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Author Topic: Take Your Cues Off!!! Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 11-10-2006 11:06 AM                        quote: ...obtain a cue detector identical to the ones used in your theatre... Have ALL of the cue sensors wired to either cause the rewinder to stop or make a buzzer go off so you know, automatically if there is a stray cue... That's a great idea... but I'd guess you'd have to run your rewinder pretty slow to give proximity and reflector-type detectors time to catch a cue. That's the main reason we never tried it here. Thankfully, there are far fewer theatres doing 6,000 foot changeovers these days, so cues on reel 3 are rare. I wish I could remember what kind of cue tape I have here. It pulls off easily with little-to-no goo. Some of the stuff we get from "the chains" are a real challenge to get off the film... pretty thick, too. Naturally, now that I have proximity detectors here, I hate seeing those 4" strips that some theatres think they need!! When we had our contact-type pickoffs & Co-Operators, we only needed a couple of frames worth.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-10-2006 12:13 PM                        The problem with removing cue tape on breakdown is that it requires slowing down and stopping the MUT to find and remove the usual "lights mid" cue that most people put at the start of the end credits. This results in a poorly wound final reel and potential edge damage in shipment. I'd gladly take a properly wound print with cue tape still affixed to the film at the usual places (start of credits and somewhere within the last 20' of the film) over one with edge damage to the last reel. I do agree that venues that run automated changeovers should remove any cue tape on reels other than thhe last. I guess that I just don't see having to remove two pieces of cue tape as being terribly annoying, compared with the other forms of print damage that usually occur.  |  IP: Logged Stephen Furley Film God Posts: 3059 From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England Registered: May 2002 posted 11-10-2006 01:29 PM                     quote: Yay running reel-to-reel with no automation...I don't have to worry about those guys who are too lazy to remove their cues [Razz] . Also running totally manual system, but I had a different problem recently; a sharp edge on a hand-cut cue overhanging the edge of the film cut into my finger as I was inspecting the print.  |  IP: Logged John Walsh Film God Posts: 2490 From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way Registered: Oct 1999 posted 11-10-2006 03:48 PM                     For cues that were placed for booths with changeovers, I guess you could rig up a timer. The down side is you would have to set it for each feature length to time out after the last reel started. Steve's idea of placing a cue sensor on a rewind table is pretty cool. I'll try our detectors and see how quickly they can register.  |  IP: Logged Jesse Skeen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1517 From: Sacramento, CA Registered: Aug 2000 posted 11-12-2006 03:48 PM                     [quote] Especially on the 'lights up' cue at the start of credits, to hear a dropout in the audio to ME is distracting. Trouble is that the crappy automation that it 'pulses' an audio format to the Dolby processor which effectively punches "Format 11" again and the processor does a quick fade out/in. [Mad] {/quote] Hey Blaine! A place I worked had the same problem and I found a way around it- whenever you don't really need the sound to go to another format, have the automation 'punch' a format that isn't there- in my case, I had it go to "AUX" which wasn't hooked up to anything, so the sound would just stay where it was. Some screens had Dolby Digital so this would eliminate the sound dropping out for a half-second when it punched the format again, and there were some that had DTS so the sound would go to analog when the lights came up. Of course, the best solution is to just have the lights stay down all the time and let "survival of the fittest" sort itself out, but I ain't gonna go there today  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 11-12-2006 08:47 PM                     quote: Jack Ondracek fewer theatres doing 6,000 foot changeovers these days, so cues on reel 3 are rare. ...and what's also sad on this is how many sub-run booths don't even know anything about this - being that they're not trained in this area to remove the 2nd or 3rd reel cues.. I get a few calls from theatres that wonder why their machines are shutting down in the middle of the performance. I simply ask them if they noticed any cues on these two reels...they would answer back and affirm this - after feeling stupid in not checking..  |  IP: Logged Marc Hansen Film Handler Posts: 93 From: Seattle, WA, USA Registered: Dec 2000 posted 11-12-2006 10:04 PM                     I can't help but feel that this is another example of a problem that is solved by previewing the movie before showing it to an audience. If you miss something in the build you will see it before a customer does.  |  IP: Logged Jon Miller Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 973 From: San Diego, CA, USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 11-12-2006 10:25 PM                     ...or, better yet, do a thorough bench inspection as you build up the print onto 6k reels, then transfer the print to the platter. Bench inspection is the best way to catch rogue cues. I deal with film festival prints with all manner of cues left on and I always peel 'em off, no matter what. Especially beauties like this... From what I've learned, that's the dreaded Opticue.  |  IP: Logged John Walsh Film God Posts: 2490 From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way Registered: Oct 1999 posted 11-13-2006 06:52 AM                     (Quote:) ....From what I've learned, that's the dreaded Opticue. No, that's a person who doesn't know what the hell they are doing. I can't imagine any manufacturer who requires cues be placed on that way. This is an Opticue....  |  IP: Logged Jon Miller Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 973 From: San Diego, CA, USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 11-13-2006 09:10 AM                     Thanks for the clarification, John! No matter what they looks like, cues placed over the picture area are the absolute worst.  |  IP: Logged Marc Hansen Film Handler Posts: 93 From: Seattle, WA, USA Registered: Dec 2000 posted 11-13-2006 10:27 AM                     Jon I wasn't suggesting it as an alternitive to a bench inspection, just as a final inspection prior to the public seeing it. After all no one is perfect, we all miss something once in a while.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-13-2006 11:01 AM                        Sometimes a thorough bench inspection and a preview screening are not possible. We play a lot of movies in week 3 or week 4, thus we get overnight circuits quite frequently. The film will show up at 4:30 in the afternoon on Friday. Having said that - I don't mind taking other folks' cues off. It's just a matter of getting in the habit of looking for them. I haven't seen a reel-3 cue in years.  |  IP: Logged Blaine Young Master Film Handler Posts: 477 From: Kirkland, WA, USA Registered: Sep 2006 posted 11-13-2006 12:26 PM                     I was inspecting a print of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" this weekend. Interestingly it had no 'credits' cue, but it did have a cue system I've not seen before. The cues were on reels 2 & 4, indicating a showing on 6000' reels with only 2 reels per. I used to do this quite a lot in a 6000' reel change-over house where we would stagger show times by 50-60 mintues and bicycle prints between booths (5 booths for 8 houses). Anyway, the cues appeared to be outboard for motor start and inboard for change-over. I would have thought that by the time this film ran, most of the booths had timed change-overs. I may be wrong.  |  IP: Logged Luci Reeve Film Handler Posts: 50 From: Telluride, CO, USA Registered: Feb 2006 posted 12-11-2006 05:33 PM                        I've never seen a print where the cues had already been taken off....I therefore assumed that you take off the last booth's cues and put yours on. I can't wait to see my first print with cues already taken off.  |  IP: Logged John Hawkinson Film God Posts: 2273 From: Cambridge, MA, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 12-11-2006 05:40 PM                     Really? So you've never gotten, say, a looks-like-new print that has had the heads and tails cut, but otherwise looks pristine? Or even one without the heads and tails cut, but which a really close inspection shows signs of running? Are you a festival-only projectionist? --jhawk  |  IP: Logged

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