Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Hey you, you suck! (AKA: Outing bad film handlers) Part 2

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Topic: Hey you, you suck! (AKA: Outing bad film handlers) Part 2

John Hawkinson
Film God

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

posted 03-29-2007 04:10 AM

This is a lab defect. Most likely they cut it slightly too soon. You should report this as a defective reel and get a replacement. Chances are you're missing some film (though probably on the order of frames or seconds, not minutes).

For Technicolor studios, call 1-800-99-FILMS. For DFS (Deluxe Film Services, formerly ETS) studios, call 1-800-734-3969. Twenty-four/seven.

--jhawk

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Chris Slycord
Film God

Posts: 2986
From: 청주시, 경북도, South Korea
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 03-29-2007 04:18 AM

The print in question is gone as we had 2 prints of the movie and lost one due to new movies. It ran through fine; our company's policy requires having one of the other projectionists watch the movie go through.

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John Hawkinson
Film God

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

posted 03-29-2007 04:22 AM

You should still report it so that it doesn't get sent out to the next guy. Better late than never.

--jhawk

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John Pytlak
Film God

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

posted 03-29-2007 09:48 AM

I agree with JHawk that you should still report it. I likewise agree that likely the processing machine operator accidently cut the film too early as it came off the processing machine. Someone else got the extra tail film that should have been on your print.

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Craig Dunn
Film Handler

Posts: 14
From: Anderson, CA, USA
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 03-29-2007 11:10 AM

We have had a couple of prints come in with tail and head with a long blank in between about 30 feet from frame to cut. These have mostly come from Delux. College students doing home work with their processing is my assumption.

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Brad Miller
Administrator

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

posted 03-29-2007 11:37 AM

That is when the lab is using short end rolls that are very close to what is needed to run off the length of a reel (but slightly longer), and that excess clear is done in order to try and avoid having lab splices within the reel. You will note whenever you see that there is always a lab splice in the clear, but not the reel. I consider that a very good thing.

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Chris Slycord
Film God

Posts: 2986
From: 청주시, 경북도, South Korea
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 03-29-2007 03:36 PM

I'll have to ask the guy who broke that one down if he remembers what movie it was.

This isn't about bad film handling per se, but I was all sorts of annoyed last night when I shut down our booth, cleaning each projector. At each of our 8 houses, there is a bottle of isopropyl alcohol (and according to company policy it has to be at least 90% by volume). 6 of the 8 houses had the bottle left open from the night before. Apparently, whoever shut down last night doesn't get the idea that rubbing alcohol evaporates very very quickly.

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Dominic Espinosa
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1172
From: California, U.S.A.
Registered: Jan 2004

posted 04-28-2007 04:30 PM

I totally expected better of the Regal Hacienda Crossings 20+IMAX...Since this is one of the top 5 theaters in California.

Friday morning, just in time, I received a print of Namesake from them without the leaders properly secured (what a mess!), without leaders spliced on (overlapping leaders is not good, people, we now have scratched changeovers!), and a reel that had obviously been dropped on it's way into the can (sans flanges of course as the core was completely crushed).
That last one is more of a screw you for the those dumbass Fox reels ETS likes.

And in closing it is unnecessary to put splice tape over neumade cue foil after placing it on BOTH SIDES of the film, that stuff aint coming off easy as it is!

In addition, there are many small scratches on the inboard edge opposite the soundtrack...Green emulsion scratches that is.

I have great respect for anyone who can handle 20 screens as a "projectionist" and the print is otherwise in decent condition (of course it was filthy, film cleaners are around for a reason you know) but taking just a tiny bit more pride in your job isn't such a bad thing is it?

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Chris Slycord
Film God

Posts: 2986
From: 청주시, 경북도, South Korea
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 04-28-2007 07:56 PM

quote:
And in closing it is unnecessary to put splice tape over neumade cue foil after placing it on BOTH SIDES of the film, that stuff aint coming off easy as it is!

I have to disagree here. When we don't put tape on the cues, they have a tendency to come off and the movie fail. Or they come off in the projector and then get re-deposited somewhere else in the print. In fact, this happened with out print of Pan's Labyrinth where one day, it started having the lights come up to trailers level half-way through the movie.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 04-28-2007 08:41 PM

quote: Chris Slycord
When we don't put tape on the cues, they have a tendency to come off and the movie fail. Or they come off in the projector and then get re-deposited somewhere else in the print.

Gotta disagree there. I have a piece of "junk film" that I use at the end of every print. It has an "end cue" at the beginning of it. I've been using that same piece of junk film, with the same end cue, for at least five years now and the end cue is still there and still working. Maybe you're using low-quality cue tape?

Either way, if you're putting tape over cues I hope you're taking it off when you ship prints out.

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Chris Slycord
Film God

Posts: 2986
From: 청주시, 경북도, South Korea
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 04-28-2007 10:14 PM

quote: Mike Blakesley
Gotta disagree there. I have a piece of "junk film" that I use at the end of every print. It has an "end cue" at the beginning of it. I've been using that same piece of junk film, with the same end cue, for at least five years now and the end cue is still there and still working. Maybe you're using low-quality cue tape?

Touche. We could add some junk film for that. And up until recently, we did have some pretty cheap cue tape.

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Monte L Fullmer
Film God

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

posted 04-28-2007 11:24 PM

quote: Mike Blakesley
It has an "end cue" at the beginning of it.

..is your cue reader one of those old dry contact roller based cue readers, or a newer sensor types?

(are you one of those who whacks the tail leader off at the end of the ratings tag, if your adding this junk film that has this show end/dowser drop cue...by any chance..? For I trust that you don't allow tail end runout through the machine with the dowser open.,.If not one of these, then please disregard this question and no offense on this..)

quote: Chris Slycord
we did have some pretty cheap cue tape

it's always a good practice to replace cues after a couple of weeks run for any cue tape..good or bad, do wear out eventually with those minute cracks that shows up in the foil itself..

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Dominic Espinosa
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1172
From: California, U.S.A.
Registered: Jan 2004

posted 04-29-2007 11:18 AM

I never had the problem with any cue foil, CPI included.
These guys were using the nice thin stuff that doesn't ever come off even when you want it to.
Ergo I'd rather they put a piece of splice tape UNDER it.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 04-29-2007 08:46 PM

quote: Monte L Fullmer
..is your cue reader one of those old dry contact roller based cue readers, or a newer sensor types?

(are you one of those who whacks the tail leader off at the end of the ratings tag, if your adding this junk film that has this show end/dowser drop cue...by any chance..?

Our cue reader is the newer sensor type, first got the DTS, I would put the end-cue where I thought it needed to go, but often there would be just enough "time code" after the automation had finished its cycle to switch the DTS back in...then the end leader would go thru and all that noise would blast out of the speakers. I just got into the habit of cutting that pesky end-leader off and putting the junk film on in place of it.

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Bill Gabel
Film God

Posts: 3873
From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 04-30-2007 07:30 PM

Regal's Metropolitan Stadium 14 in Austin, Texas, you have taken first place so far this year. As to the Bad Film Handlers of a screening print. I loved the way you used the masking tape to replace the head and tail leaders and recut the frames at the head & tails.

Thanks for the platter leader too. [beer]

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