VYPT member Charlie Hammond tells us about the run up to the opening of the group's exhibition

The exhibition for The Projectionist is only just around the corner now: we’ve all got our list of things to do, make, find, borrow, and steal! Soon, all the scraps of research and little ideas forgotten along the way will spring to life alongside all of the other material we have been making – exciting times.

Our project takes its inspiration from the projectionist Norman Holly’s time at the Regal cinema in Evesham. So our research has looked to Worcestershire in the 1950s: we’ve interviewed projectionists who worked in various cinemas at the time, we’ve talked to people about their experience of visiting cinemas in the fifties, we’ve looked at old video clips, photos, news reports, and anything else we could get our hands on. Our exhibition brings all of this process together, and will look, hear, and explore this story as an insight into our show to come in July.
 
I’d like to take this point to say a massive thank you to Mike Bowley and Jim Bowley, who are retired projectionists that have seen the development of film throughout the decades. They have been exceptionally kind giving up their time to be interviewed, and have provided some instrumental material to the show. Also a thank you to Matt and Andy from the Odeon in Worcester, who, alongside Mike and Jim, took us on a tour of the cinema in February.  Here we were first able to get our hands on some of the old film reels - who knew they were so heavy?! It was great being able to hear their stories in a very appropriate setting: from having to run up and down the stairs to change reels, films catching fire, racing through Worcester on bicycles to pick up reels from another cinema, and falling in love with usherettes. Inspiring stuff.

One of the most revealing aspects I gained from the project was looking at the Korean War. The Korean War is fascinating in terms of our reflection on the 20th century as it is so forgotten in the collective memory, and indeed it is often referred to as ‘The Forgotten War’. Norman Holly was among those who were called up to Korea as part of their National Service, and the episode is important one in the story we wish to tell. The Pathé films that have recently become available on Youtube have been an invaluable resource on the war, as well as the 1950s. There are hours of news bulletins, and footage on that time period alone: I highly recommend it.

Now all that remains is to scramble all of this (and much more) into our exhibition. We’ll be calling on Welsh warehouses stacked with 1950s cinema fittings, academics with houses full of film reels, Norman Holly and his amazing collection of photographs, facts, films, interview recordings, costumes and the masks themselves! So keep your eyes peeled and we’ll see you from the 12th June at Worcester Arts Workshop.

Charlie Hammond