Table of Contents
Operating A35mm Movie Projector And Setting The Carbons
| Field | Movie projectionist |
| Went Obsolete | Approximately 1980s |
| Made Obsolete By | video tape projectors |
| Knowledge Assumed | Threading the film, setting carbons, switching projectors between scenes. |
| When useful | Real movie theaters, as opposed to today's version |
Movie film used to come on big reels that ran 20 minutes each. The projection booth had 2 projectors, one was running and the other being unloaded and reloaded. The projectionist had to thread the film through the projector, fire the carbons just before switching projectors, start the full projector, switch the projectors at the end of a scene on screen, then repeat the process. In between he had to rewind the used film, splice it if it had broken, and replace the carbons if they were burnt down too low to last another 20 minutes. The feature film usually required 5 reels, and another reel for coming attractions, cartoons and news.
