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In Canada (Ontario at least) the bands are placed on the reels by the provincial film review board to indentify that the film has been rated and approved for showing. My understanding is that we are required to keep the bands and put them back on the film before shipping. If not, I would cerimonialy burn them in the alley behind the theatre every friday night as an offering to the film gods.

As to the heads / tails debate, if reels come tails up, I make up and inspect at the bench. If they come heads up, I make up at the platter, I just run it slower and do my inspection as it goes. Really it doesn't bother me which way they come in, as long as all the reels in a particular feature are the same. Nothing will ruin your day like a five reel feature that has reels 1,3,5 heads up and reels 2,4 tails up. Someone out there must go to a lot of work to ship a film like this, and I really wish they wouldn't.

Cheers

Films should always be shipped tails out with their paper bands properly installed.

As others have stated, tails out allows for any receiving house to inspect the film onto house reels for either platter or changeover showings. Tails out winding also typically has the emulsion in for better focus stability.

The paper bands allow for keeping the ends of the reels from coming loose without using any form of tape that typically oozes it's adhesive onto the film. I can't believe this is such a big deal for anybody.

As far as focus stability, I never had any problem with a film, but trailers, that's another issue! Now if we can get those trailers off of those 1" cores and onto something a bit larger, like they used to do, that would solve that problem!

Um, er, well,... Say, how about those Yankees!