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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Author
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Topic: Broken equipment -- a question of sabotage.
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Randy Stankey
Film God
Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 07-06-2005 08:56 AM
That's exactly what I was going to say, Jack.
In my theater, anybody can rent the place and the use of the equipment but I or my designated responsible individual must be on duty at all times. It doesn't matter if all I do is sit in a chair in the corner of the room and watch. Sombebody will be there at all times. If they don't like it, TOUGH COOKIES! They don't have to rent the theater. (It IS the only theater within 100 miles that they could rent, lock, stock and barrell, for less than $1,000 dollars per day. (Non-profit rate is $500 + expenses... Projector = $250 + Operator.)
I have seen several people complain about that arrangement but, as far as we're concerned, they can take it or leave it. I am the only one with keys to the electrical vault unless you want to leave a message on the on-call electrician's cell phone and have him "get back to you". I am the only one with full knowledge of the sound system and the lighting console unless you want to call the technician who originally installed the system... and PAY HIM!
Finally, I am THE ONLY ONE who knows all of the quirks of the projection system. There are, maybe, two other people capable or running the system satisfactorily but I am the one who installed the projector and I am the only one who knows where the wires go and how they are hooked up. If something goes wrong in the middle of your show, I practically guarantee that you will be screwed unless I (or one of those two other people) am there to bail you out!
I suggest that, even if you only unlock the door at the beginning of the day to turn on the equipment and don't return until the end of the night to shut down, your boss should put such a rule in place. If he had, you can say with virtual certainty that this $X,000 dollar repair wouldn't have been needed.
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Kenneth Wuepper
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1026
From: Saginaw, MI, USA
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 07-06-2005 09:15 PM
If you are renting out your booth, then you must have a complete inventory of the contents. Lenses by focal length, manufacture and serial numbers. Reels by size and condition, split or regular, etc. Supplies like tape, splicers, lubricants and cleaning solvents. Machinery by make model and serial numbers.. Working condition of the equipment as noted, (last calibrated sound Date--)
The renter is given a copy of this inventory and is welcome to check it out in your presence BEFORE the use is begun.
The renter and the owner then make a complete check of the equipment and supplies after the use. Missing or bent reels, scratched lenses or other misuse of the equipment is noted. Any discrepancies are the financial responsibility of the renter.
The owner may require that only the house operator, paid by the renter, shall operate the booth.
The owner reserves the right to have, at the renter's expense, a designated representative present during the use to assure that the equipment is being handled in a competent manner. (The lease may include provision for termination of the use immediately upon recommendation of the owner's designated representative.)
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Scott Norwood
Film God
Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 07-06-2005 10:26 PM
Was this a one-time-only rental, or is the organization likely to want to rent your theatre out again on a regular (or irregular) basis?
If it's a once-only rental, then I would have insisted on a full sound alignment before and after the show, to be paid for by the renter. Inventory would be a good idea, too.
If the organization rents your theatre regularly, and you are confident in the abilities of the renting organization and the operator(s) whom they use, then you might not need to do this, since both sides have a mutual interest in keeping the other side happy.
I've been on both sides of this sort of arrangement (more often, I've been the operator brought in by the organization renting the venue, when there was no regular operator for the house), and it's never really been a problem, save for one instance where the sound alignment was way off when I arrived. I doubt that Frank's situation resulted from intentional sabotage. My own suspician (not knowing any of the individuals involved, admittedly) is that it was the result of either stupidity/cluelessness or human error/bad luck. In either case, though, it should have been reported by the organization which rented the venue.
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Frank Angel
Film God
Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 07-07-2005 12:06 AM
Answering some of the questions: The festival has been in the theatre for three years now and as I mentioned, every time they have been there, something was either reported as problematic that they had to "fix" during the week's run -- fuse replacement in one of the rectifiers, xenon replacement due to excessive exhaust system (their projectionist's assessment), broken guide roller over the holdback sprocket drive, and this year, this.
The reason I don't work this festival is because unlike all the other film screenings at this venue are usually no more than a few showings over, at most, a three day period. This festival is 7 day run with screenings starting at 1pm and running until past 11pm. This venue is free-lance for me. It is not my primary theatre and 7 days is simply more than I can take away from my main gig. The first year they came in, I tried to do it but the most I could wiggle would be 4 days. I would have to have the theatre hire an additional relief projectionist to cover me. That turned out to be problematic.
This is a non-union house. To the best of my knowledge, there are no other licensed projectionists in New York City who do not belong to the union. So it was not possible to find a licensed, non-union operator. So, in order to get the needed relief projectionist to help me cover all nights, I had no choice but to go to the union.
The union rejected allowing someone to take only part of the festival. If they were going to allow a union projectionist to run the booth, the union had to run ALL shows. I understood this; it made sense.
Further, the reason all those good safeguards that you all have brought up, were not implemented (a house tech to oversee what is going on, insurance, someone one to check at the end of the show, etc.) is because the relationship between the festival and the venue has been rather informal -- both non-profit, both run around in the same grant and funding circles. Plus festival people really quite amiable, nice people and their tech is very knowledgeable and is a cinematographer in his own right; the projectionist on the other hand is someone they had to get from the union and not on their staff. In that case, the festival takes whomever the union sends.
I am sure next year that cozy relationship will have to include a more formal arrangement with more safeguards and insurance clauses -- all the points you guys brought up. They become kind of obvious after the fact, eh?
As for the sound -- no digital in this booth, only a CP55 with SR cards. And these soundheads still are unreversed scan white exciters; the reverse scan red exciters are in the closet awaiting the arrival of the first cyan print.
And Scott, I think you are being too forgiving in not thinking this could be intentional because no matter how stupid an operator could be, how do you run a show with bad sound without the people who hired you totally freaking (and I don't have to tell you that festival people are the freakiest of the freaks)? How could even the audience sit through it? When I say there was nothing above 500hz I am not exaggerating -- try turning the slit focus knob three full turns & see what it sounds like. For the life of me, I simply cannot reconstruct ANY scenario where doing that would fix anything that could have been going on with the sound drum or the roller latch. And even if let's say, just for laughs, that he couldn't get the guide roller to hold the film against the sound drum, even if he was too friggin stupid to figure out how to get it to latch to close....are we then going to suggest he that he was smart enough to know or even somehow figure out how to unlock the slit-lens setscrew and focus it? on what? a flapping free loop? How would that make it sound any better? Surely he couldn't run the film this way without major complaints.
Don't you just love a mystery? Anyway, at least this will be the time the Kelmar reds get installed and we get a full A & B chain alignment plus some good rental procedures out of it.
In MY theatre, anyone touches any of my equipment, especially the projectors, fingers get broken my friends! Toes too, if I hadn't happened to have me morning coffee. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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