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This article contains too much jargon and may need simplification or further explanation. Please discuss this issue on the talk page, and/or remove or explain jargon terms used in the article. Editing help is available. (March 2009) |
A Projectionist is a person whose profession entails the operating of a movie projector. In the strict sense of the term this means any movie projector and could include someone who operates the projector in a home movie show. In a general sense, the term means someone who does it for an occupation such as a cinema projectionist but could include people who operate projectors as part of their job such as prison guards and school teachers. However, the term is generally understood to apply mainly to people who operate cinema or movie theater projectors as a full time profession.
The need for professional projectionists arose from the commercial showing of movie films to the general public. First in the Nickelodeon and later on in the Movie theater or cinema. It was once a highly skilled occupation. In many countries, projectionists had be do apprenticeships and have government issued licenses to operate cinema projectors. This came about because of safety requirements around the use of Nitrate film from the 1890s through to about the late 1950s.
The duties of a cinema projectionists have varied over the decades:
From the 1900s until the advent of sound in the late 1920s they were responsible for the operation and maintenance of the projectors and their arc lamps. Presentation of the films. Maintenance of the electrical equipment of the cinema or theater. Handling and repair of the film.
With the commencement of sound in the late 1920s, additional duties included the operating repair and maintenance of the sound film equipment which was a highly skilled job for those days when cinema sound systems were regarded as "high tech". In that era, presentation became a very important aspect of the job. The commencement of a picture show involved fading down the background music, opening screen curtains, controlling special lighting effects on the curtains, fading the house lights etc. Some cinemas had quite elaborate show starts which were under the control of the projectionist. For example, the Civic cinema in Auckland New Zealand, required the projectionist to have a film clip of the Big Ben clock in London chiming 8 hit the screen at exactly 8:00 pm, the commencement time of the show (based on an eye witness account given by an Auckland projectionist from that era). Shows involved many short films such as news reels etc which had to be shown seamlessly by switching over two projectors. Projectionists were also responsible for maintaining the proper sound levels in the auditorium during the screening of the film. They also operated a slide projector for showing advertising. Sometimes the slide projector was used during the film to show important public announcements.
Over the decades, the profession of projectionist has, like many other occupations, been de-skilled by advanced technology.
With the phasing in of safety film from the late 1940s, many countries have dropped the requirements for projectionists to be licensed. The advent from the 1970s onwards of the xenon arc lamp, film platters, and automation, has seen the duties of a cinema projectionist very much reduced compared to what they used to be.
The duties of a modern projectionist will vary with company policy. Some cinema companies prefer to have a high level of skill in their projectionists even with the high level of automation. Unfortunately many companies have reduced the skills required to only threading the projector, film handling and film repair. Because these duties are so light, they often expect their projectionists to double up in other jobs such as manning the candy bar. Conversely, they may have the projectionists job be done by the cinema manager.
The advent of digital cinema projectors will eventually remove the projectionist's job altogether as they require no operator skills at all.
References
External links
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