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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Topic: film handling workshop, Austin
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 09-09-2014 02:01 AM
Herewith another anecdotal which supports the widely expressed belief on this thread that if the organizers of this event believe that a one-day training course will turn your average multiplex projectionist into a proficient exhibitor of archival prints, they are seriously mistaken.
I screened a print from a major FIAF archive a while back, and received an email from that archive today saying that they'd examined it on return and found nicks in the leading edge of the perforations in reels 1 and 3 of a three-reel print. The pattern of damage suggests that one of our two DP70s probably did it: I suspect a worn or hooked sprocket tooth on the lower sprocket, and will be checking with a magnifying glass tomorrow, and running a loop of virgin spacing.
The significant thing is that these nicks are truly minute: I had to magnify the picture they sent me up to around 3x to see what they were talking about, which was the tiniest of strains in one corner of the leading edge of the perfs on one side. Of course this shouldn't have happened and I'll be looking for the fault thoroughly, but my point is that archives are now complaining to theaters about what would have been considered routine wear and tear on prints only a few years ago. All they'd look for on returned prints is scratching, if the heads and tails had been cut and really egregious edge and perf damage (as in, edges crushed from poor rewinding over several feet or more, sprocket punch marks in the film, that sort of stuff).
The two of us who worked that weekend probably have around 70 years of projection experience between us, and yet we didn't catch this damage taking place (and unless we'd been winding the reels through very slowly with a high powered magnifier on the rewind, there's no way that we or anyone could have - no way could nicks that small have been seen by shining a flashlight on the film as it wound onto the take-up reel, which I always do after each changeover).
I'm guessing that the policymakers in these archives have been reading the stuff all over the Internet about how the end of film is imminent, blah blah blah, and have decided that from now on, they will expect the same sort of film handling in the booths that show their prints that goes on in the labs that clean, repair and print their camera negatives. And into this environment they're going to send people who have only ever threaded up platters in a multiplex or run portable classroom 16mm machines after a one-day course, and expect them to handle prints to the archives' satisfaction?!
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 10-08-2014 06:50 PM
It's a difficult one, and I think that places which are serious about keeping film projection alive are going to have to look carefully at how other heritage technology operations maintain their skills base, and see how we can learn lessons from them. There are organizations out there flying DC-3s and running steam locomotives (for example), and the people doing that are now at least one generation further on from the last generation to have worked with these technologies in mainstream commercial use. I'd guess that a lot of it is volunteering, and that many of them are the sons and daughters of others to have done it.
At 42, I'd guess that I'm the youngest of the projectionists in my workplace (possibly the second youngest), and certainly in the last generation to have worked with 70mm when it was commercial and mainstream. Anyone learning any sort of film projection "cold" from here on in is probably going to be doing it as a hobby rather than a career.
Many of the museums, cinematheques and arts center type venues that claim to be making a commitment to keeping film projection alive are probably going to want to think about expanding their volunteer/intern programs into the booth (traditionally somewhere only paid staff went, even if volunteers and/or interns worked in other areas of the operation). The basics can only be learnt by lots of practice, trial and error. Learning basic film handling, projector operation and maintenance is like learning to play the piano: there is no shortcut, however much of an aptitude you have for it, and furthermore, the number of paid jobs doing it in the future is going to be so tiny that no-one is going to be motivated to learn as a marketable skill.
That is why I really don't think this Austin workshop is taking the right approach: you can't get confident with the basics in a day. Where one-off, short training events might be more useful is for the more advanced stuff. A higher level maintenance job, e.g. swapping out an intermittent mechanism or doing an A-chain alignment, is something that a focused course might give someone the bedrock of knowledge for which they can then use to practice and firm in once back at their home venue.
So if you're really interested in learning film projection, I'd find a like-minded organization and volunteer as a first step. Projected Picture Trust? Leigh-on-Sea to Bletchley Park is a bit of a drive, but not out of the question, I'd have thought.
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Fiona Nancy Dulake
Film Handler
Posts: 4
From: Leigh on sea, Essex, England
Registered: Sep 2014
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posted 10-09-2014 10:22 AM
Thanks for your response Leo and Jon. Leo, luckily there is a small film society here in Southend that uses 35mm projectors for many of their screenings. I could always volunteer with them to get experience. Also my stepson's school teacher used to own a cinema and has worked with 70mm projectors in the past so he too could be of help. Last month I rather spontaneously bought a 70mm projector. The above comments talk about how projectors are falling into the hands these days of just anybody, and yes, I too now have got one but I'm prepared to learn everything about it to use it safely and correctly. Though if I was to ever rent 70mm films from a distributor (though I'm aware one must have a trusting relationship with a distributor in order to rent films), I would call upon someone with more experience to handle the film. There is an old cinema here in Southend for sale, waiting for a group of people to revive it. This is something myself, my husband and my stepson often talk/dream about. If we approach our local council for financial support, who knows, perhaps they may buy it and Southend will have a fully functioning revivalist cinema/alternative theatre one day....Jon, will check out the ppttrust website. Cheers
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Jason Metcalfe
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 134
From: Austin, TX, U.S.
Registered: May 2010
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posted 10-09-2014 07:54 PM
I'm not sure where the misinformation began but the AMIA workshop is definitely not supposed to take someone from 0->100 in a day, I see it more as a way for projectionists who have only ever been trained on the job, like many of us in this thread were, to establish a real bearing on their current set of capabilities. This is especially important for those that don't have the resources to make it to conferences like AMIA or take a class at NYU yet want to increase their skill level.
I was trained for a few months on threading and platters and the basic operation of a CP650 and left to my own devices, everything else I learned from a manual, gleaned from another more experienced person or these forums, like many of you I'm sure. If there were classes available or workshops I would have taken them but there weren't and that can be a frustrating paradigm to work in.
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I don't understand the backlash against this at all, it's going to help a few people have better film handling skills, it's increasing the awareness that this is an important job that should be preserved, and it will hopefully help increase the number of these events that happen in the future. /rant
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