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Author Topic: What happened to 2 reels per movie cans? Stephen Furley Film God Posts: 3059 From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England Registered: May 2002 posted 04-01-2005 12:45 PM                     quote: Myself Most of the cans we see here are utter crap. At long last I finally saw a decent can yesterday. It had the spiggot to hold the core in place, on both the can itself and the lid, made of good strong plastic, seems to have been in circulation for a while, and still in good condition. Sadly, I didn't have a camera with me, and I forgot to make a note of the maker before taking the prints down to the loading bay. I do remember that it was made by Film <somthing> of Sun <something> California. Is anybody able to fill in the two <something>s? I think I would recognise the name if I saw it again. Note to any British film distributeors who may read this; please dspatch your prints in this type of can, rather than the usual junk which we get, which falls apart, as in my picture earlier in this thread. If I could get the name of the maker, I'd write to the distributors about it. This is the picture of a typical roll of film iin a can of the type we normally see, which I wasn't able to post before. The problem is obvious. And here, as a reminder, is a picture of a typical can in the condition we often find them:  |  IP: Logged Helmut E. Dorausch Film Handler Posts: 18 From: Simi Valley, CA, USA Registered: Jul 2002 posted 04-04-2005 11:48 AM                        FILMTREAT WEST CORP., in Sun Valley, Ca. 91352. Manufacturer of 35mm Raw Stock Cans in 1000 ft and 2000 ft capacity. (they include the core locator you referred to, and have been "personalized" for a number of Major Studios) We opt to use a more resilient grade of "archival appropriate" plastic, in order that the cans do not CRACK. NOT a substantial cost increase to better protect the film! We also manufacture patented 35mm 2000 ft "snap-on reels" and several million cores per year. Our manufacturing efforts are the result of being directly involved with film processing, distribution and storage for several decades.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 04-04-2005 02:55 PM                     Hey Helmut! Can you upload a picture of your plastic cans so everyone can see the concept?  |  IP: Logged Joop de Gruiter Film Handler Posts: 33 From: Lund, Sweden Registered: Jul 99 posted 04-04-2005 04:25 PM                     In Sweden the big mainstream distributors uses boxes like these to transport film. This is one of the new ones which has a shelf for dts disks and has an extra supporting shelf in the middle keeping the box together. The older boxes tend to get bent which makes the shelves crash making it hard to get the stuck rolls of film out. (the film is on cores) Some prints come in two boxes which can hold four reels (do you call it a reel if it's on a core?) each. Joop.  |  IP: Logged Stephen Furley Film God Posts: 3059 From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England Registered: May 2002 posted 04-04-2005 04:29 PM                     I've never seen anything like that Joop. What is that box made of?  |  IP: Logged Joop de Gruiter Film Handler Posts: 33 From: Lund, Sweden Registered: Jul 99 posted 04-04-2005 04:43 PM                     I guess it's called plywood, well it's wood at least. This is what happens far too often with the older boxes. Not the one reel arriving wrapped in cardboard! But with the crashed shelves.  |  IP: Logged Helmut E. Dorausch Film Handler Posts: 18 From: Simi Valley, CA, USA Registered: Jul 2002 posted 04-05-2005 01:36 PM                        I will bring my camera tomorrow, in order to provide photos.  |  IP: Logged Bill Enos Film God Posts: 2081 From: Richmond, Virginia, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 04-06-2005 12:46 AM                     That plywood box with shelves and compartments is very nice but it has to be much to heavy when filled with seven + rolls to be comfortably handled by one person. In use here, the morons at DHL would reduce it to splinters before it arrived at the first theatre.  