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Topic: Fim loading the night before

Ken Lackner
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1907
From: Atlanta, GA, USA
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 10-01-2007 09:12 PM

I was under the impression that the gate should be left open on any projector that uses tention bands -- Christie, Simplex, Century, etc.... Never heard anything about leaving the pad rollers open or closed due to tension on the springs. But I would leave everything open anyway because I would clean every machine as I shut them down.

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Scott Norwood
Film God

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

posted 10-01-2007 09:17 PM

I'm a big believer in leaving Century gates closed overnight. If they are left open, the gate springs wear out prematurely. For the same reason, I leave Simplex gates closed as well, though I haven't had to replace a Simplex gate spring.

At one point, I think that Gordon recommended removing the gate (or trap) to eliminate wear on the bands, which seems like the ideal situation, though I've never seen it done in practice.

Normally, I leave pad rollers and Simplex/RCA sound rollers open and everything else closed on Century and Simplex heads. With Kinoton, I just leave everything as-is (i.e. closed) overnight.

I would be curious to know if the manufacturers have any thoughts on what should be left open or closed overnight. Does anyone actually remove lenses from the projectors overnight (presumably to store them in a cabinet or other location protected from dust)? I've seen this recommended before, but have never seen it done in practice.

I don't generally clean projectors at the end of the night if they will be run again the next day. I think of this as something that should be done before every show. I do clean the machines thoroughly if they will sit for some time before the next show (as in venues that aren't full-time theatres).

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Floyd Justin Newton
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 559
From: Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Registered: Jun 2002

posted 10-01-2007 10:10 PM

Scott-- At the orignal Cine Capri we removed the gates AND lens from the machines (JJ3) at the conclusion of the last performance. This releaved any possibility of the bands having any pressure on them. The lens were stored in the lens cabinet.
Sad to say the Cine Capri was the last true movie theatre in
Phoenix. It was demolished to make way for an office building.
Nothing but cracker boxes here now. [Frown]

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Paul Van Dusen
Film Handler

Posts: 82
From: Roanoke, VA
Registered: Feb 2006

posted 10-01-2007 10:46 PM

quote: John Wilson
He shouldn't stay later, just re-thread what finishes first at end of night. The last one or two to drop stay unthreaded.

That's pretty much what I tell my assistant to do, although that's not always the case. The boy loves to ride my clock.

quote: Michael Cunningham
I dunno, back when I was grinding in a booth, I always had to be there early anyway. When do you : clean screens, clean house vents, clean amp racks (behind screens), do complete projector cleaning (noisy air compressor), drag your ladder into houses to clean ports, vaccuum the booth (also noisy), change oil or belts, etc.? All that stuff that requires hours of daily time but can't be done during show hours?

All that stuff gets done during our office hours from 10-12 every weekday. Your also assuming i'm a projectionist, i'm the theatre manager. I've got so much crap that i have to cram in the average day, having the projectors threaded for me is just one less thing i have to worry about. Besides, as i said in my original post, it allows me time to run the box office, open the theatre, count the money, etc. Your average projectionist doesn't have to do any of this extra managerial stuff.

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John Hawkinson
Film God

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

posted 10-01-2007 10:53 PM

Scott: We remove our lenses from our Century Cs and toss in our Kollmorgen bottleglass lenses (Academy ratio) at the end of every night. We also clean the trap rails (excuse me, gate pads) at the end of every night (as well as the beginning).

--jhawk

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Kurt Zupin
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 989
From: Maricopa, Arizona
Registered: Oct 2004

posted 10-01-2007 11:05 PM

Floyd-

Have you been to our new theatre? The new Cine Capri? Thats the theatre I'm a manager at.

Back on subject. We open all our film gates and turrents at the end of every night. And I wouldn't ever thread up night before. not to say I havn't done it before. At my old theatre back in Michigan when I would close and then open up the next day I would thread up before leaving. This is because, I worked a second job from 3am to 9am. So if I knew I was the one coming in in the morning then I would do this.

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Frank Angel
Film God

Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 10-02-2007 03:49 AM

quote:
The latter, except for the pressure roller on the drum which can develope flats,

Brad, that's what I said. What I was questioning was about the springs and the bands. I am not saying that the tension won't be reduced a bit over time, but my contention is that such a reduction would be so minute as to be insignificent that people need not get paranoid about it if they did or did not leave the gate closed. So the bands last 9.5 years instead of 10 -- miniscule enough that I am not going to turn the car around and head back to the booth to make sure I left the gate opened, is what I meant.

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Brad Miller
Administrator

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

posted 10-02-2007 05:13 AM

Aha, I gotcha. I had misread what you wrote.

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 10-02-2007 06:23 AM

Over time, I have had more issues with gate closing springs loosing tension (Simplex/Century) than tension bands loosing tension. In fact, since polyester prints have become the norm...having tension bands wear out has been a greater wear factor than loosing tension.

I have therefore always left my gates closed at night and pad rollers in their most relaxed state. If the springs are of equivalent tension open or closed, I'll leave the pad roller open after cleaning.

Steve

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Stephen Furley
Film God

Posts: 3059
From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England
Registered: May 2002

posted 10-02-2007 08:08 AM

quote: Scott Norwood
Does anyone actually remove lenses from the projectors overnight (presumably to store them in a cabinet or other location protected from dust)? I've seen this recommended before, but have never seen it done in practice.

I would guess that most people with turrets leave the lenses in, as they are pretty much a semi-permanent part of the projector in that case, while those with single lens holders probably take them out at the end of the day and return them to the cabinet, as the lenses are frequently being removed to change format anyway. I've only ever used single lens systems, but I can't think of anywhere, other than one occasional venue, where it wasn't normal to remove the lenses at the end of the day. I also remove the aperture plates. As for gates, it seems to vary, some places leave them open, some closed, and a few remove them; I've never found it to make much difference. I generally tend to leave them open, probably because I always open them as soon as the film comes off to check for any sign of problems, excessive build-up of dust, emulsion, or overheating, for example. Once it's open I tend to leave it that way.

I check the lenses before mounting them, but don't normally clean them; I aviod cleaning lenses unless they're actually dirty.

Most places that have, or had, 16mm machines seem to leave the lenses in on those; I don't know why the difference.

On the digital projector, of course, the lens stays in. The manual mentions a lens cap, but I've never seen one. Did other DSN venues get a lens cap with their machines? Did AA remove them because people were forgetting to take them off, and melting them?

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Joel N. Weber II
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 115
From: Somerville, MA, USA
Registered: Dec 2005

posted 10-05-2007 12:30 AM

quote: John Hawkinson
We also clean the trap rails (excuse me, gate pads) at the end of every night (as well as the beginning).

At least as of a few years ago, that was highly dependent on who was projecting.

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