Film-Tech Cinema Systems
  Home     Products     Store     Forum     Warehouse     Contact Us    
Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE


  
my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home
  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Film Handlers' Forum   » I Finally Met The Booth Monster! (Page 4)

 
This topic comprises 5 pages: 1  2  3  4  5   
Author Topic: I Finally Met The Booth Monster!
Mary Cosgrove
Film Handler

Posts: 5
From: N. Richland Hills, TX, USA
Registered: Dec 2003

- posted 11-01-2005 03:14 PM      Profile for Mary Cosgrove   Author's Homepage   Email Mary Cosgrove   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Personally, thankfully, I have never encountered a monster that large. The only one I have encountered was maybe 2 minutes of film back when one of the projectors I was operating was having random platter issues...as in the power would randomly go out on the platter even though it was fully plugged in and our tech couldn't figure out what was wrong with the stupid thing. So our monster was only big enough to set off our failsafe and cause a minor brain wrap. It took a month to finally track the source of the problem down and fix it.

Of course the location I am currently in has encountered the monster just as bad if not worse. Theirs was where something happened and it caused the film to get sucked back up into the turret and then try to go INTO the lamphouse. Of course it doesn't help that the automation on these projectors is so old they aren't really compatible with the failsafes we use!

 |  IP: Logged
Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 11-01-2005 06:53 PM      Profile for Mark Gulbrandsen   Email Mark Gulbrandsen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Carl Paquin
Hi Mark. I think i have to apologize in some kind of way about the message I sent you. In fact, I understand now, considering your surprise, that the message was not written by you. So I'm sending you a copy of what I got after downloading it on my Desktop. If you want you can send me the picture and I will post it for you.....

Carl,
Appology acepted, no problem... and welcome to Film-Tech! I thought that if you went back over the thread you'd find that I wasn't the cluprit.

Spanish... Of course this is a free counrty and you may speak what ever language you want to but not knowing the English language down here is a major handicap in leading a normal productive life.

Mark

 |  IP: Logged
Gordon McLeod
Film God

Posts: 9532
From: Toronto Ontario Canada
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 11-02-2005 01:11 AM      Profile for Gordon McLeod   Email Gordon McLeod   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
my favorite booth monster was getting called to an emergancy to find the 70mm print of the untouchables was now two 35mm prints one half on the platter the other half on the floor [Frown] not a pretty sight

 |  IP: Logged
Stewart Anderson
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 105
From: Sandy, Utah /United States of America
Registered: Aug 2003

- posted 11-02-2005 02:53 AM      Profile for Stewart Anderson   Author's Homepage   Email Stewart Anderson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Back in the day when I was first learning how to run booth at good old Sandy Movies 9 (a run-down Cinemark) on the opening night of Gladiator the take up stopped taking up about 20 minutes in and unfortunatly we were running that machine on manual (I don't remember why). So there was about 20 minutes of film on the take up platter and to this day no one knows why the platter mysteriously stopped taking up. The platters were some old SPECOs (I'm not sure the model #). Does anyone have some ideas?

 |  IP: Logged
Brad Miller
Administrator

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

- posted 11-02-2005 01:06 PM      Profile for Brad Miller   Author's Homepage   Email Brad Miller       Edit/Delete Post 
Yeah, the old red tree SPECOs with the cream colored decks required lubrication on the takeup's elevator twisted rod and guide rod. If they weren't lubricated from time to time, the weighted roller would literally stick instead of letting gravity pull it downward. All it takes is for the stick to be just enough so that it catches and the elevator roller stalls for several seconds. Then it falls thus stopping the takeup.

 |  IP: Logged
Amanda Jones
Film Handler

Posts: 92
From: Indianapolis, IN, USA
Registered: Aug 2005

- posted 11-02-2005 01:23 PM      Profile for Amanda Jones   Email Amanda Jones   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Knock on wood I've never met a booth monster.

 |  IP: Logged
Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

- posted 11-02-2005 04:55 PM      Profile for Monte L Fullmer   Email Monte L Fullmer   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Yea, good ol' SPECO (Drive-In, Incorporated) LP-270's, steel decks, and the "bouncing" platter drive tires.

