Been there, done that. Those were the days!

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we've got a nice long folding table we use to hold prints on thursday nights.

simplest is usually the best solution

mike

One screen this week is running 6 sessions per day with only one print running twice. Everything else comes in...slides on...runs...slides off and moves on to the next screen.

I've even had to do this with 70mm. In one week we ran Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Untouchables, Baraka, Lawrence Of Arabia and print checks of Aliens all in 70mm. When I asked the GM just how this was supposed to happen with only a four tier platter without having to break them all down after screening (only to have to build them again for another screening...a VERY lengthy process on a speco) he laughed 'You'll work it out') Nice, eh?

Well, I did. I had a friend design and make a very sturdy adjustable centre ring and we simply (!) moved the prints off the plates and hung them on strong hooks on the wall of the booth. I made sure my friend knew he could charge what he wanted for this job as it was needed like...yesterday. So he did...

The GM's laughter ceased when I told him I'd 'worked it out' and handed him the bill. :grin:

...ahhh, it's the simple things...

And for those who think running nonstop changeovers is tough: Try sitting on your ass with nothing to do for three hours while you wait for the movie to finish! Aaaaaahh!!!!!! At least you keep busy.

I've only had to do a triple-up a few times and the schedule has always worked itself out where I could double up one deck with two movies, so it's never been a problem. If it's something easy like:

12:00 Movie A
2:30 Movie B
5:00 Movie C
7:30 Movie B
10:00 Movie C

and the intermission time between the 2:30 to 5:00 and the 7:30 to the 10:00 is the same, I will splice the two together with a programmed intermission. That way the movie can start at 2:30 and then nothing else must be done until it is time to start the 7:30 show (except for checking on it occasionally to verify everything is perfect, which of course it always is ).

BTW, Reading isn't the only one in Northern New Jersey doing a triple-up this weekend. Based on newspaper listings I found triple-ups in a dozen other smaller theaters and 1 megaplex.

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Any way you look at it, triple-ups are very impractical for a projectionist.

One thing I've done occasionally this year has been literally stacking prints to play them. In fact, just over twelve hours ago, I was running the Powerpuff Girls Movie, whilst it was sitting on top of a print of Windtalkers (and Scooby Doo sat on the third platter deck).
Risky? Hell yes.
It does however reduce the number of times prints have to be clamped and moved.

After heaving Magnolia up there (on a large MDF board held by two people at a 50-60 degree angle while we manoeuvred it up the stairs and round the corners) I had a back ache for about a week... until it was time to move it back to projection 2 to pack off, which gave me a back ache for a second week!

Both myself and the other projectionist involved in that procedure have since left: can't think why! At least they didn't programme Bollywood features in there...

It'been a few years but I sure remember pulling all nighters in
drive-ins.

Back to the original question....playing three or four prints in the same house is nothing new for multiplexes. Just store the unused prints nearby on an empty platter or if you have to..on the floor..but make sure to have something between the floor and the print and cover the print.