Projector changover

Bill performs a changeover on 1940's vintage movie projectors

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• cimema
• projector
• changeover
• film

[steverabb]

THIS is what I would have done for a living if I had been born 30 years earlier. Carbon arcs and 2000 ft. reel changeovers. When xenon lamps and platters came along, I lost interest. Glad to see some theaters are keeping this art alive. Big thanks for posting this!

[southjk]

I kinda see why Bill wants to do it this way...doesn't have to splice the film and having a second projector in case of failure.

[southjk]

checkout the other video showing Bill thread the film

[southjk]

Pana Illinois which is in central Illinois where I grew up. every time I go home I visit Bill in the projection booth. He gets the carbons from China but he don't like them

[tundratomo]

the change over cue marks were in the upper right hand corner of the screen, they are still there, no matter what type of projector is used. you can even see them on tv sometimes. worked like a charm.

[Rlotpir1972]

Is there something on the picture when it tells the projectionist to switch? For a 1940's projector, what format is it in? 16:9? 1.33:1? 

[fjbutch]

cool.. my 13 year old son is now learning the trade in a 1930 theatre with projectors the same era that burn carbon rods for light.. fascinating ....

[strong1235]

That's the one I remember. The Ellis Brothers had several restaurants. The original drive in was behind the restaurant on what locals called "Bridgeport Hill" between Clarksburg and Bridgeport. The road in front was US Route 50. It was actually one of the better area restaurants in the area at the time. I vaguely remember the Sunset Drive-in at Meadowbrook. In those days they were a ways apart, although now with I77 it would only be 5 minutes!

[pegbars]

CORRECTION! Okay, I've got it, now. It was the Sunset D/I, on Route 19&20, in Meadowbrook - halfway between Shinnston and Clarksburg. There is an Ellis Restaurant out front at the highway.

The Ellis Drive-In listed on Drive-insdotcom as being in Bridgeport must have been another theatre, because I don't recognize the pictures. But it's not the one in Meadowbrook.

[pegbars]

In fact, I'm thinking it may have been called the Meadowbrook Drive-In, and the Ellis Restaurant happened to be out front/next door (which had a rear entrance for theatre patrons and was used as the concession stand). I have photos I took of the place from back then, gotta dig those out sometime.

[pegbars]

I had to look it up. The Ellis was actually in Meadowbrook. The landlady lived in the screen tower & the restaurant served as the concession stand, which was actually out on Rt. 19. Like several WV D/Is, the Ellis had steel canopies over several ramps, so you could watch the movie in the rain without having to run your windshield wipers. The entrance was strange, too, in that you drove in underneath the projection beam to the screen. Good memories. Btw, it's still there on Mapquest satellite.

[strong1235]

Ellis Restaurant and drive in was Bridgeport, WV. All gone now. Would be fun to bring back the drive in with high output digital projection and wireless surround sound, maybe HD radio receivers! But that kind of real estate is too valuable near most towns today! You would have to put in video games in the snack bar to make it pay!

[pegbars]

I don't know... not when I knew him he didn't (1987-ish last time I saw him). He ran the Grafton D/I, the Manos Theatre, and the Capri Pizza Parlor, all in Grafton, where he also lived.

[EETech]

Jim Henderson? Wasn't the same guy who had the 7th Heaven in Cheylan was it?