 Cinema
Technology, October 1998
This article first appeared in Cinema
Technology as a chapter in the ongoing series of "Meet the
Chief" articles. Here it is again, fully updated and published (with
permission from Mr. Jim Slater, BKSTS' editor of Cinema Technology) for
the first time on the internet with lots of added extras details and
pictures.
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In
this article, former projectionist Mr. Thomas Hauerslev (Born March
10, 1963) takes you on a tour
of his universe in Copenhagen in his
native Denmark. Mr. Hauerslev was a
projectionist in Copenhagen for a number of years (1982 - 1994) and is
presently busy raising two children, working full time as a Staff Member
at the European Environment Agency,
editing The 70mm Newsletter and collecting
70mm projection equipment for a future 70mm museum.
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I
have had one special movie interest: 70mm films. It is a great joy for me
to see a rock-steady 70mm image on a large curved screen and listen to
6-track stereo. Thanks to the high resolution (even from a blow-up)
it is a very intense experience for me to see 70mm.
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One
of my fist contacts with the cinema was in the early 70s, when I saw
"The Guns of Navarone" at the Imperial
Bio in central Copenhagen. Little did
I know that I would be working as a projectionist at the Imperial 15 years
later. My younger brother Henrik and I regularly attended cinemas from
1977 and onwards. This was around when "The Spy Who Loved Me"
and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" opened. I
quickly became familiar with the cinemas of Copenhagen.
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Unhappy with gymnasium,
I dropped out and began as projectionist apprentice in April 1982 at 3
Falke Bio in Copenhagen.
My first film alone was a rotten print of "Quo Vadis" with
several stops during the performance. The 3
Falke Bio had opened in October 1958 with "South Pacific"
and "The
Miracle of Todd-AO" in Todd-AO.
This was the first Todd-AO
installation in Scandinavia, 1000 seats in stadium style seating, a huge
curved 70mm screen and 6-track stereo. The projectors were the Philips
DP70 (Norelco
AAII). There were two sets of curtains
and individual masking for all formats.
I was very happy working there.
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Unfortunately
the 3 Falke Bio
closed in December 1982 and I lost my dream job. In April 1983 I had a
brief encounter with City Bio, a run-down cinema near Town
Hall Sq. dating back to 1898. They had a pair of Bauer U3 70/35
projectors. They never ran any 70mm, however. The screen was small, flat
and not very impressive. There was always a pungent odor smell of decay
and I soon left. The cinema was closed in 1989 and demolished.
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My
next job was at ABCinema+D in central Copenhagen
managed by Nordisk Film, the
oldest movie company in the world
(Founded in 1906). The ABCinema+D opened
in 1974 as ABcinema, but very quickly, screens C and D were added. It was
one of the first multiplex cinemas in Denmark. The cinema, except screen D
which was located next door, was built on the ground floor inside The
Palace Hotel in a former nightclub (Ambassadeur). The projectors were
Bauer B14 and Bauer U4. Very reliable 35mm projectors. There were Bauer, Kinoton
and Christie platters. The number of seats were 110 in the smallest
(Screen C) and 289 in the largest (Screen B). Screen sizes were not very
impressive. All screens were flat and only screen B was equipped with Dolby
Stereo (CP50).
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The
best film I ran at ABCinema+D was
undoubtedly "Amadeus". We ran it for 16 months, 3 times a
day. I must have seen it several dozen times. I even ran it for myself in
the middle of the night every once in a while. I think my favorite line
from "Amadeus" is "Too many notes, just cut a few,
and then it´ll be fine". Simply hilarious! The funniest film was "Monty
Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl" and the best joke here was
"Drinking American Beer is like making love in a canoe! It´s fucking
close to water".
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Across the roof from the main projection room we often visited our
neighbors at the Grand cinema to
borrow equipment. In 1986 Nordisk Film
courageously installed a used Bauer U3 70mm projector and a ST270
Kinoton platter.
"Out of Africa" was running in 70mm and 4-track stereo. It was
great fun for us to install, except nobody cared about 70mm and the film
was taken off after two weeks. In comparison, it had run for 9 months at
the Imperial
Bio in 70mm before we got it.
