Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Booth Clocks

my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

»	Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE » Operations » Film Handlers' Forum » Booth Clocks (Page 4)

This topic comprises 7 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Author

Topic: Booth Clocks

Greg Anderson
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 766
From: Ogden Valley, Utah
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 08-31-2001 10:06 AM

In the nearly two years since this thread started, you can imagine that there have been many new, even more "cool" clocks introduced... and if you look carefully you'll find the prices have improved a lot too. Plus, lots of your average customers have greater acccess to "the correct time" now thanks to things like digital cell phones, caller ID boxes and VCRs with automatic time settings. So... now we can all agree about what time it is.

Next month, Casio is introducing a radio controlled wrist watch for North America. It's only $50 in the catalog I saw. For that price, it almost seems like required equipment for the precisionally-obsessed projectionist.

| IP: Logged

Bob Peticolas
Film Handler

Posts: 73
From: Mesilla, New Mexico
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 09-01-2001 04:47 PM

I set my booth clock (and the downstairs one, sometimes) to my VoiceStream Cell phone. The phone gets it's time from the telephone switch. The switch gets it's time from ???. Oh well.

However, the time seems to be very consistent, it matches my PC which sets it's time to Los Alamos National Labratories (using Sidekick and esavax.esa.lanl.gov). Any customers complain about our starting time, I just show them my phone and they take it for gospel. (After all, you can't argue with the phone company, can you?? )

| IP: Logged

John Walsh
Film God

Posts: 2490
From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way
Registered: Oct 1999

posted 09-01-2001 06:26 PM

The phone company usually uses what's called a "stratum" level clock to synchronize their own signals. The clock is rated 1 thru 5 (1 being the most accurate.) Your local phone office probably has a Level 5 Stratum clock; a large telephone switching center (sometimes referred to as a Class 5 office) has a Level 2 Stratum clock. I think there was only one Level 1 Stratum clock, located in Illinois or some midwest state.

Although, recently, many telephone companies have started using the GPS (global positioning system) to replace the stratum clock system.

| IP: Logged

Jeffry L. Johnson
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 809
From: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 09-02-2001 11:21 AM

You can set your computer clock to NIST.

| IP: Logged

Carl King
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 199
From: Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 09-06-2001 09:07 AM

Wow. You sure are a "time freak" but that might be a good thing, eh?

I set my watch weekly by the CBC 2pm international time signal (I'm a Canuck, eh) I start my performance according to my watch even though the computer downstairs is 5-8 minutes slower than I am. This is done because I assume that most of the patrons have the correct time on their watches.

No automated starts in my booth. On busy nights I can see into the lobby area and use my own judgment and often hold a start for 3 or 4 minutes so a few more patrons can get to their seats. I do this less lately because we now stagger our show starts by 10 minutes

| IP: Logged

William Bunch
Film Handler

Posts: 87
From: Misawa, Japan
Registered: Nov 2001

posted 11-27-2001 06:31 PM

You would love to be here in Japan. In this country of on-time trains and planes the correct time is paramount. I have won bets myself while riding trains with friends. I would set my watch to WWVH or JJY shortwave time tones then make a bet as to how many seconds til the train doors close. Won every time.

We have had the radio controlled clocks over here for many years. Community and plublic places all have a central receiver and then a bunch of slave clocks thoughout a complex. Nowdays they use two new transmitters on 50 and 40 MHz, one in Fukushima and one in Kyushu and they cover the entire nation without fading. Much better than the noisy signals of shortwave WWVH or JJY.

I just bought a new analog clock last week (while shopping in Tokyo) and it hangs in my living room. If it is "listening" to the broadcast it will give three green flashes on the LED at the top of the minute. If it is "deaf" at the time it will flash red on the LED. Only problem with these is that they will not work well in some steel and concrete structures like our theaters. Casio has the wristwatch model on sale here for about $75.

Two other clocks that "listen" are my cell phone and satellite receiver.

Bill BuncH
Misawa, Japan

| IP: Logged

Ken Lackner
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1907
From: Atlanta, GA, USA
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 11-28-2001 12:46 PM

I just caught this thread for the first time when it was bumped up to the top yesterday. Here are my comments.

Every Regal I've been to uses radios. We give them to the ushers so then can tell the door when theaters are cleaned, so that door knows when to let patrons in. No theater I've worked at uses a separate channel for the booth.

