In focus: The Projection Room

We've been taking some pictures in the projection room this morning of our 35mm projector, and thought you might like to see some of them! We've just picked some of our favourites, inside and outside!

the front of the projector    ~     the projector from underneath

 

inside the projector

 

the path of the film, from tower towards projector

 

 

There are more photographs over on our Facebook page here if you're interested. Do show your appreciation for your favourites by pressing the like button! 

Bringing a little cinema to you - our 8mm projector

We've had a bit of interest about that 8mm projector that we mentioned in our talks and presentations post last week, so we thought we'd tell you a little more about it.

You may remember a time when VHS video tapes were the method of watching films at home, in the days before DVDs. In the days before that, the home projector ruled the territory of at-home film-watching. There were various types of projectors that you could buy, which took different sizes and types of film.

By far the most common home film projectors showed a type of film called Super 8. This was one of a few different types of 8mm film (that's film which is 8mm wide - film in cinemas is usually 35mm, or 35mm wide). Our projector is one of those; it'll also show Single 8 film too, another type of 8mm film that preceded Super 8.

Many home films were black and white and silent, however some would be in colour and have sound. The film you can see projecting here, which is a celebration of 50 years of Mickey Mouse (recognise the Sorceror's Apprentice?) is in colour with sound.

We've collected a few titles that we can show to demonstrate how these home projectors worked to school and educational groups. They're a mixture of sound, silent, black and white and colour. These include cartoon favourites such as Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh and the Flintstones, as well as a short film of one of Laurel and Hardy's adventures.

Feature-length films were impractical to show on small projectors like these and would have been very expensive, so instead film manufacturers would sell short clips of their feature films on 8mm film. We've collected examples from Disney's Pinocchio and Bambi.

If you're interested in having us demonstrate the 8mm projector for your group, let us know! We're happy to include a short talk about the Regal, film and projectors, the history of British cinemas or any combination thereof to give the projector some context. Some showings can even be provided for free, depending on the titles you wish to view, what type of group you are and how far away from us you're located.

For details of the films we can show, the types of groups we can show them to, distances we'll travel, dates we're free, costs involved and so on, get in touch. We're happy to chat about your requirements and see what we can do for you.

In focus: Terrazzo

Most people have probably walked over terrazzo most weeks of their life and never even realised it. You might have thought that you were walking over limestone, or marble, or granite, or perhaps some other stone, but despite its natural look terrazzo is a man-made material, made of a mixture of natural and man-made components.

Terrazzo floors are made up of stone (and sometimes glass) chips in a cement-like matrix. To lay a terrazzo floor, the area is first marked out on the floor, then the mixture of chips and cement poured into the area. Once it has set, the floor surface is ground down to be flat and then polished, giving the terrazzo its characteristic sparkle and shine.

Terrazzo has many benefits over stone for interior designers. Because you can mix the chips of any stone or glass, you can lay a floor of almost any colour, and because it is poured you can fill any shape, sometimes large, unbroken areas where you would be unable to bring in such a large slab of actual stone. Modern terrazzo floor are also often quite thin, less than half an inch deep, which makes the terrazzo floor light enough to use on upper floors of buildings. Terrazzo is also perfect for creating pictures and designs on a floor, because it can be poured into any shape.

The foyer and crush hall as well as the front steps at the Regal have a cream and green terrazzo floor. Over the years this has suffered damage in some places, and will be repaired as part of the restoration project.

Pictures of the front steps and the foyer, showing the terrazzo floor.

In the crush hall (bottom picture) you can see the beading between the slabs.

Terrazzo can also be used to create artworks on the floor. The patterns at the Regal are typical of art deco floor decoration. Modern artists still create terrazzo floor designs today. The video below shows one such art project, in a City Hall in Washington state in America.

Work on the terrazzo floors in the Regal will be starting within the next few weeks. We'll bring you more on it as we have it!

We hope you enjoyed this in-focus look at one of the techniques being re-created in our restoration work. Look out for more in the future!