A stand-alone subject of the film projectionist curriculum, and the one that decides whether a print survives its next screening.
The most durable medium humankind has developed - and how to treat it.
A film print is handled with gloves, and for good reason: prints are scarcer and more valuable every year, and damage is rarely reversible. This subject begins with the material itself - film stock, its structure and its behaviour over time - then covers the image formats that have been laid onto it and the ways sound is carried on film, from the optical soundtrack to the digital formats printed alongside it.
The second half is the practical craft. Inspecting a print and reading its condition, diagnosing and repairing damage, making and checking splices, and the handling discipline that keeps an archive film print projectable for another fifty years. It covers distribution prints and what arrives with them, storage conditions and the decay processes storage is meant to prevent, and the other gauges and wide-gauge processes - from 16mm through 70mm.
There are no entry requirements. The subject is built to be followed by a complete beginner, while still giving working technicians the reasoning behind procedures they may have learned only as rules. Purchase grants a non-exclusive licence for 12 months from the date of purchase.
Every other subject in the classic strand assumes you can handle the material without harming it. This is where that is taught - and it is the one subject where a mistake is permanent.
Available on its own, or as part of Classic Film Projection (€300, saving €60), or Complete Projectionist (€540, saving €180).
The subject runs in two parts. Each part is a self-contained block of lessons closed by a knowledge check - passing it is required to move on.
Film Print
Part 1
film stock, image formats, sound-on-film recording, damage and repair
Part 2
distribution prints, print handling, storage, other film gauges, wide-gauge processes
Part 1 in detail
Film stock
the structure of film, base and emulsion, nitrate, acetate and polyester, black-and-white and colour processes
Image formats
the aperture and the frame, Academy, widescreen and anamorphic formats, aspect ratios and how they are achieved on the print
Sound on film
the optical soundtrack, variable area and variable density, magnetic sound, and the digital formats printed alongside the picture
Damage and repair
torn perforations, scratches, splice failures and shrinkage; inspecting a print, making a splice, and knowing when not to attempt a repair
Part 2 in detail
Distribution prints
how a print reaches a cinema, reels and shipping, assembling and breaking down, leaders and cue marks
Print handling
winding, threading and rewinding without damage, the discipline of gloves and clean hands, what an archive expects a print to come back looking like
Storage
temperature and humidity, vinegar syndrome and colour fading, nitrate safety, cans and vaults
Other gauges
8mm, 16mm, 35mm and 70mm, what each was made for and what handling each one demands
Wide-screen technologies
CinemaScope, VistaVision, Todd-AO, Cinerama and IMAX, and what survives of them in projection today
Lessons combine video lectures, illustrated reading and interactive elements, available 24/7. Knowledge of the most important concepts and principles is checked by tests throughout, and passing them is a condition of progressing through the subject. A certificate of completion is issued on finishing.
Handling a print is a physical skill, and it cannot be learned remotely. You get guidance: what to arrange in a local cinema or archive, what to ask for, what to try, and how to document it. After completing all the courses, you should be fully prepared to start your own practice.
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This is essential knowledge in any cinema still running film - 16mm, 35mm or 70mm - and in every institution that keeps prints. In film archives and vaults it is the daily work: inspecting, assessing, repairing and deciding what can safely be projected and what cannot. In restoration it is the groundwork, because a print has to be understood as an object before it can be treated as a source. Technical production for film festivals depends on it whenever a programme includes prints, often borrowed and irreplaceable.
The same knowledge is needed in digitisation work, where originals are run through a scanner and every pass is a risk to the material - broadcasters and archives converting their holdings need staff who can handle an original without damaging it. It is drawn on in distribution wherever physical prints still circulate, and it is an advantage when studying film, where reference projection and the identification of film material are part of the work.
Film Print is one of six subjects covering the whole projectionist trade. It sits naturally alongside Film Optics, which explains what the light is doing, and Construction of Film Projectors, which is the machine the print has to pass through unharmed.
When does the course start? Are there fixed dates?
The courses are entirely online and self-paced. You decide the start date and the tempo.
How does the course work?
Each subject is a structured sequence of lessons that takes you into the material and explains each topic to the depth the trade requires. Lessons combine video lectures, reading and interactive elements. Knowledge of the most important concepts and principles is checked by tests throughout, and passing them is a condition of progressing - so that finishing the subject means something.
What do I need?
A computer or tablet with an internet connection, and the willingness to work through the material properly. There are no entry requirements - the courses are built to be accessible to complete beginners while still adding something for people already in the trade.
Do I need any of the other subjects first?
No, this subject stands on its own.
Film Optics is the natural starting point of the curriculum, but nothing here depends on having taken it.
Do I need access to film prints to take this subject?
No. Everything is taught with illustrated material, video and interactive elements. Prints are shown, examined and repaired on screen so that you know exactly what you are looking at when you first handle one yourself.
Is there any practical training?
Not as part of the course. Handling a print is a physical skill and it cannot be arranged remotely - you get guidance: what to arrange, what to ask for, what to try, and how to keep a record of it. After completing all the courses, you should be fully prepared to start your own practice.
Do I get a certificate?
Yes. A certificate of completion is issued for every subject you finish, listing the subject, its scope and the hours involved. It is a record of training, not a licence to practise - no such licence exists in most countries.
How long do I have access?
Twelve months from purchase, for each subject you purchase.
Can I take an examination?
This projectionist training has a formal counterpart in the Czech Republic, where it prepares candidates for a
state-recognised professional qualification examination, leading to a certificate with a Europass supplement. That examination is held in person and in Czech, so it is realistic only for candidates who can travel and speak the language. Everyone else should treat these courses as what they are: the knowledge itself, certified by us.
There are no entry requirements for this subject - no prior study, no qualification, no experience in a cinema.
What you need to study
Equipment
a computer or tablet with a stable internet connection
Audio
headphones or speakers for the video lessons
Time
roughly 8-10 hours per part if you want to work through it briskly - less if you take longer, which you are free to do
Helpful, but not required
Access to prints
a cinema, archive or collection where you can look at real film material while you study
not required, but taking it first makes the sections on formats and the optical soundtrack easier to place
Purchase grants a non-exclusive licence to the e-learning course for 12 months from the date of purchase.
