This is topic Worst reel change locations in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Scott Ribbens (Member # 180) on 11-13-1999, 08:32 PM:
Short reels thread got me thinking. What was the film that had the wosrt reel changes for you.I remember, right off the top of my head, the movie Sphere. I think that the changes between reels 1&2, 2&3, 3&4, were all fade to black/ fade from black. While that was not so bad for me, as I got the print new and uncut, right away I felt sorry for anyone getting this film second run from some theatre where someone was not paying attention while they were breaking the print down and grabbed the wrong reel.
Even with one or two frames of picture id left on the leaders, you still could not see if you had reels 2,3 in the right order even if you looked at the heads and tails for id.
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Scott
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 11-13-1999, 08:38 PM:
I'm going with "Heart and Souls" for the worst all time changeover placement.Between R1 and R2 the picture fades to clear film...splice/changeover...and back in from clear. How stupid! Even the most perfectly made tape splice would show up on a frame like this. Also, can you imagine the typical theater's dirt accumulation at that splice? Sheez!
Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 11-13-1999, 09:56 PM:
At all these fade outs, why not scrawl R1, etc on either side of the spliced frame. Print it small below the picture in the frame line area... I just got an old movie for the collection that has a fade-out--fade-in at each reel change. The previous owner cut the print for use on a platter and messed up the fades with ugly splices. If he had gone about 3 feet further towards the tail of the film, he would have found 4 frame lines in a row to cut at! All 5 reels are this way!I own nothing that has uncut heads and tails. It must be a nice feeling.
Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 11-13-1999, 11:31 PM:
My vote for worst reel-change location goes to "Brassed Off" (a really good film, BTW); there's one reel where you see the first cue mark, then a fade to black, then a cut to a different scene, then the second cue mark. "SLC Punk" (also a good film) comes in as a close second; the R1->R2 changeover comes right in the middle of a scene and the timing didn't match in the print that I saw.
As a followup to the "short reels" thread, I'll mention that "Holy Smoke" (a really, really good Austrailian film...not yet "officially" released in the US...scheduled for limited release in December) has a bunch of short reels; the first four reels will fit on a single 6000' reel and will run for less than an hour total. The film is six reels in all. I forget the total running time, but I bet that it could have easily been distributed on five reels.
Bruce--I have a 1960's print of the 3-reel short "White Mane"; heads and tails are intact on all three reels. I can't bring myself to cut them off and run the whole short on a 6000' reel. Still, the condition isn't that great...there are scratches in each reel...this short has obviously been run quite a bit...it's a nice print, though, with good silver content (it's B&W) and density track on two of the three reels.
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 11-14-1999, 01:15 AM:
Goonies was similar. R1-3 would fit nicely on a 6000' reel and R4-8 would fit nicely on a second 6000' reel. 5 reels should NOT fit on a 6000' reel!
Posted by Stephen Winner (Member # 8) on 11-14-1999, 08:38 PM:
It wasn't so bad finding which reels were what, but the changeovers in "The Phantom Menace" annoyed me. They were always in the middle of scenes. Normally chaneovers are at scene changes. The pod racing scene had to be the worst!
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 11-15-1999, 12:32 AM:
How about the c/o from sp1 to sp2 in "High Society"? It occurs slap bang in the middle of a song!!..(Who wants to be a millionaire?)BTW,a cut from Scott's post...
As a followup to the "short reels" thread, I'll mention that "Holy Smoke" (a really, really good Austrailian film...not yet "officially" released in the US...
Yes, they do come around every now and then, don't they? But it's spelt Australian. Just thought I'd point it out.
Did anyone catch another good Aussie pic, "The Castle"? It was snapped up at Cannes (I think) then the distributor realized they had no idea how to sell this thing so it died a very quick death. It is a charming story of family values versus the business Golieths of this world
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 11-20-1999, 05:40 AM:
The one from reel three to four in Back to the Future2 was pretty bad. It went to black for about four seconds while the audio continued. The distributor put a piece of paper in the trunk saying 'Don't cut this bit off'. Of course, the guy who made it up cut it off and I had to put the stupid thing back on.
Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 10-21-2001, 04:30 PM:
Hedwig and the Angry Inch takes this year's prize. You can barely make out the motor cue and projector cue at the end of R2.
Posted by Bob Healey (Member # 1003) on 10-21-2001, 04:42 PM:
The two films I've deal with so far that have had the worst cues are Timecode and Tomb Raider R3 - same reason for both. There is so much clutter in tomb raider, and the 4 distinct frames of time code make finding the cues extremely difficult. And if I miss a cue, everyone gets to see the tail of the reel.
Posted by Phil Connolly (Member # 465) on 10-21-2001, 05:26 PM:
Also with 'Timecode' you've got the added problem, if a change over is not perfect you defeat the object of the film, to be one single take. Because the all the reel changes occur during a shot, the action can jump and the audience thinks they are being fooled and the film wasen't shot in a single take. Mike Figges the director was unhappy with a 35mm release for this reason.
Posted by Chad Souder (Member # 343) on 10-21-2001, 06:08 PM:
I remember a bad one in "Ransom". In a scene where Mel Gibson is talking to Gary Sinese in his home (towards the end of the movie), there is a change in the middle of a scene at a camera change. The set had green walls or green light or something, and of course the two reels didn't match up well, so you get these two completely different shades of green back to back. ------------------
"Asleep at the switch? I wasn't asleep, I was drunk!" - Homer Simpson
Posted by Serge Bosschaerts (Member # 298) on 10-21-2001, 07:32 PM:
Good Morning, Babylon from the Brothers Taviani comes to my mind.
No difficulty with black frames or so but the film had one very, very short reel and I was playing on change over, one reel at the time.
There was barely enough time to clean the projector and recharge it before I had to change over again.
Why this reel wasn't split up between two reels is a mystery, maybe just to drive the operator in a change over box nuts ... 