Odeon Hammersmith

[MANTLEBERG]

YES .....MUST HAVE WORKED FOR A.B.C. LIKE ME THE LAMPHOUES DOOR CLOSES ONLY JUST BEFORE START

[agfagaevart]

Are they doing manual change-overs??

Brave boys!

[eastleighvoice]

I think you will find that's a pair of Vic 8's and not Vic 10's. Great to see in the box of Hammersmith Odeon. I was at the Dom Tottenham Court Road for many years which had the same equipment as Hammersmith including carbon and 6000ft change-overs.

[showreel2]

i used a vic 9 in ipswich odeon in 1989 when i was a trainee and we used to spool the film off the cakestand on its last showing by showing it and as it past through the projecter we split it (at a marked join) while it was showing and take off the bottom 55 minues and change it for an empty spool and spun it like crazy to get going again. this is when you had to be very fast or you were f****d

however i must point out i never agreed with this method,

[silvercatt99]

This used to be such an EXCELLENT little film of the past projection room practice, complete with live sound of the moment. Why for gods sake has the soundtrack been replaced with this mundane irrelevant music???? Cmon Fred you enthusiast, please restore this clip so I can show it to my new trainee tech, what life used to be like in the box.

[fp30e]

Hi Silvercatt99. I changed the music on it one day and oooops it wiped all the other sound off. Good point about re-editing it. I think I will do that shortly. Have you watch the Plaza Oxted Video featuring Carbon Rods and a changeover?

[SHARMATE2009]

His hand is put on the movie,that is not acceptable,if he is an really projectionist!

I worked like him,in Romania,but we dont touch never the movie with our hands!

[RecordCouncil]

Rewinding film through your bare hands only really hurts with acetate film because your fingers soon get covered in molten edge wax. Polyester doesn't seem to be waxed, but I'm still in the habit of using cotton gloves to keep fingerprints off splices.

[agfagaevart]

@RecordCouncil

I've had some nasty static shocks from touching Polyester film while it's rewinding.

I try to avoid it if poss.

[DSM1G90]

Cinemeccanica V-10's (it looks like) 35/70mm units... at least he's doing it the right way when lacing up a reel machine - putting the lead in the takeup reel first before lacing up the rest of the machine .. to keep that leader off the floor.

[rumourandscandal]

ooo. manually rewinding the reels, and using his bare fingers to feel the joins...that must hurt!!

[Rlotpir1972]

They have to take both reels out and rewind them manually?! Must've have more than one copy of a movie or part of it.

[fp30e]

In the days of change overs we used to join up 3 reels onto one spool. The average feature was 6 reels, then action one change over between projectors and rewind the finished reel ready for the next show.

[MANTLEBERG]

When i trained in the box at A.B.C. we had peerless lamps/ross/rca sound, after you did a change over, the out going machine, motor/off,douse the arc, then open the lamphouse door to give extra cooling, and check enough carbon for next run, this check was priority, ive had many a brown patch experiance light going blue, no more to feed. arrrgh help, knock some studs off to make it last, or go over now...

[fp30e]

Oh the Good Old Days

[watchitnz]

thats one mean looking projector!

[ericperic66]

I found this very interesting, thanks for posting it. I was glad to see the mercury arc rectifier for the arc lamps, as I did my apprenticeship at a company that made that equipment. Have always been fascinated by cinema projectors, etc.

[19college]

Looks to me as if he is changing a rod in the carbon-arc projection lamp. I worked as a projectionist in the 1970's but had zenon lamps.

[trackCdental]

Cool video!!

Big professionals!!

[16mmDJ]

yeah what is he doing?

[samfisher20041]

What is he actually doing at the light of the machine? (4:47 onwards)

[ekksmann]

cool! Well here on the other side of the world in New Zealand I have just "progressed" from a Walturdaw 5 change-over system with Ashcraft arcs to a Kinoton FP20A with platter & automation as well as 2K e-cinema system and Dolby digital sound. Yes I think our booth has lost its personality now, however I dont think I would go back if I had the choice.

Great to see the old Odeon Hammersmith is still going albeit not as a cinema now-I Have lots of great memories of concerts there in the 1970s

[fp30e]

it's now called the HMV Apollo Theatre and still going strong

[biografmand]

Great booth video ! Thanks for sharing.

Beautiful theatre and really nice booth.

That guy has a somehow relaxed way of handling carbon's, I think.

I don't like automation either, and I miss the smell of the carbons, but running with them again - no thanks. It's Disney's Jungle Book, they're running, but It may have had several re-issues in the UK, so that won't really tell the time.... -But try making young projectionists of today rewind by hand ;-)

[Ampex196]

Many thanks Fred - excellent stuff! Great to see mercury rectifiers running!

When was this shot? The last time we had Super Zenith 450s' on carbons here in Newcastle was back in 1980 (on DP70s') at the Queens Cinerama. 70mm was screened on the deep curve - 71ft x 31ft. Many happy memories!

I worked with carbons until retirement in Nov. 2006. I don't care much for automation. All of the traditional skills of film presentation are gradually being lost forever.

[fp30e]

Hi there. This footage must have been filmed just over 20 years ago. I was Chief at the Odeon Haymarket at the time. Cheers Fred

[Ampex196]

Thanks Fred

Were we the last cinema to run carbons, several shows daily and perhaps the only cinema to run them with digital audio??

I'm curious!

I don't know how many carbons are consumed in the UK nowadays; not many I suspect! Sandie Caffelle, of Jack Roe kept us well supplied with Marble Double Eagle 7-8's until late 2006. A lovely lady!!

[westrex5000]

Interesting those DP70's at the Queens were found dismantled in a Garage in South London about 5 years ago.

They were originally from Stoke and they are now with a Private collector who has sold them to another collector who plans to install the again fully working.

[stinkpotbaby]

Great! Thank you.

[vic19644]

Great video!Does this theatre ever show films at all anymore and is anything in the booth?

[coejack]

great video nice to see that kinda stuff cheers from canada

[houshp]

Can you tell me what kind of projectors these are and also what kind of lamps? Cool video! Thanks.

[Westar2000]

Fantastic to see my old projection Room Great Video well done