Mondo Knows Facts
A Geneva mechanism stops the film between frames
A rotating pin turns the sprocket a quarter turn, then releases it to rest The projector's intermittent movement uses a Maltese cross, a disc with radial slots cut into it. A pin on the drive wheel engages a slot, advances the sprocket one frame, then leaves it locked while the shutter opens. The same mechanism sits inside many film cameras. It sits in Mondo's movies & tv collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.
Where this comes from
Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
Go further
More facts like this
Polarised glasses give each eye a separate imageTwo projectors send light polarised at right angles, so each lens blocks the otherCinema screen brightness is measured in foot-lambertsA meter aimed at a white screen reports how much light reaches the audienceCarbon arc lamps lit early cinema screensTwo carbon rods burned inside a housing to throw a fierce white beamA platter holds the entire feature on one reelThe print is spliced into a single strand and fed from a turntableDolby Atmos treats sounds as movable objectsThe mix stores a position for each sound rather than assigning it a speakerCinerama joined three projectors into one pictureEach machine filled a third of a deep curved screen and the seams were blended
🎬 Movies & TVfact 182 of 200
← → to keep reading, or swipe
Tags: projection, mechanics, cinema
A Geneva mechanism stops the film between frames: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- A rotating pin turns the sprocket a quarter turn, then releases it to rest. The figure is taken from Encyclopaedia Britannica, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a movies & tv fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Movies & TV shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.