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This topic comprises 4 pages: 1 2 3 4
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Author
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Topic: Your Dream Booth
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Andrew McCrea
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 645
From: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 07-31-2004 01:48 AM
You must never sleep, Brad ![[Wink]](wink.gif) ![[Razz]](tongue.gif) !
At the Globe when I worked there, it was an old FAMOUS house, and it was still fully equipped from them (they were evicted for not paying the rent). The VIC 8s and the Xebex Supersol (4kw) gave a great picture. Steady, focussed, flicker free, large and fully lit, etc. The same could be said about the VIC 8s and Xebexk Hi-Beam IIIs in Cin II and Cin III. We had Strong Alpha platters, but the only thing I can compare those too are CFS platters... And I think the Alpha's tale the cake over the CFS platters.
I've talked privately with some people on the forums through e-mail about different equipment, and these were some that had good reviews/feedback... But hey, its only my opinion/preference.
Any chance Kinoton manuals will be permitted on the site soon?
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Stephen Furley
Film God
Posts: 3059
From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England
Registered: May 2002
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posted 07-31-2004 03:16 AM
Brad wrote:
quote: Brad Miller
How about everyone posting here explain WHY they choose a certain piece of equipment?
Ok Brad, I'll try to justify one of the serious parts of my post, the choice of projectors.
I remember the first time I saw a Philips/Kinoton machine, thinking wat an odd design it was; I was used to various machines of '30s to '50s vintage, which were still common at the time. There are still a fair number of '50s Kalee and Westar machines in use today.
The all-in-one column design, the plastic gates, the pull-through sound head etc., were all unusual. Since I re-started doing projection work a few years ago, after a long gap without touching 35mm, I've used Kinotons, FP-30D and FP-20, more than anything else. I've found them to be reliable, and to give good picture and sound quality. At first I found them difficult to lace up, but I can do them as quickly as anything else now.
For the sort of places where I work, with a good 50% being foreign film, and a lot of classic films, the Kinoton lens holders are very convienient. On a recent Saturday, I ran five shows, four different films, in four different ratios, plus changes back to 1.85 for adverts and trailers on three of the shows. Turrets aren't really an option if you need more than two or three lenses, and most art-house venues have at least four. The Kinoton lens holders are really good for this.
I run a lot of old material, not nitrate, but 30 year, or more, old triacetate prints are common, and the Kinotons handle them as well as any other machines, and better than most.
As for my choice of electronic machines, there were two reasons: firstly I wanted dual-guage machines, and Kinoton no longer make these with conventional intermittants, and secondly, they make it easier to fun odd pull-downs, if these ever turn up for special formats. I have to say that I do have some reservations about these electronic machines. I have now seen two FP-30Es, but have never run them myself. Image steadiness in them was very good, but this system is still unproven to me, I would want to have more experience of it before I was fully convinced.
Mark wrote:
quote: Mark J. Marshall
Why not just install silver screen and be done with it?
Because I don't like silver screens! Seriously, I would prefer to avoid them whenever possiible, i.e. when not running 3-D. There are just too many problems with them, in terms of viewing angles, projectiion rake, hot spots etc, and any marks on the surface are almost impossible to remove. The one at the Lafayette, Suffern NY looked very good, at least from the seat I was sitting in, and I hadn't realised it was silver, but I've seen too many problems with them elsewhere; I'd rather avoid them.
Leo wrote, re. Steenbeck:
quote: Leo Enticknap
Agreed totally. A complete luxury but it lets you check for framing issues (quite common with archive prints contact printed from shrunk originals), out-of-sync soundtracks and a host of other issues that you could otherwise only detect by projecting the reel.
Sorry Leo, my brain was switched off when I wrote that, or I was just too tired at the time. The second 'motorised', i.e. The one about the Steenbeck, should not have been there of course. What would be nice is a four plate one with two picture heads.
He also wrote:
quote:
Noooooooo! If you're going to bother showing nitrate at all, put it on your biggest screen to show off the amazing silver density of a really crisp nitrate b/w print. No point faffing around projecting it onto something the size of a telly!
With my choice of a matt white screen, even with my chosen screen size of 10-12 metres, I would probably have movable top masking for silent and Academy, to get a larger picture with these formats, I would still be using a fairly high arc current or xenon Wattage; I think it would be wise to run the nitrate in a smaller house, exposing it to less heat.
I think it hiighly unlikely today that any licencing authority would even consider granting a nitrate licence to any public cinema that didn't already have one, whatever precautions were taken. Nitrate is 'nasty', and 'dangerous', and other cinemas don't show it, so it's not necessary. Apply for a licence for a petrol station, or an LPG depot in the middle of a resiidential area, and you'll probably get it though. Petrol and LPG are everyday, familiar materials, and they are necessary. That large gas depot in Stratford, East London, by the flyover worries me; I wouldn't want to be around if that ever went up, and there are lots of flats quite close by.
It does seem a pity that occasional nitrate shows can't be given.
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 07-31-2004 03:27 AM
quote: Michael Schaffer
BTW, what is a Mogwai? And what does spraying water on it do?
For $17.99 plus shipping, all will be revealed (a mogwai is pictured on the DVD sleeve). I've a feeling it would appeal to your sense of humour.
In terms of Brad's point about justifying my choice, the 'dream booth' I had in mind was one designed primarily for screening archive and rep prints; the priorities being to support as many formats as possible, including nitrate.
Justification for DP70s as the main machines: Rugged design; support for both 35 and 70; large uncluttered film path makes it very easy to keep clean; best compromise of any 35/70 machine I've used between picture stability in both gauges. Of the other 35/70 projectors I've had substantial experience of using, that experience was that the Vic 8 doesn't give as steady a picture on 35 as the DP70, and the Century JJ isn't as steady on 70. The big drawback of a DP - that you can't change aperture plates while the film is in motion - doesn't matter in a rep house running changeovers and with no automation.
Justification of FP18s for 16mm: the best performance of any 16mm machine I've used with older acetate stock; spectacularly gentle to film; very easy to swap between 16 and super 16. OK, the optical sound isn't great; but neither is the optical track on a 16mm print to start with.
Justification for CP200: Modular design enables easy replacement of failed boards. If something fries in a CP650, you're looking at replacing the whole thing. Besides, my experience of CP650s in a changeover house is that it has a software bug which sometimes prevents the sound from changing over with the picture.
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