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This topic comprises 5 pages: 1 2 3 4 5
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Author
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Topic: Theater treats kids expecting to see Chicken Little to the wrong movie
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Jim Ziegler
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 753
From: West Hollywood, CA
Registered: Jul 99
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posted 11-08-2005 06:18 AM
quote: David Buckley
If anyone is gonna get fired, the manager should be first in the list, for failing to implement appropriate control mechanisms.
Because we all know that union contracts allow maximum control of the booth by management....
Come on.. First the attempt is made by Mr. Benjamin to "pin" this on non-union operators. When it is revealed that AMC Empire 25 (one of the busiest theatres in the U.S.) IS a union shop, then its time to blame the managers? Folks, an IATSE membership does not confer on its holder any god like status or divine powers. Since union contracts in almost all cases limit management control over the both (some SIGNIFIGANTLY limit that control), trying to blame management is completely absurd. A union card is nothing more than paper. Its holder is subject to the same human tendancy to screw up as people who don't have one of those cards.
quote: Frank Dubrois
Even though it was the manager putting some disgusting R flick with a Disney G flick which actually allowed this to happen?
Your GM gets to book his own theatre? Again... Lets blame the manager... Damn evil managers....
quote: Robert John Jeromson
And as it happens in countries such as New Zealand illegal, our classification systems make it punishable by significant fine for a cinema complex to allow exhibition of restricted material to under age patrons, and yet it happens, just last weekend I heard a story of a cinema complex exhibiting Deuce Bigalow 2 instead of Wallace and Gromit (or something like it).
Wouldn't criminal intent come in to play here. Even if the U.S. had such laws, an accident would generally not lead to prosecution unless negligance was specifically part of the statute.
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Stephen Furley
Film God
Posts: 3059
From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England
Registered: May 2002
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posted 11-08-2005 09:37 AM
I got as far as putting the wrong reel on a machine once, but spotted my mistake before lacing it up. One of the first things I do when I arrive for a shift is to check that I have all of the film that I'm going to need that day. I put the reels in the rack in the order that I'm going to need them, though some of them may change order during the day, if the same film is being shown more than once.
I never rely on my memory as to which film is being shown when; I always check the printed schedule before taking any film from the rack. Other than the first show of the day, the next reel that I need will normally be the next one in the rack, next to the gap where the last one came out. I check the label on the reel head is correct before I take it to the machine, I check it again against the schedule before lacing up, which may be several minutes later, depending on what else I am doing at the time. As I bring the film down to the numbered leader to lace up I also check the printed title and part number on the leader with a mini Maglight torch, I have known a written label to be put on the wrong reel.
If the print has been made up by somebody else, and has not been previously screened, and the leader has been cut and spliced back, I check on the bench that the BBFC certificate at the start of the film matches the title on the leader. If somebody had put both the leader and the certificate on the wrong print, then I would probably get caught out, but that's unlikely. If I was making up the print then I would obviously check this myself while doing so.
We all make mistakes; some of you may remember that I made a pretty bad one a year or so ago, but I think it's unlikely that I'd run the wrong film; I'd have to make the same mistake several times for it to slip through unnoticed.
quote: Scott Norwood
Do we know that this was the operator's fault? I did this once (interchanged "Princess Diaries" and "Rock Star") because I was given an early revision of a schedule which had since changed.
There's a good chance that a projectionist would spot this; in most, not all, cinemas you can see a fair part of the auditoria from the box; if you see that most of the audience are young children, and the schedule shows what is obviously an adult film in that slot, then a call to the manager would be in order. Of course, if the auditorium cannot be seen, or if the all of the audience are sitting in parts of it which cannot be seen, then this is not possible.
quote: Mike Spaeth
like it or not ... starting the "R" instead of the "G" ... especially one where a girl starts urinating on the floor during an opening scene is a SERIOUS offense
I've never seen this film, clearly you shouldn't be showing a film to the wrong age group, but one with an opening scene where 'a girl starts urinating on the floor' doesn't sound too bad; it's not like one with guts all over the floor, or extreme bad language, is it? There are plenty of worse things that could have been in it, some of the scenes in 'Passion of the Christ', for example, or the version of 'Carmen' which I ran once, which had some pretty gorey bullfighting scenes at the beginning. That one actually got a surprisingly low certificate, a 'PG' I think it was.
If the projectionist had not already seen the problem, and stopped the film, then the manager, or floor staff, should have called to report it. Once this had been done, the projectionist should be left alone to sort it out. If youre' trying to sort out a problem then the last thing you need is the 'phone ringing every few seconds. When the projectionist is not busy then the manaager should ask for an explaination of what happened. If it was an error by the projectionist, and the first time it had happened, then a warning to be more careful in future would seem to be in order. I don't think it should be grounds for dismissal, unless it happened repeatedly, though if the explaination given was 'I thought I'd stick the wrong one on, just for a larf like', then that would probably be considered gross misconduct, and would be grounds for dismissal without further warning. That would be unlikely to happen though.
If a projectionist is so busy that they really do not have time to check properly that they are running the correct film then the cinema is seriously understaffed, and that is a management issue.
Personally, I think there should be a projectionist standing by the machine for a few minutes before the show time, throughout the adverts and trailers, and for at least the first two or three minutes of the feature. If running changeovers then I think they should also be there for the same time at the start of each reel, whether the changeover is automatic or mauual. When running a subtitled film I also wait until I have seen the first few subtitles before leaving the machine. If this is not possible, then I think the cinema is understaffed. I watch the auditorium for about three minutes before the advertised show time, looking out for any reason to hold the start; things like a customer in a wheelchair arriving at the last minute, and a seat having to be removed for them, or an infirm person needing assisstance. I would say about one show in four or five has to be held for something of this sort. How do you deal with this situation if you start a show on timers, with no projectionist present? Do you have a 'Hold' button downstairs that a member of staff can use in this situation?
On machines with doors I leave the door open, and on Kinotons with single lens holders I leave the small light shield on the holder back, until I have done the final check of everything, and nothing else at all needs to be done before the start button is presse; If I see a door open, or a shield back, then it reminds me that the machine is not ready to go.
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