The first SDDS print I can recall was 'To Die For' 1995, which also carried SRD and DTS. Sadly, at the time, we were not equipped to run any of them - so Dolby 05 was 'order of the day'. Academy Mono was the only option when the print was transferred to our small Cinema 2 (140 seat) club screen with Westar 2001a/2002 sets of 1948 vintage. You'd be surprised by the number of patrons (mainly older) who preferred the limited dynamic range of Cinema 2 where a bomb or gunshot sounded barely louder than a whisper, and where dialogue was paramount. I've still Dolby EQ cards here.... but why did we bother???? We very rarely ran at 'Dolby 7, '. Fader 4-5 was typical though still 'too loud' for some. If we had a 'Director' screening, it was a different matter..... just crank it up !!!! Danny Boyle was easy to work with on both Trainspotting and Shallow Grave. He had the option to run at 1.85 or, at my suggestion 1.75. Having demonstrated both, ... !.75:1 it was. At least we could offer him the choice. Danny had not previously seen his work shown in single reels with carbon arcs.
St Anne's Jombulance Brigade were known to attend screenings of 'The Exorcist' at Westgate Road. It was the only decent film that Bill Friedkin ever made!
My 80,90's local Cinema, many good times,who remembers the very late naughty films shown ,i think on a Friday, starting at 11-00 finishing at 2 in the morning if memory serves me right.. Thank you for upload.
Thanks fred! I used to work here as chief when richard was promoted to engineer in 2003. aside from southend (i was one of michael's seniors dual site with chelmsford) this is the only 2 of your videos ive worked at. Keep them coming, i love watching them all. I worked at Chelmsford, Southend, Cineworld Milton keynes, Cineworld rugby, uci northampton, odeon tunbridge wells , hemel, barbican centre and sound associates. had a little blast from the past when i left youtube on, left the room and heard the cinemation alarm and came back to the room, almost in auto-pilot! Sadly I said goodbye to the career when I suffered a stroke, now self employed in phone repair.
Hello Neil, Thank you for your most interesting comments. I'm glad the Cinemation alarm triggered the desired effect. I'm really sorry to hear you have not been well. Wishing you all the very best.
Hello Andrew I remember when the P&D logo were towers from Ancient Greece with a clear blue sky, with a nice piece of majestic-classic Music for the intro and close P&D logo. Thank you for your comment.
Fantastic. Brand new multiplex with what looks like quite an eclectic mix of 40 year old + (but still very good!) kit. You'd expect it all to be brand new Vic5 consuls or similar 😊 Interesting....wonder where it all came from?
yes, it was a fascinating mix. 2003, i replaced Richard Mosey when he was appointed field engineer. the kalee and zenith xenon conversions remained there until around 2004, when i think richard may have put the money men under pressure to replace them which they did, with new cinemeccanica cx lamphouses. there are now stains on the floor caused by years of leaking uv/xenon light casting on the floor from the lamphouses! Aside from small incremental changes as far as i know, the kit remained the same. I left when I was offered a position at the barbican in london which was a similar setup to BFI, and i loved it. Sadly, whilst working for Sound Associates I've had health problems culminating in a stroke, so it was time to say goodbye.
whats the music being played in the background.? beautiful indeed. aah, found it in the credits- "the eastern sea" by john abbot. fascinating dive into one of bournemouth's old cinemas.
OK, that was fascinating for SO many reasons ! Must admit, working in that tiny box with arcs must have been an experience!! Glad you saw it's still around.
23:41 You know there's no such thing as the curtains closing in this modern Odeon Cinema 😊 Creepy music Wait what da That's impossible! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!!!!!!!! Idea from stairs 4 by @raxdflipnote
that was great. i love to figure out problems and be able to fix them. I had my shutter apart so I can relate. I spotted so much in this vid. I see they run the exact same lamp I run. I also spotted the CAT689 on the wall which are very hard to find now. I must ask you about what they put on the shutter shaft. the round white unit with the wire coming out looks to be an encoder. never seen that before. (I see them on cnc machines). Thanks Fred.
