Aaron

IMHO, much of the problem is just having enough work light to see well enough to do a good job. If shows are running when you are loading or unloading a platter, use a spotlight to brightly light your work area without shining light into the theatre. With good light and a bit of experience, you'll usually be able to see the reel changes as the film sits on the platter, without need of marking the film in any way.

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

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But, I will admit I use opaque tape as marker splices at the very start. I use them to the gauge the hand douser opening on the first preview. I always know where the splice is, and use a counddown in my mind waiting for the splice to go through the film trap. I never come on the screen by waiting for the change-over douser to open.

I like the fade-ins....

I hate that when it goes "WHAM" and you are on the screen. I think I am a little more professional than that.

(ii) In reply to Jamie's query about who inflicts the damage, I agree that lack of training and laziness have a part to play. But I'd also suggest that old and worn equipment which employers on a tight budget aren't willing to properly maintain are also an issue. Here's an example: there's a cinema near here which regularly sends us prints on crossover, nearly all of which arrive coated with heavy deposits of projector oil. Eventually I got so fed up with this that I 'phoned the place and spoke to their projectionist about it. She was very apologetic, and explained that a gasket was disintegrating where the intermittent unit was mounted to the chassis. However, no-one there was confident to remove an intermittent and the cheapest quote they'd had for an engineer call-out to come and replace the gasket was £250. The manager said he couldn't afford that, so she just keeps topping up the cross box as its oil gets sprayed onto the films.

The projectionist has correctly identified a problem that is damaging prints, quite sensibly realised that she does not have the necessary skills to put it right, but then finds that she gets no backup from above.

As to the old shoe polish trick, I have been guilty of doing this also, but the trick is ONLY USE A LITTLE BIT. My preferred way is mark the splice with a small piece of masking tape across it, about 3/32" or so wide. Ya gotta do something, it is HELL to miss the splice while breaking down [phone rings] and then have to back up trying to find it.

There's a red-lined splice mark tape made to be less of a problem with LED readers. I dunno if that works, but it is the least visible on the screen.

Philippe

"3M White Tape #256
3M-256/75 3/4" width
3M-256/1 1" width

3M Scotch™ Brand
Artist's Tape
Ideal for flapping and
hinging, holds firmly yet
removes easily without
damaging artwork or
leaving a sticky residue.
Perfect for use on most
illustration board, photos,
acetate, and paper."

http://www.camerastore.com/dl_cat_K/-K01_tape.html

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

This research is for project report, unfortunately i need to back my own views up
with real literature. You guys have been great in providing a source for that
information.

With regards To Leo, The cinema in question is not Harbor Lights by any chance.
As you know we have very large portholes with back row seats near them. If so
then the reason that they are big, is so that the 16 mm projector can be wheeled up
and used. You also commented on the use of china graph, this is the method favored
by my chief, although he makes sure it is very lightly applied. I use colored tape the
same thickness as splicing tape. This is placed above the sprocket holes and over the
top of the film.

P.S,

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Thanks Jamie.

And on the subject of public lists: my e-mail to you of last week was off-list and private, because it discussed a third party. The cinema business in this country is pretty small, and from your public reply it will be obvious to lot of people who I referred to. It was for this reason that I e-mailed you confidentially, and I'd appreciate it if any replies would be sent the same way.

If you look in the top right of the 'Forums' screen, you'll see that it says 'Registered Members - 728'. How many people regularly post messages on this site? I'd guess 40-50 at most. That means that the other 678-688 have either 'left' (as in, do not intend to re-visit the site but have not asked Brad to delete their registration) or are lurkers. That's an awful lot of potential lurkers, any one of whom might be the person you're talking about in a post. And you don't even have to be registered in order to read the messages here, which means that anybody and everybody is able to read what you or I write. The bottom line is that anything posted on this site (or any other listserv or newsgroup, even those with restricted membership) is effectively public, which was why my e-mail of last week was sent to you personally and not posted on this site.

OK, rant over.

I use Chinagraph for edge marking as well, and believe that it does not do any significant harm if (i) it is applied to the non-soundtrack side (hence I run prints base out on platters), (ii) it is applied as lightly as possible, and (iii) on 15-20 feet at the absolute most. This is QUITE enough to see the end of a reel under adequate worklights. As John P points out, it is sometimes possible to spot reel ends through stock changes (and lab joins too), but sorry, I'm too much of a wuss to rely on this when packing off 5 prints starting at midnight on a Thursday...