Well, things are starting to get back to normal here at Ragtag Cinema. Some real nice HVAC folks came out this morning and got our big-theater system up and running again. Lindsay and Steve are up in the projection booth cleaning up brick dust, and we soldier on in preparation for True/False.
If you've been wondering what the source of all this hubbub has been, well, let's show you:
We decided to install a 35mm change-over system for the big theater. This will allow us to expand our programming to show old movies on archival film. The everyday, run-of-the-mill film prints we exhibited before we went digital were projected with a platter system, which requires one projector and a big ol' three-tiered platter. You cannot play archival prints on a platter system since you have to cut the film before winding it together, and archives, distributors and museums tend to get real upset when you do that to archival film. So, here we have it: two projectors, one room. We start the film on one projector. When that runs out, we switch to the other projector, and so forth. Pretty cool. The thing is, we had to knock some new ports in the wall. And that is where our problems began. Even with an experienced mason, knocking three holes in the 14-inch, old brick wall took a lot longer than anyone expected....
You'll get so see these babies in action for Neither/Nor, the series that bridges cinema- and fest programming.
Though, they're not up and running yet. Our cinema engineer from Chicago will be down before the fest for the final install. We expect everything to go smoothly. But, send good thoughts our way just the same.
Thank you for your patience while we continue to grow and improve.
<3 Team Ragtag
