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A projection booth (US English), projection box (British English) or Bio box (Australian English) is a room or enclosure for the machinery required for the display of movies on a reflective screen, located high on the back wall of the presentation space. It is common in a movie theater.
During the early cinema period (1895 to the late 1900s approximately), the projector was typically located and operated within the theatre auditorium itself. The move to physically segregated projection booths resulted from the emergence of auditoria specifically designed for the projection of movies, which was caused by a combination of the growing popularity of cinema and increasing concerns over the safety risks of nitrate film. Projection booths that were segregated and equipped with fire prevention, fighting and containment infrastructure gradually became a legal requirement throughout the developed world. A typical example of the regulation that emerged during this period was the fire safety provisions of the Cinematograph Act 1909 in the United Kingdom.
To maintain isolation between projection room and auditorium windows were fitted in the projection room wall through which the image is projected and are usually made from a special, high grade glass designed to minimise distortion and light loss through absorption and reflection. They are often called portholes, as they were usually much smaller than the windows typically found in buildings. The origin of the reduced size dates back to the ability to manufacture glass without imperfections that could distort the image but more importantly these openings to the auditorium had to be made fireproof. Steel guillotine shutters were fixed over each window between projection room and the auditorium and in case of fire a low melting point fuse would release the shutters and isolate the projection room from the auditorium should the glass break from the heat of a fire. The room used to rewind the reels of film once screened was also isolated to reduce the risk of a catastrophic fire. Also in the rewind room would be the entire complement of film reels on site being stored in sealed steel bins with each reel in its own individual sealed compartment.
After the introduction of safety film in the early 1950s, because they remained useful for several other purposes. These include isolating the noise produced by opto-mechanical projectors from the audience, providing appropriate atmospheric control for the projection and film transport equipment (including, in more advanced booths, the use of HEPA air filtration to prevent dust contamination of the film prints in use), the provision of work space for the projectionist to prepare prints for projection and maintain the equipment, and the isolation of dangerous equipment and infrastructure (e.g. potentially explosive xenon bulbs and three-phase power) from untrained members of the public.
Historically, some movie projectors prior to modern automation would include a bell or other warning device, sometimes activated by centrifugal force when the supply reel reached an appropriate speed or a light beam detecting when the film on supply reel had reduced to a specified diameter. Two projectors would be used, requiring that the projectionist switch between the projector showing the reel coming to an end and the one about to screen the next reel. These 'Changeovers' would happen normally 5 or 6 times in one film depending on the length of the movie, each reel of film being approximately 20 minute in duration using safety film while the earlier reels of nitrate film were shorter at 10 minutes; 20 minute of nitrate film being considered too risky . Two sets of on-screen dots or circles of 4 frames in duration known as cue mark signified to the projectionist firstly to start the projector containing the incoming reel then the second cue mark indicated the time to switch from the outgoing reel to the incoming reel. The bell or other warning devise alerted the projectionist that end of the reel was imminent and attention would be required.
Modern cinemas are now highly automated and few would ever have a need to run nitrate film. The need to do changeovers has been effectively superseded with the introduction of continuous loop projection systems. These systems operate by having all the reels of film for the entire showing, main feature, supporting film, trailers etc all stuck together in one gigantic reel that is normally mounted horizontally and the film is fed from the centre of the spool to the projector where it is screened and then wound back on the outside of the same horizontal spool. Quite often these spools will be located some way from the projector and the film path may be over rollers along the ceiling of the projection room and surrounds. The lenses of the projector can be automatically rotated in front of the projector light aperture to accommodate the correct lens for a given format. The picture to the right shows a semi-automatic system using vertical spools that can hold an entire movie, however these are not the continuous loop projection systems and the film will need to be rewound after the screening. Also the rotating lens turret can be seen on the projector to the right of the image. Both of the automated methods of screening need very few staff in very often one projectionist will look after the screening of three or four auditoria in one cinema complex. Although there is no longer a need for the shutter or the small porthole like windows in the projection room they are still installed, mainly to reduce ambient light in the projection room reaching the screen.
The latest screening method used in projection is where the program is stored in a digital format on a computer hard drive and the content delivered on the drive itself or over the Internet. The main feature of this delivery is that the movie can be distributed instantly for blanket screening anywhere in the world. Encrypted data is emended into the movie governing the number of screening, times and dates etc This practice reduce cost in printing, reduces cost in transport, reduces bad press as most people get to see it before they read about it and it also reduces piracy as again most people see it before pirate copies have been made.
Some smaller theatres, as well as larger ones that have been split or refurbished since the introduction of digital cinema, have eliminated the booth altogether, replacing them with a semi-professional digital projector hung from the ceiling or rear wall of the auditorium.
Nitrocellulose is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to a mixture of nitric acid and sulfuric acid. One of its first major uses was as guncotton, a replacement for gunpowder as propellant in firearms. It was also used to replace gunpowder as a low-order explosive in mining and other applications. In the form of collodion it was also a critical component in an early photographic emulsion, the use of which revolutionized photography in the 1860s.
A movie theater, cinema, or cinema hall, also known as a movie house, picture house, picture theater or simply theater, is a business that contains auditoria for viewing films for public entertainment. Most are commercial operations catering to the general public, who attend by purchasing tickets.
IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio and steep stadium seating, with the 1.43:1 ratio format being available only in few selected locations.
