Now here's how it should look...

On the Zoolander trailer, you can actually see the boom mike in some of the shots as a result. The lab has had it brought to their attention and are looking into it. (And trying to convince the distributors I was not crazy was almost impossible as comments like 'The lab has such strict quality control measures' and 'Why is it then that YOU are the only one who is having problems with it'? almost made me kill the phone)

It appears I wasn't the only one that was having the problem...I was just the only one that noticed it.

Sad, isn't it?

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"It's not the years honey, it's the mileage" - Indiana Jones.

The white line to the far right of the image on your top example may indicate that the rating tag printing negative came from a different source, perhaps with additional stages of printing that may have shifted the image. So the problem may be in the printing negative supplied to the lab.

Standard SMPTE 111 specifies that the inside edge of the soundtrack printed area (dimension "D") should be 0.308 +/- 0.002 inches (7.92 +/- 0.05mm) from the reference edge of the film. Standard SMPTE 195 specifies the left edge of the projectable image area (picture) should be a minimum of 0.324 inches (8.23mm) from the reference edge of the film.

SMPTE Recommended Practice RP 115 specifies that the Control and Data Record (DTS time code) is printed on a centerline of 0.297 +/- 0.001 inches (7.54 +/- 0.03mm) from the reference edge of the print.

Sad indeed, that no-one else had picked it up, and even worse is the attitude that 'the lab can't be wrong, only the projectionist could be'. I loathe that approach - the assumption that because one is a projectionist, that one cannot know what one is talking about. Absolutely appalling attitude on behalf of the distributors in question...shame on them!

I have been contacted by two distributors today and both inform me the prints I sent back to them do not match the results on their original answer prints of their trailers.

The lab in question has admitted there has been a problem and are trying to find out where it all went wrong. Interestingly, I have two trailers of Zoolander...one is fine, the other is not.

Also, tonight I made up our new print of 'Don't Say A Word' which has an attached (printed in) scope trailer for Fellowship Of The Ring. This trailer is printed down and the feature is not.

I stress I'm not trying to lay blame at anyone...I just want the problem to be fixed and move on.

Although the current SMPTE standards would hopefully preclude extraneous material being printed along the right hand edge of the image, the 0.838 inch image width for "Scope" was changed to 0.825 inches in August 1993. Here is what I found, as published on Marty Hart's American Widescreen Museum:
http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/apertures.htm

"From 1957 through today, there have been a number of small changes to the anamorphic projector aperture recommended standards. John P. Pytlak of Eastman Kodak dug through countless back issues of the SMPTE Journal in order to provide the following chronology of the changes to the standards:

The March 1957 SMPTE Journal has PH22.104-1957, the standard for 2.55:1 anamorphic (no optical track), with an aperture size of 0.912 X 0.715 inches. Notice of withdrawal of this standard was in the January 1964 Journal.

The December 1957 SMPTE Journal has PH22.106-1957 for 2.35:1 anamorphic, with an aperture of 0.839 X 0.715 inches. It was unchanged in the September 1964 Journal. The November 1965 SMPTE Journal published PH22.106-1965 still with the 0.839 X 0.715 aperture size.

In the September 1970 SMPTE Journal, a new draft of PH22.106 was proposed, with an aperture size of 0.838 X 0.700 inches, to minimize the flashes at splices. This was republished as standard PH22.106-1971 in the October 1971 issue.

In the June 1976 SMPTE Journal, the two (flat and scope) projectable image area standards (PH22.58 and PH22.106) were consolidated into one standard and renamed PH22.195. The publication of PH22.195-1984 in the October 1984 Journal still had the scope area as 0.700 X 0.838 inches.

The June 1992 SMPTE Journal published a proposed revision, with a scope area of 0.690 X 0.825 inches. In August 1993, the standard was published as SMPTE 195-1993, with the current area of 0.690 X 0.825 inches. So August 1993 is when the two formats became the same width of 0.825 inches."

The current SMPTE 195 "scope" projectable image area of 0.825 x 0.690 inches provides a bit more "margin for error" in not seeing the DTS time code, soundtrack application bleeding, or negative splice lines on the screen. IMHO, the screen masking for scope should be brought in to the 0.825 lines to reflect the current standard, and not left at the old 0.838 inch image width.

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
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

Another way to "hide" the negative splices is "checkerboard" cutting, putting alternate scenes on two separate rolls (A/B roll printing) with the negative splices falling in black leader with a printer "zero cut":
ACVL Handbook Negative Cutting Techniques

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
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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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
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