Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Hey you, you suck! (AKA: Outing bad film handlers)

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Topic: Hey you, you suck! (AKA: Outing bad film handlers)

Blaine Young
Master Film Handler

Posts: 477
From: Kirkland, WA, USA
Registered: Sep 2006

posted 10-16-2006 12:37 PM

quote: Charles Greenlee
Sometime over the weekend, Flyboys, one of our best selling films, developed some nice scratches. They're fine little black ones, so they're not deep, but there are alot of them, all of the way though the film.

This sounds very similar to what happened to a print of "Cars" that we had. The threader had missed the roller on the exit down to the platter and the entire film scrapped base side over the roller post. Acetate wasn't perfect - but it was a bit more resistant to this kind of stuff.

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Dennis Benjamin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1445
From: Denton, MD
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 10-17-2006 07:55 AM

quote: Blaine Young
The threader had missed the roller on the exit down to the platter and the entire film scrapped base side over the roller post.

(RANT ON)

By 'threader' - I think you mean projectionist. This is the very root of the problem that plagues our industry. We should be paying people a decent wage to be actual projectionists, not 'threaders'. Would you want the waiter or waitress at the local restaurant to be the one actually cooking your gourmet meal? No - that is why you pay the big bucks so the establishment can hire a decent chef to cook the food.....

Film will never be the problem, acetate or polyester. It's the ill-trained film handlers that are the problem. Digital will equal the death of an artform - and everyone will blame the inanimate object called film!

(RANT OFF)

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Blaine Young
Master Film Handler

Posts: 477
From: Kirkland, WA, USA
Registered: Sep 2006

posted 10-17-2006 01:06 PM

[RANT ON]
Dennis, I couldn't agree more. The theater I work for pays their "projectionists" $.50 more than the ushers. There is only 1 real Projectionist on staff. And by "threader" that is exactly what I mean. They know the mechanics of loading film into the projector and pressing the 'start' button. They may be able to build a print, but that's nothing more than cutting off the heads/tails and splicing them together and fast winding onto the platter. There is no film inspection. There is no verifying that splices are in frame. Heck, that is what the screening process is for...
[RANT OFF]

I am a projectionist by choice. I don't do it for the money - as I said, I'm not getting much more than the guys that pickup popcorn and drink cups and raise arm rests. I do it because I love the medium. I am passionate about the presentation. I actually care if the film hits the screen in frame...

Blaine

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Darryl Spicer
Film God

Posts: 3250
From: Lexington, KY, USA
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 10-17-2006 01:34 PM

quote: Blaine Young
Acetate wasn't perfect - but it was a bit more resistant to this kind of stuff.

I disagree, acetate film stocks had to be handled much more carefully than the polyester stocks. Due to the softer base the film was way more susceptible to cinch scratching and other issues during winding and projection. Either way in the incident you described about the acetate stock would be very badly damaged. The polyester would just be badly damaged.

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Charles Greenlee
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 801
From: Savannah, Ga, U.S.
Registered: Jun 2006

posted 10-18-2006 12:31 AM

quote: Blaine Young
I am a projectionist by choice. I don't do it for the money - as I said, I'm not getting much more than the guys that pickup popcorn and drink cups and raise arm rests. I do it because I love the medium. I am passionate about the presentation. I actually care if the film hits the screen in frame...

Same here.

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Louis Bornwasser
Film God

Posts: 4441
From: prospect ky usa
Registered: Mar 2005

posted 10-18-2006 08:13 AM

Too bad a bean counter can't be trained to have the same passion, but alas they are deficient in the "give-a-shite gene." Louis

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Alex Grueneberg
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 125
From: Chicago, IL
Registered: Aug 2004

posted 10-18-2006 08:52 AM

To ad to this rant of the industry I'd like to give a big [fu]

to whom ever came up with cross-training and decided to implement it in the projection booth. Lets take the 2 people at an 18 plex who have a passion to make sure the show looks great and at least some what know what their doing, throw them in another part of the theater where they don't want to be and have a continued various flow of other ast. Managers "trained" in the booths who as well don’t want to be up there. You end up getting a mediocre result in each area and no ones happy. Not to mention a plethora of neglected and damaged prints and a complete lack of showmanship. My gm is a great guy, but why he thinks this is a good idea is beyond me.

"Everyone should know how to every thing." Yeah but, that doesn’t really mean its going to be done well.

To get things back on track this goes out to all the other booth managers (note, i do not use the term projectionist lightly) at the Evanston Century 18. Wait, that’s my theater. This is for all the booth idiots other then Kevin. Why is it so difficult to take the 20 or so seconds to rewind the 8 cleaners we have. Why do you have to still run it threw the cleaner if the pads are not rewound and scratch the print? Why, if you do bypass it, do you let it drape and knock all over the side of the cleaner and rollers and not threw the 1st and last roller. This is the only thing I have tried and tried to get people do to, and they just wont. It’s really unfortunate.

