-
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/989e8255fd38982a257d0c3900d8663b.mp3
9e9f45ec4934501009157b00eb3f3c3c
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
Well, when I started there was no formal training, so you trained on the job. A lot of places, I was told, you went into the projection room and you weren’t allowed to touch film, all you did was sweep the floor. But actually what happened with me, I think the chief took me under his wing ‘cause he knew I was so interested and wanted to get to know all the equipment. I think within a week I was lacing up. But, of course, he kept an eye on me like. And he showed me how to rewind films, ‘cause a lot of people just put the film on the rewinder, take it across and just rewinding it and just look elsewhere, you know. But he actually said you need to check it as you rewind it. And you don’t need to go very fast, just check it because you could come across a split perforation or a nick, ‘cause if it went through the machine like that it will probably tear. Because in those days we used triacetate which was easy broken so you had to check the film as you went through.
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
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
Training and learning how to check prints (Neil Thompson)
Subject
The topic of the resource
training
Description
An account of the resource
Projectionist Neil Thompson describes the process of learning how to work as a projectionist including the importance of checking film prints when rewinding.
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
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
1974-1980
POINT(-179197.65532541 7357428.9321082)|16|-179046.5727617|7357500.0879649|osm
Queens Theatre, Northumberland Place, Newcastle upon Tyne
chief projectionist
film damage
Neil Thompson
North-East England
preparing the print
presentation and showmanship
training
-
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/924fa64dd028e6c99124f14024cd6cbb.mp3
2694c21e9d14a9c5198e0301f7ee8960
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 started at the Regal, Leamington Spa as a fifth projectionist, believe it or not. And we weren’t allowed to touch a machine. We weren’t allowed to do much really except clean up and make tea for the chief projectionist. And we used to have to stand at the back of the box which we called it then, not a projection room, it used to be a box, and watch the other people and then you were allowed to take a spool out of the bottom and take it into the rewind room. Then you were eventually told how to rewind it and you had to be very slow, hold your finger on the film which burnt you, I can tell you. Then you burnt it and you had to check every joint, every V cut, everything. And then eventually in about 1942 I was allowed to take my first change-over. Because in those days the film used to come in ten minute reels and it was joined on to make 20 minute reels, and each 20 minute reels went on to a projector and then you had a dot to start the motor and another dot to change over. And you had blank film which ran through the other projector while it was on. So you had to… and first film was called My Gal Sal that I made a change-over on. And I did it right, thank goodness for that. It had to be perfect.
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.)
PT00H01M44S
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
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
Training (Phil Fawke)
Subject
The topic of the resource
training
Description
An account of the resource
Projectionist and cinema manager Phil Fawke describes the process of training 'on the job'.
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
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
1940-1942
POINT(-171164.00422091 6852816.4350961)|14|-170650.4429372|6853550.1260638|osm
Regal/Vue, Portland Place, Leamington Spa
POINT(-166866.2128733 6878013.5021133)|14|-167215.5539791|6876592.9415900|osm
Regal, 511 Foleshill Road, Coventry
1940s
Phil Fawke
preparing the print
running the show
team relations
training
-
https://projectionproject.warwick.ac.uk/files/original/4d2c9e31142dae9c2bcd54dd108afcc2.mp3
57db7eab1d4f717a4258af3be01be626
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
The non-sync room where you played records had to be in a different… every room had to be separate in those days. The non-sync room was a separate room. And it had a little porthole in it that you could sort of look out into the, into the project… because you weren’t allowed into the theatre in those days. Only the chief was the only one who could look 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.)
PT00H00M25S
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
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
Separate rooms in the box (Phil Fawke)
Subject
The topic of the resource
cinema buildings
Description
An account of the resource
Projectionist and cinema manager Phil Fawke describes the separation of spaces in cinema projection rooms.
