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Topic: Spiderman

Mike Spaeth
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1129
From: Marietta, GA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 05-01-2002 11:38 AM

Yeah ... I had to do that once in Kansas City. That was interesting. Supernova, Any Given Sunday, and Snow Falling On Cedars. We stole a platter (Christie) from a tree that only had one film ... and just set the extra print (on the platter) on the floor next to the projector. That way we didn't have to clamp the print every show. At least the platters were easily removable.

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Scott Norwood
Film God

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

posted 05-01-2002 12:29 PM

Mike -- interesting solution, but don't you need two people to lift a complete platter?

Actually, triple features aren't really a problem as long as the theatre has the flat disks that sit on the platter surface and which can be used to move prints (we call them "cookie sheets," but I don't know if that is the official term). Just take the print up on a cookie sheet and move it to another platter or rest it on the legs of the same platter (not the floor, please!). This can be done easily by one person and avoids the use of clamps completely.

With motorized masking and either lens turrets or properly set lens collars, none of this should be a big deal.

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Mike Spaeth
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1129
From: Marietta, GA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 05-01-2002 01:11 PM

Scott - we didn't have any of those discs. The platter solution was the easiest, but it still required two people.

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Christopher Duvall
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 500
From: Denver, CO
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 05-01-2002 03:08 PM

We call those discs "donuts".

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Charles Everett
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1470
From: New Jersey
Registered: May 2001

posted 05-01-2002 03:14 PM

Getting this back on topic . . .

Sony is gunning for a record based on the bookings I've seen.

AMC Hamilton: 5 prints, first show 10:15 AM, last show 11:30 PM.

Loews New Brunswick: 5 prints, first show 10 AM, last show 12:30 AM.

That means the staff has to get in extra early on Friday to prep the theater before the doors open. And that last show won't let out until the wee hours of the morning. Then you've got to do it all over again Saturday and Sunday.

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Ian Price
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1714
From: Denver, CO
Registered: Jun 99

posted 05-01-2002 05:28 PM

This is just my opinion.

Spider Man has a shelf life of exactly 13 days. The studios and the exhibitors know that they will need to wring every possible dollar out of the American public during those 13 days. So it only makes sense to open as many prints on as many screens as possible. That way you can dump quite a few screens and open that little art film from George on May 16th.

As soon as Star Wars opens I believe that everybody will have forgotten about Spider Man. Now, I have seen Spider Man and it is faithful to the spirit of the comic but I don't believe it breaks any new ground. Therefore I don't believe that it has a life after Star Wars opens. Even if this doesn't turn out to be true, I believe that this is the mindset of the distributors and the exhibitors.

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Jason Black
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1723
From: Myrtle Beach, SC, USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 05-02-2002 07:36 PM

OK, just watched the film and overall, I enjoyed it. I *really enjoyed Willem Dafoe's line.... "God Speed Spiderman.... Ohhh..."
Brought out a good laugh... Anyway, I was surprised at the decency of the film, but I still dont' see it as being good for small kids, which will surely be begging mom/dads to bring them out tomorrow.

We'll see... Anyone else care to share their opinion of it?

Now back to work to screen Deuces Wild... Yippeeee... <sarcasm mode off>

------------------
The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese!

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Wes Hughes
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 175
From: Raleigh, NC, USA
Registered: Aug 2001

posted 05-03-2002 02:24 AM

When you guys have to triple up films on one platter stack, why don't you just "piggyback" two of them? By this I mean have two films on one deck tail to head? If you platters are well timed, normal sized, and generally in fair shape it is no problem. I do it fairly regularly on POTTS (Strong) platters with no film retainers of any kind (just a tuck) and never have trouble.

Just make sure your operators ALWAYS run the films that are piggybacked even if no one is in the theatre so that the film on outside of the roll won't be trapped by the one in the center of the roll!

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 05-03-2002 07:35 PM

I watched "Spiderman" and enjoyed it pretty well. It's not the best superhero movie I have seen, but it is worth the ticket price to see.

One big problem I have with it though brings up this question: who did the quality control on these prints!!!???? Good Lord, parts of it just looked terrible. I think it had to be in maybe reel 3 or reel 4 where some of the worst stuff happened (when Peter Parker takes out the garbage at night and chats with Mary Jane) there was all this blotchy and spotty looking stuff coming up every once in awhile. It looked like the film had a bunch of liquid dripped on parts of it basically. The color quality was also pretty drained as well.

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Brad Miller
Administrator

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

posted 05-03-2002 07:53 PM

I had to replace a reel 3 of mine for exactly that same reason. I forget what causes it (but John will be around in a few minutes to remind me), but I wonder how many reel 3s that could have plagued before it was caught.

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Scott Norwood
Film God

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

posted 05-03-2002 09:25 PM

Was the problem on the soundtrack (left-hand) edge of the print? If so, then it's a soundtrack application problem at the lab.

[cue Pytlak-vs-Guttag thread on the relative sound quality of silver-track vs. high-magenta vs. cyan-dye soundtracks]

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Gracia L. Babbidge
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 709
From: Bowdoin, Maine
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 05-04-2002 01:47 PM

I've got a screen tripled up right now. Which isn't anything new and different, since January, there have probably been 4-5 weeks when there weren't any screens tripled up!

grrr...

And of course, we don't have any of those spiffy 'donut' / 'cookie sheet' things either.

Nor is it feasible to 'piggyback' any of the prints, because Clockstoppers plays the first two matinee shows, Y Tu Mamá También plays the third matinee show, then Murder By Numbers plays the two evening shows.

That leaves option 3 - clamp and move prints every day, preferrably with assistance, but it rarely happens that someone able-bodied enough to be of help has the five minutes to dash upstairs!
'aggravation-cha-cha-cha!'

<-has biceps like steel!

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Darryl Spicer
Film God

Posts: 3250
From: Lexington, KY, USA
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 05-04-2002 01:56 PM

<<When you guys have to triple up films on one platter stack, why don't you just "piggyback" two of them? By this I mean have two films on one deck tail to head? If you platters are well timed, normal sized, and generally in fair shape it is no problem. I do it fairly regularly on POTTS (Strong) platters with no film retainers of any kind (just a tuck) and never have trouble.>>

I have done this. But you must have the showtimes set for this to be possable. Sometime that can not be done because of this Example.

1st show= monsters inc.
2nd show= Black knight
3rd show= Black knight
4th show= Ali

It is these situations where I wish I had the eprad double mutt system where that third print with one show could be ran on a large 12,000 foot reel. Then all you had to do was rewind the print.

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Dave Macaulay
Film God

Posts: 2321
From: Toronto, Canada
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 05-04-2002 06:59 PM

Quality control:
Every reel of every print got visually checked where I saw Spiderman being shipped. However... the print check stations run the film at a horrendous speed, I will guess 10X so a reel takes 2 minutes. All anyone could see is a major disaster (goodly scratch or streaks/blotches/blank film from a printer fault) and if the checker blinks a good sized bad section could be missed. They were rejecting a few reels though - no idea if that scrapped the reel or it went back for a second look.

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John Hawkinson
Film God

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

posted 05-04-2002 07:57 PM

I had wondered if visual inspection of prints was still done or not, given today's high-volume-in-a-few-days release printing schedules. It's good to hear that it is still checked, even if it is of limitted utility.

I watched it at a local theatre last night and was annoyed at the dye spots on R2. I assume it was printed at Deluxe Toronto, as they seem to be characteristic. Also 3 lab splices (average I guess) and a hair in the aperture (removal request [apparently] ignored). Alas, alack...

--jhawk

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