I'm not anal about starting movies to the exact second. As long as it starts within a minute, I'm happy. I used to go by my watch, which I set to my computer, which is updated every day by a program called NIST Time (more about that next). Then somone changed our booth clock by a few minutes and put a note next to it saying something like "this is the time the box office computers are set to and your are to start movies by this clock, not by the time on your wrist." I can tell you that it was off by about 5 minutes!! I didn't start movies by that clock until they changed it to make it closer to the actual time. Now it's only off by a minute or so, which I can live with.

I while ago I downloaded a program called NIST Time. It sounds like the program mentioned above is similar. I use the Task Scheduler to run the program several times a day, so my computer clock is almost always accurate.

And that's all I have to say about that.

| IP: Logged

Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

posted 11-28-2001 01:24 PM

Tsk tsk tsk. Boxoffice computers should run NTP (network time protocol): http://www.eecis.udel.edu/~ntp/

There's no excuse for printing the wrong time on the tickets.

| IP: Logged

Ken Lackner
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1907
From: Atlanta, GA, USA
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 11-28-2001 03:51 PM

Scott said: There's no excuse for printing the wrong time on the tickets."

Do you mean showtimes? They print the correct showtimes. I'm talking about the current time that the computer displays.

| IP: Logged

Steven Gorsky
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 146
From: Frederick, MD, USA
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 11-28-2001 03:57 PM

The tickets also show the date and time the tickets were bought.

Steven Gorsky

| IP: Logged

Jeffry L. Johnson
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 809
From: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 12-04-2001 02:50 PM

Atomic Time
R.C Precision
Atomic Watches FAQ
Casio Waveceptor

| IP: Logged

System Notices
Forum Watchdog / Soup Nazi

Posts: 215

Registered: Apr 2004

posted 01-28-2005 09:56 PM

It has been 1151 days since the last post.

| IP: Logged

Chris Brown
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 105
From: Fairport, NY, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

posted 01-28-2005 09:56 PM

I thought it would be interesting to point out the troubles with this for Regal theatres (like mine) who run digital preshows with DCN projectors.

They give us a very small window during which we can hit start. They keep track of early starts (anything before a frozen screen appears) and late starts (letting the frozen screen stay for 45 seconds or more). We have an "official" DCN clock on a computer screen in the booth, which you'd think would make it easy to be accurate. But the clock is terrible, and is usually a minute or two fast. So the idea of starting shows exactly on time, as much as I'd like to be able to, is impossible for DCN theatres...

| IP: Logged

Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

posted 01-29-2005 04:40 AM

[ 06-15-2005, 02:30 AM: Message edited by: Monte L Fullmer ]

| IP: Logged

Thomas Procyk
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1842
From: Royal Palm Beach, FL, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 01-29-2005 10:41 AM

Chris, that sure is a tough situation. Is the clock on the computer screen tied into the box office or DCN system somehow? If it is, then no matter how much it's "off" it's probably still "right" for them in Knoxville. I would start the shows by that clock. If something "happens" where you get in "trouble" for starting the shows late or early, point out that clock and say you've been starting them according to it like you've been told. Maybe mention that it's been off an "nothing has been done" about it. Knowing "those types" in the corporate world though, they won't care since you're replaceable. That's why you should keep a running tally of safety and fire violations for if/when you get written up to "present" [Wink]

Say not only do they not set the clock right, but they overlook these too...

And how does that work for multiple starts? When I worked for a Regal 18, we'd sometimes have 2 or 3 (only once had 4) films starting at the same time. They were ALWAYS on opposite sides of the booth. Unless I RAN (safety violation) to start the other one(s) (for which I would have to dash away after the first image hit the screen) the other show(s) would start late no matter what. If I stood there and checked the screen/sound properly, the other shows would be starting a minute or longer late.

To me, this practice is saying that it is imperative that THE ADS are played properly and THE ADS are started/ended on time and you should check THE ADS to make sure they're on the screen correctly and the sound is working, but you'd better START THE FILM and RUN away to the other projector before the flow between THE ADS and the film is interrupted for too long. THAT'S why I often sit through an out-of-focus (or out of frame or out of something else) trailer pack at a Regal until I get up and complain. [Frown]

Maybe if they wrote people up or fired them for damaging film or a flawed presentation instead of starting a show 45 seconds late, they might actually gain a decent presentation.

At least they DID animate the last screen on the 2TW2EN2TY so that it's not just "frozen" like something broke. [thumbsup]

to REG in that respect.

=TMP=

| IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 7 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Printer-friendly view of this topic

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.