A brief look at of some of the trust's recent activities.
Due to the issues of a leak at the Astra Cinema and subsequent mould problem, much of the PPT's equipment stored there has been moved to other storage facilities such as Dean Clough, Halifax. The PPT's Duxford Coordinator and Curator, Alex Cooper, has been working on moving our equipment.
Mansfield Library ran an exhibition about the old Granada which had been demolished. The PPT were given photographs of the projection room in the 1970s and asked to create the machine as was then. Thanks to Dion, Allen and Rob Younger who helped assemble the equipment in Mansfield, and the exhibition is still ongoing.
Rob Younger, who owns the Parkway Barnsley, recently decided that he would like to install two Cinemeccanica Victoria 8 projectors in the original projection room so that it would look just like it did when Odeon twinned it in 1980. You can do that when you own the cinema. He began the project in early January but was short of some parts for the second machine. In Elstree the PPT had a spare X4000 lamp house from Chris Woollard’s machine and it was decided we would loan it to Rob to get him up and running. The plan was to collect it from Elstree on 12 January. In the meantime Rob had a call saying would he like a 35mm print of Empire of Light for a special screening later in January. However, shortly afterwards he had another call to say the print was available for a screening on 17 January. There follows a photo diary of those hectic few days from 12 – 17 January. The final still image shows the perfect error rate displayed in the film processor and so it is good to see that in these digital days there is a British laboratory that can process 35mm film to this standard. Click on an image to enlarge.
Dion
reports on the show at the Abbeydale on Friday 29 October
The main auditorium is closed due to an unsafe ceiling and so the
stage area has now become the Flytower theatre. Consequently when we
were asked by Joe of Reel Steel to screen two films for his Halloween
event we had to work out a way to run 35mm in the venue. The films
were to be Hellraiser and Candyman.
The idea was to bring along the Portacine with a tower and using a
CP65 into their sound system. However, with space constraints we went
with a Cinemeccanica V4 and having mid-feature intermissions to help
their bar sales.
The pictures show the kit arriving in the back of my car (with Tom
and I) and being mounted on a platform at the rear of the screening
room. Then me installing and equalising the sound. We went with L-C-R
through their system and used our surrounds through a separate
amplifier at the rear of the theatre. And finally on the night Allan
projecting the films.
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The PPT was present at the Battle of Britain Flying Day at Duxford on 10 September.
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Some of the sixty five 35mm feature films we packed for Contemporary films to go to the States'
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The PPT has provided a projector, magazines, films and cans, as
well one of the seats out of our theatre, for the filming of video
clips for the stage show Shock Horror.
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On 14 July Tom and Dion went to the Abbeydale Picture House Sheffield to look at the possibility of showing 35mm on the large stage area, since the auditorium is now closed due to the main ceiling failing a safety inspection. We took the Portacine and ran both scope and widescreen ratio films for Joe our client from Reel Steel. The trial was a success and so hopefully we will be showing films again at the Abbeydale in the not too distant future (see Abbeydale article above).
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Mike Astley working on a Cinemeccanica V5 for a new screening room at CAPA College, Wakefield. The pictures show the V5 with just an analogue
reader, then Mike assembling the digital reader on the bench and
finally fitting it to the machine. The machine will be on
long term loan.
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Work is continuing at the Astra Duxford to return the Astra
projection back into how it may have looked after the war.
A pair of Ross/RCA/Peerless machines have been installed and
now the work has turned to the sound system. Since the equipment is used to
show modern films as well as vintage a stereo sound system is required but the
task is to hide it away so that at first glance the box looks period.
To this end Alex is replacing the modern Dolby rack with a
new one hidden under the rewind bench the pictures show the rack being
dismantled and the old equipment being removed and awaiting the installation of
the new rack. A period RCA will then stand where the Dolby rack previously
stood.
Meanwhile it is also necessary to have a modern machine with
an invertor so that silent films can be screened as well as modern Dolby
Digital films. Consequently, at the far end of the projection room a Victoria 5
is installed for such occasions.
The machine that was in was one of a pair which will be used
at a new performing arts college in Wakefield which the PPT are kitting out
with 35mm facilities. So, the V5 has been replaced with an earlier one that had
been restored in Halifax. As can be seen from the images the lamphouse in
particular had to be completely stripped down and cleaned before
reinstallation.
Work is progressing slowly so any help would be greatly
appreciated please contact Alex Cooper if you are interested in helping with
the project.
