Picking a projection booth as the location in which to shoot a film festival commercial would seem to be a bit too linear of a choice. But once the plot unfolds, it’s clear that this cinema trailer/TV spot has sprung from a nonlinear, offbeat train of thought.
We open in the booth, where a projectionist is working on a projector. A movie is playing on another nearby projector; we see its electrical cord fall out of its socket, causing the projector to stop. The projectionist goes over to get it back up and running, but cannot figure out what’s wrong. He flicks a switch; nothing happens. Then he sees that the cord is no longer plugged into the wall outlet. He plugs it in—but still the projector won’t start up.
Deducing that the cord must be bad, he frantically looks for another cord, opening drawer after drawer until he finally finds one. He plugs one end into the projector and is about to plug the other into the wall, at which point he sees that there are no prongs on that end of the cord. Frustrated, he throws the cord to the floor. As it brushes by the outlet, the projector turns back on for a fleeting moment.
Perplexed, the projectionist holds the female end of the plug up to the female socket. Sparks fly between the plug and the outlet. Suddenly the projector is running again. This female-female connection indeed works, which is the perfect segue to the theater screen lighting up with "The 2004 Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival," accompanied by dates (Oct. 15-21) and a Web site address (seattlequeerfilm.com).
"Projectionist" was directed and shot by Albert Kodagolian of Tate USA, Santa Monica, for DDB Seattle. David Tate executive produced for Tate USA, with Daniel Dubiecki serving as producer.
The creative ensemble at DDB Seattle consisted of executive creative director Fred Hammerquist, associate creative director/copywriter Eric Gutierrez, copywriter John Zilly, senior art director Jason Stanfield, art director Aziz Rawat and producer Mary Ellen Farrar.
Several artisans from Modern Digital, Seattle, contributed to the job: editor Dan Larson, Smoke artist/online editor Kevin Adams, colorist Tim Maffia and visual effects artist Deborah Ristic. Audio mixer/sound designer was Vince Werner of Clatter & Din, Seattle. Composer was BC Smith of BC Smith Music, Seattle.