ABCinema+D closed after the last performance March
31, 1989.
All projectionists were on duty that evening and we closed in style; one
projectionist per screen.
Y2K update: Since 1992, ABCinema has been a Ripley's Museum
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A
few times every week, I migrated cross the square to the Cinema 1-8 with 8
screens. Projectors were Bauer U4 and a single Bauer B11. Platters were
Bauer, Kinoton and
Christie. The size of these cinemas ranged between 60 and 120.
Although they were small cinemas, Cinema 1-8 was very successful. The
projection rooms were located in 5 different rooms on 3 floors. When I
started, only screen 1 had Dolby Stereo.
The rest were mono. I enjoyed working there, mainly because it was fun to
run 8 cinemas and make all performances look as good as possible. Besides
that, I really got good exercize.
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 In 1987 I was offered a job running films at the Imperial
Bio. At that point I was working at ABCinema+D and Cinema 1-8, but I
was eager to run at Imperial Bio too. That was also an opportunity to work
with my projectionist friend and mentor, Mr. Rene Pfaff. He has always
been a great inspiration to me and he has a fantastic sense of humor.
The Imperial Bio is a very large cinema with a 16 meter curved 70mm
screen. All projection lenses were ISCO
Ultra Star HD and for the 1,85:1 format, an ISCO
Ultra Star Studio is used. Imperial has 1102 seats (originally 1521) and
has recently received a THX certificate.
The projectors are DP70 and a complete
range of digital sound formats are installed: Dolby
Digital, DTS (both 70mm and 35mm)
and SDDS. In 1991, 35mm CDS (Cinema
Digital Sound) was installed for "Terminator 2". |
All
amps and speakers are JBL, but that
does not necessarily guarantee good sound. I remember in 1989, a new JBL
4675-2 setup was installed, but it did not sound significantly better
compared to our old JBL installation. It didn´t sound really good until a
technician from Dolby Laboratories in London,
familiar with large auditoriums, came a year later and fine tuned the
equalizer. He had the ear to tune it. In my opinion, JBL
is the only true speaker for the cinema. JBL has a "West Coast
sound" not found in any other speaker. The system is of course bi-amped
and all amplifiers are located behind the screen, except the surround
amps.
There are 5 shows a day: 11:30 AM, 2:00 PM, 4:30 PM, 7 PM and 9:30
PM. Before the feature we have 5 - 7 minutes of commercials and some
trailers. When the feature begins houselights are turned off. A working
day for a projectionist would begin at 11:00 AM and end at 5:30 PM, or
from 5:30 PM until around midnight. I preferred double shifts, 12-14
hours. The hourly wage was DKK 63,10 (GBP 6,5) in 1983 and DKK 95,00 (GBP
10) today.
2000 update: The salery is DKK 110,00
The best thing that
happened to me at Imperial Bio was meeting my future wife Charlotte. I
found her in the box office selling tickets for "The Last
Emperor". I completely fell for her smile.
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What he does in his daily work
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In 1985 I decided to get a formal education on top of my projectionist job
and I "offered my services" to the Danish
Railways. While working 40 hours weekly at the railways, I kept
running films at ABCinema+D and Cinema
1-8 in the evening and during weekends. Only rarely did I work fewer than
70 hours weekly for a couple of years. In 1994 I left the projectionist
business when I became a father to my daughter Maria. By that time I only
ran one Saturday every 4 weeks, and I decided to quit while it was still
fun.
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The 70mm Newsletter
-, and why I
have a DP70 projector in my home office
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 In
1994 I was offered the opportunity to become the editor of The
70mm Newsletter and I said "Yes". Within the frame of
my interest for 70mm history I travelled to the USA
in 1997 with Mr. Willem Bouwmeester. We met and talked with several
engineers, including Brian
O´Brien, Jr and Dr Walt Siegmund who made the Todd-AO
system nearly half a century ago. Needless to say it was very exciting to
meet these gentlemen and listen to their stories. I have 6 hours of
interviews on audio tape waiting to be edited and published.
