Projectionists' Memories

Interviews with projectionists

All 1920s1930s1940s1950s1960s1970s1980s1990s2000s2010s

01/12/2015
Projectionist Mike Williams explains the process of changing over from one projector to another between reels.

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03/12/2015
Projectionist Mike Williams describes the projectionist’s duties when the film was on screen, noting the importance of checking films during screenings.

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04/12/2015
Projectionist Mike Williams describes his relationship with his chief projectionist at the ABC (Olympia) Cardiff, Frank Saunders.

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04/12/2015
Projectionist Mike Williams tells the story of how he accidentally destroyed a print of A Woman in a Dressing Gown.

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04/12/2015
Projectionist Mike Williams describes his early experiences of cinema-going as a child, his developing fascination with cinemas and the atmosphere and smell of cinemas.

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Feeling like a projectionist (Mike Williams).mp3

Projectionist Mike Williams describes the qualities required of a projectionist and the associated feelings that come with the job.

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04/12/2015
Projectionist Mike Williams describes the impact of promotion on his relationships with other cinema workers.

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04/12/2015
Projectionist Mike Williams describes the importance for projectionists’ work to be invisible.

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04/12/2015
Projectionist Mike Williams describes the other duties carried out by projectionists outside the projection box including an accident where he fell through the ceiling of the cinema auditorium during a film screening.

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04/12/2015
Projectionist Mike Williams describes the process of making-up film prints ready for screening and breaking them down once finished.

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04/12/2015
Projectionist Mike Williams discusses the impact of working routines on mealtimes.

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04/12/2015
Projectionist Mike Williams describes the process of selecting music to be played in the auditorium prior to film screenings.

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04/12/2015
Projectionist Mike Williams provides an overview of presentation and showmanship in cinemas. He outlines how he was trained by the chief to uphold particular aesthetic standards and the impact that this has on the experience of the audience.

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04/12/2015
Projectionist Mike Williams describes undertaking publicity activities, including borrowing an elephant from a visiting circus.

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04/12/2015
Projectionist Mike Williams describes the process of rehearsing film to get them ready for screening.

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04/12/2015
Projectionist Mike Williams describes his routine as a rewind boy.

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04/12/2015
Projectionist Mike Williams describes a Welsh cinema with unconventional entry policies, comparing it so scenes from the comedy film The Smallest Show on Earth.

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08/12/2015
Projectionist and BECTU representative Mick Corfield describes is experiences of automated projection systems on the work of projectionists.

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08/12/2015
Projectionist and BECTU representative Mick Corfield outlines the difference made to the cinema-going experience by viewing a film with an audience.

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08/12/2015
Projectionist and BECTU representative Mick Corfield describes the moment he knew digital projectors would replace projectionists.

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08/12/2015
Projectionist and BECTU representative Mick Corfield describes his appointment as a cinema projectionists and finding out that his father used to be a projectionist as well.

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08/12/2015
Projectionist and BECTU representative Mick Corfield describes the erosion of presentation in multiplex cinemas.

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08/12/2015
Projectionist and BECTU representative Mick Corfield describes how he met his wife when they were both working in the same cinema.

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08/12/2015
Projectionist and BECTU representative Mick Corfield describes the process of starting a performance.

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08/12/2015
Projectionist and BECTU representative Mick Corfield describes his experiences working as a relief projectionist in a variety of cinemas around the UK.

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09/12/2015
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…

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09/12/2015
Projectionist and cinema manager Phil Fawke describes the process of repairing film damage.

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09/12/2015
Projectionist and cinema manager Phil Fawke describes his morning routine and the process of cleaning the projection box.

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09/12/2015
Projectionist and cinema manager Phil Fawke describes working as a relief projectionist during the war, and being told to show edited versions of films during children's matinees.

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09/12/2015
Projectionist and cinema manager Phil Fawke describes the process of changing-over a film including replacing the carbon rods in the arc lamps.

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09/12/2015
Projectionist and cinema manager Phil Fawke describes the separation of spaces in cinema projection rooms.

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09/12/2015
Projectionist and cinema manager Phil Fawke describes the role of the chief projectionist.

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09/12/2015
Projectionist and cinema manager Phil Fawke describes the process of training 'on the job'.

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09/12/2015
Projectionist and cinema manager Phil Fawke describes taking newsreel films between local cinemas in Leamington Spa and picking up news footage of major sporting events from Birmingham airport.

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29/12/2015
Projectionist Neil Thompson descibes the arrival of digital projection in his cinema, including the timeline of the digital conversion.

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29/12/2015
Projectionist Neil Thompson describes the process of using automated projection systems from the 1980s onwards.

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29/12/2015
Projectionist Neil Thompson outlines his thoughts as being the last link in the creative process.

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29/12/2015
Projectionist Neil Thompson describes the change in lighting technology from fast-burning carbon arc lamps to long-lasting xenon lamps.

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29/12/2015
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.

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29/12/2015
Projectionist Neil Thompson describes his morning routine, preparing for the day's screenings, cleaning the projection room and conducting other duties around the cinema.

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29/12/2015
Projectionist Neil Thompson describes the characteristics of polyester film, including its static properties, the difficultiy tearing it and the problems that these caused.

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29/12/2015
Projectionist Neil Thompson outlines the process of starting the film, checking sound levels and checking the aperture plates as part of good presentation.

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29/12/2015
Projectionist Neil Thompson describes the process of setting up and checking cinema sound systems.

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29/12/2015
Projectionist Neil Thompson describes the process of learning how to work as a projectionist including the importance of checking film prints when rewinding.

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29/12/2015
Projectionist Neil Thompson describes the process of using a platter (cake stand) projection system.

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20/03/2017
Projectionist Florence Barton describes getting the first Projectomatic automation machine in Coventry in the late 1950s. She also gives her unfavorable opinion of her male counterparts.

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20/03/2017
Projectionist Florence Barton describes the work that she was expected to do around the cinema.

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20/03/2017
Projectionist Florence Barton describes being recruited as a 'projectionette' during the Second World War after the male projectionists were called up.

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20/03/2017
Projectionist Florence Barton describes the process of becoming Chief Projectionist at Scala, Coventry in the face of male competition.

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20/03/2017
Projectionist Florence Barton describes an incident in Leicester where a deliberate act of sabotage was carried out in order to try and sack her.

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21/03/2017
Projectionist Bill Pearson describes the period he spent projecting E.T. including the problems with the print and the effect that it had on him and the audience.

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21/03/2017
Projectionist Bill Pearson describes his move from working in New Street Station to becoming a projectionist. He also talks about striving for the job of Chief Projectionist.

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21/03/2017
Projectionist Joan Pearson describes the process and problems of showing 3-D films.

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22/03/2017
Projectionist Joan Pearson describes some of the work she was expected to do as a woman in projection. This included cleaning the canopy on the cinema roof and maintaining the boiler.

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1940.08.08 - Stella Cinema, Dublin.gif

08/08/1940
The projection box of the Dublin in 1940, equipped with Kalee projectors. Published with permission from Screen International.

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Output Formats

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