This is topic Ever have to do a triple-up? in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 07-11-2002, 04:25 PM:
Double-ups are common no matter where you go. This week I've come across that rarest of instances -- a triple-up.The Reading Cinemas in Manville NJ has a triple-up on one screen starting tomorrow. Hey Arnold! plays 1st matinee; The Powerpuff Girls plays 2nd matinee, 3rd matinee and 1st evening show; Ya-Ya Sisterhood plays 2nd evening show and 3rd evening show.
If you've ever had to do a triple-up, how do you pull it off? I assume you can't leave the third print on the platter while the first print is running and the second print is parked.
Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 07-11-2002, 04:47 PM:
Unless you are lucky enough to have a reel to reel system, a double mutt large capacity reel system or able to schedule your showtimes just right. You have to move the print.
Posted by David Favel (Member # 1125) on 07-11-2002, 05:27 PM:
Or use the method I'm setting up.Have the platters centrally located & take the print via rollers to whatever projector you need it to go to.
Whose idea it was, brilliant.
Posted by Ken Lackner (Member # 1002) on 07-11-2002, 05:58 PM:
If I recall, the cetral platter idea came from Brad. At least that's the first time I ever heard it.I saw a tripple-up for the first time last week at my theater. When I came in for my evening shift, the thrid print was clamped leaning up against the wall! Grrrr... When I move prints at the end of the night, I just store the third pring on a nearby platter.
Another option would be to get a 5-deck platter system, but it probablly wouldn't be worth it for those rare occasions.
Posted by Josh Jones (Member # 447) on 07-11-2002, 06:12 PM:
We have a 4 deck platter 
It comes in real handy for those midnight matinee'sJosh
Posted by Tim Sherman (Member # 569) on 07-11-2002, 06:41 PM:
If you have a set schedule like this movie always plays after this one, just put both movies on one deck of the platter with alot of leader in between the two shows. If your automation won't shut down the projector by a cue then just make sure you are around that machine at the end of the show and then shut the machine down manualy. And then to start up the next show all you have to do is start it like you normaly would. Only platters i have done this on are the micro-switch potts. But i really don't see why it wouldn't work with any platter. Us drive-ins do this all the time.------------------
http://www.autoramadrivein.com
come on out to the drive-in and spend a night out with the stars"
Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 07-11-2002, 06:58 PM:
We had to do it once ... Snow Falling On Cedars (11, 7); Any Given Sunday (1, 10); and Supernova (4). We basically put a platter cover on the floor next to the projector, and would move a print onto it for storage, leaving the clamps on.
Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 07-11-2002, 07:22 PM:
You can do this successfully even if your automation won't stop the projector motor with a cue. Just have your shutdown cue close the douser and switch the sound like normal, then have some strong fullcoat mag leader attached between the two prints. On one side cut a small hole in the fullcoat mag just big anough for one of the failsafes to drop. This will stop the motor as it thinks it just tailed out. Then just walk over at the next start time, plop the failsafe back up and hit START. I imagine that this leader would get worn and eventually have to be changed out after a week or so, but to be running a triple-up for over a week would be just going a bit too far.
Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 07-11-2002, 08:35 PM:
Last week when we had our Movies in the Morning program we had 12 prints in our 5-plex. We placed a wire rack next to each platter and were placing the extra print there. It worked well.Thank God the Movies in the Morning program is over for the summer.
Posted by Matt Close (Member # 996) on 07-11-2002, 09:41 PM:
Moving prints is just part of daily life here.... We have a large shelf (3 shelves actually) where the prints are placed if there is no room to leave them on a platter somewhere. Often a film will finish on one cinema and be required on another to start in 5 mins ... we use a pallet jack with a wooden shelf fixed to it ... just slide'em'on , wheel it to where it has to go, and slide'em'off. The pallet jack moving around sounds like thunder downstairs 
Posted by Ken Lackner (Member # 1002) on 07-11-2002, 09:56 PM:
Joe, what about those of us who have optical failsafes?
Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 07-11-2002, 10:39 PM:
Triple-up? That's child's play. Try running a Dusk-to-Dawn in a change-over booth in a Drive-in. No wussy failsafe switches to coddle you so you can go take a nap for two hours before you have to wake up and push the start button again! Frank
Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 07-11-2002, 11:52 PM:
We did this almost every week at a single-screen art house. On Friday/Saturday, we would have different films for the 7:00pm, 9:00pm, and midnight shows. This was easy with 6000' reels.I've done this at a multiplex, too. It's easy if you have "cookie sheets" and AW3 platters. Simply take-up the third feature onto a cookie sheet and then slide it off the platter and let it sit on the legs of the platter tree. Repeat as features change. it's probably possible to do something similar with clamps, but it would be a pain.
Posted by Jason Burroughs (Member # 68) on 07-12-2002, 04:31 AM:
You can place 2 movies, back to back, on the same platter provided
1. The movies are fairly short
2. The platter is timed perfectly
3. The shows alternate between the 2 on the same platter, it would work in this instance (put Hey Arney and Powerpuff together since they run once each)
4. Either have the prints fully seprated (not spliced together) or use the "Intermission" feature of the automation.I've had to do this on a few occasion and never had any problems.
Posted by Darren Briggs (Member # 1071) on 07-12-2002, 04:59 AM:
This last week I have 15 prints for 7 days over 3 screens, and we just store the prints in a large draw system we have had built, or just on there end sat on and in a platter deck cover. It is very common for us to have 4 different films in one screen for a while week, the worst thing is trustiing lesser projectionists to change the lenses in the turret as we show all ratios and normally the screen with all the different ratios is the one with only a two lens turret and a single projector, the other two have 2 projectors and screen one has a three lens turret.
As long as your plates are timed cock-on, they should take up the films nice and tight so you can slide them off and move them or store them. I have cinemeccanica platters and the collars are really good for doing this. Darren
Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 07-12-2002, 06:11 AM:
Frank Angel said: "Try running a Dusk-to-Dawn in a change-over booth in a Drive-in."Been there, done that. Those were the days!
------------------
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
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Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 07-12-2002, 07:51 AM:
When I put two films on the same platter, I don't bother splicing them together. I just let the first film tail out and then re-thread the second one. That way there is no chance that the film will just keep on going.
Posted by Mike Jones (Member # 522) on 07-12-2002, 11:58 AM:
dude, steal a table from downstairs or something. i'm sure you've got a folding table around there somewhere. throw the 3rd print on that bad boy and you're ready to go. we've got a nice long folding table we use to hold prints on thursday nights.
simplest is usually the best solution
mike
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 07-13-2002, 08:38 PM:
This is a regular thing here too, especially in the school holidays as it is now. The smaller screens run the adullt shows in the day and then get the kids shows at night. Lots of print movement as houses range from 62 seats to 870 seats. One screen this week is running 6 sessions per day with only one print running twice. Everything else comes in...slides on...runs...slides off and moves on to the next screen.
I've even had to do this with 70mm. In one week we ran Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Untouchables, Baraka, Lawrence Of Arabia and print checks of Aliens all in 70mm. When I asked the GM just how this was supposed to happen with only a four tier platter without having to break them all down after screening (only to have to build them again for another screening...a VERY lengthy process on a speco) he laughed 'You'll work it out') Nice, eh?
Well, I did. I had a friend design and make a very sturdy adjustable centre ring and we simply (!) moved the prints off the plates and hung them on strong hooks on the wall of the booth. I made sure my friend knew he could charge what he wanted for this job as it was needed like...yesterday. So he did...
The GM's laughter ceased when I told him I'd 'worked it out' and handed him the bill. :grin:
...ahhh, it's the simple things...
I also recall having the booth of the drive-in with the Dusk To Dawn trunks all around the walls. Yes John...those indeed were the days.
Posted by Wes Hughes (Member # 981) on 07-13-2002, 10:51 PM:
I have had three prints on one deck before with no problems.Don't splice the films together when you "piggy-back"...just tuck the leader of the second feature a few feet into the tail of the first feature and it will work fine. Done it tons with microswitched strongs and a few times with very old christies (the ones with formica decks).
Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 07-14-2002, 01:27 AM:
Ken, if you have optical failsafes then you would just not splice the prints together like has been previously suggested. But if you are the epitome of laziness like Ian is, then you will splice some invisible film or something else creative to stop your projector so that you don't have to thread it for the next show. Also, get some ORC 54 inch platters. They can hold "up to 5 hours of film". ORC's rock. They are built on the exact same philosophy and technology (vacuum cleaner parts and other miscellaneous stuff) as Strong platters. And as everyone on the forum agrees, Strong platters are perfect, so ORC's must be as well. Except they hold "5 hours worth of film"! So they must be even better! And for those who think running nonstop changeovers is tough: Try sitting on your ass with nothing to do for three hours while you wait for the movie to finish! Aaaaaahh!!!!!! At least you keep busy.
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 07-14-2002, 07:48 AM:
So Joe, how many times does a platter spin in the course of three hours? I've only had to do a triple-up a few times and the schedule has always worked itself out where I could double up one deck with two movies, so it's never been a problem. If it's something easy like:
12:00 Movie A
2:30 Movie B
5:00 Movie C
7:30 Movie B
10:00 Movie C
and the intermission time between the 2:30 to 5:00 and the 7:30 to the 10:00 is the same, I will splice the two together with a programmed intermission. That way the movie can start at 2:30 and then nothing else must be done until it is time to start the 7:30 show (except for checking on it occasionally to verify everything is perfect, which of course it always is ).
If the showtimes do not work out nicely like that, then I do the "tuck the head into the last wrap of film from the first movie" trick like Wes mentioned. I've ran two long movies on one deck to right at an inch from the edge of the deck on AW3s and just tucked the tail like normal and never had a problem.
Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 07-14-2002, 11:42 AM:
Mr. Redifer need not worry. The triple-up described in the starter post is for this week only.BTW, Reading isn't the only one in Northern New Jersey doing a triple-up this weekend. Based on newspaper listings I found triple-ups in a dozen other smaller theaters and 1 megaplex.
Posted by Jeffry L. Johnson (Member # 453) on 07-15-2002, 10:16 PM:
How about a 10+ day film festival? 2 screens, 5 different shows per day on each screen. All in a 9 x 19 foot booth using one Potts 5-stack with nonremovable control plates. Print management became very creative.
Posted by Gracia L. Babbidge (Member # 582) on 07-15-2002, 11:42 PM:
Cripes. This year, I've had more weeks where I've had to deal with triple-ups than weeks that I've not! 
Any way you look at it, triple-ups are very impractical for a projectionist.
One thing I've done occasionally this year has been literally stacking prints to play them. In fact, just over twelve hours ago, I was running the Powerpuff Girls Movie, whilst it was sitting on top of a print of Windtalkers (and Scooby Doo sat on the third platter deck).
Risky? Hell yes.
It does however reduce the number of times prints have to be clamped and moved.
Oh, and don't even think of trying that if your booth has anything other than christie platters.
Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 07-16-2002, 06:47 AM:
The one thing Darren forgot to mention about his workplace is that the three screens are split across three levels of the building, with screen 3 being 100 yards down a (public) corridor and then up a twisty staircase with two 90-degree turns in it. That staircase is too narrow to carry a film up horizontally, and 6,000 foot spools are not an option since there is not enough floor space to put an MUT in that box.After heaving Magnolia up there (on a large MDF board held by two people at a 50-60 degree angle while we manoeuvred it up the stairs and round the corners) I had a back ache for about a week... until it was time to move it back to projection 2 to pack off, which gave me a back ache for a second week!
Both myself and the other projectionist involved in that procedure have since left: can't think why! At least they didn't programme Bollywood features in there...
Posted by Carl King (Member # 398) on 07-16-2002, 07:47 AM:
right on, Frank. Been there , done that.It'been a few years but I sure remember pulling all nighters in
drive-ins.
Back to the original question....playing three or four prints in the same house is nothing new for multiplexes. Just store the unused prints nearby on an empty platter or if you have to..on the floor..but make sure to have something between the floor and the print and cover the print.
note well. get help lifting prints off the floor or that's where they will end up.