A video projector is an image projector that receives a video signal and projects the corresponding image onto a projection screen using a lens system. Video projectors use a very bright ultra-high-performance lamp, Xenon arc lamp, metal halide lamp, LED or solid state blue, RB, RGB or remote fiber-optic RGB lasers to provide the illumination required to project the image. Most modern projectors can correct any curves, blurriness and other inconsistencies through manual settings.
The Empire, Leicester Square is a cinema currently operated by Cineworld on the north side of Leicester Square, London, United Kingdom.
A movie projector is an opto-mechanical device for displaying motion picture film by projecting it onto a screen. Most of the optical and mechanical elements, except for the illumination and sound devices, are present in movie cameras. Modern movie projectors are specially built video projectors.
A reel is a device used to store elongated and flexible objects by wrapping the material around a cylindrical core known as a spool. Many reels also have flanges around the ends of the spool to help retain the wrapped material and prevent unwanted slippage off the ends. In most cases, the reel spool is hollow in order to pass an axle and allow it to spin like a wheel — a winding process known as reeling, which can be done by manually turning the reel with handles or cranks, or by machine-powered rotating via motors.
Cinema Paradiso is a 1988 coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore.
A film leader is a length of film attached to the head or tail of a film to assist in threading a projector or telecine. A leader attached to the beginning of a reel is sometimes known as a head leader, or simply head, and a leader attached to the end of a reel known as a tail leader or foot leader, or simply tail or foot.
A projectionist is a person who operates a movie projector, particularly as an employee of a movie theater. Projectionists are also known as "operators".
The Rex is a cinema in the town of Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. Designed in the art deco style by David Evelyn Nye in 1936, the cinema opened to the public in 1938. After 50 years of service, the cinema closed in 1988 and became derelict. The building was listed Grade II by English Heritage, and following a campaign to save the Rex by a local entrepreneur, the cinema re-opened to the public in 2004.
A cam is a bootleg recording of a film. Generally unlike the more common DVD rip or screener recording methods which involve the duplication of officially distributed media, cam versions are original clandestine recordings made in movie theaters.
A film base is a transparent substrate which acts as a support medium for the photosensitive emulsion that lies atop it. Despite the numerous layers and coatings associated with the emulsion layer, the base generally accounts for the vast majority of the thickness of any given film stock. Since the late 19th century, there have been three major types of film base in use: nitrate, acetate, and polyester.
Cinéorama was an early film experiment and amusement ride presented for the first time at the 1900 Paris Exposition. It was invented by Raoul Grimoin-Sanson and it simulated a ride in a hot air balloon over Paris. It represented a union of the earlier technology of panoramic paintings and the recently invented technology of cinema. It worked by means of a circulatory screen that projects images helped by ten synchronized projectors.
RealD 3D is a digital stereoscopic projection technology made and sold by RealD. It is currently the most widely used technology for watching 3D films in theaters. Worldwide, RealD 3D is installed in more than 26,500 auditoriums by approximately 1,200 exhibitors in 72 countries as of June 2015.
A cue mark, also known as a cue dot, a cue blip, a changeover cue or simply a cue, is a visual indicator used with motion picture film prints, usually placed in the upper right corner of a film frame. Cue dots are also used as a visual form of signalling on television broadcasts.
The Whiteladies Picture House is a cinema on Whiteladies Road in Clifton, Bristol, England.
The history of film technology traces the development of techniques for the recording, construction and presentation of motion pictures. When the film medium came about in the 19th century, there already was a centuries old tradition of screening moving images through shadow play and the magic lantern that were very popular with audiences in many parts of the world. Especially the magic lantern influenced much of the projection technology, exhibition practices and cultural implementation of film. Between 1825 and 1840, the relevant technologies of stroboscopic animation, photography and stereoscopy were introduced. For much of the rest of the century, many engineers and inventors tried to combine all these new technologies and the much older technique of projection to create a complete illusion or a complete documentation of reality. Colour photography was usually included in these ambitions and the introduction of the phonograph in 1877 seemed to promise the addition of synchronized sound recordings. Between 1887 and 1894, the first successful short cinematographic presentations were established. The biggest popular breakthrough of the technology came in 1895 with the first projected movies that lasted longer than 10 seconds. During the first years after this breakthrough, most motion pictures lasted about 50 seconds, lacked synchronized sound and natural colour, and were mainly exhibited as novelty attractions. In the first decades of the 20th century, movies grew much longer and the medium quickly developed into one of the most important tools of communication and entertainment. The breakthrough of synchronized sound occurred at the end of the 1920s and that of full color motion picture film in the 1930s. By the start of the 21st century, physical film stock was being replaced with digital film technologies at both ends of the production chain by digital image sensors and projectors.
Wetherby's Cinema, officially the Wetherby Film Theatre and formerly the Rodney Bingo Hall, Rodney Cinema and the Raby Picture House, is a cinema in Wetherby, West Yorkshire, England, that originally opened in April 1915.
The DP70 is a model of motion picture projector, of which approximately 1,500 were manufactured by the Electro-Acoustics Division of Philips between 1954 and about 1968. It is notable for having been the first mass-produced theater projector in which 4/35 and 5/70 prints could be projected by a single machine, thereby enabling wide film to become a mainstream exhibition format, for its recognition in the 1963 Academy Awards, which led to it being described as "the only projector to win an Oscar", and for its longevity: a significant number remained in revenue-earning service as of February 2014.