Oh yeah, and [fu]

cinemark for temporarily playing coke ads on film while the new preshow system gets set up. Lots of our now former diehard century customers are getting pissed. I'm blaming it entirely on your company and greed.

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Frank Dubrois
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 896
From: Cleveland, OH
Registered: Mar 2005

posted 10-18-2006 03:34 PM

quote: Alex Grueneberg
My gm is a great guy, but why he thinks this is a good idea is beyond me.

I was told that crosstraining was done in case people quit or call in sick or both. Its "just in case" something bad happens, the theater is covered for a couple days. If a theater has 2 projectionists and one quits when the other is on vacation or out sick, then what? I'm guess thats what most GM's are thinking. CoverYourAss.

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 10-18-2006 04:04 PM

Covering your ass is fine and all...BUT the nonsense of "everyone should know how to do everything" is just blatant lack of giving a shit about the quality of everything that the customer gets. For example, a box office cashier won't make the same quality of popcorn that a seasoned concessionist will. The theaters won't be cleaned as well if a concessionist does it over an experienced usher. And most important, it takes only one pass of a film to permanently damage it for EVERY subsequent show that EVERY customer coming to see that film will be presented with! At least with a fill-in concessionist, there will only be so many bad batches of popcorn.

Is this something new at your theater? This just screams Cinemark mentality.

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Alexander Smith
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 128
From: Walney Island, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.
Registered: Jun 2003

posted 10-18-2006 07:17 PM

I have just sat through print number 8092 of "Stick It":

There are multiple vertical scratches, and platter scuffing
throughout the entire print. The platter scuffing gets so bad
at one point during the film the scratches are no longer
black but green/yellow.

The film's about to go on release in the UK, so I say to the
user who had it last: "You suck!".
I also say to BVI UK, you couldn't be arsed to inspect it
at all: "You suck!"

Oh, the head leader of reel six has disappeared some time
previously. No one has had the initiative to replace it,
just to protect the head of reel 6.

That's 103 minutes of my life I'm not getting back...

Alex.

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Jared Thornton
Film Handler

Posts: 58
From: las vegas, NV, USA
Registered: Jan 2006

posted 10-19-2006 01:10 AM

quote: Brad Miller
Is this something new at your theater? This just screams Cinemark mentality.

Since Cinemark took over they have begun the process of shifting the majority of the responsibility to the GM's. So whatever the GM decides is whatever the GM decides, so long as they hit the numbers.

quote: Alex Grueneberg
Oh yeah, and cinemark for temporarily playing coke ads on film while the new preshow system gets set up. Lots of our now former diehard century customers are getting pissed. I'm blaming it entirely on your company and greed.

Right there with you Alex. Our customers are not happy either, so I've been directing them to the Cinemark website to complain. [evil]

To get back on topic of You Suck:

Regals Green Valley Ranch 10 , thats right You Suck
I was at your theatre last night watching your promo of "Borat"
and thank you for scratching the hell out of it. Yes, parts of the film were meant to look that way but not the whole thing. Plus subtitles belong at the bottom of the screen not at the top.

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Dustin Mitchell
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1865
From: Mondovi, WI, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 10-19-2006 01:38 AM

just start the shows early enough so that by the time the advertised start time rolls around your 'normal' preshow is just starting.

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Jared Thornton
Film Handler

Posts: 58
From: las vegas, NV, USA
Registered: Jan 2006

posted 10-19-2006 01:59 AM

quote: Dustin Mitchell
just start the shows early enough so that by the time the advertised start time rolls around your 'normal' preshow is just starting.

We adjusted the end time on the digital pre-show to end 2 minutes early to compensate for the new Ads. So the first trailer hits the screen at the advertised start time instead of the ad.
Its been fun retraining our booth monkeys to start the movies a little earlier as they weren't starting them on time to begin with. [Mad]

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Alex Rolfe
Film Handler

Posts: 37
From: Cambridge, MA, USA
Registered: Mar 2003

posted 10-19-2006 09:10 AM

University of New Hampshire (or whoever had print #00161 of Wordplay), thank you for
- attaching every leader backwards with masking tape
- using your bright yellow tape for all 26 mid-reels splices in reels one through four
- the two large tears you didn't bother to fix
- the two mid-reel splices with the half twist
- the splices that look like they were done with scissors, diagonally across the frame
- the numerous wrinkles, creases, and chewed up perforations

That must have been a heck of a mess on the floor of your booth.

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Richard May
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1057
From: Floral Park, NY USA
Registered: Aug 2004

posted 10-19-2006 10:03 AM

Boy, I never thought I would ever post on this topic but I must. We got a print of "The Ritchie Boys" in that was damaged beyond repair. It was sent out and replaced with another print from the Oriole Cinema in Florida..........WE SHOULD HAVE KEPT THE FIRST PRINT.....The second print had an extra reel...lol.......so now we had 6 reels instead of 5.......None of the leader were attatched. Some were missing. None had frames on them. To make it worse, the distributor basically refused to help any further saying WE had 2 days to figure it out. Then the prick sends us a video and says to follow the timeline. What a nice guy [fu]

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