb15db56d8ae2b.mp3
9cdb8aa95c9a6994b9ea236bd979a99f
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Projectionists' Memories
Subject
The topic of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Description
An account of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
University of Warwick
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recordings
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Richard Wallace
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Phil Fawke
Date of Interview
2014-12-04
Location
The location of the interview
Birmingham
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
Rewinding the film you had grooves in your fingers winding the film. You know, it did really hurt you ‘cause you used to have to hold the film to check it all when you were making it up to make sure that the joints were all… And you didn’t have a machine to make a joint on, you used to have to scrape it with a razor blade either side and stick it down yourself. Yeah, all cement joints, yeah. They were all cement joins then. And you, if, you, you use to have to check them all, which, sometimes you didn’t check them because there was too many of them. You didn’t have time to check them. I mean, I’ve known a film come late and you’re making it up as you’re showing it. So you can't… Hadn’t much time to check it. You’re showing it on one and you’re making the next one up to put on, and then making the next up ‘cause the film’s arrived late.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
One-to-one interview
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
PT00H01M00S
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
320kbps
Cinema
Regal/Vue, Portland Place, Leamington Spa
Regal, 511 Foleshill Road, Coventry
King's Norton Cinema, The Green, King's Norton, Birmingham
mac (Midlands Arts Centre), Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Checking joins and making-up prints (Phil Fawke)
Subject
The topic of the resource
making-up prints
checking
Description
An account of the resource
Projectionist and cinema manager Phil Fawke describes the process of repairing film damage.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Interview with Phil Fawke
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
The University of Warwick
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-12-09
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Richard Wallace
Phil Fawke
Relation
A related resource
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/24797
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/48440
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/5886
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/24157
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recording
interview extract
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1940-2006
POINT(-171138.923321 6852817.4428107)|14|-171130.56302102|6853150.8470946|osm
Regal/Vue, Portland Place, Leamington Spa
POINT(-166869.79585898932 6878013.502113101)|14|-166934.8867659|6876681.3219039|osm
Regal, 511 Foleshill Road, Coventry
POINT(-214913.15536881 6874076.3513393)|13|-214672.1995805|6875494.3645837|osm
King's Norton Cinema, The Green, King's Norton, Birmingham
POINT(-211926.4382054236 6882453.511866969)|15|-212165.3039188|6882813.1913794|osm
mac (Midlands Arts Centre), Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
film damage
Phil Fawke
preparing the print
presentation and showmanship
working conditions
-
https://projectionproject.warwick.ac.uk/files/original/a3971b67f3156275fdb6766990faf5f1.mp3
5b7975c4bb8bb27dfe1bce65fafd94d7
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Projectionists' Memories
Subject
The topic of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Description
An account of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
University of Warwick
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recordings
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Richard Wallace
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Phil Fawke
Date of Interview
2014-12-04
Location
The location of the interview
Birmingham
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
I knew it was coming. It had been experimented on two or three times, but they hadn’t got it completely perfect though. But when it was perfected it did come rather quick. I must agree and the changeovers in the cinemas was very, very quick really when you think of it. I don’t think there's a multiplex in Birmingham now that could show a 35mm print. About 90% is digital now. Put a lot of people out of work really. When you think that when I started there was five projectionists for one theatre, and then there used to be three projectionists for a multiplex of about 12 screens. And now it’s one technician for a multiplex. It’s changed, hasn’t it? I used to be scared. I was really scared stiff at the MAC when I was left with the digital. I think because a lot of the controls are very small and you’re used to, sort of, dealing with a big thing and then you’re suddenly dealing with a panel this big that controls everything. I think it just sort of distracts you in a way when you’ve been for years and years looking at all this big equipment and big knobs and all that sort of thing. I got through it all right but it used to scare me a bit, I must agree, for fear I’d press the wrong buttons or something. And I never. In all fairness I thought digital, load of bunkum, you know. I thought that the quality would never, ever be as good. But I must agree, I've seen it and I've got to agree it’s not just good, it’s better. Plus the fact you don’t get all the scratches. I mean some of the Sunday stuff we used to get there was so many joints in. Well it was an insult to charge people to watch it really. Scratched and all joints and flashing all over the place. Really, really terrible.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
One-to-one interview
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
PT00H02M30S
