Film Projectors in and around belfast

We have been doing some research into which cinemas (if any) still run film projectors and we were surprised to find that there are several projectors still being advertised for use.

A cinema in comber runs 16mm film projections

http://www.anotherfinesite.com/Directions%20to%20the%20Tudor.htm

The Waterfront Hall actually have two top-end Kinoton projectors advertised

http://www.waterfront.co.uk/conferenceandmeetings/avprovision.aspx

And the QFT are known for running archive footage and advertise that they run a 35mm projector.

http://www.queensfilmtheatre.com/booknow/donate/

So we have plenty of contacts to make.

What do we need to show/ask?

The premise of this film is to show the difference in the day to day work of a cinema projectionist through the transition from film projectors to digital projectors. We therefore need to show our projectionist's hands operating a film projector -

Loading film

Checking film

light leaving the projector

projection on the screen

light leaving the arrow loop from the projection room

Reels turning

Changing reels

Winding film

And a digital projector-

Getting the files from the storage device into the projector

Running through menus

Hitting play

Show light leaving projection room

Hitting screen

What the projectionist does in the downtime between changes

Changing bulbs

Is it more or less demanding now, in the digital age? 

What training did he undertake which is now null?

What skills does he have which are now obsolete? 

Is there a downside to digital media over analog i.e. does film look better? 

Has he heard of any other projectionists losing work now that cinemas are switching to digital?

Is there any argument for returning to film?

A classmate, Eamon O'Neill, and I are pre-producing a short cinematic documentary on the theme of "Hands". We chose to show the day-to-day operations of a cinema projectionist in modern times compared with what the job entailed in the past, when working with film projectors.

We are making steady progress in lining up all of the permission we require to make this documentary.  The cinema management have given us the green light, and we are awaiting confirmation from the projectionist, Davey. Davey is very enthusiatic about his job and keeps select pieces of disused promotional film roll from the cinema's history in his personal collection.

We have also discovered that BMC has film projectors that we can use to obtain stock footage for cutaways etc. which will be very useful, particularly if we have limited time in the projection room.