[HN Gopher] The Projectionist: On the Best Job That No Longer Ex...
___________________________________________________________________
The Projectionist: On the Best Job That No Longer Exists
Author : samclemens
Score : 14 points
Date : 2022-09-08 05:24 UTC (17 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (pipewrenchmag.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (pipewrenchmag.com)
| hedgehog_irl wrote:
| Well written and nicely put. I served my time as a projectionist
| also and miss the job to this day. And digital isn't the same,
| while they are "picture perfect" with great colours there is
| still a deadness that I can't explain. Not too long ago I was
| back in the old projection hall which is now digital and it just
| sounded wrong I missed the mechanical sound of the old machines.
| Not everything digital is better.
| devindotcom wrote:
| Very true. I can't stand the screen door effect you see on a
| lot of digital projections. It's horribly distracting. I saw
| Dune in digital IMAX and spent the whole time thinking there
| was something wrong with the projector. I think they need some
| kind of final analog optical step that mitigates the pixelated
| look many have.
|
| Plus with digital you never have the film getting stuck and
| melting - always a treat to witness!
| jackcosgrove wrote:
| Was melting the film that common?
|
| I was an usher and witnessed it once at the end of the
| credits. I radioed into box, as we called it, that the film
| was melting on screen. Next thing I hear feet pounding from
| the projection room and the light shone on the screen became
| dimmer and the burnt corona of the film disappeared from
| view.
| JKCalhoun wrote:
| Mmmm... "Two-Lane Blacktop" ending.
| wilg wrote:
| It's that most digital projectors in movie theaters are
| terrible: low resolution and dim.
| hedgehog_irl wrote:
| That's part of it for sure but even on a still scene 35mm
| projectors still had a small bit of movement because it was
| mechanical and alignments are never perfect. I know in the
| cinema I worked in even sat in the screen you could still
| hear the hum of the machines if you knew what to listen
| for. To me it was all part of the cinema experience.
| Digital has improved compared to the early generations yes.
| But if you gave me the option I'd watch 35mm over digital
| any day
|
| Edited to correct typo
| chrisseaton wrote:
| Why do you want a wobbly picture and extra background
| noise? Those sound like negatives.
| hedgehog_irl wrote:
| Things don't always have to be perfect. It's a personal
| preference
| AlbertCory wrote:
| On Oct. 24 I'll be publishing my Substack article about the
| Google Cinema Club. It is still going even with the pandemic, but
| when I did it, up to July 2017, it was in-person with a DVD in a
| big conference room on the Mountain View campus.
|
| I still had a "projectionist." Getting the video and sound right
| in a room that was built for meetings and not for movies was an
| art in itself, and I hope I can get Craig to write about how he
| did it.
|
| But yeah: not the same as real 35mm.
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2022-09-08 23:01 UTC)