[Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects

[David Tetzlaff]

> But if one is going to the trouble of presenting actual film, why not round up a couple of the correct projectors 

Easier said than done. If you're screening with dual projectors for reel changes, they ought to have the same brightness and CT lamps and the same focal length lenses, no? The folks in Providence have figured out their space calls for a 1"lens and a bright (i.e. halogen lamp). I'm pretty sure there aren't any projectors with halogen lamps that run at 16fps. So where exactly would you go to find two 16fps projectors equipped with brand new 1000W incandescent lamps and 1" lenses? The Eiki slim-line with the 18/24 pulley is a rare beast as it is. Eiki SLs came with 50hz/60Hz pulleys stock, and the 18/24 pulleys had to be custom ordered.

Josh Guilford put out a post on Frameworks asking to borrow a silent speed projector so they could have two projectors for their performance. AFAIK, I was the only person who answered the request. It wasn't like anybody said, "Hey, the 18fps on your Eiki is too fast, but I've got two 16fps projectors you can use instead" or "but I know where you can borrow two 16fps projectors." These folks have done their best to arrange a screening at 'silent speed', and it's just absurd fault them for that being 18fps since thats the closest thing they can find.

I also notice that while Nicky vaguely remembers using a 16/24 projector in the distant past, not one post has identified a specific make and model of a projector that will do so, or even a specific make and model of projector that runs at 16fps period and might be found floating around somewhere.

I have the feeling that a lot of people have projected films at the 'silent speed' of their projectors, thinking it was 16fps when it was actually 18fps, and never knowing the difference. The difference between 16fps and 24fps is a lot: 150%. Between 16 and 18 not so much, only an eighth faster.

Of course, if Warhol shot Sleep on his Auricon with the 1200' foot mag, then he shot it at 24fps. And if he wanted to project it at silent speed to stretch the duration, I'm guessing he was happy to take whatever the projectors available to him offered, and he wouldn't have given a rat's ass if that was 18fps or 16fps.