Cue Marks or 'Cigarette Burns' are the artifact that signals to the projectionist that a film reel change is imminent; it enters furtively yet instantaneously and mostly at the top right of the frame.
The Cue Mark comes from film history, the machinery of cinema, the physical weight of the reel. It's a legacy, a relic. Today, films are digitized and transmitted on a cable. The Cue Mark has no longer reason to exist, but still is present, escaping the notice of the everyday viewer. Two episodes of 'Columbo' bring this mechanism vividly alive.

In 2012, we began working on a chrono-typology of the Cue Marks. We used this repertory to create new paintings, video installations and works in neon.

Change of reel
The periodicity is approximately 20 minutes, which means four to six changes of reel per film.

Synchronization of two projectors
A set of 8 cue marks or cue dots (exceptionally 10) signals a change of reel:
- The first four cue marks (motor cue) onto four frames, at eight seconds of the last image, bring to the projectionist's attention he has to start the motor of the second projector.
- The last four cue marks (changeover cue), at one second of the last image, signal the projectionist he has to launch a new reel.

The form of the Cue marks evolved
In the 1930s, they were black circles surrounded by a white border; then in the 40s and 50s, colored stars. Beginning in the 1960s, with Cinemascope, the Cue Marks followed

the elongation of the format to become an oval. Sometimes rougher Cue Marks were superimposed as projectionist's marks, creating a tension in the image field. Sometimes the film get melted, creating improbable multicolored runs.