The Projectionist

There’s a logical explanation for my XML Prague paper about the Film Markup Language: I’ve been running shows at cinemas for 36 years. Before I ever heard of markup languages, I worked as a projectionist in addition to studying physics and astronomy. It was a good way to put food on the table and great fun, and I fell in love with cinema technology, especially 70mm projection and Dolby sound.

Between 1990 and 2016, I ran every single show at the Draken theatre for Göteborg Film Festival, surely a record of some kind. Today, however, my focus is on the Odeon, a cinema in my garage built from recycled parts. The Odeon is primarily a showcase of my fascination for Dolby sound processors, but it is also the last fully functioning 70mm theatre in Western Sweden.

2 thoughts on “The Projectionist

  1. Kurt Wahlner

    Hello:
    I am compiling a history of all the projection and sound systems which have paraded through the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. I have posted from 1927, when the theatre opened, to the beginnings of the Dolby System era.

    http://www.graumanschinese.org/projection-1.html

    The internet has led me to your photo of your Dolby CP100 Cinema Processor. Firstly, I should like to have permission to run it in this history. Secondly, I wonder if it might be possible to obtain a larger version of the photo – I should like to read all the lettering on the front, in order to tally things with the descriptions outlined in the 1975 era Dolby handout for the unit, posted on in70mm:

    http://www.in70mm.com/news/2013/cp100/index.htm

    I should like to take my readers on a tour of what all the slots and bays were for, as the machine was equipped to handle all sorts of film formats – except 4-channel Dolby SVA!

    I made a film which was in the Göteborg Film Festival in 1992, but that might have been before your tenure there!

    Sköl!

    Reply
    1. admin Post author

      Hi,

      Not sure the picture is of my CP100. I’d be happy to take pictures of it, including details, closeups or anything else that you might require. I’m traveling right now, though, so you’ll have to wait for ten days or so.

      My CP100 is not equipped for five screen channels–it’s got the later SW cards instead.

      I was indeed the projectionist in 1992, so if your film was shown at the Draken, I was the one who ran the show. I’ve run every single festival show at Draken since 1990.

      All the best,

      /Ari

      Reply

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