Page 34 - CR

Rewind Room.

The pathway of the film through the
projectors was cleaned every time a
reel was changed. But cleanliness
started with floors and other surfaces,
and the carbon arc-lamps which
produced a very fine dust.
Assistants would normally start
about half-an-hour before curtain-time
to switch on and check the equipment,
thread the first reels on the projectors,
and get the records and slides ready.
With fifteen minutes to go, the
auditorium work-lights were replaced
by the house and stage lighting and
music played as the audience began to
take their seats for the show.
All cinemas took pride in the way
the show was presented; it was
something of a convention.
About five minutes before the film Barkly Bio-box.
began, the curtains opened for the
slides from Val Morgan advertising
local businesses and forthcoming films. assistant running from the bio-box to This was the cue to start the motor
The curtains were closed again after the the back-stage to open the curtain by of the second projector for it to run up
last slide was shown which meant the hand for the feature film. We took to speed for the change-over. At the end
show was about to begin! pride in our presentation! of the film on reel one, a second dot on
Films always began on time. The The average film came in anything the screen was the cue to operate the
last record was timed so that it ended as from seven to nine parts made-up on to shutters to close one projector image
the house lights slowly faded out; the the 2000-foot reels for showing as a and open the other as the sound was
stage-lights dimmed, the curtains then continuous film using the two switched over at the same moment.
re-opened and as the screen was first projectors. When all went well, the change-
revealed the film was projected onto it, So with parts one and two on reel over between projectors was not
not onto closed curtains. one and three and four on reel two, noticed by the audience: the light
At the end of a film, the closing (and so on), there was a change-over quality from the arc-lamps matched and
curtains were timed to touch just as the from one projector to the another the two projectors were properly in
film image faded to black. roughly every twenty minutes. focus. This too was an area of skill we
prided ourselves on. There was an
At the Barkly we liked showing off As the first reel neared its end there added complication when the some
by using the second set of pale-gold was a small cue dot on the film which film-prints had to be shared with
screen tabs when we had a major film appeared in the top right-hand corner of another cinema in another suburb.
attraction, even though it involved the the screen.

34 2011 CINEMARECORD