-Monte

 |  IP: Logged
Stewart Anderson
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 105
From: Sandy, Utah /United States of America
Registered: Aug 2003

- posted 11-03-2005 01:41 AM      Profile for Stewart Anderson   Author's Homepage   Email Stewart Anderson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I don't know why I didn't think of that. Looking back on it now it seems obvious. Brad, that is a very good theory. Up till now I thought it was a short power failure that happened while I was on break.

That was years ago but I'll never forget that call on the radio: "number 9 is melting, hurry quickly...". The monster had found its way back into the projector ceasing it up after only a few minutes of playing with out taking up.

 |  IP: Logged
Dieter Depypere
Master Film Handler

Posts: 343
From: Deutsch-Wagram, Lower Austria, Austria
Registered: May 2005

- posted 11-03-2005 11:09 AM      Profile for Dieter Depypere   Email Dieter Depypere   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Two years ago I could chase away the booth monster. Always good when you are present all the time and the failure happens during the show start.

The funny thing about it was that I pre-ran the projector (taking up the countdown leader) where the film was properly(!) taken up. But on the startup the film managed to slip out of the reel. Don't know why. Never happened again.

 |  IP: Logged
Alan Plester
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 209
From: great yarmouth england
Registered: Apr 2001

- posted 11-03-2005 01:14 PM      Profile for Alan Plester   Email Alan Plester   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
running towers in a twin, hadnt been in the game long, went down the boiler room to sort out a problem, got back and found another, I hadnt turned the auto shutoff unit on, and the take up had decided to stop, o m g! strugled but kept the show going, scared me to death, always made sure the a c o was on ,no matter what.

 |  IP: Logged
Joseph Pandolfi
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 213
From: Milford, CT.
Registered: Nov 1999

- posted 11-03-2005 06:13 PM      Profile for Joseph Pandolfi   Email Joseph Pandolfi   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I never met the monster, yet. But came close when a trailer started tearing down the middle setting off the split failsafe. By the time the projector ground to halt I had about a foot of it on the floor.

 |  IP: Logged
John Hawkinson
Film God

Posts: 2273
From: Cambridge, MA, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

- posted 11-04-2005 03:46 PM      Profile for John Hawkinson   Email John Hawkinson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I'm reminded of this image that I scanned a while back from an old issue of Film Notes for Reel People. Truly the Booth Monster:

-

(sorry, I don't have a credit handy...)
--jhawk

 |  IP: Logged
Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 11-04-2005 08:34 PM      Profile for Scott Norwood   Author's Homepage   Email Scott Norwood   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Ha!

One of those cartoons used to hang on the wall above the rewind bench at the Chestnut Hill booth. Someone had crossed out "Don't" and changed the header to "Be very afraid of projection."

I doubt it's still there, though.

 |  IP: Logged
William Sartore
Film Handler

Posts: 6
From: Bethel Park, PA
Registered: Nov 2005

- posted 11-07-2005 09:07 AM      Profile for William Sartore   Email William Sartore   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Gordon McLeod
my favorite booth monster was getting called to an emergancy to find the 70mm print of the untouchables was now two 35mm prints one half on the platter the other half on the floor not a pretty sight
I remember running Inframan about twenty five years ago. Aside from the magnetic soundtrack and the fact that this film really needed an MST3K treatment, the most memorable thing about this film was when it went in 35mm and came out two 17.5mm. Never dropped the failsafe and wiped out a good 700 feet of film.

All in all it made for a better movie.

Bill

 |  IP: Logged
John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

- posted 11-07-2005 04:30 PM      Profile for John Pytlak   Author's Homepage   Email John Pytlak   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
I'm reminded of this image that I scanned a while back from an old issue of (Kodak's) Film Notes for Reel People. Truly the Booth Monster:
Our editors always did have a good sense of humor! [Big Grin]

 |  IP: Logged


All times are Central (GMT -6:00)
This topic comprises 5 pages: 1  2  3  4  5   
   Close Topic    Move Topic    Delete Topic    next oldest topic   next newest topic
- Printer-friendly view of this topic
Hop To:



Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM 6.3.1.2

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.

© 1999-2020 Film-Tech Cinema Systems, LLC. All rights reserved.