Behind the Fantasia curtain
Anna Phelan
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Larden: King of the club
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Con. U projectionist describes his three weeks of living dangerously
For any amateur ethnographer, Fantasia is a gold mine for field research, and there's at least one expert dominating the field. Projectionist James Larden spends as much as 14 hours a day non-invasively observing this study group. He's a qualified expert. He concludes that this brand of cinephiles can affectionately be described as "bearded virgins and wannabe satanists." Larden spends three weeks a year knee-deep in Fantasia. The other 49 weeks he's a full-time projectionist for Concordia's film production and film studies programs. Concordia is one of the last schools in North America that's still fully equipped for all video formats as well as 16 and 35 mm projection. It's a little-known fact that Con. U also has a respectable collection of film prints in its own arsenal.
I sat down with Larden to get to the skinny on the dying art of celluloid projection.
Hour What are the advantages of having a projectionist instead of an automated system in the theatres' projection booths?
James Larden Well, you have more closely monitored shows so the quality is usually better. I don't know how many times I've been to a commercial cinema where there's been a problem that hasn't been fixed for 20-odd minutes.
Hour You've been working at Fantasia for the three years since it moved to Concordia. What would you say is the difference between working at the festival and working during the academic year?
Larden Well, the festival situation is more like a commercial one, [whereas]
when we're doing screenings for classes, obviously, the emphasis is on us being used as a pedagogical instrument, so things are a bit more relaxed. There's more emphasis on clips and analysis - whereas [at Fantasia] we're just showing film after film after film. The hours are much longer and it's a lot more stressful and hectic. But, you know, it's fun. It's a good festival and I think everyone has a good time. It's a pretty successful event and we contribute a lot to it.Hour Do you have any funny anecdotes from Fantasia?
Larden [Projectionist] Arlen Thompson, last year, got kissed by Udo Kier.
Hour What were the circumstances that conspired to make that possible?
Larden Well, you know, it's Udo. [Laughter] And I think there was a lot of white wine involved and maybe a moose sock-puppet.
Hour What's the best part of being a projectionist at Fantasia?
Larden The beer.
Hour [Laughter] Can you elaborate on that?
Larden Fantasia sets us up at a bar around the corner, which is pretty dangerous, given the reputation the projectionists have for, let's say, their enjoyment of the bottle. [We're] raging alcoholics.
Hour So - and I say this in all honesty - being a projectionist is, in a sense, being part of a club. There's a lot of camaraderie and you're all united by a common love of projecting and movies.
Larden Well, it's a love-hate relationship. All of [us] went to school here in the cinema program and this has been the job that's gotten us through university. We're all friends and, for the most part, we're all filmmakers as well, so we work on projects together and we hang out and play together, basically, and this creates a very tight-knit team. Even though it's a sort of isolated job, I think we all bond together over getting the job done and it's very special.
Years ago Fantasia played on one screen, the really old, but darn huge, darn loveable, darn unique Imperial Theater. I loved how the curtains opened when a movie showed. I loved sitting on the balcony which gave a great view. I loved the pillars at the side of the stage. But even though the festival and the audience loved the theater, the relationship soon grew sour. The festival was about to begin one year when the theater started renovations that did not finish on time and forced its cancellation.
The next year round the Imperial Theater demanded that Fant-Asia pay for the renovations even though they are not the primary owner of it (and it still didn't appear it was going to finish on time that time either). Fant-Asia needed a theater fast, something that can show 35mm. Hence Concordia was chosen and to be honest I couldn't see any other theater or school doing it.
They needed a spot that was downtown, easily accessible to a metro and have a huge sidewalk for the resulting line ups. We all remember nearly getting run over by the parking lot exit while waiting for films at the Imperial along Bleury. Cinema du Parc is not big enough, neither is Ex-centris or any of the World Film Festival theaters. AMC is too far. McGill is way too high class to have something like Fant-Asia showing. Plus I'm sure they'd charge like a bitch because McGill is a pretty money hungry school.
So I thank you Concordia and its entire staff. Thank you for taking this orphan of a festival that the Imperial Theater left in the cold. Your seats are still not suited for two hour movies but so was the Imperial's when Fantasia first opened there (and I'm sure provided enough rental funds for it to start renovations), so I hope you change it by next year like you promised! I know you are my rival school, but honestly I can't see Fant-Asia anywhere else except for the hip, young, slightly deranged Concordia University.
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Alexander Yu
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{70 votes}
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| Fantasia at Concordia but where else? |
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Being a Fine Art graduate of Concordia makes me one heck of a proud Alumni. I bow to you O Concordia. This is the ideal place for Fantasia to be screened as the location is very accessible-metro Guy-Concordia or metro Lucien Allier which is even closer. No need to worry about parking space just hop on the ol' metro train and voila you are there faster than a speeding bullet. What could be more simpler. Concordia is renowned for its Art facilities as being the best with the greatest professors and the environment is friendly and usually non-competitive. I miss even now the Visual Arts building where I've spent five years of my life. I even took three other course after I graduated (I guess I couldn't let go). Even now I am considering taking something else. So I think Concordia is much more suited for Fantasia than the Imperial ever was. Besides they were procasinating and didn't seem very interested in it to begin with. It was an insult to injury to even suggest Fantasia pay for their renovations. The had a nerve! I hope it will keep being shown at Concordia as Fantasia has found a friend-home and promoter for such a great festival.
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Maria Jankovics
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{21 votes}
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| Film Review 101/Oh, stop projecting |
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Hey, do you know who else was at Fantasia this year? Lloyd Kaufman. You know, the mad maven guru of indie genre cinema that gave us "The Toxic Avenger", "Sgt. Kabukiman" and "Tromeo and Juliet" among others. Do you know who else was there? Ray Harryhausen, the visual effects god behind such classics as "Clash of the Titans", "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" and "Jason and the Argonauts". He was there to pick up Fantasia's first ever Lifetime Achievement Award, didn't you know? There loads of other cool guest there this year, people I would have loved to hear about but instead I get to hear the inner musings of one James Larden, Concordia's full-time projectionist . He only spends three weeks a year doing Fantasia duty as the article mentions.
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Can you spot where the article takes a left turn in bizarroland? Now, I'm not about to piss on Larden as a person or on his chosen craft but I figured that if anybody deserved some page space it was Ray Harryhausen. Imagine the questions you could have asked him. Imagine getting his unique perspective on today's reliance on CGI to boost up otherwise lame projects. Well, keep imagining it because instead you got James Larden, projectionist at large. *sigh*
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Pedro Eggers
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{29 votes}
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Remember the Imperial? Well, Fantasia used to be there before the Imperial managent strealined their operation and became an empty expensive dump? When I go to a movie I don't give a piss what or who is showing the movie I want to see. I'm sure James Larden has enjoyed being a projectionist but I don't go to Fantasia thinking about him. Weird article.
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Vladimir Joseph
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{21 votes}
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