The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)
Issue link: http://wpialumnimag.epubxp.com/i/114745
news from HIGGINS HOUSE Lens and Lights Shining Bright, 50 Years Later REMEMBER THE KIDS in high school who would set up the projectors when it was time to see a movie in class? A few of those kids grew up to establish a similar, though more advanced, club here at WPI in the winter of 1961–62, and then went on to pursue careers in lighting, sound, and Ƃlm projection. "It was the era of the slide rule—hand-held calculators did not exist—and computers Ƃlled rooms," says Jim Day '65, the club's Ƃrst president. In December the club celebrated its 50th anniversary with more members, cooler toys, and continuing enthusiasm for all things audiovisual. A Spark Day ultimately gave the club its name, Lens and Lights (LnL). It was the name of his high school audio-visual club in WethersƂeld, Conn., which he attended with Dick Stone, who was originally in the WPI Class of 1965. The other founding members (all from the Class of 1964), Steve Noble, John Schmidt, and Bill Swiger, agreed the name worked for them—and LnL was born. Once the club was established, Professor Don Howe became the group's faculty advisor. But as Day tells it, the club was already up and running in a more informal sense the year before. "It's really a service organization," he says, "serving the school and the groups that use its facilities." "Bill, Steve, and I started doing some 16mm projection, with equipment borrowed from the ROTC program and set up in Alden Memorial for the monthly movies during our freshman year," says Schmidt, LnL's Ƃrst projectionist. The Arts Society, which had been running the Ƃlms on its own, sponsored the events. Audiovisual endeavors have a rich history at Alden. According to Schmidt, the Arts Society found some 35mm projectors in the building, left from when WPI hosted a Navy V-12 ofƂcer training program during World War II, and used Alden as a USO theatre. Eventually the Arts Society received some funding and converted the school's projectors to show Cinemascope on a wide-angle roll-up screen. In time the Arts Society focused on producing the shows and turned the projection duties over to LnL. Broad Backing One issue with the monthly movies, Schmidt says, was that no one knew how to Ƃx the projectors or the sound. WPI's Facilites Department [called Buildings and Grounds back then] backed the new organization, making sure LnL got the tools it needed to keep projectors, lights, and 64 Winter 2013 sound systems running at optimum levels. "No questions asked," Schmidt says of the maintenance staff, who appreciated the club's good care of the equipment. "I'd go down to a local electronics supplier and was able to charge the parts to WPI." Day says campus support for the ƃedgling group came from other somewhat unlikely sources. Campus police ofƂcer Nils Hagberg, for example, would often check in on how the group was doing, offering encouragement. "Nils had a career in local theatre and had done vaudeville," Day explains. "Collective support brought the thing together." One of the Ƃrst things Schmidt, Noble, and Swiger did was to run the sound and lighting for the weekly assemblies in Alden. Schmidt also recalls doing sound and lights for at least one talent show, and stage lighting and set construction for Masque plays. "LnL became the group that could focus on lighting," says Day, "and do it well." Bridge to the Future The organization also made money via a 1950s 16mm WPI recruitment Ƃlm that was sent out to high schools. "LnL earned a fee for inspecting, splicing, and rewinding the Ƃlms when they were returned to WPI," Day says, estimating they earned about a dollar a reel. "By 1964, there was often as much splice as Ƃlm," he says, as the Ƃlms were so heavily used. He estimated that he and other LnL members saw that Ƃlm hundreds of times. The Ƃlm was called Bridge to the Future, and it was shown at the recent LnL anniversary reunion, which was attended by about 80 people. "It got a big round of applause from everyone. It's a period piece," Day laughs, "but so were we!"