Table of Contents
Using A 16 Mm Film Projector
| Field | Lacing up a 16mm film, ensuring that the sound-track and projected images were in sync |
| Went Obsolete | Late 80s |
| Made Obsolete By | Popping a VHS cassette into a VCR player |
| Knowledge Assumed | Fine motor skills to get the film onto the sprocket heads and into the projection gate |
| When useful | Projectionist at a multi-screen cinema complex |
- Mount the spool of film on the front arm, and reel off the first 24 inches of film
- Mount the empty spool on the rear arm of the projector
- Open the film gate between the lamp and the lens. Most projectors have a lever or similar mechanism to move the gate away from the lamp.
- Bring the free-end of the film leader through the first set of rollers in the projector casing
- Press the lever on the top sprocket, slide the film over the sprocket and release the lever. Ensure that the pins on the sprockets pass through the holes in the film, and that the lever catch is holding the film against the sprocket.
- Leaving a loop about the width of a finger at the top of the gate, insert the film into the gate and close the gate.
- Leaving another loop about the width of a finger at the bottom of the gate, follow the procedure above to attach the film to the bottom sprocket.
- Pass the film through the snubber rollers, around the flywheel and back around the snubber rollers again.
- Attach the film to the third sprocket
- Feed the film out of the rear of the projector, insert into the slot in the hub of the empty spool, and wind the loose film onto the spool.
- When starting the projector, ensure that the film is being wound onto the take-up spool