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
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
1940-1960s
POINT(-171144.89496382 6852835.5443532)|14|-170726.8799655|6853005.5122373|osm
Regal/Vue, Portland Place, Leamington Spa
POINT(-166868.60153043 6878013.5021132)|14|-167185.6957649|6876582.1926328|osm
Regal, 511 Foleshill Road, Coventry
1940s
1950s
Midlands
Phil Fawke
preparing the print
projection box
team relations
-
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/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/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/4b9cee5eb9c2c1c668e33137c67061e1.mp3
11e75517f38489bc7570c0d4803471fe
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
Mike Williams
Date of Interview
2015-08-25
Location
The location of the interview
Cardiff
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
As a rewind boy my job, it was very easy, basically as stated by NATKE, the union, my job as a rewind boy was to start work at ten o’clock in the morning, rewind all the film that had been left over from the night before because projectionists didn’t rewind their own film. It was a rewind boy’s job. So from 7:30 onwards in the evenings the projectionist didn’t rewind his own film, it was left for the rewind boy. So that was my first job in the mornings when I went in at ten o’clock. Then I would have to sweep the box out. Top to bottom, end to end, I would have to sweep that out, this, this meant removing all the heavy rubber mats. My chief had a theory about keeping dust down, you had to soak wads of newspaper in water, wring it out, throw all the wads, pieces of newspaper all around the box, all over the floor, right out as far as the rewind room and then sweep it all up. Being as it was wet newspaper it would keep the dust down. Once you got all that collected and put the mats back down again then it was time to clean the machines. By the time you’d cleaned the machines, set up the arc lamps ready for the show, it would be time for the projectionist to lace the machines up and on with the show. Then I would be a general dog’s body from the time the show started until it was time to go home at eight o’clock at night. I would rewind every reel, as it came off the machine, I’d be taking it out to the rewind room, rewind it, bring the next reel out for the projectionist to lace up. That went on right up until eight o’clock at night. But, now we’ll come to the truth. In actual fact because I loved the cinema so much, I used to go in at eight o’clock in the morning and I used to do everything I was supposed to do by the time the projectionist come in at half past nine. So they would come into a pristine box and pristine machines and I could get on with doing whatever the projectionists were doing be it washing fittings down, rewiring, cleaning fittings wherever, I was one of the team. And my rewind jobs had been … and this was recognised because eventually I’d have no film to rewind when I come in in the morning they would all do their share and rewind the film at night because I suppose Micky, as I was called then, was a nice guy and they done it to help me out, you know. It was that sort of job, I didn’t care what time I went in in the morning, I didn’t care what time I finished at night. Sometimes the chief would say to me at four o’clock, “Go home, Mike, you've done enough for today”. And I’d have an early night. Other times I’d stay there ‘til midnight while they had a press show on ‘cause we used to run press shows in those days. After the show closed you’d show a film for the press. That would go on ‘til one o’clock in the morning. Quite illegally, I wasn’t allowed to be in the theatre at that time of night according to government rules. But I would help them out with the press show. It didn’t matter, the building was more of my life than being at home.
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.)
PT00H02M54S
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
320kbps
Cinema
ABC (Olympia) Cinema, 67 Queen Street, Cardiff
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
Routine as a rewind boy (Mike Williams)
Subject
The topic of the resource
duties as a rewind boy
Description
An account of the resource
Projectionist Mike Williams describes his routine as a rewind boy.
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 Mike Williams
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
2015-12-04
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Richard Wallace
Mike Williams
Relation
A related resource
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/7970
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
1956-1964
POINT(-353451.98471289 6707025.9412767)|15|-353535.5877126|6706828.0559623|osm
ABC (Olympia), 67 Queen Street, Cardiff
1950s
1960s
career progression
maintenance
Mike Williams
outside the box
preparing the print
routine
team relations
training
Wales
working conditions
-
https://projectionproject.warwick.ac.uk/files/original/b34588ad40f3237f048e7e11b963f3c3.mp3
9332d593f9a7dbf5802c27b2971f79f6
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
Mike Williams
Date of Interview
2015-08-25
Location
The location of the interview
Cardiff
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
We were shown things like how to put the footlights on at the right tempo. Some films you put them up fast, other films you put them up slow. You see we also used to rehearse films, they don’t do that anymore. But sometimes we used to have delivery of films on a Thursday, sometime between Thursday and Sunday that film would be played, only the features, second features didn’t really matter, but the main feature film bearing in mind that we were a first run house, we used to run parallel with the West End. So feature films would have to be run through and the chief or the manager or the senior second would sit in the auditorium and cue them so the sound was all right all the way through. And you’d run by that cue sheet then all through the week. Frank used to consider that a necessity and, again, it worked. No need to change it, you know. It was a good system. And it worked.
