This is topic New Line reels in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 06-10-1999, 04:50 PM:
What is the general consensus on the new New Line reels that have just begun to circulate with prints of Austin Powers?I like the fact they have a latch on each side to easily pull them apart, yet they won't "fall apart" like the Technicolor reels. Also nice is the way they fit easily onto the shaft and don't wobble like the standard ETS reels.
However, there is no drive pin hole! Most platter breakdown tables require this?
Any other pros and cons from operators? I am going to send in a letter to the manufacturer concerning this. The last time I did, Warner started putting the drive pin holes in their new reels.
Post your suggestions or opinions here before I send it please.
Posted by Erika Hellgren (Member # 22) on 06-10-1999, 05:30 PM:
Yes, I like the fact that the new reels don't fall apart, but other than that I'm not crazy about them. I'm definitely not crazy about the fact that I'll have to tear down AP onto 7000's before spinning it down onto the new reels. I work at a 16 plex, so I don't have a whole lot of time to deal with that kind of BS. So, my overall opinion is that they need to add that all-important hole before releasing any more prints on these things. Oh! And since they are so new, I find little pieces of plastic sticking out all over the place (from when they came out of the mold, I guess). Not too good when they rub against the film as it's coming off the reel 
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Posted by Ken Layton (Member # 133) on 06-10-1999, 11:21 PM:
Why don't they just use a standard GOLDBERG floating hub METAL reel? I guess that would be too easy and the manufacturers wouldn't be able to sell you all kinds of adapters or new spindle/shafts to fit your makeup tables or rewind benches. Personally I'd like to shove those plastic reels up the ass of whoever designed them!
Posted by Aaron Mehocic (Member # 15) on 06-11-1999, 03:16 PM:
Ken, I can't agree more to your comments. I prefer the old metal reels myself, and like Erika, I to don't have much time to screw around in our nine plex either. As to the new New Line reels, well I thought they were rather pretty. I got to hand it to the designer that it was a good attempt to capture the look of antique reels that I have seen from the 1920's and 30's. However, here is where my respect for them stops. The absence of a drive pin hole made my build-up time about one half hour longer than usual. Coupled with other build-ups, that meant more time on an already maxed payroll and a complaining owner. I also noticed chards of plastic that occasionally scraped against the film. Moreover, the center holes were just to small to allow a Potts spindle to pass. When I did manage to get the reels mounted and tried to take them off the spindle, it was stuck. I had to get a flat screw driver and pry it off ever so carefully (I think Potts spindles are milled slightly larger than those from other companies. I have a hell of a time building-up film from blue Warner Brothers reels). Taken together I will tell you what I told the Assistant Manager last night: "The prettier they are, the more impractical they are". Give me a metal reel any day!
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 06-11-1999, 03:22 PM:
I'd take a 40 grit piece of metal emory cloth and sand that spindle down! That would drive me crazy. Use a Warner reel as a test.
Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 06-11-1999, 07:14 PM:
On a limited basis we use to send film out on the Goldberg floating hub reel. We used 7000' or 36 inch reels. In the two years we did that, we only had one come back bent. I think that many more would be bent in real film shipping. I guess you would have to design a plastic reel carryer that would prevent bending. We sent out an average of 4 prints per week to four different executive's home screening rooms. We did this for at least 4 years. The guy who delivered them (in a limo) didn't take extrordinary care with them. We did have custom padded nylon bags made for the reels after one executive dropped one in the mud. The studio and the company eventualy stopped allowing them to take home prints. There are no more executive screening rooms in the area that I know of. I'll bet the projectionists involved don't miss building up 4 or 8 prints on Friday afternoon and tearing down 4 to 8 prints on Monday morning. There was no additional compensation for this extra work. It just became "expected".
Uh oh! I've flown off on a tangent again. I'd better quit.
Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 06-12-1999, 04:05 AM:
Those were the days, weren't they? Building up 4 prints a week and watching them at the theatre on the sly (or at a screening room). How many months in advance did we see most movies?I do not miss those days at all. I am so content at my current theatre and company that I could never go back. But I do value the experience I gained at that other place ^__^
As for the new reels, why don't they just ship film like they used to? I don't like plastic reels at all. Especially when they are colored like a child's toy. I want to go back to the old days of bent up metal reels that slice up your hand every time you pick one up!
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 06-12-1999, 02:25 PM:
I'm still for shipping prints in boxes on cores straight from the lab! Always have been. There's just no reason to get those lab new prints into all that depot dust before anyone even runs them through a projector once.Besides, then certain theaters could buy new reels before they even got loaded onto the platter, instead of after the first run. 
Posted by Jeremy Spracklen (Member # 18) on 06-13-1999, 02:44 AM:
Prior to recieving Austin Powers at my theater I had seen the new reels and was prepared for there not to be a hole for the spindle. I had heard that they were sturdy and would not come apart like the technicolor reels that we know and love. But sure enough the first reel I pulled out of the can fell apart. I had to transfer the core and film to a cheep technicolor reel to be able to finish building. I have a propisition - For the person who designed these new, and improved reels to come to my theater and break down the two prints that I have. Then I can see the funny look on his face when he tries to put the reel on the build up table. What an ass.
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 07-14-1999, 10:59 PM:
Well, for those who are going to be breaking down Austin Powers 2 in the near future and don't want to break it down to house reels and then rewind, I have found (at least on the Christie AW3 platter) that if the shaft set screw is loosened and the whole shaft is brought outward 1/2 inch and then retightened, the drive pin can be moved to the 4th hole (normally the 3rd hole is used) and you will be able to break down onto the "new" New Line reels with ease.How's that for a one sentence post?
Posted by Joop de Gruiter (Member # 84) on 07-15-1999, 12:20 AM:
I don't understand why you use reels in the US. Here in Sweden all films come on cores.
Posted by Paul Konen (Member # 41) on 07-15-1999, 09:43 AM:
Thanks for the tip. I imagine that this will be happening soon.Also, If you take a cloth or something and make it really thick, you can make your own tension device for the Christie Build up table. Nice for building up to the platter with a 6K reel. Keeps nice tension so that the film doesn't flutter and get platter scratches.
Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 07-15-1999, 03:27 PM:
Sounds like a good idea, Paul. Could you explain it further? I usually don't ever turn my tables past 3 0'clock to avoid the bouncing that it causes. Christie platters load sooooo sloooooooooooooooooooow.
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 07-16-1999, 01:25 AM:
I knew one guy who got a big weight and attached it to the motor on the makeup table just for this purpose. It worked very well, but I'll bet he had to change out the belt much more frequently. I don't turn mine over 3:00 either.
Posted by Paul Konen (Member # 41) on 07-16-1999, 10:59 AM:
Take somekind of thick cloths and fold it over a few times. Attach it to the build up table at the upper left corner. It doesn't really matter where, just so long as when the reel (2k or 6k) are on that it rubs against the cloth. If it is thick enough, you should be able to run pretty well, unattended, and not have the film flopping onto the platter.