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Author Topic: Oops! I played the wrong movie! John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 03-28-2006 03:46 PM                        Of course, "Film Done Right" would not have someone try to move a 50 pound print roll by themselves. Oh, I forgot...adequate staff costs money.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 03-28-2006 03:47 PM                     Life isn't always a bed of roses though. In this example, do you move the print by yourself or get someone who will greatly increase your odds of dropping it to help? What'll it be?  |  IP: Logged Stephen Furley Film God Posts: 3059 From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England Registered: May 2002 posted 03-28-2006 04:01 PM                     I've got as far as putting the wrong reel of film on a machine a handful of times over the years; it last happened just a couple of weeks ago, but I've always spotted it before lacing up the machine. I guess we can all make mistakes; soome of you may remember that I made a pretty bad one a year or so ago, but thankfully it doesn't happen very often. I did run the adverts reel with a 'PG' film on Friday, without noticing that there was an alcohol item it it which I should have taken out. I'm working my last projection shift, at least for a while, on Friday evening this week, So I can stop working the very log hours that I have been doing for the past few months, and get a rest. Maybe I'll find time to actually go and see a few films as well. I'm also hoping to get a few days off in May, to pay a visit to the Lafayette, Suffern, and do a few other things while I'm over there.  |  IP: Logged Kyle Anderson Film Handler Posts: 86 From: Tyler, TX, USA Registered: Dec 2005 posted 03-28-2006 05:14 PM                     We had this problem (along with a few others), but since we recently purchased $600,000 in Christie DLP's, the projection staff all got raises to $7/hr. I guess they didn't want the guys who play with the $3 million in equipment to be paid the same as the guy in the Taco Bell out front.  |  IP: Logged Nathan Fettes Film Handler Posts: 11 From: kalamazoo, MI, USA Registered: Jan 2006 posted 03-28-2006 08:08 PM                     I admit I have done this once. After three years in a booth, it finaly happend in a theater that had two people in it. The embaricment of it was enough to make sure it never happened again. Getting on the night shift and there was only one move that changed, I just was in a grove and neglected to look. It was within the first five minutes of the "Dreamer" that I noticed it was not the horror movie it was supposed to be. I got it changed and cut the trailer pack so they only got delayed five minutes so management never knew. Still The fact that it happend scared my for a while and was a good wake up call.  |  IP: Logged Joseph Pandolfi Expert Film Handler Posts: 213 From: Milford, CT. Registered: Nov 1999 posted 03-28-2006 08:49 PM                     So far I never had to play the wrong movie in my seven years. I came up with my own method of two or more movies on a platter. If both movies are playing alternately I would use only one platter brain and run the movie off of it. When the feature ends I would first remove the brain and place it on the next movie to play and then wrap the tail of the movie that is finished playing. On the others again I would use only one platter brain to pay out the correct matinee(lets say G rated) movie. The other movie that is not playing I would take a large core from a trailer and place in the center of the platter. Now if this is the last showing I would switch the trailer core to the takeup platter which tells me not to play it on the next show and to remove the head after it has finished playing and place it on the second evening(rated R)movie to play. Of course checking the schedule is mandatory for me.  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 03-29-2006 12:59 AM                        Agreed entirely with Brad on dropped prints. They are a pain but recoverable, but in my experience the problem can be made 100 times worse by panicing at the sight of one. I've had to deal with two incidents. The first time, my colleague (who was a bit of a drama queen anyway) had gone wading in straight away and had tangled up the film into a much worse state than it was in immediately after the drop, with the result that it took several cuts to recover in in any sort of sane timescale. The second time I was in the room when Titanic hit the deck (sorry - couldn't resist the pun). It had fallen diagonally while being lifted from a platter, and so was in a pretty gruesome pile. As I was lifting the print with a colleague, she got a static zap from the side of the make-up table, and tripped as a result of the shock. My first instinct was to say 'Take a deep breath and don't touch anything', which turned out to be the right one. We spent the next 5-10 minutes looking for visible reel end splices without touching any film. When we found them, we unpicked them and started winding each reel round a core by hand. It took 2-3 hours to recover the print, but we didn't need to make any cuts and after hand-cleaning on the bench it didn't look any worse (to my eyes) than it had done before (this was towards the end of the film's run and we'd got the print after it had done several weeks at another venue, so it was already quite worn). The same goes if the film slips off a take-up spool or plate, and starts piling up on the floor. Do not touch the film while looking for the end. If you can see a splice, unpick it and simply lift the film off onto a core without tangling it (if not you might need to make one cut). It should come without any problems.