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
320kbps
Cinema
mac (Midlands Arts Centre), Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Arrival of digital (Phil Fawke)
Subject
The topic of the resource
digital projection
Description
An account of the resource
Projectionist and cinema manager Phil Fawke describes his experience of the arrival of digital projection, the changes in the number of projectionists over time, getting used to using the digital projector and the benefits of digital on picture quality.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Interview with Phil Fawke
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
The University of Warwick
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-12-09
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Richard Wallace
Phil Fawke
Relation
A related resource
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/24157
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recording
interview extract
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
2000-
POINT(-211921.66089113 6882433.6561547)|14|-211549.0303783|6883772.6850919|osm
mac (Midlands Arts Centre), Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
digital projection
film damage
Midlands
multiplexes
Phil Fawke
presentation and showmanship
team relations
working conditions
-
https://projectionproject.warwick.ac.uk/files/original/de8b3a1514d5ab8fbcf16214289d3a3c.mp3
5a18a7308469ce74f46082d21439bf05
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Projectionists' Memories
Subject
The topic of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Description
An account of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
University of Warwick
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recordings
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Richard Wallace
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Mick Corfield
Date of Interview
2015-08-03
Location
The location of the interview
Coventry
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
Projectionists are a strange breed. I mean, when I was a relief projectionist if the projectionist wanted a genuine day off I would be treated like royalty. There would be tea, coffee, even sandwiches being left, magazines of various descriptions to help me through my 14 hour day, the TV plugged in ready. Absolutely, you know what I mean, seriously looked after. If the projectionist wanted to get time and a half and do it himself, I have been to more than a few cinemas where the switch room has been hidden by fire extinguishers so I couldn’t turn any of the power on, so then they’d have to ring this fella and then I would look an idiot. Sour milk. And then when you delve into it a little bit more you find out that actually it was his seventh day and he was on double time or whatever. It’s not my choice to do this, you know, they’ve said, “You’ve got to have a day off.” If you were wanted, perfect, if you were not wanted every single thing conceivable that could go wrong would go wrong. And you find that hard to believe but I’m afraid that’s human nature. I’ve been in many a time and films have shut down and thought, “I know what that is.” I’ve know many a time when films won’t start and I know what that is, because a trip’s been moved out. Projectionists aren’t as sweet and everything wasn’t as wonderful as people make out.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
One-to-one interview
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
PT00H01M14S
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
320kbps
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Working as a relief projectionist (Mick Corfield)
Subject
The topic of the resource
working at other cinemas
working with other projectionists
Description
An account of the resource
Projectionist and BECTU representative Mick Corfield describes his experiences working as a relief projectionist in a variety of cinemas around the UK.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Interview with Mick Corfield
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
The University of Warwick
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-12-08
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Richard Wallace
Mick Corfield
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recording
interview extract
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1989-
1990s
2000s
Mick Corfield
team relations
things going wrong
working conditions
-
https://projectionproject.warwick.ac.uk/files/original/28271c0a0edf899cd600754a25d0d7f0.mp3
37d68d2882dc6e96f54f447a03c34917
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Projectionists' Memories
Subject
The topic of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Description
An account of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
University of Warwick
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recordings
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Richard Wallace
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Mick Corfield
Date of Interview
2015-08-03
Location
The location of the interview
Coventry
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
