"Above all else, remember how fortunate you are to have the honor and privilege to project film. In those moments when your next reel is threaded and you are waiting for the changeover, watch the film as it winds its way through the projector. Listen to the click-click-click of the intermittent movement. Feel the warm enclosure of the lamphouse. Allow yourself to acknowledge this long-standing tradition, and cherish your place in this proud and unique lineage."
"Be passionate. Be humble. Be the best you can be. You are an artist, a technician, a mechanic, and -- in a way -- a film curator. Maybe also a magician of some sort. You are all of these things, and more. You are a Projectionist. Now go make a show."
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One of the many things I love about attending webinars and zoom sessions during the pandemic is that sometimes I also find out about interesting books that are totally off my radar. Such was the case with this book, published by the George Eastman Museum in 2019, "The Art of Film Projection: A Beginner's Guide".
I found out about it during a George Eastman Museum presentation about a 1948 film "Portrait of Jennie" on nitrate film that they would have screened during their annual Nitrate Picture Show. They periodically screen a selection of films from their large vault holdings of nitrate films. Cellulose nitrate film was used from the 1880s to about 1952 at which time it was replaced by far safer acetate based film stocks. Cellulose nitrate is extremely flammable and basically can't be put out, it burns even under water.
Anyway, just like paintings, photographic prints, and such, it turns out films (on film, not their digital copies) are not only something to be preserved, but to be shown as they were originally meant to be seen and screened. There a numerous museums, and theater's like The Loft in Tucson, who still project films on (non-nitrate) film as well, as modern digital movies. The Dryden theater at the Eastman museum is one of only a few theaters equipped to safely screen nitrate films.
From the book's forward:
"The [Projectionist] profession has become endangered or has been deskilled into non-existence [automated, digital, pushbutton operations], which is why this beginner's manual is so overdue. Projecting film prints correctly is a great responsibility and a great skill. When a print is mishandled, it can easily be destroyed. [...] We only notice a film's projection when it goes wrong. Good projectionists are trained to handle history; they must protect the prints in their care, and their greatest skill is to remain unnoticed."
"This book is expressly addressed to non-specialists. Of course there have been many specialized publications on this topic; none of them, however, has attempted to explain the art of projection in a language that is accessible to those who have never entered a projection booth or touched a strip of motion picture film."
Since I'm a big fan of movies and fascinated with the design and operation of "older" mechanical equipment, I found this book to be an easy and very interesting read. It is well written and full of interesting pictures of equipment. I learned a lot. Some fascinating stuff, such as all the different methods that the audio was encoded in the film, and where on the film relative to the image, how the film projection is seamlessly switched between projectors to handle the multiple reels of film that make up a movie.
I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in film history, modern day film projection of old films, or anyone just interested in how things work when it comes to film projection on "old equipment" in theaters with film projectors.
High quality hardback binding, nicely illustrated, ribbon bookmark.
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From the Publisher
For more than 100 years, people saw movies on film; now they mostly see digital projection. Enter The Art of Film Projection, part manual, part manifesto from the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, to preserve knowledge of the craft.
–Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times: 2019 Holiday Gift Guide
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Reviews with images
Love this book.
A must read if you sit in that booth. If you’re a student, get it. Wish it had a few chapters on digital technology.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2020
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Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2019
A must read if you sit in that booth. If you’re a student, get it. Wish it had a few chapters on digital technology.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2019
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Top reviews from other countries
david william watson
informative
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 20, 2020