New Countdown Leader

[Robert Houllahan]

HI

I put this academy standard countdown leader together and recorded it to 16mm.

I have both 2.5K and 5K scans of it freely available.

5K Scan: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nOw8Jga41eSlQvwgD7fA2-7xsXVH0QAJ/view?usp=share_link

2.5K Scan: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nU3RRve3KJe5nu6SBeAhPQiSlnVKVMhP/view?usp=share_link

[Phil Rhodes]

That is some amazingly steady 16mm.

[Dennis Toeppen]

Subliminal seduction ?

[Stephen Perera]

looks great! thanks for posting

 

[Robert Houllahan]

13 hours ago, Phil Rhodes said:

That is some amazingly steady 16mm.

I built the 16mm recorder V3 around a Mitchell 16mm pin registered camera for best possible steadiness.

I am building a 35mm version which I hope to possibly use a 8K D-ILA (LcOS) imager for but will probably start with a Eizo medical imaging panel first.

[David Sekanina]

Really impressive Robert!

[Robert Houllahan]

1 hour ago, David Sekanina said:

Really impressive Robert!

Thanks the 16mm film recorder has really come along nicely if I can say so myself ?

I have more refinement to do on the software side but pretty decent now in Version 3

Working on a 35mm version now in addition to the aging Arrilaser(s) and the Imagica recorders I have.

[Stephen Perera]

Ive just realised I don't know what this is used for please explain!!! other than it looks good!!

[Mark Dunn]

3 hours ago, Stephen Perera said:

Ive just realised I don't know what this is used for please explain!!! other than it looks good!!

It's a standard leader that goes directly before the first frame of the reel, so you know it hasn't been damaged and cut short. If there's sound on the print there's a "pop"- one frame of 1KHz sine wave- on the first (and only) frame of the number 2. The last two seconds are blank in case a reel changeover is late- only black film is projected, rather than the countdown.

There are 24 frames of each number- back in the day Academy leaders had 16 frames (16 frames is one foot of 35mm) so they ran faster.

Edited May 3, 2023 by Mark Dunn

[Stephen Perera]

thanks Mark appreciate the explanation

[Frank Wylie]

Countdown leaders were integral to the dual projector, "change-over" system of cinemas for classic screenings of reels of 1 to 2K feet each.

(greatly simplified, many variations on the below)

The projectionist would park the 2nd reel of the show on the #2 projector somewhere around the 9 or 7 second mark on the countdown while the first roll was playing.  The projector lamp house shutter (dowser) would be closed, blocking the light of the projection carbons/bulb.   When the first reel was just about finished, they would check the #2 projector lamp to insure it was up to full brightness and start watching the screen.  When the first set of changeover queues appeared on the screen, the #2 projector was started and the projectionist got ready to close the dowser on the #1 projector and open it on the #2 projector.  On the second set, the switch was made.  Often these "change-over" system were electronic with a solenoid on each dowser, as well as the sound system to change to the #2 projector sound reader.

Below is an example of the marker used establish the changeover queues with the instruction sheet.

 

0852_001.pdf

Edited May 3, 2023 by Frank Wylie

[Stephen Perera]

very very interesting thank you.....my father was a projectionist of 16mm films for a little film club locally that used the theatre where he worked that also had book library and a record library.....so I remember him using the splicer and the glue and I was with him in the booth often......