This is topic Unprinted stock in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Kenn Fong (Member # 118) on 03-11-2000, 01:46 AM:
Our print of "Ninth Gate" arrived with seven feet of unprinted stock in the middle of Reel 4 which our projectionist did not catch in the makeup but did spot as it hit the screen in the first showing this morning.The stock had half a frame printed and then ran clear until the other half frame resumed.
Our Head Projectionist tells us he'd never seen anything like this in his 30 years.
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Kenn Fong
http://www.qwertyuiop.net
Screenwriter's Home Page
Posted by Tyler Skinner (Member # 229) on 03-11-2000, 11:22 AM:
Since Regal isn't carrying this I had to see it at a rival theater and I noticed some major printing flaws in one of the later reels and evidence like someone spliced something out. There seems to be more and more of this lately.
Great movie though!------------------
"not even a hummingbird could see tyler at work"
Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 03-14-2000, 08:36 PM:
Well, I've seen that a couple of times. Usually right after a lab splice. I've seen film go from normal to clear and back again several times in the middle of a reel. Usually it has little patches of pretty blue and yellow, too. One time almost a 1/2 reel was like that. We just sent it back. If I'm not mistaken, the film has been fogged(severely) or in normal-people's terms, it was accidentally exposed to light before it was developed.Ninth Gate had two bad reels at my theatre. Reels 2 & 3 had bad soundtracks. (Freight train sound)
Posted by Kenn Fong (Member # 118) on 03-15-2000, 01:12 AM:
Yeah, Randy, there were blue blotches following the clear footage, and get this, a 30 second sequence not long after was repeated. We requested a new reel, which they promised we would receive on Saturday, but would probably arrive on Monday.Kenn
Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 03-15-2000, 11:44 AM:
Exposing the print film to light before it is developed causes "fog", or a darkening of the image. The color and density of the fogged area depends upon the color of the light, and its intensity and exposure time. For example, exposing the print film to "white" light for a long period of time will usually produce totally opaque or black areas of film after it is processed. A little bit of "white" light will often show up as yellow colored fog, since the yellow layer on print film is the most sensitive to any light. If you see cyan, blue or magenta colored fog, it often is due to accidental overexposure to the amber-colored darkroom "safelight" illumination used by the labs. Sometimes the area around lab splices may have some fogging, because most labs use "safelights" to let the lab personnel see well enough to make the splices. The edges of the film may have some fog if the unprocessed rolls were left out under the "safelight" too long.Unexpected clear areas on a print usually mean failure of the printer lamp, or a miscue on the printer. Separate print heads are used for printing the picture and soundtracks, so it is rare for both picture and soundtrack areas to suddenly both go clear.
Most labs view the prints on a small viewer as they come off the high speed processing machines, and fully inspect a percentage of prints by projection and soundtrack QC equipment. Fogging, printer miscues, soundtrack application problems, severe scratches, white dirt, etc. are usually caught, but a few problems sneak through. If a lab problem was missed during inspection, the reel will usually be replaced without question.
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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Professional Motion Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Posted by Kenn Fong (Member # 118) on 03-15-2000, 12:40 PM:
I forgot to mention this print also had 8 lab splices.kenn
Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 03-15-2000, 02:45 PM:
In my experience, most of this kind of crap happens near the lab splices. If you are at least checking for them you'll catch most of the problems. I almost always remove lab splices. The only time I don't is when they fall on a frame line AND they are perfect.Although crappy lab splices really peave me off, sometimes, I understand the lab guys have about 30 seconds to make the splice before the machine runs out of film and stops. All the while, they are doing this in the dark! I don't envy those guys.