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

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Ground Level   » Practical Jokes (Page 3)

This topic comprises 6 pages: 1  2  3  4  5  6

Author Topic: Practical Jokes Rich Granata Film Handler Posts: 61 From: Bethlehem PA USA Registered: Mar 2004 posted 01-11-2005 10:27 AM                     Just the other day, one of our floor staff finished all of his work early. He was new and he had been working hard all evening. He asked if there was anymore work to be done. (thats my kind of employee ) I told him over the walky, "Since it's the 9th of the month, we have to do a seat check." "What's that?" "I'll send a spreadsheat and a clipboard down the elevator. Basically you just have to go into every auditorium and sit down in every seat and grade comfort and cleanliness. Stuff like that." "Oh...OK" Priceless. Nothing like a joke like that to break an employee's spirit.  |  IP: Logged Thomas Procyk Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1842 From: Royal Palm Beach, FL, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 01-11-2005 10:43 AM                     Be careful! If you keep playing jokes on employees like that, somebody is going to pop you! =TMP=  |  IP: Logged Brandon Willis Expert Film Handler Posts: 216 From: Richmond, VA, USA Registered: Apr 2004 posted 01-18-2005 10:15 PM                     I called the theater claiming to be EDI one night, and my coworkers didn't recognize my voice at all.  |  IP: Logged Jarryd Beard Expert Film Handler Posts: 229 From: Hellertown, PA Registered: Jul 2004 posted 01-18-2005 10:43 PM                     Scaring Employees... When it comes time for closing at night, we have employees shut down each auditoriums' HVAC, patrol the theatres, and make sure emergency exit doors are shut. In one auditorium, there is a very short hallway between the auditorium door and the outside exit. This is referred to as the "red room" due to the fact that only a red exit sign lights it. (This hallway provides access to a closet behind the screen.) The room is great for hiding in until an employee goes to check that door. I've gotten a few people that way. I've also hidden under the masking below the screens. Just as the patrolling employee walks by, I reach out. Talk about shitting your pants. Our main projectionist likes to shut down early, so many times the house lights and intermission music is off in the theatres that have already finished for the night. While the employees usually turn the work lights on, I've often considered standing behind the screen and just whispering their names as they'd walk by. Haven't tried it yet. Theatres are great for scaring people because they're kinda creepy already.  |  IP: Logged Adam Wilbert Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 590 From: Bellingham, WA, USA Registered: Mar 2002 posted 01-19-2005 01:03 AM                        I once kept a stash of lifesized people from a bunch of old standees and stood them up just inside one of the auditorium doors before closing one night. The next morning the opening manager flung open the auditorium door and nearly had a heart attack as she stood face to face with a half dozen people when she thought she was alone in the building. The security tape of her opening the door was priceless!  |  IP: Logged Jarryd Beard Expert Film Handler Posts: 229 From: Hellertown, PA Registered: Jul 2004 posted 01-19-2005 01:29 PM                     Me and the assistant manager did a very similar thing with Dodgeball standees. One was placed in the office and one placed in the closet where the custodian would have found it. The manager found it funny when he came to the office the next day. However, our custodian didn't. She basically crushed it. This became problematic, however, when we received out shipment of Paparazzi standees. As you may recall, these were cardboard photographers intended to "jump out" at patrons. We hid them around corners going into auditoriums. These lasted about three nights before the custodian destroyed them. Needless to say, she was reprimanded for what she did. While the Dodgeball standees may have been a joke, these were clearly intended to advertise the movie.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-19-2005 01:58 PM                     That's good! It's a good trick. It's effective but harmless. (Unless the person has a weak heart!) PLUS it's something that can only be done, primarily, at a movie theater because you need standees to do it. To top it all off, anybody who gets scared by them should immediately recgnize that they are standees and be doubly embarrassed. How do you measure a good practical joke? When you pull it on somebody, their reaction should be, "OH! That was HORRIBLE!... Let's do it to somebody ELSE! "  |  IP: Logged Thomas Dieter Expert Film Handler Posts: 234 From: Yakima, WA Registered: Jun 2004 posted 01-19-2005 03:45 PM                     I remember my initiation into the theatre. First night on the job, and the manager didn't have the heart to give me the initiation, so