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 04-06-2005 02:14 AM                     quote: Bill Enos In use here, the morons at DHL would reduce it to splinters before it arrived at the first theatre. ..also the ETS people. Also, the shipping charges for this much weight would be horrible. Granted, the core idea is pretty nifty on cutting down weight of sorts, but unprotected like that without being in film cans spells disaster as well. Granted, you European folks can really take care of things, where over here, unfortunately, the care gets place on the back burner at times. -Monte  |  IP: Logged Stephen Furley Film God Posts: 3059 From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England Registered: May 2002 posted 04-06-2005 06:28 AM                     It's surprising just how much variation there is in print packaging methods in different countries, and interesting to see photographs. I haven't yet seen any method which seems ideal. The American method of shipping reels in octagonal containers is heavy and bulky, but could provide good protection for the print, if the shipping reels were of decent quality, not like the junk which falls to bits which has often been shown here. Also, at least two cases are needed for most prints. The old reel bands were good, but are being phased out. The old style metal shipping reels were very heavy, and sometimes bent and rusty. In many other parts of the World most cinemas would have problems with the 5/16" spindle size. The 70mm method is probably the best, but too heavy, bulky and expensive for general 35mm use. The British system is lightweight and compact, but the cans and cases currently in use are not up to the job. The cores are (almost) universal, you just need a plate or split spool to fit whatever size spindles you have. I can easily carry an eight reel print, or two short ones, in one go. The Sweedish plywood box looks nice, but must be heavy and bulky, and the fact that it seems to fall to bits would seem to negate any other advantage that it may have. Many prints would still need two cases. The rolls of film, without cans, in a cardboard box with card board separators between is hopeless. Very little protection to the print, and the film gets covered in dust and fibres from the cardboard. It's slightly better if you put each roll into a plastic bag, but dragging the film out of the bag tends to generate static, which attracts the dust to the film. The Russian system, using something that looks a bit like a cake tin, but about twice as high gets battered, and hard to open, and the version I saw would only take 1000 foot rolls. India seems to use cardboard boxes, often covered in hessian sacking material. Their cans seem to be the metal, raw stock type, which get bent. I have seen some plastic ones from India, which were somewhat better than most of ours. Iranian prints seem to arrive in any old cardboard box, of any size, some rolls in cans, some not, with a load of waste paper stuffed into the box to fill the space. I think my choice would be for an improved version of the British system, with the film on cores, not less than 4 inch, larger would be better, in good quality plastic cans like the one I saw last week. The new plastic cases we have now are not bad, but could do with being made of slightly thicker , more rigid material, possibly with extra reinforcement on the edges.  |  IP: Logged Bill Enos Film God Posts: 2081 From: Richmond, Virginia, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 04-06-2005 07:37 AM                     Each year after running the VCU French Film Festival, this year 13 features and 13 shprts all on cores in plastic raw stock cans in cardboard boxes, I have great appreciation for our system of reels in metal cans. Of the 77 rolls, 43 of the plastic cans were broken in some way and 4 of the 15 cardboard boxes had to be replaced before shipment. Fortunately for us the VCU French dept. handles all that. The Indian boxes covered with burlap hold up well but don't do much to protect the flimsy plastic raw stock cans.  |  IP: Logged Joop de Gruiter Film Handler Posts: 33 From: Lund, Sweden Registered: Jul 99 posted 04-12-2005 11:47 AM                     In Denmark almost all films seem to be distributed on 1800-meter (6000 feet) reels like these: Or in a kind of "Clam"-like box, which i think is made by Cinemeccanica. I find these "6000 feet boxes" more difficult to carry. You need two of them (one in each hand) to get any balance and they are even harder to carry up stairs (especially winding staircases). A normal box is much more compact and easier to get of the ground. The positive sides are faster buildup time or only one change-over (on a standard length film). Joop.  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 04-12-2005 12:01 PM                        The two reel shipper used in Denmark looks like "ELR Done Right".  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 04-12-2005 12:55 PM                     ...better than those idiotic plastic jobbers that Warner and NewLine had out for that short time... - Monte  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 04-12-2005 01:22 PM                        Actually, the better European large reel shippers were considered as the Inter-Society Committee developed the Extended Length Reel (ELR) concept. Both Goldberg and Technicolor Entertainment Systems submitted pretty robust designs to the Committee. Bobby Pinkston was the Chairman of the working group that worked on ELR.  |  IP: Logged

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