The ‘Old West’ in Sisters going digital

Sisters, Oregon, nestled at the foot of the Cascades, iconic for its western theme. If you want to take in the latest Hollywood blockbuster it’s only fitting you head to the movie house.

“My name is Beth Eckstine, and I will be your projectionist today,” the lady at the front of the audience said with a smile.

The manager still greets patrons and introduces the matinee show, and though the theater is fairly young — opening just eight years ago — film still twists and turns its way through the projectors.

But not for long.

“So today is our last day with film, so it’s kind of a big event,” Eckstine said over the weekend. “Tomorrow, we will actually be digital.”

With a flick of a switch and a pop, the last showing of Zero Dark Thirty is under way.

“We’ve had a lot of people come to see the last film here, so it’s kind of nostalgic,” said Eckstine.

Starting Monday, three of the four film projectors were swapped out with new digital ones. Eckstine says people coming to watch a movie when the debut the new technology Wednesday will notice a difference, from sound to the picture.

“You can sometimes see our splicing, which is when we put two films together, and it’s a yellow piece of tape, and you can sometimes see that, as with digital you wouldn’t,” Eckstine said.

Change was inevitable, but a fading art of stitching film and the iconic sound it makes flapping through the projectors will never be forgotten.

“It really is a beautiful sound,” Eckstine said. “I don’t know, I could fall asleep to this really. But yeah, I’m both happy and sad.”