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

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Film Handlers' Forum   » Newbies Training Newbies (Page 3)

This topic comprises 3 pages: 1  2  3

Author Topic: Newbies Training Newbies Dustin Mitchell Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1865 From: Mondovi, WI, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 10-16-2003 12:04 AM                     I think the key to the whole problem is for people doing the training to make sure they know their limits. Talking out of one's ass might make one sound knowledgable at first but eventually it will come back to haunt you. I can understand your concern about bad information being passed on as legitimate through training programs. What I am pointing out is that this is no different than what is happening in booths across America right now, only on an informal basis that most training is done on.  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 10-16-2003 01:15 AM                        I think Frank is right in that some people seem to have come from a fantasy land of enlightenment. I don`t know where that is, so I never take anything for granted and keep asking questions and reading up on stuff all the time. If I think about it, I learned by far the most from people who didn`t think they knew the definitive answer to everything themselves, but were prepared to reflect on questions again and again. Because truths are almost never static, it is so important to learn with and from experienced people in practical situations. I went to Entertainment Equipment`s Cinema Traing Central event in Buffalo recently and spent some time there training with Gordon. I didn`t hesitate to ask him about stuff that I thought I already new, and it turned out that he could provide me with some good insights and new aspects. So the experience was well worth the trip for me. Training events like this are great because spending time with other people who are out to learn is also very good because they will always ask different questions and have different blank areas to fill in and so you will always profit from each other.  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 10-16-2003 01:33 AM                        quote: Nobody wants to ask a question & get their head bitten off for asking. Unless someone purposely tries to stir up shit by being childish or being exceptionally disrespectful, nobody is going to "get their head bitten off" for asking a question. I guarantee it. quote: Im not gonna get off on a rant about my own rather strange training odyssey here, but it soemtimes sems like most of this board come from some fantasy land of projectioantorial enightenment. Remember that some, possibly many, of the people here, including myself, spent many years (usually unpaid) apprenticing in projection booths learning a craft and that this may sometimes be reflected in a members' answer to a a question. They're not trying to bite your head off, they're just explaining things from their point of view / and experiences. quote: Instead of complaining about poorly trained newbie operators ... how about some constructive & altruistic attempt to reverse this trend? If you look you'll see (and you may have already) that there are some other threads on booth training ideas. Unfortunately, for most of us, that's as far as we can take it since most of us are not in a position to control the way our companies structure the operations of their theatres, including their projection booths.  |  IP: Logged James Falloon Film Handler Posts: 72 From: Wigram, Christchurch, New Zealand Registered: Oct 2003 posted 10-16-2003 05:01 AM                     Ok, I know this doesn't apply to everyone (And I hope Nobody on Film-Tech) but I have seen this in other professions. One reason why inadequate training is given is Job Security. Are you going to train up someone to do your job, who is usually younger, fitter, and cheaper than you, thus making you dispensable/ replaceable by the company, because someone else can do your job? Not $!@*& likely! By 'Keeping then in the dark' the trainee will never rise up the hierarchy, thus the Trainers job is not threatened. I sincerely hope this is not true of anyone on Film-Tech, I know this is a contentious post, for someone who hasn't been here long. I do not want to offend anybody, if I have, I apologize. BTW the only heads bitten off in my projection room was when somebody forgot to check that they were joined on both sides.  |  IP: Logged Carl Martin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1424 From: Oakland, CA, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 10-16-2003 05:57 AM                        perhaps the best single thing you can do for a trainee is to turn them on to film-tech. aside from all the specific tips and the deep pool of knowledge, there is constant reinforcement of the general idea that we should all be striving to better our presentations and our techniques of achieving them. "film done right" and all. certainly, i've been inspired to change much of what i was taught to do with respect to threading and build-up/tear-down. there are many things i've received no training on at all that i would not attempt without some hands-on instruction first, but for those making do on inadequate training, f-t can be both a resource and an inspiration. unfortunately, as far as i know i haven't had much luck getting others to come here. i'm too shy and too lacking in authority to keep preaching the word around work. i get the impression that most theaters have at most one (usually 0) operator who participates here. what would be great would be to have some nice film-tech bumper stickers i could plaster around the booth. techs and relief projectionists should always have some on hand to stick up in booths they're called to. it might just get more people to lurk and eventually re-educate themselves. wouldn't the "you suck" thread be a lot more useful if it caused the offending theaters to reevaluate their practices? how about it? $5 for a dozen film-tech bumper stickers. i see a profit to be made here. carl  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 10-16-2003 06:12 AM                        quote: how about it? $5 for a dozen film-tech bumper stickers. i see a profit to be made here. Time to revive the idea of having document template files on Film-Tech that can be used to print out an information sheet to put in film shipping cases, or labels to attach to film leaders, that "spread the word" about Film-Tech.  |  IP: Logged Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 10-16-2003 10:29 AM                     As much as I *love* Film-Tech I would still have to destroy anyone who put bumper stickers in any of my booths. I just bought a few used iMac's to put in some of the booths. I haven't installed them yet because I'm not 100% convinced it's the best idea I have ever had. Also, there are no network lines in the booth at this time. Maybe I will go wireless instead of ethernet. As for job security, I have stated elsewhere on Film-Tech that I am happy to hire college students looking for part-time "beer money" because I've had good experiences with them. With that in mind, it would be a waste of time to give them more information than they want or need. I personally don't mind sharing information with a good, trustworthy worker who shows an interest in knowing more about projection as a career. But here's a story for you -- I was once asked by a theatre owner to train some of the managers to do maintenance on the projectors. I flatly refused because I saw where *that* was heading. Not only would I have put myself out of work, those particular managers would have screwed up the equipment in no time flat. So you can see there are instances where I believe in sharing and others where I will act in the interest of self-preservation. I paid good money for my education, not to mention the invaluable investment of time and, as Daryl O' Shea pointed out, years of working free or at minimum wage. I think it would be stupid to go and put oneself out of work. I also know it would be disastrous for the industry. This website is littered with anecdotes illustrating the folly of replacing professionals with teenagers and, despite the fact that many of us (myself included) are/were good teenage multiplex operators, the facts are (a) we were probably the exception, rather than the rule and (b) we probably screwed up a couple of times. Do we really want the trend to continue into the areas of installation and maintenance, too?  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 10-16-2003 02:15 PM                     John, the idea is being implemented over the next few months. Please post (or revive that old thread) that had the discussion of what info to include.  |  IP: Logged Travis Hubrig Expert Film Handler Posts: 175 From: Minot ND, USA Registered: May 2003 posted 10-16-2003 08:01 PM                     John, I run a first-run multi, and would be more than happy to spread the word about film-tech.  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 3 pages: 1  2  3

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

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.