On Wed, 3 Dec 1997 11:05:53 -0800 Shawn Levy <[log in to unmask]> wrote: In the era of monolithic theater chains and mulitplexes, it's more > common that NO projectionist is on-hand at show time; rather, the > professional projectionist makes a daytime route of theaters and spools > films, then leaves the actual projection at show time (often a > one-push-button affair) to a theater manager who is familiar with the mere > rudiments of the system. This is an interesting, pertinent, and troubling subject. On one front, it was a key issue in the lockout of projectionists by the Cineplex Odeon cinema chain in Ontario last year, and elsewhere in Canada earlier on. Part of the point the company tried to make was that the theatres could operate very well without union projectionists most of the time (specifically, except for weekends and discounted Tuesday-night shows) and that cinema managers could handle the job, represented as not much more than pressing a few buttons. (I don't remember that the option of union projectionists acting as house managers ever came up.) Several friends and acquaintances who attended shows during the lockout reported noticeably substandards projection. In fact, to tie this to an earlier question, one friend specifically asked why boom mikes were apparent at the top of so many shots. My guess was that no one in the booth was paying attention -- if there was anyone in the booth at all. On another front, let me recommend Nicholson Baker's article on film projection, first published a few years ago in a special issue of the New Yorker, dedicated to the movies. It also appears, I believe, in his 1996 collection of non-fiction titled The Size of Thoughts. Blaine. Blaine Allan [log in to unmask] Film Studies Queen's University Kingston, Ontario Canada K7L 3N6 ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.tcf.ua.edu/screensite