In my youth I was a projectionist at the local theatre. Old school, arc lamps for the projectors. To this day I still see changeover marks on old movies. The marks that tell you when to start the second projector running and when to switch.
@liseo it’s different these days that everything different. Even before that when things went Xenon lamps and large reels.
But in my day it went like this. A movie was several reels, at least five, depending on the movie. Two projectors. When the reel that was playing got down to a certain length a little arm that rode atop the film would drop and ring a bell.
You’d get up and go to the second projector and strike the rods to light the lamp. The lamps were arc lamps. 1/
@liseo Essentially two welding rods with a ton of current running through them that would burn brightly. They had automatic feeds that kept them roughly the right distance apart but you’d have to adjust it throughout the film and replace the rods when they got too short (ideally not in the middle of a reel).
Looking out a little window you’d watch the film for the first changeover mark at which point you’d start the second projector. When you saw the next changeover you’d open the lamp 2/
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