What we used to do, we used to open... We used to go... And I’ll talk you through it ‘cos it always makes me laugh. And Jack Spittle who was the senior projectionist at the time, the old projectionist. So we used to laugh because we used to go through this routine, we used to go... It used to be like being on a ship. It used to be “House lights to half, Mr Corfield.” “House lights to half, Mr Spittle.” And we used to take... We had little dials, knobs, that we used to take down, so we used to take the house lights to half. “Projector turn on.” “Projector turn on.” So we’d turn the projector on. But then with the take up of the film, because the film would sag, because the take up of the 12,000 foot spool wouldn’t take up quick enough. So while you were doing with one hand various things you’d have to hold the film until it took up. If you didn’t it’d snap the film. So the film would still carry on going through the gate but end up on the floor and then you’d have to stop it really quickly, and when you’d try and stop it before you obviously opened the douser, which is obviously what lets the light on the screen, and then you’d see the film. So obviously we’d open the douser, open the shutter and away we’d go, whilst taking the house lights to half. So you’d got your house lights to half, you’d run your projector, you take your spotlights down, which’d be at the front of the screen which’d be shining on the tabs, the curtains, the tabs. So then obviously what you do then is you press button, button, button, dial, dial, dial, and open it all lovely, so it’d open up with the Cannon cinemas ident as all the lights would drop down. This of course making sure the film hasn’t broken and also bringing the sound off so we hadn’t got a bang, ‘cause when a join goes through it bangs. Fading the sound down and fading the sound up. So of course once you’ve done your adverts you have to do the same thing again for your trailers, you’d bring the tabs down. You wouldn’t put your house lights up but you’d bring the tabs down and you’d bring your stage lights up to half, so you’d do that. So it’s called presentation. So we’d do all that and then we’d stop for an ice-cream sale and we’d put a spotlight on and do the ice-cream sale and then we’d start the main feature and away we’d go. So that’s what we’d do. And then we’d have to be down there five minutes from the end. We’d go down periodically and check, we’d stay there and make sure it was in the right ratio, any hair in the gate, anything like that, and you’d have to try and remove it because you couldn’t stop the show – all these little tricks that you learnt over the time.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
One-to-one interview
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
PT00H01M53S
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
320kbps
Cinema
Reel Cinema, 12 Hagley Road West, Birmingham
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Starting a performance (Mick Corfield)
Subject
The topic of the resource
team relations
starting a film screening
Description
An account of the resource
Projectionist and BECTU representative Mick Corfield describes the process of starting a performance.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Interview with Mick Corfield
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
The University of Warwick
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-12-08
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Richard Wallace
Mick Corfield
Relation
A related resource
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/6934
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recording
interview extract
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1989-1992
POINT(-224249.52035759 6884220.4276746)|12|-218932.3695782|6886417.4883802|osm
Reel Cinema, 12 Hagley Road West, Birmingham
1990s
2000s
audiences
Mick Corfield
Midlands
preparing the print
presentation and showmanship
running the show
sound and music
team relations
training
-
https://projectionproject.warwick.ac.uk/files/original/e33c8f8ce55f6d1205f8f09730cc5d1a.mp3
b38a6048fc8fb013673a409df1cd06d6
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Projectionists' Memories
Subject
The topic of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Description
An account of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
University of Warwick
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recordings
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Richard Wallace
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Mick Corfield
Date of Interview
2015-08-03
Location
The location of the interview
Coventry
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
I started in October 1989 as the new boy, and she started on November 1st 1989, so she was the new girl. I remember it well. She wore a brown button-up Cannon overall which wasn’t very fetching, and I walked down to screen number four which was a long, long corridor and I saw her at the bottom of the corridor, and she was new and she said, “Can I have your ticket, please?” And I said, “Oh I’m the projectionist.” And she went, “Oh I’m sorry.” And I said, “Oh don’t worry, I’m new here as well, and up there now making mistakes, trust me.” You know what I mean? The curtains would open and close at the wrong time, lights’d go on, the dowser would be…the film’d be running, everybody heard the sound, there’d be no picture. ‘cause I’d only been doing it for a month. And I have to say, and I don’t mind saying it, I’ll be perfectly honest with you, that I looked in her eyes and I thought that she was the woman for me. And she was.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
One-to-one interview
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
PT00H00M59S
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
320kbps
Cinema
Reel Cinema, 12 Hagley Road West, Birmingham
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Meeting wife (Mick Corfield)
Subject
The topic of the resource
meeting wife
Description
An account of the resource
Projectionist and BECTU representative Mick Corfield describes how he met his wife when they were both working in the same cinema.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Interview with Mick Corfield
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
The University of Warwick
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-12-08
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Richard Wallace
Mick Corfield
Relation
A related resource
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/6934
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recording
interview extract
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1989
POINT(-224254.29767179 6884225.8954601)|12|-219264.3929197|6887222.6524481|osm
Reel Cinema, 12 Hagley Road West, Birmingham
1990s
2000s
Mick Corfield
team relations
-