The Vic 8 was also known for Ghosting at a lot of installations I had seen. The Westar Projector there was a knob on the front to tweak the Shutter timing.
Hi Fred, it's me again. I found that the worst offender for ghosting was the Vic 5. The main issue was the B belt tension, slightly too loose and you would get a fluttering ghosting normally from the bottom of the frame. Easily fixed however, simple re tension the B belt correctly. I used a blacked-out frame with clear racking lines, this very clearly showed up any ghosting, and could easily be raked up and down to test the top and bottom.
Hello MIke, Good to hear from you. I only ever did relief working with Vic 5's, but I understand completely what you are saying. You must have installed so many of them over the years. I like your blacked-out frame for your Ghost check. My favourite machines were the Vic 8, Vic 10 of which we had 2 at the Odeon Haymarket, and of course the DP70 of which we had 3 at the Empire L/Sq. Always good to hear from you. Take care. All the best.
Hello Sascha, On looking at the video again, I saw the poster for Jurassic Park (1993), I never checked the other films. The Jurassic poster was actually Jurassic Park III (I did not see the III) which would clearly date it to 2001 as you correctly said. I will put a note in the description. Thank you so very much for pointing my error out. It does happen occasionally. I appreciate it when people correct me like this. All the very best. Please keep commenting.
Hello Designsbyg, Thank you for your comment. Nice One. Would you ever consider a bright LED conversion, I'm thinking it would be bright enough for home use?. They were a neat arc designed for small theaters. I think Star Cinemas back in the day used them a lot. All the best Fred
When the Ritz at Wokingham had a new 180-seater built into the old Foyer area, the main 800 seat auditorium was bingo sadly. I converted the old projection area into a very nice flat. I had the old battery room converted into a bathroom and shower. I ran that cinema and lived there for 3 years. Quite a novelty lounge as the room followed the curve of the old balcony. Not seen that platter before, looked like the feed arm was over tight as the film really had to pull on the film to get it to move.
Hello Mike, good to hear from you. That's very interesting about your flat. It sounds like you had 3 great years there. I remember back in the day, some projectionist jobs came with a flat in some independant cinemas. Re: the platter, I think Ben said it was a Boss platter. I could not find any info on it. Thank you as always for your comment. All the best.
I worked here in the Steve era. I recognise everything in this video down to the sound of creaky floorboards in the stairwell going up to screen 1. I often dream I’m back here. It’s criminal what has happened to this building and many others like it.
Hello Mathew, Thank you for your comment. It certainly was a great Twin Conversion and a lovely cinema. Glad it brought some happy memories back to you. All the best.
I remember those creaky floorboards too 😊 What a place to see a film. You'd hear people at the kiosk asking if their film is showing on 'the big screen'...audiences loved it...
The projectionist Steve seems to run a neat and tidy operation. I remember the presentation was always excellent, especially in Screen 1 with the curtains closing prior to the feature...
Fantastic upload, I worked here from 2017 to 2019 and much of this 90s rebuild still remained, but it was ageing quite a bit by then so nice to see it all when it was new. The downstairs bar had become a Starbucks and we were still doing very good numbers, around the third Saturday in January especially there'd be huge queues coinciding with peak Oscar season. Still a few random old UGC (and even Virgin) cinema logos scattered around then if you knew where to look! The Picturehouse rebuild made it look really stunning but it came just that bit too late, I don't think the audiences ever recovered post-Covid to keep it open unfortunately. Some very famous audiences too, we had Kylie, David Beckham, Adele and even Princes William & Harry attend while I was there.
