my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Film Handlers' Forum   » White vs. green Media Cleaner Pads (Page 2)

This topic comprises 3 pages: 1  2  3

Author Topic: White vs. green Media Cleaner Pads Oliver Harper Film Handler Posts: 29 From: Cambridge, United kingdom Registered: Mar 2007 posted 09-29-2008 05:34 AM                     I work for Cineworld and we use Strong. The lens we use are schnieder lens. The white cleaning media we did use in the past and it was softer and actually cheaper but we found it hardly removed much dirt. So we changed to the green media which is very helpful when you have a old film come in for a one day special and its incredibly dusty, we haven't noticed any problems with our prints, we only clean them once a week so we haven't noticed any changes in quality of our prints.  |  IP: Logged John Wilson Film God Posts: 5438 From: Sydney, Australia. Registered: Dec 1999 posted 09-29-2008 06:20 AM                     Oliver, are you using Film Guard?  |  IP: Logged Oliver Harper Film Handler Posts: 29 From: Cambridge, United kingdom Registered: Mar 2007 posted 09-30-2008 05:13 AM                     No we don't use film guard, we have discussed using it but we know if someone puts too much on the print it can ruin them so i've heard. Our prints are usually brand new and we take good care of them but we do get second hand prints from time to time usually from Sony but they often have film guard applied to them by the lab. [ 09-30-2008, 11:59 AM: Message edited by: Oliver Harper ]  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 09-30-2008 08:01 AM                        There are so many things wrong with that post, I don't know where to start. Somebody help! Love the "usually always".  |  IP: Logged Oliver Harper Film Handler Posts: 29 From: Cambridge, United kingdom Registered: Mar 2007 posted 09-30-2008 12:01 PM                     Nice attitude there Joe.  |  IP: Logged Chris Slycord Film God Posts: 2986 From: 청주시, 경북도, South Korea Registered: Mar 2007 posted 09-30-2008 12:13 PM                     quote: Oliver Harper we know if someone puts too much on the print it can ruin them so i've heard. If you know it to be true, you wouldn't be adding the "so I've heard" bit. In short: What you've heard is wrong. Sure, using too much is bad/stupid but it wouldn't ruin your print. Regardless, if you follow the directions you won't be "using too much of it" and if you don't trust the people you work with to be able to read simple directions and follow them then those people shouldn't be in the booth.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 09-30-2008 12:16 PM                     The first problem is Strong. So you find the abrasive green media cleans better than the softer white media...no doubt due to the pathetic backtension from a Strong platter, but regardless you are most probably putting very fine lines into the film that you can't see with the light levels you have on your screens, but that doesn't mean you aren't causing film damage that will affect someone else's presentation. Also the only thing the labs apply to the prints is something called Scotchguard or Photoguard or Imageguard (all basically the same thing). It is clear you don't know what FilmGuard is or how it works. Try a bottle and following the instructions (don't make up your own procedure) use it on a couple of prints and you will be very surprised at how good 35mm film can look. It is impossible to achieve that "FilmGuard look" with any other product.  |  IP: Logged John Wilson Film God Posts: 5438 From: Sydney, Australia. Registered: Dec 1999 posted 09-30-2008 05:57 PM                     quote: Oliver Harper but they often have film guard applied to them by the lab No they don't. Film Guard is only applied by the theatres...those that give a rats ass about quality. quote: Brad Miller Also the only thing the labs apply to the prints is something called Scotchguard or Photoguard or Imageguard (all basically the same thing) It amazes me that these processes are even still perceived to be of any effect, let alone still being used by the majors. Every one of the Australian prints of Wall-E have been treated with this useless application. It's not only managed to trap all the dirt under its coating, the 'scratch removal' effect doesn't work either...I had to reject a print with 5 lovely base scratches down the RHS of picture. These prints are all on 2393 stock yet they started out on day one looking the worst image on my screens (remembering Mamma Mia! had travelled 340 passes at this point and still looked brand new) and will leave the same way. My untreated second-hand prints of Step Brothers, Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging and The Bank Job started out with the aforementioned dirt and muck, but looked new 4 days into the seasons...all thanks to Film Guard. So, those cinemas that care enough to spend money to clean properly are punished by having Photoguarded prints in circulation to somehow 'benefit' cinemas that couldn't care less. As Mr. Spock would say...this is not logical.  |  IP: Logged John Koutsoumis Master Film Handler Posts: 261 From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Registered: Aug 2003 posted 09-30-2008 09:47 PM                     John did you apply Filmguard to your print of Wall-E? I gave up after 2 days as the streaking would not go away where as the last few films I have run through the cleaner had no problems with streaking since I mastered the applying procedure. There were no scratches on our Wall-E print but there was a lot of dirt in some parts. The film cleaner had no effect on the dirt. I should have known it had been treated as the each reel came sealed in plastic wrapping but all leaders had been cut. Kind of forgot that obvious sign Our prints of the Bank Job and Welcome To The Sticks look amazing thanks to Filmguard. [ 10-01-2008, 12:02 AM: Message edited by: John Koutsoumis ]  |  IP: Logged John Wilson Film God Posts: 5438 From: Sydney, Australia. Registered: Dec 1999 posted 09-30-2008 10:29 PM                     No John, you cannot use Film Guard on a treated print. (By treated I mean Photo-guarded or the like). It cannot penetrate the useless coating they slap on these prints. Film Guard on these type of prints will look like water does on a polished car...streaky droplets. If you do miss one and inadvertently add FG to it, just leave it. Any trace of the FG should disappear within a day. The plastic bag/spliced leaders thing happens with untreated second hand prints too. One dead giveaway that your print is treated is the toxic-smelling stench it gives off when you've opened the plastic or wind the film. It reeks of nastiness.  |  IP: Logged John Koutsoumis Master Film Handler Posts: 261 From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Registered: Aug 2003 posted 09-30-2008 11:59 PM                     Thanks for that John. Yes any trace of Filmgurad on Wall-E has gone bar just a slight streak on opening Pixar logo. I wish I could tell distrbutors not to use such treatments on used prints as we have a far superior tool. Oh well.  |  IP: Logged System Notices Forum Watchdog / Soup Nazi Posts: 215 Registered: Apr 2004 posted 08-04-2010 10:21 PM                 It has been 672 days since the last post.  |  IP: Logged David E. Nedrow Master Film Handler Posts: 368 From: Columbus, OH, USA Registered: Oct 2008 posted 08-04-2010 10:21 PM                        Just to resurrect the green v. white media discussion. Got a film cleaner about 4 weeks ago. It came packed with two rolls of white media "quilted for comfort". I had also ordered a box of green media. We had a super dirty print of City Island and I was afraid to re-use the initial pad after cleaning the print. The white pad was black and full of debris. So I ended up using the second white pad straight away, and used it through that final week. When we brought INCEPTION in, I switched to a new pad, this time a green one. Saturated it, etc. After watching the film run, I noticed immediately that there were very fine scratches on the film. Nothing objectionable to the average theatre goer, but definitely noticeable to me. I had originally thought the scratches might just be uneven Film-Guard streaks, but wiping a section clean with de-natured alcohol definitely showed scratches. When I ordered the green pads, I assumed they would be quilted like the white pads, but they aren't. As others have noted, the grit has no where to go. The scratches are clearly caused by surface grit on the pad, as the scratches will form and last for a few seconds until the grit has moved past. Then the scratch "fades out". So, I'm with Brad on this one. I would recommend using only the white media. -David  |  IP: Logged Manny Montes Master Film Handler Posts: 270 From: United States Registered: Feb 2010 posted 08-07-2010 04:43 AM                     Used green pads once, caused light scratches. Threw the rest of the box away and ordered film-tech white media, I've never looked back. Reading the instructions i'm still fearful of continually re-using the same pads though, it says you should change the pads weekly, I like to change them every 3 days. We have 13 screens, I only have 1 cleaner, I run it on 5 screens each day with the newest prints getting the first coating for protection, then it works it's way around the booth. Once it hits all 13 screens I replace it because by then its usually incredibly dirty and i'm afraid of scratching a print.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 08-07-2010 12:39 PM                     You should change the pads, resoaking only once per week, assuming you are following the ideal guidelines...which stipulates only ONE print. If you are juggling the same media pads around to more than one print, you could scratch it. Resaturating should always occur when you run a different print through the same pads, and only if the pads weren't very dirty to begin with from the last film you ran through it. What people shouldn't be doing is running a set of freshly saturated pads on the same print more than once a week. Hope that helps.  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 3 pages: 1  2  3

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

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.