Went to see a movie at the Chelsea Clearview the other night and the house lights were not dimmed for the feature, as is customary.
Several patrons started shouting "House Lights!" I think they thought that there was actually a human being in the booth. Someone who could hear them.
The sad truth is, the days of the deeply passionate projectionist are almost over. With a few notable exceptions (Film Forum, Tribeca Film Center, to name just two), most screens in Manhattan are not being tended to by a person with anything approaching the care and ego investment of, say, the projectionist in Cinema Paradiso.
According Steve D'Inzillo, former head of the Projectionists Union, as quoted in his NY Times obit, in the 1940s, there were approximately 2,400 union projectionists working in New York City. By 1999, they had dwindled to fewer than 500. Everything is automated now. Well, not entirely, but in large part.
So those poor fools at the Chelsea Clearview were essentially spitting into the wind with their shouting. Truth is, these days there's rarely anyone paying attention from up in the booth... or even from the seats, depending on what picture you've bought a ticket for.
