Film loading and unloading table, Christ

Christe take-up table for film, made in the United States in 2001. The table was used with a Christe disc system that housed the film. The table was used at Smárabíó from 2001–2010 to splice films together into a single reel, but the films were delivered to Smárabíó from the manufacturer on 4–10 x 20-minute reels. The projectionist was responsible for splicing the beginning of reel 2 (head) to the end of reel 1 (tail), and so on, picture by picture, so that the film became a single whole. Once the film was spliced together, it was ready for screening. The disc system consisted of three discs. Two discs were needed for one movie, so each assembly could hold two films at the same time. One disc assembly was connected to each projector; the film ran directly from one disc through the projector and onto another (empty) disc. When the same film was shown in two auditoriums simultaneously, it had to be threaded between the machines, and the film would then travel along the walls to the next projector and its reel-to-reel system. The platters all operated independently with a sensor that determined the speed of the disc, but the film at the innermost part had to rotate faster than the outer part, as it was being projected from the inside of the film/cake. In one of the screening rooms, it was possible to show a so-called "endless" plate, which worked by having the beginning and end of the film spliced together so that it was shown in a loop controlled by the projector. That plate was not used much because it was prone to malfunctions, and this method was harder on the film.