Hello Billy, Thank you for your most interesting comment. It's very sad it lost it's mojo. Picturehouse have just announced another closure. Their Bromley site is closing on 1st August 2024. Very sad times. It's good you have some great memories of your time at Fulham Road. Thank you for sharing them
The last surviving original Cinerama auditorium in the UK and something crazy like fifth largest by seating capacity when it closed. An amazing place to see a film! Even on 35mm scope that deep curve was just spectacular... Saw my first film there 😢
Hello @DarthVader-on4pe Growing up in Liverpool we had an amazing 3 strip Cinerama theatre with one projection room for the 3 projectors and sound follower. The original Top Box (above the Circle) was used for the 35mm (flat ratio) introduction. What an amazing moment when the gentleman on the screen said "This is Cinerama" and the switch would happen and change to 3 strip Cinerama. The tabs opened slowly revealing this huge screen. That is what you call presentation. It was always a great joy to watch a movie there. Thank you for your comment.
@@fp30e Amazing! Funnily enough, the interior designers/architects who did the twin conversion at Bournemouth also did the twinning at Liverpool: you can definitely see some similarities (including the rim of lights at the ceiling edge near the screen in Odeon 1). Fantastic places to see a film 👍
@@DarthVader-on4pe Hello Darth Vader, You can certainly see they were both very similar (Bournemouth and Liverpool). Both Odeon 2's had the same looking projection room as viewed from the theatre. That stood out a mile for me. Both cinemas were great conversions. Thank you for your comment
Makes me so sad to see all those lovely cinemas are gone modern cinemas have nothing on them no curtains no showman ship going to pictures used to be a experience not know it’s like sitting in a shoe box with seats speakers screen projector booth nothing like all those palaces that would seat over 2 thousand at a time and would be packed jaws earthquake Bruce Lee double bills just a few films and could sit in all day with continuous shows
Hello William, You are showing your age talking about continuous days. They were great days. Often you would turn up in the middle of the movie. Go into the screening and sit thru both movies until you got up to the scene where you came in, and then you would get up and go home. It worked well. Thank you for your comment.
Screen #1 would have been great with 70mm. Still enough room for more screen surface with a top masking rising, and side masking opening even wider. Could have matched the Odeon Marble Arch.
Hello lio fo, I agree with you. What a missed opportunity. As the video said, they put in a new screen frame and a smaller screen. Had it been today I'm sure it would have been different. But what a beautiful auditorium. It''s a shame we have lost it. Thank you for your comment.
Hello Dark Vader, Thank you for your comment. I really enjoyed making this video. And like you said Screen 1 is a lovely cinema and must have been great to see a movie there. All the best
Hello Fred. I find so many of your videos, so very sad. It's like watching your own death, over and over again. Seeing people, you know being thrown on the scrap heap, often never working again. Then digital came along and thousands worldwide joined this fate. I'm so glad I left the business before I also ended up on the same scrap heap. The past seams unreal at times. Was I involved in cinema or was it just a film I had watched?
Hello Mike, So good to hear from you. I know exactly what you mean. I am currently working on one (time now 0040 Wed Morn UK) which is another great cinema that has closed. It's sad because I knew the projectionist in the video. I have a great multiplex near me. It's a very well run cinema. I have noticed some picture and sound issues when watching films there and have mentioned it to the very friendly management team, and they do get things done, it helps when this cinema makes lots of money. But what I am finding now, Digital is not looking that great on screen these days. I'm guessing the light engines are getting clogged up with dust, the image just looks soft and smokey all the time. Not sharp or dynamic at all like it used to be. I think we watched the same Road Show movie. All the very best.
@@fp30e A 35mm projector, provided you keep the lamp, mirror, gate and lens in good condition, you will get a great picture. Video is a completly different ball game. The image path is quite complex, problems possible everywhere. Dust is a real danger. Not helped by no staff, little if any maintenance. Areas than cannot be maintained, thousands of components, that can age and degrade the image. A typical video projectors life is really only about 10 years, but it's the slow degradation that is less apparent. Changing one part will not fix it. I have also noticed this and running the lamps far too long. Corners getting dark, poor light stability and low light. This will only get worse because the bill to replace these projectors will be mined blowing. Never had to replace the complete 35mm projector every 10 years, and a video projector cost many times the price. At least no one has to pay those annoying projectionists!!