The expenses of making the newsletter are astronomical. I have two very
important financial supporters, The
Decatron Group in Belgium and Nordisk
Film Biografer A/S in Denmark. Thanks to their enthusiastic support,
the subscribers can get The 70mm Newsletter 4 times a year at a relatively
modest price. In the future I would like to see The 70mm Newsletter
continue to grow and maybe become a way of living for me, but at the
moment, I don´t see that as possible. The subject of 70mm and the paying
"audience" are too small. I'll continue to publish the
newsletter as long as I find it a challenge and out of pure love for the
70mm format. As of now, it is purely philanthropy.
2002 update: The March 2002 issue (67) is the last printed issue
until new 65mm films are produced again. All activities are continued on
the web site. By the time the last issue was published supporters included:
AB Global A/S, Dolby,
DTS, NMPFT,
Nordisk
Film Biografer A/S, Theater
aan de Parade and Todd-AO
In 1992 I bought a DP70 projector. Yes,
I have a fully operational DP70 70mm projector standing in my home office.
It is wonderful. No need for a Ferrari,
just get a DP70, to impress the girls!
The in-house DP70 is a great conversation piece. Our guests think it is
beautiful.
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I have a collection of traditional 70mm projection lenses, including Cinerama
(single) lens, Dimension-150, Ultra
Panavision 70, several ISCO
70mm lenses, Todd-AO Cine Aperagon and one of the PROTOTYPE Todd-AO
lenses. Quite often people send me DP70 items that were going to the
dustbin. They know the items will find a good home here. It is very
thoughtful of them and I really appreciate it. I have connected the
projector into my Hi-Fi in order to play magnetic sound. The projector
takes 220V, so it is easy to make it run. Being an imbecile reading
diagrams, projectionist Mr. Stig M Westergaard and Mr. Kaj´s helped me
rewire the projector completely in return for plenty of beer.
They are very thirsty by the way.
I have built a 4 (four) foot curved model screen. When you sit (in a
regular cinema chair from 3
Falke Bio of course) just below the light beam, just in front of the
curved screen, you actually get a strange sensation of sitting in front of
a huge 70mm screen. It is very odd and also very logical. You field of
view is covered completely by a proportionally correct curved screen.
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My screen is a double sided screen with a handle (for easy
transportation). It is flat on the rear side in order to demonstrate the
difference between flat and curved screen projection WHILE THE FILM IS
RUNNING! This feature is quite interesting and probably one of the few
places on earth where that is possible.
Besides having my own DP70 projector, another related passion of mine is
to record DP70 serial
numbers. I have 456+ serial number and 908 DP70 installations
recorded. When we are am on holiday, I rarely miss a chance to go to a
projection room (My wife is very supportive!) and find some DP70 serial
numbers and maybe an odd reel of 70mm film. I have a huge file of
pictures, articles and manuals of the DP70, and I am currently working
with Mr. Kotte in Holland (whose father
made the DP70) to uncover the production story of this amazing machine.
The only projector to win an OSCAR!
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Interested to learn about 70mm
in Denmark, I asked around. Nobody knew how many films had been shown
in 70mm in Denmark or where they ran. I decided to do the research myself
and make a list. The first list was made in 1985. Today, I have enough
material to publish a book about all Danish
70mm cinemas and all films shown in Denmark
in 70mm (5/70 and 15/70), Cinemiracle and Cinerama. It is in my
computer, sitting there waiting until I find the time to edit and publish
it (Everything is available on my web site). As the years went on I
collected a large number of articles about 70mm films and the technology
and about Todd-AO in particular.
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 My
passion for compiling information developed into get more lists: Closed
Cinemas of Copenhagen, Closed 70mm Cinemas of
Denmark, 70mm
Films in Denmark, Projection and Sound Equipment in Copenhagen
Cinemas, 70mm Blow-Ups and List
of 65mm and other Large Format Films plus the aforementioned DP70
serial numbers and DP70
installations.
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 Professionally,
I would like to work for a film museum that would pay me to do Wide Screen
research full-time. It would be wonderful if The
Danish Film Museum established a Wide Screen Research Department. I'd
be happy to join and record the history of many wide screen engineers.
