The Phantom Of The Cinema is an animated short film in which we, the theatre audience, get an indiscreet look behind the screen of the cinema. The film suddenly jams and breaks, allowing us to see what happens behind the projection screen, where everything is going horribly wrong.
Winner of the Grand Prize and Trophy at Anim’est international film festival Romania (2009). Dutch entry for the Oscars of 2009.
- release date: September 2008
- duration: 11 minutes
- technique: Digital animation (2D / 3D)
- avaliable on 35 mm film, BETA, DVD, digital mov
- direction, script, animation: Erik van Schaaik
- production: il Luster Productions
- music: Martin Fondse
- voice talents: Michiel Romeyn, Dominic Kelly
- 3D theater modeller: Luuk Steitner
- sound effects edit and mix: Bob Kommer Studios
- music mix: Chris Weeda
- sales: SND Films
Celluloid
This movie is all about celluloid film — a celebration of 35mm, if you will — and it premiered in the very year the world made the historical change from analogue to digital film. It was Erik’s last actual film, on a reel, developed in a lab. Today, he renders his DCP’s on his computer and sends them to theatres via the internet. Just like the next guy.
Synopsis
When The Phantom of the Cinema jams and the projector sputters to a halt, the theatre is plunged into darkness. Suddenly, a lamp flickers on behind the silver screen, revealing three hidden rooms: the chef’s cluttered office, a lavatory with a weary cleaning lady, and an editing room where the janitor toils.
Unbeknownst to them, their frantic attempts to keep the show running unfold as a shadow play on the back of the screen. The chef, oblivious to the audience’s view, berates the janitor and carries on with his sinister side hustle—shooting unsavoury “dirty pictures” with the cleaning lady. Chaos erupts in a series of slapstick disasters, as the janitor rises to save the cleaning lady from her tyrannical boss.
But amidst the mayhem, one question remains: will the audience ever get to see the movie they came for?
Jinxed
The Phantom Of The Cinema, a movie about a film show gone wrong, was screened in many theatres, on different festivals in different countries. Erik visited several of these screenings. All of them had a problem of some sort:
I have never seen so many failed attempts to project a movie. There were issues with the sound, they forgot to dim the lights, they cut off the epilogue scene, the film was projected much too big, so all action happened off-screen, it was projected with the wrong aspect ratio, the operator even knocked over the projector one time. I am not lying! The Phantom Of The Cinema is jinxed. Beware!
Luxor
Here’s some footage of the restoration of the historical Luxor Theatre in Arnhem, as featured in The Phantom In The Cinema. The movie premiered in this wonderful Jugendstill cinema by architect Willem Diehl on the day it reopened for the public.