@@MichaelBeeny Hello Mike, I totally agree with you, 35mm projectors just kept going, 70 or 80 years in some cases. Yes dust is a nightmare for digital projectors. None of the circuits have any money these days for major maintenenace to the projectors, and I'm sure more cinemas will close this year, which is really sad. But the interesting thing is, does the public ever complain. No, they accept the image as they don't know any different. I was very pro digital in the early days, as the picture was so good. In a perfect world, I would love to do a side by side screen quality comparison with a 70mm (filmed in 65mm) print and a digital print from a well used Digital projector. This will only get worse. Thank you again for your excellent comments. All the best.
@@fp30e A few last thoughts Fred (I promise!) Odeon and ABC did make some dreadful twining's and triples in the past. One of my favorite cinemas as a teenager was the ABC Victoria in Cambridge. A great 70mm show. I watched Ryans Daughter, three days in a row. I just loved the big screen and sound. Poor focus around the edges but otherwise perfect. Some 3 weeks later I thought just one more time. To my horror it was in ABC2. Not been in that hall before. Probably around 60 seats. Mono, of course, level floor, really hot and muggy, the smallest screen I have ever seen. You could hear the projector running. Very poor sight lines, and an amazing flicker to the picture. The experience was like chalk and cheese. 70mm down to mono. I tolerated this for about 20 minuets. I went to the counter and asked for my money back, Afterall it cost the same in both screens. They refused my money back. I NEVER returned to that cinema again.
Hello DarkVader, they certainly looked nice cinemas for sure. I'm fortunate that my local Odeon has moveable side masking (A proper Scope Screen). The cinema was built new from scratch 9 years ago and it's very well looked after.
Hello Mark, I love your comment and thank you for it. Every now and again I will do a joke credit, and the "AI" is most certainly a Joke credit. Thank you very much for spotting it. Take care.
@@fp30e Cool, it was a joke, all good! It's just the way it's all going of late, anything like that just sets me off !! You can see where my mind is lately when I didn't get this 'joke' 😂
@@marktubeie07 Hello Mark, I used to do worse credit jokes than that not so long ago like HR by "Dowhat Isay" All tongue-n-Cheek. Glad you're not angry with me now. 😃
Hi Fred, Almost just like a UCI, even down to the Wharfedale monitors. Sound Associates used to fit a really crappy cheap driver from RS in an even tackier box. All you could tell from it was that sound was coming out. A monitor should let you hear any buzzes, hums or distortion. At that time Wharfedale was thinking of making a powered 20-watt monitor loudspeaker. I asked them what minimum order they would accept. They said 50 units, the rest is history. Funny thing was the SA speaker that was real junk cost us 93 pounds, the Wharfedale, including the amplifier was half of that. Funny how Dolby was fanatical about sound levels. Calibrating the halls at 85dB which was fader 7 on the SA panel. I always told Dolby, that was too loud. We would always go into the hall and listen, most of the time that meant a fader setting of 5-6. I got round it by calibrating the halls to 82dB so a fader of 7 was usually just fine. I note this cinema also used fader 5 on Dolby digital. We ended up fitting a slow start inverter to all Vic 5s as they tended to strip the gears within the shutter drive. Over the years I must have repaired hundreds of them. They were fine until Cinemec replace one of the gears for a nylon type. Cheaper than the original metal gear, just a pity it was crap! The issue of the projector starting to quickly was because they used a 3 phase synchronous motor which only likes to run a one speed. most important for interlocking 2 or more projectors. They tried to solve this problem with resistors in series with the motor start. It simply did not work well. Personally, I never really like Cinemec equipment, the platter in particular. The Kinoton FP30 and the electronic feed module was my favorite. I never had a rap with that module. The light from the Kinoton lamp house was 100% even, and lots more light than from the metal mirrors from Cinemec, which often had hot spots.
