Projectionist - Historical Background - Early Cinema (1895-1915)

Early Cinema (1895-1915)

The need for professional projectionists arose from the commercial showing of movie films to the general public in buildings specifically designed for the purpose, which began towards the end of the first decade of the twentieth century. Before the emergence of purpose-built movie theaters, film projectors in venues such as fairgrounds, music halls and Nickelodeons were usually operated by a showman or presenter, in the same way as a lanternist. The light source for most projectors in the early period was limelight, which did not require an electricity supply.

Between approximately 1905 and 1915, two factors combined to transform the role of the projectionist into a separate job with a specific profile of skills and training. Concerns over the flammability of nitrate film, following several major fires during the cinema's first decade resulted in the increasing regulation of the film exhibition industry, including the requirement that projectors be housed in fireproof booths, segregated from the auditorium. In the United Kingdom, for example, this requirement was introduced in the Cinematograph Act 1909, and effectively prevented the projectionist from also carrying out a public-facing role. The legal right to act as a projectionist in a public movie theater was, and to some extent still is, regulated, to varying degrees in different jurisdictions. Some required projectionists to be licensed by local or central government, and this process sometimes required projectionists to undergo assessments or sit exams. Trade union-based regulation of the profession was also widespread in some jurisdictions, in which the licensing of projectionists was incorporated into collective bargaining agreements between employers and unions. The original reason for this regulation was the necessity for safety precautions for the use of nitrate prints, and hence the requirement that projectionists should be formally trained to handle them in order to ensure public safety. But the formal training and licensing of projectionists continued in most of the US and Europe well after nitrate had been superseded in the 1950s, and in a minority of jurisdictions it continues to this day.