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Installing a new sound system in the Picture House Keighley ready for the premiere in July of The Railway Children. The photos show the speaker kit (stage and surrounds) ready for shipment, Allan Foster checking out one of the power amplifiers, a shot of the auditorium where they are going, the new centre channel in place, the old Westrex centre channel pulled out of the way, the new sub driver fitted in the old cabinet before placing in an upright position, the new power amp rack sited below the original sound rack which now only houses the cinema processors and non synch. equipment, blanking panels yet to be fitted and Dion aligning the new sub woofer. The cinema owner is Charles Morris of Northern Morris Cinemas, a PPT life member we are helping out.
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Rob Younger provided the photos of the world premiere of The Railway Children at Keighley on 3 July.
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Urban-Smith Kinemacolor projector now back home on display in the Williamson Art Gallery and Museum in Birkenhead following restoration by the PPT in Elstree.
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Mark Lees provided the photographs below of the Argyle Exhibition at The Williamson Art Gallery and Museum in Birkenhead. The Urban Smith projector was rescued from the basement of the Argyle Theatre after the theatre was bombed in 1940. The PPT had been looking after it at Elstree and with the help of Nigel Wolland, Steve Rowley and Mike Taylor had it shipped up to Birkenhead for this display in celebration for the History of the Argyle. The group picture by the projector shows left to right: Mike Clarke and his wife, Anthony Clarke, and Roger Clarke. All three are grandchildren from Mr Denis J Clarke the famous proprietor/manager of the Argyle. The exhibition ended on Saturday 3 September and it is claimed over 5,500 people visited the exhibition. Some great and interesting comments were added in the visitors book from visitors from as far away as the USA and Australia!
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A look at what is happening with some of the trust's members.
The Gaumont Barnsley opened in 1956, was renamed Odeon in 1962 and twinned in 1980. It closed in 2005. Rob was a projectionist at the Odeon. Parkway Cinemas reopened the cinema on 8 August 2007. Rob is one of the directors of Parkway and their projection engineer. He has installed 70mm in the downstairs cinema, which was originally the stalls, using the original screen. The two cinemas are digital but are both still equipped for film presentations.
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And a short video showing a 70mm print of Tenet being projected...
Bob writes:
I started
collecting cinema equipment plates after my first visit to the Cinema Museum in
2018. Ronald Grant had two boards full of incredible plates that brought back
memories of my youth working at the Ritz and Odeon in Southend.
It was a very
modest affair for the first year as I scoured Ebay and other places for new
additions but as I became more involved with the PPT, Cinema Museum and the CTA
other sources of material presented themselves. People like Nigel Wollard and
Alex Cooper have been very helpful in assisting me with several of these items
but others have come from as far away as the USA. Thus the door to my office
has gone from very humble beginnings with a lot of duplication to the present
state where I am approaching full capacity and only two items duplicated.
There are
plenty of items I would like to place on the door if they can be located but I
am now having to think what provision to make when the door is full. I do have
one or two items that do not fit on the door such as a Peerless Magnarc nameplate for which I have made a small
lightbox to display it. A lot of the items I am searching for will fit on
easily such as the badges for Brenkert, Walturdaw 5, Ross GC and DP70 mechs, a
Vulcan Arc nameplate and a Duosonic Cabinet badge. However the white back plates
from Lightmaster and President Arc lamps
will need to be displayed elsewhere - and who knows what else might turn up
apart from these items!
If you can
help Bob with his search for badges please email him at bm@theppt.org
Click on any image to enlarge:
Ten years ago, a technological revolution swept through cinemas
around the world, as analogue projectors were replaced with digital
equipment. It was not just the plastic medium of film that was removed
from projection boxes during this transformation; most cinemas took this
opportunity to also evict the human projectionists who were hitherto in
charge of screenings. Projectionists had been hidden from the sight of
audiences for most of the history of photographic moving image
projection, and their redundancies went largely unnoticed and unremarked
upon.
This book focuses attention on what has been happening behind
film spectators' heads for the past 130 years, and attempts to write
the history of cinema in Britain from the perspective of its habitually
overlooked and undervalued projectionists, beginning in the silent era
and continuing to the present day. Drawing upon extensive archival
research and lengthy interviews with former projectionists, it documents
the key facets and challenges of their work, and how these evolved in
response to previous waves of significant technological change. It
evaluates how projectionists helped to design and maintain key aesthetic
characteristics of the 20th century big screen experience. It shows how
the institution of cinema in Britain has been historically underpinned
by the harsh exploitation of projectionists by many employers, detailing
inadequate wage levels and poor working conditions that formerly
provoked government investigation, and explaining why these problems
were never successfully ameliorated by trade unions. It also charts in
depth the recent fateful transition to digital projection, delineating
how and why projectionists were so swiftly and ruthlessly consigned to
the past, and assessing whether this form of entertainment should be
considered diminished by their super session.