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-29-2006 01:20 AM                        quote: Nathan Fettes I just was in a grove and neglected to look Well, no wonder you screwed up, being in a grove instead of the booth.  |  IP: Logged Ron Curran Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 504 From: Springwood NSW Australia Registered: Feb 2006 posted 03-29-2006 04:54 AM                        I did receive a print of 102 Dalmatians without discs and forgot to turn off the DTS player. First reel started with the sound track to Coyote Ugly. Rare and interesting but not appropriate.  |  IP: Logged Matthew Peters Expert Film Handler Posts: 179 From: Glen Waverley, Melbourne, Australia Registered: Nov 2002 posted 03-29-2006 06:51 PM                     Thankfully I haven't played the wrong film (to date) but I have come close. With Panalogic automation you need to enter a show number, we usually have a list of the 3-4 films for each house with their show number and ad's / trailers. I was in a rush in this occasion and threaded the wrong film, as soon as I went to start the automation I realised I had the wrong film. So I quickly unthreaded, then got the correct film on. Skipped the slides as the show was more or less on time. However on more than one occasion while working on the floor, I have had the embarrassing task of having a customer report that "the wrong film is on." Not too bad till you've gotta go in to the auditorium and explain to the audience... [ 04-03-2006, 01:30 AM: Message edited by: Matthew Peters ]  |  IP: Logged Paul Van Dusen Film Handler Posts: 82 From: Roanoke, VA Registered: Feb 2006 posted 04-04-2006 03:55 PM                        Ok, i admit, i've almos done this as well, but i have to say, i handled it better than my manager when she threaded the wrong movie. I guess a little background is in order. I, and my manager, are dreaded manager/operators. However unlike her, i'm using this site, former projectionists, and pretty much anyone i can find to expand my knowledge and show a better product on the screen. Anyway, back to the story, last saturday my manager comes strolling down from the projection booth and said she'd accidentally threaded curious george instead of big mommas house 2. I chuckled and asked her how she liked de-threading (my term for pulling the film back into the inside of the platter and replacing the ring, not hard, but tedious). She looked very at me like i was stupid and explaimed "hell no, i just bunched it up and sat it on top of the platter. I was livid and promptly told her she was an idiot, and then i spent the next 15 minutes dodging the moving platter over my head fixing he idiocy. God i hate that womans work ethic. If she's not throwing brand new trailers on the floor to build them up she's breaking the film and rollers when she's building movies.  |  IP: Logged Pete Naples Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1565 From: Dunfermline, Scotland Registered: Feb 2001 posted 04-04-2006 04:45 PM                     quote: Ron Curran I did receive a print of 102 Dalmatians without discs and forgot to turn off the DTS player. First reel started with the sound track to Coyote Ugly. Rare and interesting but not appropriate. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the DTS system won't allow that, the discs and prints are not simply time code striped, there is ID there to lock the correct sound to the correct print. Whihc is how it manages to play the tralier discs correctly.  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 04-05-2006 12:14 AM                     quote: Pete Naples Correct me if I'm wrong, but the DTS system won't allow that ..sorry, but it can and definitely in rare cases - due to the fact that even with a billion 'z-bar' combinations that can be printed in that timecode, there will be one 'z-bar' that will match up with whatever disc is in the player and that section will play from the disc.. As with the "102 Dalmations" example: we had a Disney running matinees, and an "R" for the evenings...operator forgot to switch disc from the "R" to the Disney..Sure enough with a house full of kids: Main cartoon character is uttering the "F" word due to the info from the wrong discs that were in the player happen to pick up that one in a billion section of timecode and with the foul language and sent it out for all the young hears to hear...and DID I have some explaining to do to the manager, home office on such things since parents came out like crazy, ranting and raving all over the management team...when I got to work that evening... ..then, I had to give that operator a written warning on booth neglegience of of not paying attention to proper operations..poor kid...he definitely remembered next time.  |  IP: Logged Ron Curran Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 504 From: Springwood NSW Australia Registered: Feb 2006 posted 04-05-2006 12:51 AM                        Thank you Monte. We all know that the bumblebee can not fly but ... You just need a time code on the print and the DTS on with discs in it and it will play. It taught us NEVER to leave a loaded DTS on when playing a print without discs but with time code.  |  IP: Logged Pete Naples Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1565 From: Dunfermline, Scotland Registered: Feb 2001 posted 04-05-2006 02:59 AM                     Really?! In all my years I've never seen or heard of that happening. I'll have to take you guys word for it.  |  IP: Logged

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