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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : IMAX film down-under....
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Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9757 |
I've been watching some IMAX film projector booth videos lately, and what an astounding system this was - on 70mm film. Triggered from my watching of old abandoned drive-in videos. This video explains what is going on at a technical level that MOST other videos never did, so a historic video of film for picture, and yet using DVD's for the audio synced to the analog 70mm film print for the pictures. PERHAPS the best hybrid film + digital system that ever existed prior to laser projectors and full-digital. Not sure that the digital or laser projectors can REALLY do the old film justice, but I guess we will see.  Check this 3D film threading awesomeness..... ...in any event, this video is film GOLD. I just loved listening to all his technical comments...and anyone else shocked by the price of the visual prints!!!! No wonder they all wanted to go digital. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| Paul_L Guru  Joined: 03/03/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 769 |
The job of "Projectionist" is one of the most specialized technical jobs anywhere. In the old days full length movies would typically be delivered to a theater on five to eight reels, each running for about 15 minutes. Each would be threaded into one of two projectors in turn, the arc lamp electrodes would be replaced or trimmed and adjusted, then, at nearly the end of one reel of film a sequence of dots would appear on screen and the projectionist would usually step on a foot pedal to transfer from one projector to the other. The film print would now be on the takeup reel with its "tail" out so it would be rewound onto another reel to have it ready, in the "head" out configuration, for the next showing. In New York City the projectionist union had all the movie theaters sewed up. You had to be a union member of the film distributor would not deliver films to your theater. It was common for the projectionist union membership to be inherited from father to son. The job paid a very high hourly wage. In 1974 Pan Am had to lay off about 30 electronic technicians engaged in fixing aircraft radios. A friend of mine, Pete Frohloff, was caught in the layoff. When I asked Pete what he intended to do he said that he would take over his father's projectionist union card and find a theater to work in. Pete was called back to Pan Am in 1979 to an inside job in a shop and assigned to diagnosing and repairing the Edo 600 T Loran receiver. Pete would sit there all day, testing and fixing Loran receivers, and continuously recite the dialog from the 1974 Mel Brooks film "Young Frankenstein". I turned out that he had gotten a job in a theater almost immediately after his layoff. After a week or so the theater switched films and began showing "Young Frankenstein". It was a very popular film! It stayed in the theater continuously for the four years Pete worked there, showing the hour and 46 minute film over and over and over and over. He could, and did, reproduce the entire sound track of the film, all day long. Or, he could randomly select high points from the film and repeat them. Sort of like this ... LINK ... or this ... LINK ... or ... LINK Pete could even replicate the horses whinnying every time someone mentioned Frau Blucher. LINK That was pretty scary. Pete nearly drove some of the engineers nuts. It didn't affect me at all .... I was already nuts. Paul in NY |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9757 |
That film and I were born in the same year. It's a great film, and I should dig out some of those classic Mel Brooks films and watch them again. Much better then the modern rubbish. It is amazing how much threading they had to do with those IMAX films, especially the two-film 3D ones as shown in that video at the start of this thread. Rollers galore, and film going every which way. Impressive just from a physical point of view. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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Chopperp Guru Joined: 03/01/2018 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1106 |
@Paul_L Hi Paul It was good to see your reply. I was just thinking the other day that I hadn't seen you about of late. I was considering putting out a BOLO as they say on the TV Cop shows. I trust all is well. Brian ChopperP |
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| Tinine Guru Joined: 30/03/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 1646 |
Igor: What hump?  Brilliant film  @Paul_L Really enjoyed your post. Craig |
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| Paul_L Guru Joined: 03/03/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 769 |
Hey, Brian, I'm still percolating, just a little slower. I've about given up on fooling with tiny little electronic gizmos which I basically can't really see. Lizby and I tried to stir up some interest in a DBMS written in MMBasic for the CMM2 a few months ago but very few people seemed interested. It's a shame really. dBase had the highest volume sales of any program when it hit the market thanks to its programming language. The CMM2 implementation would have MMBasic standing behind the DBMS code just waiting for someone to write a simple program which would call the DBMS procedures. Ah well, the best laid plans 'o mice and men gang oft aglee. Paul in NY |
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| Paul_L Guru Joined: 03/03/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 769 |
Hi Tinine. Mel Brooks was very good at pushing the envelope. .... What knockers! ..... Why thank you doctor. .... He must have an enormous schwantzschtucker! .... Naturally. Things that make the censors go HMMMMMM .... This clip from Silk Stockings made the censors lose their false teeth when Cyd Charisse drops her teddy at 3:35. Because they couldn't actually see any details they decided to have her grab that see through petticoat at 4:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG3b2l0-5IY It made me go HMMMMMMMM too! Paul in NY |
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| Paul_L Guru Joined: 03/03/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 769 |
Look what I just found!!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzTvsZ-Gx7M It's a thirty minute documentary featuring Mel Brooks talking about the making of Young Frankenstein! Would you like to go for a roll in the hay????? Have fun guys. Paul in NY |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9757 |
BRILLIANT doco.  He's great in this, but watched lots of Gene's movies too - Willy Wonka, Silver Streak, Woman In Red, and many others that escape me at the moment. What a brilliant actor Gene was, and he never felt he needed to stoop to swearing a lot in most of his roles. Willy Wonka is a personal favourite of mine, cos it showed how he could sing rather well also! Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9757 |
Gene Wilder and cast interviews on this movie: LINK... Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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Rickard5 Guru Joined: 31/03/2022 Location: United StatesPosts: 463 |
Man we had an I-Max Dome theater at the Science place at Fair Park in Dallas. and OMG it tortures my soul to remember it's last days and it's gone for us twenty - thirty somethings in the 90' after losing the record stores, I-Max was the Date night thing. I may be Vulgar, but , while I'm poor, I'm Industrious, Honest, and trustworthy! I Know my Place |
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