The Motion Picture Machine Operator: 1900 to 2000

摘要

The motion picture industry has grown from a nickelodeon novelty to one of the greatest art forms in existence. In the final analysis, all production costs, all labors of skilled craftsmen and artists ultimately pass through the tiny aperture of a theater projector for judgment by the audience. An overview of the operator responsible for maintaining a flawless and faithful exhibition of a given production is featured in this paper. As this past century drew to a close, myriad articles appeared encapsulating crafts that fit neatly into that time slot; one, largely confined to the 1900s, is the motion picture machine operator. From the single handcranked device casting shadows on a white sheet in the Nickelodeon of 1900 to the fully automated platter system found in multiplexes today, the film projectionist may be said to have seen the greatest advances in this timeframe. The development of fully electronic image exhibition has finally become a reality, and there are those who might see a threat to the continued use of film for theatrical projection. However, with films, today's state of the art sustains greater number of screens in use than in the peak years of the 1930s and 40s.