https://projectionproject.warwick.ac.uk/files/original/101de7d253ea860fc0f4246c05d9276a.mp3
2b845f463de5ddeafca0c6ec1f191944
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Projectionists' Memories
Subject
The topic of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Description
An account of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
University of Warwick
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recordings
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Richard Wallace
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Mick Corfield
Date of Interview
2015-08-03
Location
The location of the interview
Coventry
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
The American idea was called floating screens. You have what’s called variable masking and that’s masking that comes into the side or can be lowered and it crops your picture. But what they wanted to do, they wanted to have a wow factor, so when you’d walk in you’d see a wall to wall screen. But the only problem with that is there’s no mechanism to put tabs there, or masking. Tabs are curtains, festoons are the ones that gather up and go up into the ceiling, tabs are the ones that swish along at the side. But there’s no mechanism, you see, because obviously if you’re going wall to wall there’s nowhere to put these things. So there’s your presentation for starters, ‘cause you’d go in there and you’d just start “bang” on the screen. You’ve got no tabs opening, you’ve got not the thrill of like the opening film saying ‘Your feature presentation’ and the lovely swish of the tabs opening and your house lights going down and your footlights going down and your sound building up. Well it’s not, it’s like you go in, the lights drop, “bang”, ‘cause no one’s there to mute the sound, as every join that goes through with a “tap,” “tap,” “bang,” “bang,” “bang,” “bang,” and you’re on screen, blurred away, sound hasn’t kicked in. All of a sudden you think, “Oh the sub hasn’t kicked in. Oh the sub’s kicked in now.” And of course if you’re doing twelve you can’t be – especially where there’s a few of them start at the same time – at every single one. So some would be out of rack where feet are at the top and heads at the bottom, some would be in the wrong ratio and then you’d have to... somebody would radio and you’d go along and then you’d rack it up or rack it down, like you might have a hair or the plate hasn’t gone over properly or stuff like that. So that’s the presentation side of it.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
One-to-one interview
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
PT00H01M20S
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
320kbps
Cinema
MGM/Virgin/UGC, Arcadian Centre, Birmingham
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Lack of presentation in multiplexes (Mick Corfield)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Americanisation of cinema
presentation
multiplexes
Description
An account of the resource
Projectionist and BECTU representative Mick Corfield describes the erosion of presentation in multiplex cinemas.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Interview with Mick Corfield
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
The University of Warwick
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-12-08
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Richard Wallace
Mick Corfield
Relation
A related resource
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/25915
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recording
interview extract
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1989-
POINT(-211085.63089438 6886397.5580222)|15|-211095.1855229|6886527.9264497|osm
MGM/Virgin/UGC, Arcadian Centre, Birmingham
1990s
2000s
Mick Corfield
multiplexes
presentation and showmanship
-
https://projectionproject.warwick.ac.uk/files/original/209f6740fdd6c981f6094b709de80083.mp3
40ae415d0595a23e8d26f039045949db
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Projectionists' Memories
Subject
The topic of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Description
An account of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
University of Warwick
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recordings
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Richard Wallace
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Mick Corfield
Date of Interview
2015-08-03
Location
The location of the interview
Coventry
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
I used to have to preview films. Bridget Jones’ Diary. So, now I’d never heard of it, didn’t think my wife had ever heard of it. So I went to work and they said, “Oh we’re gonna put Bridget Jones’ Diary on and the press are here.” So I sat and watched it and thought, “Haven’t a clue what that’s about,” you know, “It’s alright, I suppose, women’s film, no problem.” So I went home, like, and my missus said, “What you done today?” and I said, “Ooh not a great deal.” She went, “You’ve got Bridget Jones on tonight, haven’t ya?” I said, “Yes.” She went, “I wouldn’t mind seeing that, we haven’t been out to the cinema for a while, let’s go and see that.” So I said, “Oh okay then.” So we turned up on the night, watched Bridget Jones – packed audience – what a cracking film. Because a film is there to watch it with an audience ‘cause you cry, you laugh, you jump, you’re scared. Your 40 inch TVs, your surround sounds mean absolutely nothing, watching a well projected film on an opening night with a packed audience who are willing to enjoy it as well, you cannot get... And that’s why cinema will survive, because... that’s it, because that is the ultimate, that is. So we sat there and I laughed and it was an absolutely cracking film and I thought, “How bizarre is that, I saw it earlier on today and never rated it all, saw it with you laughing, joking, everybody laughing with it, everyone getting... you know, and thought.. Well that’s just… It just goes to show how strange cinema is, isn’t it?
