This is topic booth manuals? in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 04-09-2002, 10:47 PM:
For those who work for chain theatres: does your company have a booth manual? is it any good?As far as I know, GCC didn't have such a thing. AMC does (I just saw it tonight)....they make some reasonable recommendations but there are others which...umm...let's just say that I have "issues" with some of their procedures. Landmark actually has a pretty decent introductory booklet which gives some background information on what is actually happening (as opposed to spelling out specific procedures in excruciating detail).
Do any other chains have these? Are any of them genuinely good or are they mostly just procedural documents? Is anyone using the new SMPTE book?
Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 04-10-2002, 12:22 PM:
They had one at the Regal I worked at; for the most part its intentions were good but there were a few things that made me laugh, like "If film is run through a dirty projector, it is very likely to become scratched" (most film scratching happens by misthreading the platter; if the projector is dirty the film gets dirty but not scratched!) I had the people I was training read it but I explained some things more clearly since it made things sound more confusing than they really were.
BTW what do you have issues with if I may ask? (I had issues with mine but I'm not gonna go into them here yet.)
Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 04-10-2002, 12:49 PM:
I wrote one and it's going through a revision. I'll post here again when it's finished and if anybody wants to look at it (and comment) then I'd be glad to send it in.I have the SMPTE book but I find it offers too much for beginners or min-wage multiplex operators...most of whom won't be sticking around long enough to make it worth teaching projection in that much detail.
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And, hey! Let's be careful out there.
~Manny.
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 04-10-2002, 01:39 PM:
"most film scratching happens by misthreading the platter; if the projector is dirty the film gets dirty but not scratched!"I must strongly disagree. I have seen this happen before with prints that are ran on reel to reel systems where there wasn't even a platter in the booth. Projectors CAN scratch film just as easily (if not easier) than a good platter, inparticularly if they are misthreaded, but even just from the projector being dirty. Why? Most *good* platters have keeper brackets on every roller. Take a Christie AW3R or SPECO LP-280 platter and you have keepers on every roller and no way to mis-align the roller that feeds the film back onto the takeup deck. It is very difficult to scratch film on these during normal running.
Scott, UA made themselves a trainin' video back in the day. (Early 80's I believe it was.) The thing was incredibly long and every step was painfully demonstrated in real time. The only problem was that the camera angles did not show what needed to be seen, the shots did not match what the announcer was talking about and the techniques in there were just horrible. My favorite part of the video was when they showed how to make up a print to the platter. They had the roller on the MUT so low that the film was getting scratched over the edge of the deck while it was loading. I guess they were too busy shooting the video to notice. 
(I'll have to try and dig that up and get a screenshot.)
Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 04-10-2002, 03:44 PM:
Sure you can find a case in point on reel-to-reel scratching but I can find far more scratches in platter based theatres!Oh, and it looks like I just turned 1000 (posts that is)
Steve
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"Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 04-10-2002, 04:07 PM:
Oh geez Steve, we've been over this one million and one times now. The bottom line is changeover booths are almost always manned by real projectionists and platter booths are frequently ran by floor staff. Your comparison will never hold any water until the quality of operators are evened out.
Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 04-10-2002, 04:27 PM:
And that is the point you miss...platter booths beget floor staff to run them, changeover booths, do not.Steve
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"Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 04-10-2002, 04:44 PM:
I can't remember how to do a screenshot, but here is a 6 second QuickTime clip from that booth training video of the film getting scratched because the rollers on the MUT were not set up properly and the film was not threaded through the rollers properly either.(Note the shoe polish on the edge of the print that was in an earlier part of the video! My how times have changed.)
Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 04-10-2002, 04:58 PM:
I posted a longish rant, but thought better of it and edited this post. If anyone wants to know my "issues," send private mail. If anyone from AMC is reading this and wants to improve the booth manual (instead of just firing me on the spot), I'd be happy to discuss it as well.As for Brad's video--the warped platter deck is a nice touch!
Posted by Richard Fowler (Member # 893) on 04-10-2002, 05:07 PM:
I am from the school of open gates and sound drum pressure rollers and would pre-screen prints...but that was the early 1970's when a print would come in 3 - 4 days ahead of showdate.
Richard Fowler
TVP-Theatre & Video Products Inc. www.tvpmiami.com
Posted by Barry Hans (Member # 477) on 04-10-2002, 05:14 PM:
Brad, that video is pretty funny 
Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 04-10-2002, 10:11 PM:
The Film-Tech advanced trainging video is priceless...the flip of the switch as the operator (Joe) walks by s the poor film is dragged across the pole of the MUT to the spinning platter deck is simply the best cinematography I've seen! 
The scary part is that you all know that sort of stuff happens!!! In fact, everything in there was a parody of real stuff.Steve
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"Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 04-10-2002, 10:23 PM:
I'll bet you can't wait for the new Changeover Booth Training video, can ya Steve? It is also based upon actual events that really happens. 
(Joe, did those latex Guttag face masks come in yet?)
Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 04-11-2002, 12:24 PM:
Holy crap- that looks like a "how NOT to make up film" demo! I've heard about these booth training videos; I'd love to get a copy of one. I have copies of some floor staff training videos that are pretty funny (one is how to enforce the movie rating system.)
Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 04-11-2002, 01:03 PM:
>>"(one is how to enforce the movie rating system.)"<<Do they recommend real guns or walkie-talkies?
Steve
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"Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"