he had one of the others do it. It went as such. "Some one just came out stating that the water level on the water fountain was low, would you take and fill it up? Make sure that you put 2 scoops of ice in the bucket of water so that it's cold. There is also a marker on the side of the water fountian that shows it's level." I didn't believe him, and just said, "okay I'll do it." I went into the back and moved one of the ice buckets, and went out the other concession door. I wasn't bothered with it until just before closing when they asked if I had filled it. I stated no, and that there is no marker on the water fountain, and that it gets is water through the plumbing. I also remember giving one stating that there was dust on the screen causing the picture to appear dull, and not as bright as it should be. And we gave them a broom and sent them into on of the houses with few people watching, like 3-5 people.  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 01-19-2005 04:10 PM                        quote: Thomas Dieter I also remember giving one stating that there was dust on the screen causing the picture to appear dull, and not as bright as it should be. And we gave them a broom and sent them into on of the houses with few people watching, like 3-5 people Sorry, that's terrible showmanship, for the sake of a joke. The theatre may never see those 3-5 audience members again. And what if those newbees had damaged the screen trying to clean it with a broom?  |  IP: Logged Adam Wilbert Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 590 From: Bellingham, WA, USA Registered: Mar 2002 posted 01-19-2005 05:05 PM                        ...not to mention that they probably got the screen dirtier by spreading dirt from the broom onto it. My other favorite practical joke: when Titanic came out, we got this huge triangular standee that just said "Titanic: Summer" (before it was pushed back) on three sides. We put about 4 or 5 33gallon trashbags worth of popcorn inside of it over the course of a week and then asked someone to move it down the hall after closing. As soon as they lifted it up, all the popcorn rushed out the bottom and they were standing knee deep in it. My requirements for a good practical joke: 1) it doesn't count if it is directed towards someone new. They just don't know better and are looking to please everyone, so they'll agree to anything. 2) It requires pre-planning to gather materials or to set up 3) It requires that you pay attention to peoples routine 4) If you dish it out, you have to be able to accept the inevitable get-back.  |  IP: Logged Jarryd Beard Expert Film Handler Posts: 229 From: Hellertown, PA Registered: Jul 2004 posted 01-19-2005 05:27 PM                     We had a really annoying employee named Zack. Zack was one of those people that are extremely gullable as well. I had remembered the "refill the Technicolor" line from this forum, so I decided to try it on Zack one night. I told him to go to Sam's Club and buy more Technicolor, we'd reimburse him once he brought a receipt. He thought he was smart and pointed out that Technicolor wasn't something to be refilled. I told him to go look behind the screen in one of the auditoriums. Sure enough, there was a big Technicolor tank in the corner. Before I knew it, Zack was off to the store. Well, I did stop him before he walked through the rain to Sam's, but it was great to see him fall for the joke anyway. So, what was the big Technicolor tank? It was actually the CO2 tank for the soda machines.  |  IP: Logged Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 01-19-2005 05:42 PM                  quote: Jarryd Beard ...big Technicolor tank? It was actually the CO2 tank for the soda machines. Hahahahaha, priceless! That's hilarious, Jarryd! I gotta remember that one!  |  IP: Logged Chris Mosel Film Handler Posts: 74 From: New Braunfels, TX, USA Registered: Sep 2002 posted 01-20-2005 09:05 AM                     We finally lost our last "Projectionist" and now use ushers to thread and start movies. Since they are not as familiar with the sounds of the booth I mounted an old credit card so that it rubbed one of the gears on the back of the projector. It took them a couple of runs on that machine to find the problem, but they were afraid the machine would explode at any time.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-20-2005 10:48 AM                     quote: Jarryd Beard So, what was the big Technicolor tank? It was actually the CO2 tank for the soda machines. At the Cinemark theater in Summerville, SC (et. al.), the CO2 tank is in the back corner of the projection booth! Somebody needs to go there and put a big "Technicilor" sticker on the side of that tank!  |  IP: Logged Jarryd Beard Expert Film Handler Posts: 229 From: Hellertown, PA Registered: Jul 2004 posted 01-21-2005 05:31 PM                     Booth would be cool. It would give a few chuckles every time you saw it.  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 6 pages: 1  2  3  4  5  6

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.