The projectionist on the cover is PPT member Alan Foster who was chief projectionist at the Hyde Park Picture House in Leeds.
The book is available from Amazon.
Neil Baker of Cinerama Film wrote:
In a run-down clubhouse, the paint peels
from the walls, the roof leaks when it rains, and unscrupulous locals
dump their rubbish in the club driveway. Welcome to Bradford Movie
Makers. Here in the decaying building they call home, a group of friends
keep the flame of amateur filmmaking alive, despite the slow
disappearance of similar groups since the 1990s. In this dysfunctional
family of ageing cinephiles, Harry wants to do a shot-for-shot remake of
the opening sequence to the classic musical Oklahoma, a film that meant so much to him and the wife he now cares for at home.
Meanwhile, Colin, the club projectionist
and carpenter, is desperate to keep the building alive, despite the
graffiti and rubbish adorning its entranceway. At the same time, Phil
and Joe, two of the club’s younger members, are concerned about the
number of filming projects the group takes on and the need to finish
what they have started. Finally, Marie, the newest member, is determined
to inject new life into the slowly dying club.
Each member knows the value of the
cinema club they attend and understands its long and prestigious history
since 1932. Still, times are changing, and just like in Hollywood, the
golden age of cinema feels like a distant memory. However, what keeps
the Bradford Movie Makers alive despite its dwindling finances and
crumbling clubhouse is a passion for film, a sense of family and a love
of the celluloid dream.
Filmed over three years, Kim Hopkins’ documentary A Bunch of Amateurs received
its world premiere at Sheffield Doc Fest, where it won the Audience
Award. Hopkins’ fly-on-the-wall film is a delight, a story of
friendship, humanity, community, creativity and hope that had the
Sheffield audience entranced. A
Bunch of Amateurs is a
documentary designed to be watched on the big screen in the company of
others; a love letter to a group of cinephiles who defiantly strive to
keep their club alive against all the odds. It is one of the most
heartfelt, humorous and engaging documentaries I have seen in a long
time, and one that I have no doubt will find a place in the heart of
every audience member it touches.
Written
and directed by Kim Hopkins. Starring Colin Egglestone,
Harry Nicholls,
Joe Ogden
Watch the trailer below (feed from Metfilm).
Dion Hanson writes:
I know Harry Nichols very well, we go back some 50 years when we
were all keen amateurs in the Widescreen Association. We Yorkshire
folk are a tight knit bunch, we just don't shout about it too much. This is a picture of us all as it appeared in Precious images
in Rewind 167. Harry is second from the right.
Dion and his wife to be, Susan, are second and third from the left. Members can view Rewind 167 in the Rewind archive.
The film was screened on BBC 4 on 13 December and shown as being available on BBC iPlayer for over a year.
Nigel Wooland writes:
I took these photos at the new four Screen Curzon Cinema at the Bentall Centre in Kingston which opened on Friday 11 November. They will also have an open air cinema on the roof which opens next year. Unfortunately they got the plate wrong, as the Odeon Leicester Square did not have DP70s. I was told this machine was originally in the Royalty Kingsway.
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The PPT Reference library has around 500 sales brochures and technical publications going back many years.
Go to the library
PPT member Fred Fullerton has produced a large number of videos over the years and we are grateful to Fred for allowing us to feature many of them here.
Visit Fred's pageThese specials are versions of our Rewind magazine covering selected subjects produced for online viewing.
Click on an image to view/download. Not all browsers display pdf files correctly. You may prefer to download files and view in Adobe Acrobat viewer (downloadable here).
David has provided a large number of articles, on a variety of subjects, for the PPT and the collection can be discovered by clicking the button.
Film projection has a long and storied history. There is a romance
to film projection that is not shared with its contemporary
replacement Digital Cinema–the idea that there is someone in a
darkened booth cleaning and lacing the projector, changing reels
and keeping an experienced eye on the focus and sound levels is a
reassuring throwback to times gone by. Indeed, it took the cinema
industry longer than most other entertainment industries to embrace digital technologies, but when, in the mid 2000s it finally
did, the change from film to digital projection was rapid and in the
space of five years digital cinema dominated the industry.
The Independent Cinema Office (one of the websites featured on our Other websites page) has published a booklet giving an overview of film projection. It was written by Dominic Simmons, and photographed by Alexa Raisbeck and Dominic Simmons.
The booklet can be viewed on the ICO website or viewed directly here.
Click on a sponsor to visit their website
