Try the same in some high-tech multiplexes like the Tanjung Golden Village (TGV) in KLCC, and you are in for a big disappointment. How many of us knew that the present day projection room for a multiplex (that can have as many as 18 screens) has no man behind each projectors! Talk about wasted vocabularies.

Over the years, we have been exposed to the process of filmaking, so much so, that we can make our own films - with dubious quality of course. But very little is there on the knowledge concerning what goes on in the projection room, except that there is some old guy who probably lives there, sitting behind the projector reading some obscure magazine and guzzling cans of beers. I don't know who gave me that impression. It stuck in my mind and when I walked into TGVs projection room, I was in for a big surprise.

We have been, too often, exposed to the process of filmmaking, thanks to the 'Making Of' documentaries we often get to see in TV and many DVD packages. All the same, very few of us know what actually takes place behind in the projector room. Is there actually a beer-guzzling old man in it?

I was shocked to see how clean and organised the whole place was. The best part was the whole stretch (L shaped) of the room is actually used to service each of the theatres in that multiplex. Better, there was no beer-guzzling old man in it.

"Two guys can handle a 12 screen cinema," says Pauline Ng, the marketing manager of TGV. She claims that TGV is the first and only multiplex operator in the nation to offer more than 10 cinemas under one roof.

The theatre (Tanjung Golden Village in Suria, KLCC) is equipped with Dolby, and Sony Digital Sorround System. Of course, the setup of the some of the cinemas were attuned to the requirements of THX engineers. Which means that the movie was not meant for viewing - it was meant for experience.

The most basic thing we know exist in that room is a projector which has a long history. Back in 1834 William George Horner invented the Zoetrope, which is a revolving drum with a series of pictures on a paper strip arranged on the inside of it. The drum had a small slits you could look through to see the pictures. Once revolved, the pictures would appear to move.

The earlier version of projector was invented in 1891 by, not surprisingly, Thomas Edison. It was called the Kinetoscope, where the projector used a motor to resolve a strip of film in front of a light source - a process which has not changed till this date. From then onwards the projector evolved only a little.

The present day projectors are not a far cry from Edisons Kinetoscope or even the Zoetrope. The mechanism of how it works is still as simple, but once naming of the processes is done we are back left in the dark. But that is the best place for us audience, shouldn't it?

Anyway, in the earlier days the projectionist used to run two projectors, one after another. Once there is eleven seconds left in a reel to finish, there would be a circle scratched on that particular moment to warn the projectionist to prepare the next reel on the second projector. The circle appears again in the last second. By then, the second projector is ready to spin, unless the projectionist had too much beer. I have got to knock this beer thing off.

All that is solved since these days (and it began back in the 60s) where the handling of several reels (a two hour feature length movie can take up to five reels), the whole strip (extending up to 2.13 miles) is spliced (an act of matching all the reels together) and placed on a platter (okay, no more brackets!). The platter is a device consisting of two to four large discs about 4 or 5 feet in diameter, stacked vertically one feet apart. It feeds the film to the projecter, leaving nothing much for the projectionist to do while the film is running...no, no more beer remarks. That explains the lack of projectionists in the projection room.

The most recent form of evolution in the theatre is the THX system. Always mistaken for a sound system, THX was meant for a more powerful manner to set up a theatre for fullest viewing pleasure. Named after THX 1138 (director George Lucas first feature film - why not, he initiated it), it was developed at Lucasfilm in the early 1980s. Lucas wanted a way to ensure a movie would look and sound the same no matter where it was played. He must have visited our local cinemas those days  - I recall a theatre back in my hometown where you almost expect a cow to return home any moment and continue to gnaw away the seats. Apart from what you hear in the theatre, you also get the benefit of listening to the traffic outside or the peanuts (kacang putih) sellers yells in case you need to throw the shells at the misbehaving patrons in front.

THX is actually a set of guidelines that are used to resolve these problems, though it is still up to the cinema-owners to clean up the peanut shells. To have the THX logo displayed, theatres must be certified and several steps must be taken namely, licensing and evaluation, certification, design, approval and construction and renovation.

Theatres owners mut first agree to lease the THX crossover equipment and pay for the right to use the THX logo. Upon the signing of the agreement, the architectural plan of the auditorium, and in case of the existing auditoriums, a survey of the current conditions is reviewed. Design changes take place soon, and the THX team will assist the theatre owners in selecting equipment from the THX equipment list. The final design and equipment list is submitted to THX for approval. Once approved, the owner can begin actual construction or renovation.

The team also measures reverberation and echoing in the auditorium, which is done by counting the number of seconds it takes for a 60-decibel (dB) tone to completely fade away. Echoes are definitely a no-no in a THX theatre. In case of the projection system and screens brightness level, guidelines established by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) must be met. Show business is definitely a serious business.

Digital sound formats, such as DTS, Dolby Digital and SDDS, and noise reduction systems, such as Dolby A and Dolby SR, are systems that are included in THX. There are also equipments like the THX crossover, power amplifiers and speakers. True to the symbolism of a chain, any weak part can ruin the whole sound system. The THX crossover is a proprietary sound processor that separates the low and high frequencies to provide cleaner sound over the theater's sound system. It is usually leased by the theatre owners as a part of the THX licensing arrangement. I am sure it will cost a bomb to buy the sophisticated devices. To think that we already have bombs in form of bad movies.

Understanding what is going on behind the projection room really changed the way I view movies nowdays. The knowledge of what is going on there gives me a secret pleasure as being one of the most knowledgable amongst the audience. At least I would not shout at the almost non-existent projectionist.