Film Vocabulary: Change Over Marks

Change-Over Marks

AKA: Change-Over, Reel Change, Reel Change Marks

Most completed movies consist of more than one reel, and thus for an uninterrupted screening, at least two projectors must be used. Towards the end of a reel, one or more frames may include a small circle in one of the corners. These are signals to the projectionist that the current reel is approaching the end, and he or she should be ready to start the next projector, which should have the next reel prepared for projection. They come in pairs, the first one alerts the projectionist and the second is the signal for the change. If you watch the scene will change right after the second mark appears making the transition smoother.

This shot from Fight Club shows us the change over marks. Brad Pitt is pointing to it. Here is the qoute from the movie.

Narrator: Tyler was a night person. While the rest of us were sleeping, he worked. He had one part time job as a projectionist. See, a movie doesn't come all on one big real. It comes on a few. So someone has to be there to switch the projectors at the exact moment that one reel ends and the next one begins. If you look for it, you can see these little dots come into the upper right-hand corner of the screen.

Tyler Durden: In the industry, we call them "cigarette burns."

Narrator: That's the cue for a changeover. He flips the projectors, the movie keeps right on going, and nobody in the audience has any idea.