Many are still around us, in their seventies, just waiting to tell their
stories. These insights and memories have never been recorded
systematically, yet we are all living with wide screen every day. Even
television is now going wide screen. It is a part of the global movie
heritage and only very few museums seem to care.
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If
that isn't possible, I'll do it myself and build my own Repository of Wide
Screen Cinema & Film Museum one day. It will be dedicated to the wide
screen motion picture history.
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In
retrospect I really enjoyed my 11 years as a projectionist. There were so
many interesting movies
to see, so many projectors and cinemas
to play with and not least, many fine colleagues to work with. My hobby
was my work, and I felt very good about that. It was a lovely time and I
am very grateful for the opportunities given to me. I seem to have
forgotten the long boring nights while waiting for the last show to end.
Today I have moved on to more international work with the movies and The
70mm Newsletter. I'd like, however, to go back to projecting movies
one day, but at the moment I cannot find the time.
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Favorite Cinematographers:
Freddie A Young (Laof Arabia, Doctor Zhivago & Ryan´s Daughter)
Douglas Slocombe (Close Encounters of the Third Kind)
Mikael Salomon (The Abyss, Far and Away)
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Favorite movie bad guys:
Hans Gruber
Mini Me & Dr. Evil
Mr. Equator
E.S. Blofeld
Little John
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Favorite television programs:
Monty Pythons Flying Circus
Twin Peaks
TV Pil
Score Kaj´s Score Show
Fawlty Towers
Yes, Minister
Yes, Prime Minister
Smack the Pony
Sørensen og Mester
Blackadder
Flid, Fedt og Snyd |
Favorite soundtracks
Under Fire
OHMSS
How The West Was Won
Titanic
Beauty and the Beast
Blade Runner
CE3K
Doctor Zhivago
Around the World in 80 Days
Windjammer
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My 1970s television heroes:
Monty Python
Jesper Klein (Tirana Radio og Fjernsyn)
Paul Nesgaard
Thomas Vinding
Kenny Everet
Dave Allen
Jytte Abildstrøm
Gotha Andersen
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Favorite Actors:
Alan Rickman (Robin Hood, Die Hard)
Jason Robards
Michael Palin
Sean Connery (James Bond)
Alec Guinness
Richard Dreyfuss (CE3K)
Richard Burton (Where Eagles Dare)
Jeff Bridges (The Fisher King)
Roger Moore (The Spy Who Loved Me)
Groucho Marx
Michael Caine
Gene Hackman
Peter Sellers
Denzel Washington
Steve Martin (A wild and crazy guy)
Clint Eastwood
Peter O´Toole
Nicolas Cage
Alfred Molina (Frida &
Chocolat)
Christopher Lloyd
Rip Torn |
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Favorite dislikes
Dogme Films
TV sports programmes
TV quiz shows
PC Games
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Favorite Musicals:
South Pacific
My Fair Lady
West Side Story
Camelot
Hello, Dolly!.
The Sound of Music
On The Town
Easter Parade
High Society
Singing in the Rain
Cry Baby
Oklahoma!
