Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Projectionist worked to the bone

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Posted by Paul Cunningham (Member # 501) on 10-08-2000, 07:31 AM:

Somebody forgot to tell this guy that he was allowed to take a meal break.

Seriously though, how many hours a week do you work?
Do you get any of those nice shifts that start at 9 am finish at 12 midnight and are then expected to start at 9 again?
Is there a fridge and cooking facilities in your projection room?
Do you get enough of a break between shows to go and get takeaway or do you rush out for a minute leaving the shows unattended? (I know people do, so don't deny it)
Are you expected to help out at box office or candy bar? Clean the auditoriums?
What is the longest you ever get to sit down in the one place for?

Just things I am curious about.

Paul Cunningham

Posted by William Hooper (Member # 71) on 10-08-2000, 11:43 PM:

I forget -

Do the lens turrets in the US & Canada rotate clockwise & the lens turrets in Australia rotate anti-clockwise, or is it the other way around?

Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 10-09-2000, 12:36 AM:

I've had a couple days where somebody else wanted the day off so I consented to working about 15-hour days. I'm kinda crazy that way though

They must like me at my new theater, they've got me on a weird long shift tomorrow because someone else can't come in til later. Am I complaining? NO!!! Heck, I already stayed the whole day there today, working day shift then watching 2 movies afterwards. (No, they didn't pay me to watch the movies; got to watch the late showing of "Digimon" in an empty theater!)

Posted by Frank Prete (Member # 627) on 10-09-2000, 05:41 AM:

Jesse, you should be paid to sit through Digimon

Posted by Paul Cunningham (Member # 501) on 10-09-2000, 07:46 AM:

William, do you look down into drains at the water swirling or do you look up out of the drain???
Cheers Paul

Posted by Tom Kroening (Member # 201) on 10-09-2000, 12:30 PM:

i usually work shifts like 10:30 - 6 or 5:30 - 1 a.m. The shifts are nice but I do have one problem. We are a manager run operation and im usually up in the booth. Now for some reason this company thinks that we have time to come downstairs and do manager stuff durring our shift upstairs. Why would it be any different from when there were projectionists? I always have work to do upstairs and once and a while id like to kick back and take a little break since we never get them. Instead of getting stuff done upstairs I have to come down and worry about sending employees on break, counting money, closing the day, its rediculous. People working downstairs bitch if i don't help. Maybe I should start bitching that people downstairs aren't helping me. On the other hand, I wouldn't want someone to come upstairs and start working on something without asking me. They have no idea whats going on since they havn't been up there all day, and the same makes sense to me about going downstairs. Why should I take responsibility of this money when i had nothing to do with it? I couldn't even watch the employees.Ohh well... such is life i guess.

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 10-09-2000, 01:01 PM:

Our normal shift at Ontario Place cinesphere Imax is approx 10am-midnight no breaks 3 days on 7 days off during the summmer
We have washroom fridge kettle coffe maker and micro in the booth
I keep filing in purchase recs for a sauna and hot tub but purchasing never fills them for some reason

Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 10-09-2000, 01:37 PM:

I have been working under 40 hours per week. But this week, My partner has been on vacation. That means two doubles, being on-call 24-7 and staying late tonight.

When you own the place, you run out of excuses.

I just want to go home, put my feet up, crack a beer and watch some TV! Is that too much to ask?

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 10-09-2000, 01:44 PM:

Ian: When you own the place, you can always live in the projection room! But don't turn up the TV too loud!

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment 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 Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 10-09-2000, 03:12 PM:

On this side of the pond we do have some safeguards against projectionists routinely having to work crazily long hours. First there is the European Working Time Directive, which basically makes it illegal for an employer to ask anyone to work over 48 hours per week unless they sign an opt-out volunteering to do so.

Under UK law it's also illegal for any cinema employee to work on a Sunday if they have worked on the previous six days consecutively, although I have never come across any instance of an attempt to enforce it.

I have signed the Euro opt-out, because my company can't pay me for overtime beyond 48 hours otherwise. All it takes is holiday cover for one colleague and another going sick and the hours can get ridiculous. My record is 10 consecutive 'double' shifts, including two of 9am - 3am (that place did late night shows on Fridays and Saturdays). If I work 'em, I want to get paid for 'em!

Personally I prefer 'doubles', because in a sensibly organised rota it means more complete days off.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 10-09-2000, 04:45 PM:

Hey Paul

You didn't tell me you had Yorick working for you! I knew him once. He's great. (and he eats almost no confectionary from the candy bar).

Posted by Matt Ashburn (Member # 573) on 10-09-2000, 07:14 PM:

"When you own the place, you can always live in the projection room! But don't turn up the TV too loud!"

At my theatre (Hollywood Cinema), the guy that owns the place DOES live there at times-- literally. He runs the TV Station too, so he has pretty long days. His room is in a corner of the booth with a bed, TV, etc.

Matt Ashburn
Hollywood Cinema (Martinsville, VA)
University of VA Newcomb Hall Theatre (Charlottesville, VA)

Posted by Greg Pauley (Member # 503) on 10-09-2000, 09:31 PM:

Great Picture Paul!
But, I think this shows that you Aussies should lay off this vegimite Stuff!

