Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Ever have one of those weeks?

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Posted by Tom Kroening (Member # 201) on 06-04-2002, 05:14 AM:

Oh man, I don't know what got into me but I just had a really bad film week. I ended up scratching a print REALLY bad. (I havn't ever scratched a film in 3 years of projecting) It upset me so much i had to rig a cleaner up with some good old duct tape and clean it with film guard which took out alot of the smaller scratches.

Later that week i saved a wrap that was caused by a faulty microswitch in the nick of time, only to have another print tail wrap after the credits. Oh, I forgot... being that I don't have a projectionist right now, in addition to doing all of the management work I was hurring to do film work on thursday night and managed to drop a print for the first time. It took a while but i got it together... Still there's no excuse for this, hope this week is better.

Posted by John Anastasio (Member # 607) on 06-04-2002, 06:17 AM:

Congratulations and welcome to the DuctTape Users Master Mechanics International Electrical Society (D.U.M.M.I.E.S.), an organization officially recognized by the American Duct Tape Association! May today be the start of a better week.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 06-04-2002, 07:27 AM:

Tom said: "Oh man, I don't know what got into me but I just had a really bad film week. I ended up scratching a print REALLY bad. (I havn't ever scratched a film in 3 years of projecting)"...."Oh, I forgot... being that I don't have a projectionist right now, in addition to doing all of the management work I was hurring to do film work on thursday night and managed to drop a print for the first time."

Ouch! I know the feeling. Just for the sake of helping others avoid the same problem, how did the scratching happen? I suspect that the understaffing was a contributing factor.

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: +1 585 477 5325 Cell: +1 585 781 4036 Fax: +1 585 722 7243
e-mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Posted by Tom Kroening (Member # 201) on 06-04-2002, 11:29 AM:

Yep! You always hit the nail right on the head John. I came in for 3 hours to cover for one of my assistants and I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. So much to do so little time. Well I paid the price and taught myself to slow down. The scratch was caused by a missed roller before takeup on a strong platter system. Apparently (and I was not there to see this) the next manager said that she saw the film going in between the two rollers on the bar and then down to the platter. How that happened I don't really know. I'd like to think that I would have seen or heard it since i was up there so often. I guess everyone makes mistakes...when it rains it pours!

Posted by James R. Hammonds, Jr (Member # 673) on 06-04-2002, 11:34 AM:

Ive seen that plenty of times.
Its caused by threading really fast and not looking at the rollers as you thread around them.
I even did it once and didnt catch it till about halfway throught the movie.
And forget about hearing it, its one of those things you just have to walk up on by chance when youre checking your shows.

Posted by John T. Hendrickson, Jr (Member # 849) on 06-05-2002, 05:13 PM:

Don't feel bad Ted. I had one of those weeks last week, too. We were approaching our booth record of 156 days without a scratched print. I left the booth late afternoon on Memorial Day, looking forward to two days off and some peace and quiet. On Wednesday afternoon I got a call from one of my operators that we had just scratched a print on day #154.

We were all disappointed, but what can you do except start all over again? In any event, it sounds like you had the week to end all weeks. Remember, it's not a race. You can compound your troubles quickly when you move too fast. Slow down and take a deep breath. Hang in there.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 06-06-2002, 07:22 AM:

In an interview about Digital Cinema, SW2-ATOC producer Rick McCallum said: "Then once a release print goes on a platter system at a multiplex it's run 25 to 50 feet over wires to a projector and it becomes degraded very quickly. Within a couple of days it doesn't even resemble the film we made. It's absolutely imperative to us to change that."

John Hendrickson said: "We were approaching our booth record of 156 days without a scratched print...On Wednesday afternoon I got a call from one of my operators that we had just scratched a print on day #154."

John, you need to "get with the program" and damage your prints sooner! In a 13-plex, scratching only one print every 154 days just won't cut it. Maybe you need to run the prints over wires?

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 06-06-2002, 08:10 AM:

THAT'S what I've been doing wrong! I've been forgetting to run my prints over the wires!

Tom,

I've seen a few scratches caused on Strong platters, but I am having a hard time visualizing what you said caused the scratch. I guess that particular scratch never happened in the complex I used to work at that had Strong platters. From what you say it sounds like you went over one roller instead of the two that are at the top of the tree when loading onto the top deck. I've done that countless times and never had a scratch. That extra roller up there is only really useful for BIG prints when it gets towards the end. That extra roller helps keep it on the roller that is actually taking up at the deck. Would it be possible to get a picture of the leader threaded the way the scratch was caused? Of course fix the leader after you take the pic

By the way, I love your duct tape job. That picture is hilarious! It's good that you are also able to admit that you damaged film. That'll make you a stronger projectionist in the long run by knowing your past mistakes.

Posted by Jan Hackett (Member # 1231) on 06-06-2002, 10:25 AM:

My week has been wrecked... lost 6 shows Monday cause my hvac was down and fire alarm kept going off so workmen were constantly climbing off roof and waiting. So my staff spent day programming slide show into the cyote. Finally got 4 PM show started and had a power surge. Did not lose show but lost program in cyote. Tuesday booth operators getting sick from chemical smell. Still don't know where it came from. Wed.. lose 1:00 show as shutter comes lose and had to re-time it. Wonder whats up for today???