Hello Mike. Good to hear from you. You make some very good points which are always interesting to read. The last 35mm projector I worked on was 2 x Kintoton FP30E (electronic intermittent) rock'n'roll. We ran them from new until Digital came out. They were very quiet, and we never had any issues with them. I always liked the Vic 8's in preference to the DP75 for 70mm, but then again the DP70's were the king of 70mm projection. Thank you for your amazing comments. Take care. All the best
Hello Designsbyg Thank you for your comment. It's good fun, especially when there is a bit of mix and match with the equipment. All the best. Take Care.
grateful for this video because Im doing an assignment and I was desperately trying to find what those red digits meant... I could not find it in anywhere but this vid actually explained it😭😭😭 Thanks for uploading!!!
where did you hear about the cinema closing? I contacted Picturehouse and they told me they weren’t aware of any such thing, and that the building can’t be demolished because it’s listed
Hello youjustpreviewed very impressive VHS collection by the way. Regarding your good question. Check this out (last paragraph) cinematreasures.org/theaters/17033 this is where I got the information about Fulham Road. I never act on anything unless I can reasonably justify a statement (as in this case). I now have it from other confidential sources that Fulham Road is closing. I'm not sure who you managed to contact at Picturehouse yesterday (Saturday) as the offices would be closed. I hope I am wrong and the cinema stays open. I am aware it's a listed building, but as the interior has been gutted I'm guessing that only the front entrance of the building is listed, which will form a new entrance to the block of flats. Thank you very much for your comment. Take Care.
Hello n@youjustpreviewed Just announced today that Picturehouse Fulham Road is closing on 11th July 2024. Sorry I was not able to disclose the date of the closure when I announced that (via Cinema Treasures) Picturehouse Fulham Road was closing.
Hello Dark Vader, good to hear from you again. I have said this before. When I used to turn up at a cinema, mostly unannounced, I was always very grateful for whatever time the duty projectionist could give me. We did visit one auditorium, but I have to go where I am taken and most of the time projectionists don't have time to take me around and show me the screens. Gordon was amazing with me, talking to me on camera, and he did show me around the cinema, but obviously, we couldn't enter screens when a film was showing. Gordon was a great host. I agree with you it's nice when we can get in to see the auditoriums, but sadly with quick change-arounds for the next show, there often is no time. All the very best.
I did like the lighting in our UGC Hull as shown here too.. plus it's huge 50 ft screen....however the edges were rounded not square..can anyone tell me the reason for this ? Kindest regards Paul
@@fp30eI understand, it was not a criticism but just me building myself up to see the auditorium which never came. I totally get amd appreciate the fact that they still took time out for you whilst working.👍😊
@@newcamnoddy Hello, Thank you for your reply. This seems to be the way the French do screens. A lot of the cinemas in Paris don't have masking, and their screens nearly always have rounded corners.
Speaking of masking in this video, digital project _(the case here in Australia anyway)_ meaning is no longer a thing. Yes, digital projection has sharp edges, but the noticeable black level change is just abysmal. Bring back masking anyway I say 😡
Hello Mark, I totally agree with you about Masking. Without masking, assuming it's a wide proper Scope screen, on 1.85 you will have white screen showing each sid eof the image, which completely alters the contrast of the 1.85 projected image. This is what gets me about Dolby Cinema saying everything has to be black in the auditorium and the projection room has to be painted black, but from many images I have seen of Dolby Cinemas, many have no masking, so you are going to lose contrast straight away on non scope footage. Just for the record I have no problem with Dolby cinema. I think Dolby Vision is excellent. I would prefer Dolby 7.1 sound in preference to Atmos though. I am a great fan of Dolby. All the best.
I was a relief projectionist at his cinema in July 99 for the release of Star Wars EP1.... I worked as the Chief of Virgin Cinemas Ipswich... Fulham Rd requested cover as they didn't have enough staff and did not want to work a 17 hour shift... Star Wars ep1 had a crazy amount of performances planned each day to try and cash in on demand... I remember being stressed as I had never used that automation before... I survived and the show went on... a epic cinema, but sadly hacked up over the years to add the needed screens..
