This is topic Has anyone here heard of or used.... in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Gracia L. Babbidge (Member # 582) on 06-29-2002, 01:29 AM:
'the Print Pocket'?Earlier this week, I voiced an opinion to someone near the 'top of the totem pole'. That opinion being that playing three different prints a day in one auditorium is very impractical from the projectionist's point of view. As lifting and moving a print is a 'two person job', and getting assistance in shuffling prints around all day tended to be pretty difficult. That got some wheels spinning in the mind of the person to whom I was speaking, and he told me that the home office had recently gotten some 'literature' on some gizmo that facilitated one person print moves.
A few days later, a fax came in, addressed to me, about something called 'the Print Pocket'. From what I read and saw on the fax, it looked as though it would work, and be quite slick about it.
...So, has anyone encountered one of these? Does it work well, or is it just one more annoyance?
...Or should I go ahead and try it out myself??
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 06-29-2002, 02:18 AM:
Psssst, please don't use "teaser" subject titles when starting posts. 
There was something about this a few months back. Do a search "moving prints" and you should turn up with something. Personally, I just assume place all of the platters in the middle of the booth and thread to whatever projector management wants. 
Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 06-29-2002, 10:21 AM:
Point:CounterpointI'd just assume equip all theatres reel-to-reel and not worry about moving prints around!
Mr. Lucas would just assume he tells the Master Control Program to load the different movies into the various DLP via the eithernet port that HE controls.
Steve
------------------
"Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"
Posted by Jan Hackett (Member # 1231) on 06-29-2002, 11:10 AM:
Yes I have used the print mover before. It works great but is still awkward to carry by oneself. But since it contins the print in a sealed container if you drop it it is not disaster you just pick it up again. However it still requires 2 people to lift efficiently. If you have to move prints a lot buy a genie hand operated fork lift and change the whole platter out. I do this and it is a one person operation..------------------
Jan Hackett
Theater Operations Manager
Extreme Screen Dynatheater
NM Museum of Natural History Foundation
Posted by Gordon Bachlund (Member # 124) on 06-29-2002, 01:10 PM:
Seconding Steve's point, I recall many years ago that my theater had to "share" a print with another theater owing to a scarcity of prints of that title, and Gilboy in LA provided a motorcycle courrier who shlepped the reels between theaters (we staggered the start times to accommodate this) which were several miles apart. Try doing THAT with a platter system! 
Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 06-29-2002, 02:21 PM:
This must be another Texan thing...Does "just assume" = "just as soon" ?
Gordon, I've heard of "bicycling" prints but that goes beyond!
Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 06-29-2002, 03:41 PM:
We used to bicycle prints back and forth all the time. The theatre I worked in in College Station, TX and the one the next town over in Bryan TX (the towns are referred to as Bryan/College Station -- it's a Texan thing) were owned by the same man, Mr. Schulman. He would schedule the start times staggered about half the running time of the film and he had an old guy named Gus with a pickup truck (everyone in Texas back then had pickup trucks) to carry the prints between theatres. It took a bit of getting used to seeing your film cabinet always half empty, but you just put your trust in your "team" as he called it, and tried not to worry. It only came down to the wire once or twice when I was on my last reel with 15min to go and no Gus. He did show in time. We never missed so the team thing worked.I LOVE Brad's idea about putting the platters in the center of the room and threading to whichever machine you need. This could really work, couldn't it? Or even just placing film rollers and guides strategically in a conventional platter booth so that when needed, you could actually thread to a different projector regardless of which projector the platter sits next too. In a 12-plex booth, they are always stringing a print from a platter thru two and three machines in interlock, sometimes the projectors are on opposite sides of the booth. I've never seen this in actual operation -- just the thought of interlocking three projectors playing off the same platter is enough to give me nightmares. But I would think it would be even easier to do this if it were just to get to a particular machine with no interlock involved.
Putting the dust and static pickup issues aside as has to be done with platter operation anyway, in theory, stringing film from any one platter to any other, regardless of location, >should< be able to work, no?
Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 06-29-2002, 10:47 PM:
That's so whacky it just might work! I may suggest that for the new plex we're about to start planning.Come to think of it...you wouldn't really have to put them in the middle of the room. Unless you had one of those "round-the-room" layouts. If the projectors are all in a straight-line formation, then you just need a lot of helper rollers and you could "move" a print by simply showing it.
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 06-29-2002, 11:06 PM:
I didn't mean to literally put them in the middle of a square or round booth. Rollers I thought were a given. I guess I should have said to put them in the "central part" of the booth and thread from there. The nice part is when it's all said and done, presto...you have a built in roller system for interlocking all ready to go.
Posted by Gracia L. Babbidge (Member # 582) on 07-01-2002, 02:51 AM:
...interesting thought, and I have a ton of random rollers kicking around, I may have to set something up!...I even have a head start, there's an interlock setup for two machines already - and they're pretty much back - to -back.
Posted by Peter Kerchinsky (Member # 1098) on 07-01-2002, 04:39 AM:
Moving prints in a ten-plex here doesn't seem to be a major problem for us because we had our maintenance people make us some round boards that are about the same size of the platters of the AW3s. We slide the boards under the print and set the rings in the holes and presto we've got the print sitting on something solid. It's simple for us to just pick the entire thing up and move it. When we get to the other booth, we just slid the print off onto the table by lifting the ring a tad. I did it four times today and believe me it works. It even worked for me when I ran those crappy Super Platters that did not have moveable centerpieces.
Sorry I can't remember what these boards are made of but will find out. In the event it's an exceptional long movie a manager or staffer gives me a hand.
As soon as I get a digital camera and can post pix I'll show you how we do it in 3 simple steps.
As far as bicycling prints is concerned, I haven't heard of that happening in years. There may be some exceptions, but I believe with all the prints being struck now this is a dead issue and history.
Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 07-02-2002, 01:11 AM:
Peter said, >As far as bicycling prints is concerned, I haven't heard of that happening in years. There may be some exceptions, but I believe with all the prints being struck now this is a dead issue and history.<You got that right -- I'm talkin 1969....just about the time the Golden Age of the Movie Palaces died with the dawning of the Age of the Godzillaplex. 
Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 07-02-2002, 01:24 AM:
In my old 18 plex that was stretched the length of about a football field, we had one of the "pac man" shaped boards that all projectionists and everyone in lower managment knew how to operate, so you knew you could get a hand with when you needed one. Once on one of those we used an old, rickety cart that always listed into the aim of projectors to move prints "down the field"Now in a theater that is ten screens fewer and a quarter of the length we use a square board to walk the prints down the hall.