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
One-to-one interview
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
PT00H01M05S
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
320kbps
Cinema
MGM/Virgin/UGC, Arcadian Centre, Birmingham
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Cinema as communal experience (Mick Corfield)
Subject
The topic of the resource
cinema-going
audiences
Description
An account of the resource
Projectionist and BECTU representative Mick Corfield outlines the difference made to the cinema-going experience by viewing a film with an audience.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Interview with Mick Corfield
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
The University of Warwick
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-12-08
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Richard Wallace
Mick Corfield
Relation
A related resource
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/25915
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recording
interview extract
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
2001
POINT(-211095.18552292 6886391.3997656)|15|-211147.7359799|6886437.1574788|osm
MGM/Virgin/UGC, Arcadian Centre, Birmingham
1990s
2000s
audiences
Mick Corfield
Midlands
preparing the print
-
https://projectionproject.warwick.ac.uk/files/original/a985ee6af91404a4f5263f625670e206.mp3
be95233450c3a07f67d11036ef625531
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Projectionists' Memories
Subject
The topic of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Description
An account of the resource
Interviews with projectionists
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
University of Warwick
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recordings
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Richard Wallace
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Mick Corfield
Date of Interview
2015-08-03
Location
The location of the interview
Coventry
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
I think it was 1992, we had a Greta Ward automation system put in, which was done on pulse tape and it was a pin board basically with a clock as well that’d tick down and start the shows. So it would start, stop, it would open and close the tabs, the tabs being the curtains, bring the house lights down, bring the footlights down. And of course with automation you lost your presentation, most of your presentation, because what you did, you’d put pulse tape on it and it read the pulse tape. So you’d pin the board for what you wanted it to do: house lights down, tabs open, tabs shut if you wanted to but a lot of people stopped doing that. And then basically put a pulse at the end of the film, as soon as we saw any black, black cast come up at the end of the film we’d pulse it to bring the houselights up to half, then to full and then shut the programme down. So of course if you’ve got four... well you’d have two people on. When you got your Greta Ward automation in there was no need for that because that did it all, so then all of a sudden I was off ill and then came back and found out that two jobs had gone and the only way I could keep mine was if I would be a relief projectionist and be then for be rented out to other cinemas when people were on holiday and things like that. You could see that projectionists’ jobs were being lost through technology.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
One-to-one interview
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
PT00H01M09S
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
320kbps
Cinema
Reel Cinema, 12 Hagley Road West, Birmingham
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Automation (Mick Corfield)
Subject
The topic of the resource
automation
job losses
Description
An account of the resource
Projectionist and BECTU representative Mick Corfield describes is experiences of automated projection systems on the work of projectionists.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Projection Project
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Interview with Mick Corfield
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
The University of Warwick
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-12-08
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Richard Wallace
Mick Corfield
Relation
A related resource
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/6934
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
.mp3
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound recording
interview extract
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1992-
POINT(-224274.60125745955 6884255.06320307)|12|-219453.0968333|6884818.2824292|osm
Reel Cinema, 12 Hagley Road West, Birmingham
1990s
2000s
automation
Mick Corfield
Midlands
presentation and showmanship
running the show
team relations
working conditions