Hello Daniel, Thank you for your comment. It must have been exciting working some time at Fulham Road with the rush of London outside. Yes it looks an epic cinema. All the best.
In the 1970s (when it was ABC) this was my local cinema, along with the Paris Pullman. Is is still the Fulham Picturehouse? In the early 1970s I worked for Classic Cinemas, who were bought out by LMG, the Laurie Marsh Group who sold them tp Cannon, which became Cannon-MGM, then maybe Virgin, then maybe UGC.....then I lost track of what happened.
Hello NewZMan Thank you for your comment. That must have been great having the ABC as your local cinema. So you must have known it before it was cut up. You mention some memorable names from the past which I am fully aware of (being that old) Paris Pullman made me smile as I had forgot about that cinema. Take Care.
Looks like a nice show, sad it's closing. Maybe since the video was taken, things have gone downhill, less patrons. Or just money, property is so expensive these days, I'm sure flats will make the owners more money than cinema ever would. Fred, people knock multiplex cinema, but we would NEVER start a show on auto. I would always insist a projectionist start the show standing next to the projector. If anything could go wrong, it's quite likely to be on startup. Anyway, you always need to check, fine racking and focus. In my old ABC Frier Street in Reading, all 3 screens had auto start but we NEVER used it. Even though screen 3 was a long walk through the gents, past the old, bombed dance hall, onto the roof.
Hello Mike, Good to hear from you. ABC (back in the day) Fulham Road was probably ABC's busiest cinema. It's in the best area, everything was going for it. When it was eventually bought by Cineworld who in turn, turned it into a Picturehouse cinema (Cineworld own Picturehouse cinemas). It is said that Picturehouse spent £2m on an upgrade to the cinema. As a Picturehouse Cinema it made no money? It was in fact loseing money. I had heard things were getting better, but then sadly it got sold. Thank you for your comment as always. Take Care.
Hello Adrian, Thank you for your comment. When I date a video, I look at the posters of the films playing and then check them out against imdb, which I did on this occasion. it said 2000. However after your fine comment I re-checked, and sure enough it said 2000, but wait. I then opened up the released dates for the rest of the world (not the US) and sure enough the UK release was, as you correctly said 2001. Doh!!!! You got me!!!! I can't alter the video, but I will make a note in the description that it was 2001. Well spotted. I am so pleased you let me know. Cinema Treasures was reporting the closure and I saw it yesterday. So I checked around for verification and got it. I had footage of the cinema so hastily created the RU-vid video yesterday afternoon. All the best.
You have not allowed comments on your video about the Eiszeit Kino in Berlin, which you incorrectly state was in former East Berlin, whereas it is very much in Kreuzberg and was always in West Berlin. The Berlin Wall was on the other side of the river, and in fact is now the East Side Gallery. Sarah who ran the Eiszeit used to tell how when she was a kid she would feed the ducks on the river, and so would kids on the other side. The ducks were free to come and go as they pleased but people were not.
Hello ElectricFilms, Thank you very much for your comment. You are so right Eiszeit is in West Berlin. Thank you for pointing that out. The time when I recorded this video Kreuzberg ,was a very poor area of West Berlin, but not so much today. Everything smacked as being former East Berlin. The old run-down buildings, and graffiti on the stairs was so in common with several other East Berlin Kinos. Maybe someone told me. I appreciate that you took the trouble to let me know. I will make a note in the Description of the video. Thank you so very much, Spoolbox
I used to live in Kilburn but only saw one film at the Tricycle. I remember it had a great auditorium and the visual presentation was on point. Sound was a bit underwhelming sadly, the surrounds were Bose and maybe the stage speakers were too?
Now, that's a real projectionist. He really seems to know his stuff. He talks about not only projecting but setting up cinemas and projectors. That's a lot of work and there is a lot of wiring that goes with it. What a great man.
What an amazing gentleman - if nothing else, the stowic attitude of his recollection of the war years, so matter of fact. We need people like him today. Superb video & I'm also glad you recorded this interview for posterity!
