The Stuff behind the Showing of the Movies...

I am still curious about what it takes to show a film in the kino. Here are some pictures of the projector and projectionist I took in Bosnia. The projectors themselves are pretty interesting machines. I remember when I was in school and every now and then the teachers would show a movie and the projector sat on a cart and we and to shuffle the chairs and put up the screen, and darken the classroom. The film would start but you would also hear the whir-whir-clikity-clickity-clickty-clicky and see the open reels turning with the film.

 The Bosnian Projectionist.

Another view of one of the Projectors.

These are pretty hefty machines and the bright and very hot Xenon lamps require cooling.  There is also a way to sync the two projectors when one reel is ending and the other starts, a few second of overlap, and sometime you see the black dot. Remember "Fight Club?"

Another view of  one of the machines.

Closer Up of the Front End

There are actually two machines and the Projectionist has to start the film,

swap reels, and alternate the showing projector. and rewind for the next use.

I think most older  movies are about 90 minutes long and are on four or five reels.

One of my all-time favortie movies is "Cinema Paradiso."  A projectionist is one of the centers of the film.