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Thursday. November 6, 1975
University Daily Kansan
Faulty focus not film-fiddlers fault
By MARSHA WILLIAMS
The lights in Woodruff Auditorium dim and students sit down in their seats to watch the show.
The screen comes alive with color and sound, and the credits flash across the film.
But the image is out of focus, and a restless viewer finally turns his head toward the projection room and screams, "Fix it, you idiots!"
Alas, the poor projectionist. He is the alasher, blamed for almost every mistake that goes wrong.
But, according to John Fisher, Santa Anna, Calif., first year law student and one of five SUA projectionists, most problems that occur during film showings can't be avoided.
The majority of problems are with the projector or the film itself, Fisher said.
"If the sound is off," he said, "you just have to fiddle with it until it's fixed.
"Occasionally a film will break and then you have to stop the film and rewind it. It is not necessary."
"A film in cinemascope is designed for a 35mm projector. The SUA doesn't have the right kind of equipment for a perfectly focused picture," he said.
Fisher said that the glass separating the projection booth from the auditorium made it difficult to tell how the audience was reacting.
THE GLASS HASN'T always separated the projectionist from the audience. Chuck Sack, Lawrence graduate student and former SUA board president, recalled the days when one projectionist provided a little extra entertainment at the films.
This man was called the "Nightmare Projectionist." Sick said, "There was a fight and a gunman."
The "Nightmare Projectionist" would remove the partition and make anouncements before and during films. Sack said the man offered SUA film passes to viewers who could answer questions like, "What is actually growing on Sunnbrook Farm?"
This projectionist would study during the films and miss cues. During one movie, he even ran the reels in the wrong order, Sack said.
He was finally taken off the paid film series and allowed to run the projector only once.
SACK SAID THAT IN spite of the projectionist's disastrous career in films, he eventually went on to medical school and was now a erecting doctor.
Most of the SUA projections are good, Sack said, although some are bad in minor, more serious cases.
Sack said, for example, there might be a projectionists whose films are consistently
The SUA isn't the only organization on campus that hires projectionists. The audiovisual department also needs students to show from 27 to 30 films a day.
Ross Wulfkub, manager of the campus film services, said 10 students on the work-study program and eight other projectionists were used by his department.
The students pick up their assignments and films in Bailey Hall each day, Wuffkule said. Projection materials are kept in each building on campus.
Doug Steinley, Cleveland junior, said he applied for his present job as a projectionist after seeing an ad in *强 Hall*. He said he had no previous experience with projection equipment and had been trained by the department.
wufkuhfe said that students with previous audio-visual experience often came from one of the Shawnee Mission high schools.
Students fly to get flights for holidays
Students who want to make it home for the holidays and plan to fly or take a train had better think about making reservations now.
According to Michael Johnson, supervisor of SUA Mapauintour Travel Service, flights from Dec. 19 to 23 are full or are filling up early. The last Thanksgiving flights were still available.
"As soon as flights fill up," Johnson said, "people so to trans and buses."
He said there was still space on trains, but students shouldn't wait too long to place reservations. According to Johnson, reservations to Florida are especially
John Mills, district supervisor of services for Amritak, said students should make use of the campus facilities.
Muts said students should be aware of the new train schedules. He said the north and south bound trains out of Lawrence would now be leaving at 1:15 a.m.
According to Keith White, a spokesman for the Union Bus Dept. 638 Massachusetts St., reservations for bus service are available only for an early morning bus to Wichita.
White said during the holidays the bus schedules would be the same but extra buses would be added. He said where he was staying, he would or three would run during the holidays.
"we're usually pretty prepared," White said. "But there always the chance you'll win."
SUA will charter flights to Chicago and Newark, N.J., for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Space is still available on these flights.