Posted by Stephen Jones (Member # 16) on 10-09-2000, 09:56 PM:

Shit Paul youve lost a bit of weight mate,your working to hard haha.Is that one of my old Centrex's in the pic,she looks well.I reconnised the old girl staight away as I mentioned before they were very reliable when I had them in the Eastside Drive-.in in Tasmania.
As for Hours ect I work 71/4 Hrs a shift and often finish at midnight and start at 9.00 am Ive got one of those shifts to night.As you saw when came down on your visit we havs a frige microwave,Dunny (for our U.S friends an Aussie word for toilet)and a shower also a lift for carrying of film from downstairs.Give us a call sometime.

Stephen

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Posted by Michael Cunningham (Member # 210) on 10-11-2000, 12:14 PM:

One question about your picture above, where are you sending that film to?!? It looks like it comes out of the soundhead and then goes straight back through the pedestal. Is the platter behind the projector? Or is there some takeup reel on the pedestal that is just out of frame, beyond the picture edge?

As for work hours and such, I normally work a straight 40, 10AM to 6PM, five days a week. But of course, Thursday nights almost always throw that for a loop. As to ameneties, the only thing we have in the booth is a coffee pot, and we had to buy that ourselves!

-Mike

Posted by Paul Cunningham (Member # 501) on 10-11-2000, 05:17 PM:

The platter is to the left rear of the projector. When we had two projectors it was behind the left one (this is the right one). The film comes out under the lamphouse, up to the roof, across to where the other projector used to be then to the platter. There is too much stuff on the walls for it to travel along them.

Paul

Posted by Dave Bird (Member # 490) on 10-11-2000, 08:24 PM:

About to prove I'm not really an "expert" again. What's the thing on top of the projector, right ahead of the changeover coil where the top reel used to be? Thanks you Aussies, I've got a buddy who's nickname is "Dunny", and I'm about to tell everyone what it means!

Posted by Russ Kress (Member # 461) on 10-11-2000, 09:43 PM:

Dave, that is a Dolby Digital reader.

Russ

Posted by Dave Bird (Member # 490) on 10-12-2000, 07:00 AM:

....which is there because it has to go somewhere and still has it's sound reader down below in the head OR reads the digital and "stores" the sound electronically until the picture "catches up"???

Posted by Russ Kress (Member # 461) on 10-12-2000, 11:01 AM:

It's there because the analog sound head is still down below reading the analog track in case there would be a problem with digital.

They make digital readers that share the sound head with the analog one, but the penthouse was the first reader available.

As for storing or buffering data, I don't believe that Dolby Digital does much of this as a bad splice can cause the processor to switch to analog for a second or two.

We use all penthouse readers. I'm not sure how easy the inboards are to install, but the penthouses work right out of the box when you install them.

Russ

Posted by Dave Bird (Member # 490) on 10-12-2000, 02:30 PM:

Well, it hit me today at work how dumb that last question of mine was. Of course, the Dolby Digital Track is sync'd behind the picture, not ahead like analog. DOH!

Can you delete your own posts? I need to get myself off this expert list - fast

Posted by Tom Kroening (Member # 201) on 10-12-2000, 06:19 PM:

Id rather have a penthouse reader over a basement one any day. Dave, I think that the dolby digital track is synced the same as the analog (otherwise a basement reader wouldn't work). I've had better results from the penthouse readers... It could be because a basement reader is in a position to collect more dust from shedding.. but im not sure.

Posted by Paul Cunningham (Member # 501) on 10-12-2000, 07:46 PM:

Dave
The digital track is printed on the film as per normal, you can adjust the sync in the CP500 by setting the number of perfs between your reader and the normal soundhead. I hope this makes sense as it is hard to explain. In principle though I could put the digital reader a few feet away and just adjust the sync to compensate.
Paul

Posted by Tom Kroening (Member # 201) on 10-12-2000, 08:05 PM:

"I could put the digital reader a few feet away and just adjust the sync to compensate." <--- have fun counting those perfs! 1...2..3..4.. 35... ohh damn... 1.. 2.. 3.. hehe

Posted by Dave Bird (Member # 490) on 10-12-2000, 08:30 PM:

Holy crap then, my dumb idea WAS right! That's kinda what I meant. So all sound is sync'd 21 frames ahead of picture, and you're saying that this CP500 thing, in a sense, DOES compensate by "storing" the info until it's needed.

Does analog "top out" at stereo, or is surround possible?

Posted by Carl King (Member # 398) on 10-12-2000, 08:41 PM:

Hours of work? The multiplex I work in does not have weekday matinees like some do so my regular shift is 6pm to midnight most week days. On Saturday it is usually noon to midnight. Last year during the Star Wars crap I worked several days in a row from 9a.m. until 2a.m. Great for the pay packet but lousy for the home life. "Ain't showbiz grand?"

