Abstract
Projectionists are left aside when the cinema apparatus is discussed. The following text is a rare attempt to put a spotlight on them, and the place they occupy: the projection booths. I will talk about the double split the projectionist went through during the history of cinema – split from the filmmaker and split from the spectator, I will discuss their relationship with the projector, the machine they necessarily need for their work, and will explore the miracles they may achieve by manipulation with it and the film reels. When switching the reels, splicing the frame into the film, or cutting the frame out of it, do the projectionists become a filmmaker? While we may talk about the relationship between a/ a filmmaker and camera and b/ spectator and camera, which is the relationship between spectator and projector? Last but not least I will contemplate how the projectionists are portrayed in the film.
Highlights
Digital technology has significantly influenced the way films are exhibited since the beginning of the 21st century
The projectionist‘s kingdom is his projection booth, which is an enigma – it is inside the cinema but outside the auditorium; it is a small space, which is crowded with huge machines; it is the room in the room; it is behind us but the stream of light that is coming of it is visualized in front of us
Towards the end of the film Projectionist (1970), the protagonist stays alone in the movie theater
Summary
Tyler Durden: Why would anyone want this shit job? The Narrator: Because it affords him other interesting opportunities. (Fight Club 1999). Tyler Durden: Why would anyone want this shit job? The Narrator: Because it affords him other interesting opportunities. Alfredo: You’re like a slave and always by yourself. You talk to Greta Garbo and Tyrone Power like an idiot. Salvatore: So why don’t you change jobs? Salvatore: So why don’t you change jobs? Alfredo: Because I’m a nitwit. (Cinema Paradiso 1989)
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