Jobs From 50 Years Ago That No Longer Exist

Tyler Durden's malignant pranks made the job of a movie theater projectionist look like the ultimate student dream job, but according to CNET, the actual profession was a lot more complex. Before digital projectors arrived on the scene, their 35 mm predecessors required skilled projectionists to lace up the projectors, splice in trailers, and make

Tyler Durden's malignant pranks made the job of a movie theater projectionist look like the ultimate student dream job, but according to CNET, the actual profession was a lot more complex. Before digital projectors arrived on the scene, their 35 mm predecessors required skilled projectionists to lace up the projectors, splice in trailers, and make sure film was carefully secured on the platter — or it might spill out, which would end the movie, piss off everyone in the theater, and require the projectionist to spend the entire night untangling everything. Yikes.

By the 2010s, though, most theaters replaced film projectors with digital ones, and these new devices automatically did almost everything humans used to do. Movie theater projectionists still existed, but what was once a skilled career became a casual maintenance exercise. According to the Telegraph, many actual filmmakers aren't too happy about this switchover, arguing that 35 mm film carries a lot more color, vibrancy, and texture than digital photography. Furthermore, as famed director Christopher Nolan points out, the switchover to digital is mainly just because movie theaters don't want to spend money training and paying seasoned film projectionists. But whatever dollars theaters have saved by dropping these workers certainly hasn't been passed to customers, as movie ticket prices have continued rising, according to Box Office Mojo.

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