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
ABC (Olympia) Cinema, 67 Queen Street, Cardiff
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
Rehearsing films (Mike Williams)
Subject
The topic of the resource
preparing screenings
Description
An account of the resource
Projectionist Mike Williams describes the process of rehearsing film to get them ready for screening.
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 Mike Williams
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
2015-12-04
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Richard Wallace
Mike Williams
Relation
A related resource
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/7970
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
1956-1964
POINT(-353451.98471283 6707025.9412767)|15|-353425.7094844|6706804.1693910|osm
ABC (Olympia), 67 Queen Street, Cardiff
1950s
1960s
chief projectionist
Mike Williams
preparing the print
presentation and showmanship
team relations
Wales
-
https://projectionproject.warwick.ac.uk/files/original/42c18a1626282ec07d1092da281378fe.mp3
b1c54d4ac67f1965346770c52c098a0d
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
Mike Williams
Date of Interview
2015-08-25
Location
The location of the interview
Cardiff
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
Normal procedure: our films used to arrive mainly on a Thursday morning, right? They could arrive, if you had a Monday start, they could arrive on a Monday morning, if they were crossed over from another cinema. They could arrive on a Sunday or a Saturday depending how FTS, Film Transport Services, delivered them. But mainly they came up on a Thursday. So Friday morning they would then be carried upstairs. Now, we were lucky, we only had a projection suite on the first floor. Some cinemas had to carry these damned heavy boxes right up to god. We were lucky, unless we were showing Todd-AO because they were very heavy, and a lot of them. But then you feel sorry for the guys that had Cinerama, who had three times as many. But anyway, that was Thursday morning they’d arrive. Friday morning would be make up day. Chief would come in and out to the rewind room and he would make up the programme for the following week. Now, in those days every join in the film had to be checked and because Frank was a bit meticulous most joins would be remade. In those days you had to scrape off the emulsion, scrape off the base and join the film together with film cement. Nowadays they use a form of Sellotape which is very easy and very quick. It wasn’t in our day. You physically had to check that every … that was a long arduous job and he would be doing that probably up until about four o’clock in the afternoon on a Friday. Then they’d be put away in the lower spool racks until Sunday when the feature would be taken out and played through for chief to edit the sound, edit the way it was played and it would be shown on the Sunday usually lunchtime-ish. Then it would come out again and it would be shown through the week as per normal. Then on Saturday the process would be to break it down again. Now what we used to do in those, in our cinemas, on a Saturday night we used to use what they called blind spools, a spool with only one side on it. So you put your film on the top of the projector, put the blind spool on the bottom with a film block in the middle, lace your film on that and when you come to the end of the reel you take your reel of film off and it would be ready to put in the box, in a can and sent away again. That was basically it. The only thing you would have to break down physically is the adverts, the news and the trailers.
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.)
PT00H02M24S
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
320kbps
Cinema
ABC (Olympia) Cinema, 67 Queen Street, Cardiff
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 and breaking-down film prints (Mike Williams)
Subject
The topic of the resource
making-up and breaking-down film prints
Description
An account of the resource
Projectionist Mike Williams describes the process of making-up film prints ready for screening and breaking them down once finished.
