Discussion on last week’s post made me think that this machine would be interesting to share. Back in the 80’s I built several single frame rear process projectors like the one pictured here. These projectors were used mainly to create composites of live action photography and matte paintings. Matte painting composites are an art form all their own, using a live action film element that is projected through an opening in a matte painting. A camera is placed so that it photographs the matte painting and the live action projected image at the same time. This gives you a composite image of the matte painting and the live action element. Our projectors incorporated several new features: self-contained stabilized variable voltage control for the light source; adjustable filtered compressed air cooling; and a remote hand controller that let the camera operator run the projector forward and reverse and remotely adjust focus. I also rehoused still camera lenses so the appropriate focal lengths were available to the matte painter and cameraman. I built 5 of these units that worked on numerous feature films, TV shows, and commercials.
