Inside the walls of a huge country shed, vintage cinema projectors, harking back to the silent era, whir into life under David McGowan's careful watch.
It's like stepping back to a different time and Mr McGowan, a 71-year-old self-confessed 'fanatic collector' and cinema owner, is in his element.
Mr McGowan recently acquired a huge collection of vintage cinema projection equipment and film reels, collected over many years by 78-year-old Phil Maddison, from Drillham, Queensland.
The collection is so big, it's already taken six semi-trailer loads to move it to a shed near Mr McGowan's home town of Laurieton, on the NSW Mid North Coast.
There are still two more semi-trailer loads to come.
"Call me crazy, but it's just an extension of who I am."
'A labour of love'
Some of the equipment dates back around 100 years, hand-cranked projectors from the silent era, through to high end machines from the 1960s and '70s.
"It's all vintage — all early film projection technology. There are about 40 projectors, hundreds of reels of film," Mr McGowan said.
When he tinkers with the machines, Mr McGowan's passion is evident.
"It’s like a vintage car, these things are like vintage cars, when they are running they talk to you," he said.
"It's my personal 'men's shed'. Most times I have no one else around me which I like, maybe I might bring my golden retriever.
"I can spend hours here just pottering around like an old man and I thoroughly enjoy it. At 71, it keeps me young."
'This is where we have come from'
Mr McGowan said some of the 35/70 millimetre projectors had featured in prominent Australian cinemas, including two which were installed in the Ascot Theatre, on Pitt Street in Sydney, for the release of Oklahoma in 1956.
He also has a vast and eclectic collection of old film reels, including many features.
"In my collection I have serial chapters, with full cliffhangers, of the Captain Marvels, the Batman serials.
"These are on 35mm from the early 40s to the late 40s," he said.
"I have the first technicolour film made on location, starring Henry Fonda and Fred MacMurray, around 1934, a film called Trail of the Lonesome Pine."
Mr McGowan has set up a huge screen to test the projectors, and vintage slides, feature films and commercials come to life in the big shed.
Mr McGowan said it was a 'physical history' of Australian cinema.
"I want to see this collection move forward to the next generation to show where optical projection started, because we live in a digital age."
Film and TV historian Andrew Mercado, based in the NSW Hunter region, said projectors and old films had recently enjoyed a resurgence.
"During this COVID period we have seen cinemas that still have 35 and 70mm projectors being able to re-screen classic movies that way," he said.
A long-running love of cinema
Mr McGowan's love of the film and the theatre goes back many decades.
"I fell in love with the film industry from when I was an eight-year-old," he said.
"I grew up as a projectionist in city theatres in the '60s. I was already working in suburban theatres as a 10-year-old in Brisbane."
His passion for the industry has flowed into the cinema he owns at Laurieton.
Over the past 20 years he has decorated it with collected memorabilia, aiming to recreate the feel of a lavish 1950s picture palace.
"I love sharing the experience of when we used to go to the movies, not just watching something on a white screen.
"I enjoy the theatrical experience of house lights dimming, tabs opening, slide presentations, all the things which made our film exhibition industry what it is today.
"I have the original fringing from the Regent Theatre in Brisbane which is probably about 90-100 years old now."
The Laurieton Plaza Theatre also has a claim to fame: Baz Luhrmann's father was the projectionist there in the 1970s.
Mr McGowan's first love at the moment though, is his newly acquired vintage collection.
"I don't lose hours here, I enjoy hours," he said.