------------------
Jan Hackett
Theater Operations Manager
Extreme Screen Dynatheater
NM Museum of Natural History Foundation

Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 06-06-2002, 01:18 PM:

I found it all too easy to scratch a print on a Strong platter. (Being that I only worked with Strongs, I can't say anything about other systems) Came in on Friday morning to find NIETHER of our 2 "Beloved" prints built yet. Apparently, someone was supposed to relay a message to me to arrive early or whatever. So I frantically built up the print while my GM threaded the rest of the shows for the time being. We're both

and in a hurry. I finish "Beloved" in time, just 5 minutes after start time and everyone's happy, right? WRONG!

When threading in a hurry, (or inexperienced people who aren't careful) it's very easy to accidentaly thread around the pin/spring on the elevator. Threading and starting the second show of that print, there were 4 straight green lines evenly throughout the picture. Occasionally they would inch to the right as the spring rotated from the film running under it. Quite possibly the worst day of my life in the booth because it was such a dumb, careless mistake. Luckily, that print left after just a week. Still "film done wrong" on my part

=TMP=

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 06-06-2002, 01:32 PM:

Thomas said: "...So I frantically built up the print while my GM threaded the rest of the shows for the time being. We're both

and in a hurry... When threading in a hurry, (or inexperienced people who aren't careful) it's very easy to accidentaly thread around the pin/spring on the elevator."

"Film Done Right" requires more than just threading correctly. It requires CHECKING the film transport, picture, and sound several times during each show to be sure there are no problems that may have been missed. With a check again before the feature began, the problem could have been caught, and the feature spared any damage. Another reason that the booth should be adequately staffed with skilled people, and the projectionist(s) not given distracting responsibilities unrelated to projection.

Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 06-06-2002, 01:37 PM:

The only time I knowingly scratched a print was when someone had gotten the wrong running time for the "Pinocchio" reissue and had the shows so close together that the movie still had 10 minutes left to go at the time the next show was supposed to start! I'd only had about a month of experience but always had the shows start on time, so I just moved like hell as soon as the show ended to get it started again, and ended up with vertical platter scratches! I felt really bad about this since it was a reissue of a movie that was already on video so I felt that was an extra reason to have it presented PERFECTLY. The head projectionist told me it was probably caused by missing a roller and having it drag on the platter, so every time after that I ALWAYS checked the entire film path before and after starting the show, even though I never caught myself missing a roller again. When training new people I would take unused trailers and scratch them on purpose to show them what not to do.

Posted by John T. Hendrickson, Jr (Member # 849) on 06-06-2002, 06:02 PM:

Ah yes, the pin below the dancer on the older Strong platters!
Several years ago when I was working relief, I came in on a Friday night to find a pile of emulsion on the floor under the dancer. Didn't take me long to figure out what happened. The afternoon operator had missthreaded around the pin and it stripped a brand new print of Larry Flint like a grape. I was nearly sick to my stomach. We had to call for a new print and gave out passes for the Friday night shows. We got charged for the print, too. The operator was told that the next time that happened, he would buy the print.

We still have the old print- used it for test film when we opened our new complex. When training new people, I always point out the potential hazzards of threading too fast, being inattentive, etc. and use this story as an example. That's the worst damage I have ever personally seen done to a print. Never want to go there again.

John P: We'll just have to get those wires installed next week!

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 06-06-2002, 07:35 PM:

I'll hazard a guess that he said rollers and the reporter misunderstood.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 06-06-2002, 08:44 PM:

In a feature interview without tight deadlines, wouldn't a reporter generally provide a draft of the story to the person interviewed, and ask for any corrections, especially of technical content?

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 06-06-2002, 09:47 PM:

Tom, we all feel for you. It's happened to anyone who's been in the booth any length of time.

I was only working for a few months when a splice (wet splice in those days before splicing tape, which are two film thickness high) that had one edge come loose and was sticking up -- the edge caught on the "stripper" -- a piece of metal that is positioned close to the sprocket drives. This metal's function it is to prevent film from wrapping around the drive and bending it. It caught on the stripper, but didn't make any kind of a sound that would tell me that something bad was happening. The show just kept going and then about ten minutes into the reel, I for some reason that I can't recall now, I opened the takeup magazine to find, to my horror, that the film was winding neatly on the take-up reel -- in two pieces -- about 4 or 5 minutes of the reel was sliced right down the middle into two strips. Talk about a horrible feeling in the pit of your stomach! The only thing I could do was slice out the damage and ask for a replacement reel, but it certainly was a sobering and humbling experience.

So just keep your "bad film day" in perspective and chalk it up to experience. Sooner or later you will run out of chalk.

Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 06-06-2002, 09:57 PM:

John, (both H. and P.!)

I agree that the show should have been checked, especially since it was built in a hurry. Every time I walked by the auditorium showing that film for the next week and looked out the port glass, I felt sick too. This was, as John H. stated, the worst damage I have seen done on a new print. That is, until I chaged theaters to one where their "projectionist" (read: usher/concession/box person) did that weekly...

=TMP=

Posted by John Hawkinson (Member # 1135) on 06-06-2002, 10:25 PM:

"feature interview without tight deadlines"? Unfortunately I don't think those exist in our world anymore

(Seriously, newspapers with web sites don't improve the situation).

I'm under the impression that drafts for review just don't tend to happen in modern journalism; perhaps I'm overly jaded.

--jhawk