Mitchell 35mm cine back projector used at Pinewood Process Stage

Mitchell 35mm cine back projector used at Pinewood Studios Process Stage.

This is one of three specially constructed projectors used at Pinewood Studios from the 1940s onwards on their process stage. It's mechanism is made by the Mitchell Camera Company, renowned for their precision equipment. These projectors were used to project moving picture backgrounds onto special screens, in front of which actors were lit and filmed to produce composite shots. Typical examples include shots of actors driving cars, seated in railway carriages and in front of exotic backgrounds. Until the development of the travelling matte composite shot and much later, the computer-generated composite, this was the usual method of producing such shots.

The Pinewood projector has been used for hundreds of shots in hundreds of films. The man in charge was Charles D Staffell BSC.