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Matt Neufeld has been a projectionist at the Chisholm Trail 8 for seven years. And in that time, he hasn’t really been able to watch many movies.
“I see them in bits and pieces and piece them together later,” Neufeld said.
Throw out the stereotype — Neufeld doesn’t sit and watch a movie over and over again.
What he does do is “build up” each movie — combining the five to six reels sent to the theater for each movie into one, long, continuous film strip.
The average reel has about 20 minutes of film. It’s 35 millimeter film that runs through a projector at about 24 frames per second.
What happens behind the scenes, at least in the projection booth, is changing at the movie theater.
Hollywood is going digital. Newton’s Chisholm Trail 8 is planning to renovate one screening room of the eight it has, spending $100,000 to put in a new digital projection system with 3D capabilities and a new screen to show it off.
“There is no film,” said theater manager Todd Miles. “The movie will come on hard drives.”
Those will be downloaded into a computer system and then projected. Miles said in the future, movies will be downloaded from satellites by theaters.
With the addition the theater will be able to show live events, from rock concerts to the Superbowl.
“And some of that in 3D,” Miles said. “If they have the new 3D cameras at the Superbowl next year, we can show the game in 3D.”
This summer, the theater will have seven 35 millimeter film projectors and one digital system —Miles said conversion to digital will take between three and four years.
The change will mean Neufeld won’t spend 30 minutes cutting and splicing film to build a movie and add previews.
Currently, the theater is required to show one preview with each movie —it’s attached to the print by the distributor. The others are added in Newton.
Miles said as long as he’s here, those will not include commercials — only movie previews.
“When we get a film, there are usually three to nine trailers along with them,” Miles said.
That’s quite a few — but Miles has a few rules of thumb to help sort through them and decide what previews should be put with a move.
He said they don’t add more than three, unless they are short, then a fourth might be added. What films are rated is part of the decision as well.
Matt Neufeld has been a projectionist at the Chisholm Trail 8 for seven years. And in that time, he hasn’t really been able to watch many movies.
“I see them in bits and pieces and piece them together later,” Neufeld said. Throw out the stereotype — Neufeld doesn’t sit and watch a movie over and over again. What he does do is “build up” each movie — combining the five to six reels sent to the theater for each movie into one, long, continuous film strip. The average reel has about 20 minutes of film. It’s 35 millimeter film that runs through a projector at about 24 frames per second. What happens behind the scenes, at least in the projection booth, is changing at the movie theater. Hollywood is going digital. Newton’s Chisholm Trail 8 is planning to renovate one screening room of the eight it has, spending $100,000 to put in a new digital projection system with 3D capabilities and a new screen to show it off. “There is no film,” said theater manager Todd Miles. “The movie will come on hard drives.”Those will be downloaded into a computer system and then projected. Miles said in the future, movies will be downloaded from satellites by theaters. With the addition the theater will be able to show live events, from rock concerts to the Superbowl. “And some of that in 3D,” Miles said. “If they have the new 3D cameras at the Superbowl next year, we can show the game in 3D.”This summer, the theater will have seven 35 millimeter film projectors and one digital system —Miles said conversion to digital will take between three and four years. The change will mean Neufeld won’t spend 30 minutes cutting and splicing film to build a movie and add previews. Currently, the theater is required to show one preview with each movie —it’s attached to the print by the distributor. The others are added in Newton. Miles said as long as he’s here, those will not include commercials — only movie previews. “When we get a film, there are usually three to nine trailers along with them,” Miles said. That’s quite a few — but Miles has a few rules of thumb to help sort through them and decide what previews should be put with a move.He said they don’t add more than three, unless they are short, then a fourth might be added. What films are rated is part of the decision as well. “If you have a PG movie, we don’t want to put an R trailer on it,” Miles said. “We try not to put on a PG-13 either. For an R-rated movie we try and pick other movies that are similar.”And while upstairs in the projection booth is “where all the action happens,” Miles said there are plenty of other things going on behind the scenes while moviegoers are being entertained. There’s popcorn to be made — purchased in 50-pound bags. There are bathrooms to clean, tickets to sell and theaters to clean in between shows. “Our biggest thing, our biggest struggle, is to keep things clean,” Miles said. “When movies are sold out and people are waiting in line, that’s usually what they are waiting on. You have just a few minutes to get in and clean a theater.”The Chisholm Trail 8 employs 12 people, though that number will grow to between 15 and 17 during the busier summer months.