Posted by Tom Kroening (Member # 201) on 10-13-2000, 02:28 AM:

Well, from what i remember by reading this dolby book i found a while back, i think it said that the surround is extrapolated from the stereo sound. If you think about it, an analog stereo house probably has a center, left, right, and surrounds. There's only left and right channels on the analog track. This is where the processor works its magic ; ) Its probably similar to dolby pro logic at home. Even though a show might not be in stereo, it can still do its best at seperating the sounds and sending the to the proper channels.

Posted by Jon Bartow (Member # 241) on 10-13-2000, 04:47 AM:

The SR track does have "only" a left and right printed on the film, and you are correct that the process works similar to that in a Dolby Pro Logic system. The processor "decodes" the surround and Center from the two tracks. If a subwoofer is used it gets its signal from a crossover on either the center channel or all three front channels. (A digital [DTS/SRD/SDDS] system has descrete tracks recorded for every channel.
The Analog sound track is 19 1/2 frames ahead of the image (look on a reel leader sometime, many have the "picture start" and "sound start" frames marked) and the Dolby Digital is 26 frames in front (6 1/2 frames in advance of the anaolog)
I don't remember the relative position of the DTS timecode, just that one sets the perf offset from the aperture to the reader.
Having never installed a SDDS unit, I don't know about SDDS.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 10-13-2000, 05:14 AM:

It's pretty civilized where we are... 0830hr to 1630hr or 1600hr to 2400hr. Rarely do we have to work a double (only if someone is sick and cannot be replaced.)

As for the picture of Paul's colleague...I think he looks that way beacuse he runs 376 different titles per day on only four screens and has to change out the ads on them every session.

I'm close, aren't I Paul?

Posted by Gracia L. Babbidge (Member # 582) on 10-14-2000, 02:15 AM:

hmmm... In general I am scheduled to work about 43 hours each week for an off-peak season, as we're opening later in the day, when it's busier & we open earlier, I'm scheduled for about 45 hours.
That entails one double shift, three "regular" closing shifts, and the Thursday build & break-down shift.
Though there are times when I've had to pick up extra hours due to extenuating circumstances.

Then too, all it takes is a Wednesday opener to mess up my schedule for the week!
Also, some Thursdays end up being much longer than others...

~The Purple-Tressed Booth B*tch

------------------
In some cultures, what I do is considered normal.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 10-16-2000, 12:24 PM:

Jon Bartow said: "The Analog sound track is 19 1/2 frames ahead of the image".

Sorry, that is NOT correct! Standard SMPTE 40 states: "The audio record on the film shall be displaced from the center of the corresponding picture by a distance of 21 frames +/- 1/2 frame in the direction of film travel during normal projection."

So if a frame has an image of a gunshot, the corresponding "bang" on the analog track is 21 frames ahead of that frame. Because sound takes time to travel from the screen speakers to the audience (about 50 feet in 1/24 second), most projectors are designed to have 20 frames between the picture aperture and analog sound pickup to have the sound be "in sync" 50 feet from the screen. Your thread-up of 19 1/2 frames would put the sound in sync 75 feet from the screen.

Posted by Jon Bartow (Member # 241) on 10-16-2000, 01:52 PM:

Sorry!! John, you of course are correct. I sit corrected.
Apparently I did not remember accurately.

Posted by Tom Kroening (Member # 201) on 10-16-2000, 02:29 PM:

Yeah, I never really thought about the sync depending on the size of the auditorium and the distance the speakers are to the audiance til the other day. I had the port window open to listen to the sound level while i had the monitor slightly on still. ECHO!! oops. I assume there's also some sort of delay for the surrounds depending on where they are? Also, does that delay change for each surround speaker? (like the front surrounds less of a delay and the ones further back more of a delay?).

Posted by Jon Bartow (Member # 241) on 10-16-2000, 06:46 PM:

Tom, most movie theaters have the same delay setting for all of the surround speakers. Unless the theater is a tunnel (very long and narrow) a single delay setting works fine. There are a couple of devices on the market for adding delay for the back of the auditorium (I don't remember for sure, but I think Smart makes one called an "afterburner")
If a "normal" sized movie theater tried to use different delay settings each speaker would be mere milliseconds apart. Not to mention that the current processors only have one delay setting. Also, one would have to have a different amp for every speaker.

Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 10-16-2000, 07:48 PM:

I worked at a theater that had a 150 ft throw (28ft wide screen!) I tried to get people to thread the sound accordingly, but no one really cared.

A CP200 (with the optional accessary unit) can handle 3 seperate delays. Only place I ever saw it used was Radio City MH (they have three balconys.)

Long live the CP200!

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 10-16-2000, 09:16 PM:

At Mercyhurst the throw is 110 ft. The first couple of times I ran movies there I had to do a little experimenting to get the sound advance right.

(We used to call it "Chinese Disease" when the sound was out of sync. )

The boss would call me up on the phone and say that the lips don't match the words and I'd turn on the monitor and listen. It'd be right on. BUT... at the back of the auditorium there'd be a noticible diference.

Posted by Frank Prete (Member # 627) on 10-16-2000, :

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