Projecting - What you do
Every film we receive needs to be checked for damage and stuck together before it can be played through. Then, afterwards, it needs to be taken apart again. In practice, projectionists make down the previous film before making up their own. This process takes about three hours (or more, for really old films). The projectionist also needs to be at the film in case something goes wrong (and then know what to do when it does), so it takes up quite a lot of time, but is very rewarding.

Film Unit has very few projectionists at the moment, so we need to be sure you're committed to Film Unit before we'll even put you on the waiting list. The best way of showing this is to train to fire and house - you occasionally need to be able to do these jobs anyway as a projectionist - and then NEVER LET US FORGET ABOUT YOU. You're unlikely to be trained if you're not going to be around long enough to train someone yourself; you're certainly not going to be trained if you're going to leave Sheffield as soon as you're qualified.

What you get
Once qualified, you get a complimentary seat to every single film we show. This is in addition to getting in free when you're working (and throughout your training), so if you're Projing a film you can get a friend in for free too. You don't have to see all the films we show - the more volunteers we have, the less work you have to do. Plus you get a load of other random perks: you can hang around in our office, with its sofa, fridge, computer, server (if you want your own website), Empire subscription and Film Unit types just gagging to argue with you over the finer points of Pulp Fiction. We get invited to free press screenings at UGC that you can come to. You'll be eligible to wear the always obscurely hilarious Film Unit T-Shirts. You'll be invited to any social events the committee concocts, plus one other thing that we can't publicise but is very cool.

How to sign up
It takes about six months to qualify as a projectionist, and as said above, we need to be sure you're committed to Film Unit before we'll consider you. Hence, you need to get involved in some other way. Fire, House, join the committee (the Chief Projectionist is automatically moved to the top of the waiting list) - if you really want to be a projectionist you should be happy to do anything to get your foot in the door. And once there, just don't stop pushing. Let us know if you're really interested.