during the early 1980s i was fortunate enough to know one of the projectionist, at the haymarket cinema, in newcastle. (i wont give out his name as i am no longer in touch)
i was around 16 years old and loved the cinema and to be given the chance to help out in the projection/winding room etc, was a dream come true.i can still smell the carbon-arc rods burnig away and the clatter of the twin peerless projectors.i can remember standing on the stage, behind the screen(it was like a giant tea-bag, full of holes)and being dwarfed by the huge speaker system. the sound boomed out through the hole-filled screen and out to the audience(no stereo here?)i wandered how the image was able to be reflected back, given that there were more holes than screen?.i was also showed the remnants of the original projection room(prior to the upper circle being built). inside the cieling area of the stalls, the chared remains of a large fire(from many years ago)was still in evidence and the position of the projection box could still be imagined(very spooky but wonderfully romantic, at the same time)
i remember the transition from 20 minute single reels to the more modern, cake-stand formular(no need for change overs/cue dots/rewinding reels by hand etc)
and the refiting of powerful light bulbs, instead of hazardous carbon-arc rods. the new system came along with the re-introduction of 3-D movies, somewhere between 1982-3, friday the 13th, jaws-3 and the rest of the short lived, though effective, polarized-stereo movies.i lost touch with my friend,through some personal circumstances and didnt get back the newcastle until after the cinemas closure, and was amazed to find it demolished in a matter of months. i have fond memories of all of the cinemas in and around newcastle…the essoldo, queens, odeon, studios 1-4, apollo, but i will alway hold the haymarket as my favourite. aside from a few trinkets that i saved from the winding room floor, i never got any photos of the wonderful interior or the exterior and have found it nearly impossible to track any down. if anyone can help(for my own personal use)i would be very grateful…thank you.
during the early 1980s i was fortunate enough to know one of the projectionist, at the haymarket cinema, in newcastle. (i wont give out his name as i am no longer in touch)
i was around 16 years old and loved the cinema and to be given the chance to help out in the projection/winding room etc, was a dream come true.i can still smell the carbon-arc rods burnig away and the clatter of the twin peerless projectors.i can remember standing on the stage, behind the screen(it was like a giant tea-bag, full of holes)and being dwarfed by the huge speaker system. the sound boomed out through the hole-filled screen and out to the audience(no stereo here?)i wandered how the image was able to be reflected back, given that there were more holes than screen?.i was also showed the remnants of the original projection room(prior to the upper circle being built). inside the cieling area of the stalls, the chared remains of a large fire(from many years ago)was still in evidence and the position of the projection box could still be imagined(very spooky but wonderfully romantic, at the same time)
i remember the transition from 20 minute single reels to the more modern, cake-stand formular(no need for change overs/cue dots/rewinding reels by hand etc)
and the refiting of powerful light bulbs, instead of hazardous carbon-arc rods. the new system came along with the re-introduction of 3-D movies, somewhere between 1982-3, friday the 13th, jaws-3 and the rest of the short lived, though effective, polarized-stereo movies.i lost touch with my friend,through some personal circumstances and didnt get back the newcastle until after the cinemas closure, and was amazed to find it demolished in a matter of months. i have fond memories of all of the cinemas in and around newcastle…the essoldo, queens, odeon, studios 1-4, apollo, but i will alway hold the haymarket as my favourite. aside from a few trinkets that i saved from the winding room floor, i never got any photos of the wonderful interior or the exterior and have found it nearly impossible to track any down. if anyone can help(for my own personal use)i would be very grateful…thank you.