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 Mike Williams
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
2015-12-04
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Richard Wallace
Mike Williams
Relation
A related resource
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/7970
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
1956-1964
POINT(-353442.43008433 6707021.6118356)|15|-353483.0372556|6706795.0626356|osm
ABC (Olympia), 67 Queen Street, Cardiff
1950s
1960s
chief projectionist
film damage
Mike Williams
preparing the print
routine
Wales
working conditions
-
https://projectionproject.warwick.ac.uk/files/original/82427989fdb8445cd2247bd4228577e6.mp3
efed67ad8f982791045af627fde8d7a9
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
Mike Williams
Date of Interview
2015-08-25
Location
The location of the interview
Cardiff
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
And I’ll tell you a little story now about the day I destroyed A Woman in a Dressing Gown starring Yvonne Mitchell, one of the black films in the ‘60s about suburban life, if you like. We were going to have a press show of it, and we were told we were having a green copy, brand new copy, and it was arriving on the so and so train from Paddington. Pick it up, get it over. So I was sent across to pick up the copy of Woman in a Dressing Gown. Now you know film cans as they used to come in a lead sealed box. I went across and I signed at the parcels office for this box of film and I started to stroll across to the Olympia which was about a mile, three quarters of a mile walk. And it was a heavy box. And it was raining. So I thought of an easy answer to this. Now instead of changing hands all the time I opened the film box took two cans of film out and tucked them under my arm. Easy. Same weight on both sides. Dropped the film in the rain, in the middle of Queen Street, the main thoroughfare. It cost a lot of money apparently to replace two reels of a green copy of Woman in a Dressing Gown and I wasn’t very popular for a day or two. But they let me get over it. It was never held against me. But it was quite a sight to see endless footage of this film unrolling in the rain in Queen Street. One of those things, one of those things. These accidents happen in life, 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.)
PT00H01M36S
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
320kbps
Cinema
ABC (Olympia) Cinema, 67 Queen Street, Cardiff
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
Destroying a film print (Mike Williams)
Subject
The topic of the resource
accidents
film damage
Description
An account of the resource
Projectionist Mike Williams tells the story of how he accidentally destroyed a print of A Woman in a Dressing Gown.
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 Mike Williams
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
2015-12-04
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Richard Wallace
Mike Williams
Relation
A related resource
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/7970
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
1956-1964
POINT(-353447.20739859 6707022.3582908)|15|-353502.1465127|6706752.8132624|osm
ABC (Olympia), 67 Queen Street, Cardiff
1950s
1960s
film damage
Mike Williams
outside the box
preparing the print
things going wrong
Wales
working conditions
-
https://projectionproject.warwick.ac.uk/files/original/06662e75b3e0b3c34b35844427722673.mp3
961b52524d1a927f4992ba5a40224356
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
Mike Williams
Date of Interview
2015-08-24
Location
The location of the interview
Cardiff
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
Within reason if you were caught off the machine it was an offence. And you would be admonished over it. Your job was to make sure that film … you wouldn’t be watching the content of the film, you would have to stand there and watch the focus and pay attention to the sound. That was your job, to mind your machine while it was running. Change over, that was the other guy’s job to do it. And you certainly wouldn’t go and read the paper or have a chat to somebody. That just wasn’t allowed. It was a very strict regime in that way. But it was the job. The job was to put out a perfect product on the screen. In those days arc lamps needed constant attention. It was your job to make sure that light on the screen stayed the right intensity all the way through a film, not go up and down which it would if left alone. You know, you’d have some disasters on the screen in some cinemas where projectionists had been reading a book, or reading a paper and they’d suddenly burn out on screen or nothing would happen on the screen. So it was your job to make sure that went out on the screen properly. That was part of your job. And it was never resented. That's what you had to do.
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.)
PT00H00M47S
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
320kbps
Cinema
ABC (Olympia) Cinema, 67 Queen Street, Cardiff
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 the film during screenings (Mike Williams)
Subject
The topic of the resource
checking
aesthetics of projection
Description
An account of the resource
Projectionist Mike Williams describes the projectionist’s duties when the film was on screen, noting the importance of checking films during screenings.
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 Mike Williams
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
2015-12-03
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Richard Wallace
Mike Williams
Relation
A related resource
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/7972
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
POINT(-353447.20739859 6707031.9129195)|15|-353554.6969696|6706838.8049194|osm
1956-1966
POINT(-353447.20739862 6707034.4058362)|15|-353363.6043990|6706769.6381220|osm
ABC (Olympia) Cinema, 67 Queen Street, Cardiff
1950s
1960s
light sources
Mike Williams
preparing the print
presentation and showmanship
routine
things going wrong
Wales