Paint Your Wagon |
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Most
overrated films:
Scent of Woman
GoodFellas
Pulp Fiction
Kærlighedens Smerte
Breaking the Waves
Italiensk for Begyndere
The Man Who Wasn't There |
Funny Favorites:
Eating Raoul
Up in Smoke
The Blues Brothers
Ford Fairlane - A Rock´n´Roll Detective
Rocky Horror Picture
Show
Take the Money and Run
Silent Movie
This is Spinal Tap (It´s one louder)
Strictly Ballroom
Flying High/Airplane
Blazing Saddles
Pricilla - Queen of the Desert |
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| Favorite contemporary films: |
2007
Hairspray
The Illusionist
The Prestige
2006
Volver
Das Leben der Anderen
2005
The producers
2004
Sideways
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
Melinda and Melinda
Kongekabale
Kinsey
2003
Pirates of the Caribbean
Open Range
A Very Long Engagement
Under the Tuscan Sun
Coffee and Cigarettes
Love Actually
2002
Frida
Bend it Like Beckham
K19 - The Widowmaker
All or Nothing
A Beautiful Mind
My Big fat Greek Wedding
2001
Amelie
Moulin Rouge
Mulholland Drive
Lord of the Rings
2000
Memento
Chocolat
1999
Fantasia 2000 (in IMAX)
Man on the Moon
1998
Shakespeare in Love
Run, Lola Run
1997
Titanic
L.A. Confidential
The Full Monty
1996
The English Patient
Fargo
1995
Don Juan de Marco
Apollo 13
Seven
The Usual Suspects
1994
True Lies
Speed
Ed Wood
Pricilla - Queen of the Desert
1993
Much Ado About Nothing
1992
The Player
Unforgiven
Orlando
Howards End
Baraka
Strictly Ballroom
1991
The Fisher King
JFK
Beauty and the Beast
1990
The Hairdressers Husband
The Hunt for Red October
Die Hard II
Twin Peaks (TV)
1991
The Silence of the Lambs
1990
Ford Fairlane - A Rock´n´Roll Detective
Cry Baby
1988
Die hard
A Fish Called Wanda
Beetlejuice
1987
Angel Heart
The Untouchables
Moonstruck
1986
The Mission
Top Gun
Amadeus
1985
Kiss of the Spider Woman
Back to the Future
Brazil
1984
This is Spinal Tap
The Killing Fields
Stop Making Sense
1983
The Right Stuff
Never Cry Wolf
1982
Ghandi
E.T
Poltergeist
Blade Runner
Eating Raoul
1981
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Das Boot
1980
Airplane
The Shining
The Blues Brothers
1979
The China Syndrome
1978
Apocalypse Now
All Thyat Jazz
Alien
Heaven Can Wait
Up in Smoke
1977
Annie Hall
Close Enclounters of the Third Kind
Star Wars
1976
All the Presidents men
Taxi Driver
Marathon Man
Silent Movie
1975
Jaws
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
One Flew over the Cookoes Nest
Three Days of the Condor
1974
Blazing Saddles
The Conversation
The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3
1973
Papillion
The Sting
The Way We Were
1972
The Godfather
1971
A Clockwork Orange
Dirty Harry
1970
Little Big man
Ryan´s Daughter
Patton
1969
Paint Your Wagon
Take the Money and Run
Hello, Dolly!.
1968
The Producers
2001:A Space Odyssey
Once Upon a Time in The West
Where Eagles Dare
1967
The Graduate
Playtime
Camelot
1966
The Good The Bad and The Ugly
1965
Doctor Zhivago
The Great Race
The Sound of Music
1964
My Fair Lady
Dr STrangelove
1963
The Pink Panther
The Great Escape
1962
Lawrence of Arabia
1961
West Side Story
The Guns of Navarone
1960
Spartacus
1959
North by Nort West
Ben Hur
Some Like it Hot
1958
Vertigo
Windjammer
South Pacific
1957
The Bridge on the River Kwai
1956
High Society
1955
Oklahoma!
The Miracle of Todd-AO
1953
The band Wagon
Roman Holiday
1952
Singing in the Rain
1951
An American in Paris
1948
Easter parade
1949
On the Town
1941:
Citizen Kane
1939
Gone With the Wind
1926
The General
Marx Brothers films
W C Fields films
New Magic
A Year Along The Abandoned Road
Sacred Site
Shellerama
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Spectacular main titles:
Brainstorm
Spartacus |
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Cinema retro
Location Hunting in Ireland
Issue 6, September 2006
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Cinema Technology
Meet the Chief - Loïc LEDEZ
December 2007
50th Anniversary of Todd-AO -
Celebrated in Germany
December 2005
50th Anniversary of
Todd-AO - Walter Siegmund Interview
September 2005
Meet the Chief - Jan Niebuhr
December 2003
Three Great Danish 70mm Cinemas
December 2002
New face of Copenhagen’s Cinemas
(Copenhagen
Cinemas update)
March 2002
Copenhagen Cinemas
March 2001
Meet the Chief - Thomas Hauerslev
October 1998
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