In a perfect world you would take the time to inspect every frame of film you run through a projector, but there just isn't time. I Have broken a print down 3 reels to remake a lab splice because it was at a most inopportune moment, but sometimes you get lucky and they accidentially make the lab splice in frame and there is nothing to worry about. I have had 2 lab splices break during a show and I have had a lab slice that not only was in view, but the frame was only 3 sprocket holes long.
The maximum number of lab splices allowed for a 2000ft roll of film is three, but you seldom see that many. I'll have to go back through my preview logs and see which movie was the spliciest since I've been here. I have had movies that have at least one lab splice per reel, it's just something you have to deal with and most of the time they don't detract from your presentation, but when you see one that's really bad..makes a real loud pop and is at the worst possible moment, then by all means cut it out.
I've never understood why there would ever be more than a single lab splice in a 2000' reel, anyway. Print stock comes in 2000' and 6000' lengths, so there's no excuse for this as far as I can tell. I have seen reels with as many as three, which is completely unacceptible.
- start with 2000' roll of print stock
- print first 1800' reel (no splices), leaving 200' of print stock
- splice remaining 200' of stock onto next 2000' roll of print stock
- print second 1800' reel (one splice), leaving 400' of print stock
- splice remaining 400' of stock onto next 2000' roll of print stock
- print third 1800' reel (one splice), leaving 600' of print stock
- etc.
This way, no reel would ever have more than one lab splice and there would be no wasted stock. This would make much more sense to me than printing a bunch of splice-free 1800' reels, then splicing together 10 200' short ends and making one reel with 9 lab splices.
(Yes, I know that labs that make large quantities of release prints use continuous printers that don't stop between reels. I'm trying to illustrate why no reel should ever have multiple lab splices, not explain how prints are made in great detail.)
Try running retrospective -- 3 splices per reel max? My face laughs at you. We consider a print with only 3 splices, lab or otherwise, to be MINT!! We are used to seeing dozens of splices per reel in an older print....even those so-called "vault" or "studio" prints. Besides, I thought lab splices were supposed to be the Cadillac of splices -- ultrasonic splices and all that high tech stuff. Do they really come apart as easily as you are saying? And do they make them in the MIDDLE of a frame? What's THAT all about? As for people wanting their money back -- that's a scam. We have a sign that says,
"The prints we show at Brookly Center Cinema are the best prints available from the distributor. However the prints of the classic films shown here may be many years old and will show the normal physical wear and tear of their age. Our obligation is to present these prints using the current state-of-the-art technology to give you the best sound and picture that is on the print. We cannot improve on what the studio sends us."
"Your understanding of the limitations of these older prints and that they many not look or sound like a film that was released last week, is appreciated. "
We ALWAYS post: "We appologize: the studio has sent a MONO print of this title. No Stereo prints are available." on films that were originally stereo but where we didn't get an original mag print or an optical stereo re-release print.
In other words, don't even think about trying to scam a refund out of us because you've been forewarned and all we'll do is point to the sign!
I like your precisations!
I always cut off all lab splices because I had my projector stopped about 4 times in all three years of job. Three times was for bad lab splices.
Bye
Antonio
quote:
If your run the film between your fiingers as pictured, you can't help but feel the splices as they go through.
...and even if you can't feel anything, the blood spraying out from where the uneven edges of the join have taken a chunk out of your finger can be taken as a good indication that all is not right.
Because the emulsion is removed from the base where the welded joint will be made, machines are set to remove slightly more emulsion than required for the joint. This assures that the edge of the splice will not peel in the projector.
Since 1952, when opaque waterproof acetate black drafting ink became available, all of the operators in Local #35 IATSE have covered the bare film base and created a "bloop" in the soundtrack to minimize the effects of those (and our own) chemical splices.
Recently, we have added a single layer of clear splicing tape on the base side across these patches.
This technique renders the image less offensive since a black line for one frame is less noticeable than a clear one. The analog sound track does not produce the characteristic "crack!" associated with a full amplitude pulse in both channels.
We have repaired some prints that had torn sprocket holes the entire length of a reel. In CLASSIC film repetory, we lament the loss of even a single frame of film. The technique used for these repairs is called "Perf-Fix" which won an Academy Award for innovative film product.
Film Done Right requires more than making good patches between reels and seeing how fast the MUT can load a feature.
KEN
That is caused by the darkroom light being held to close to the raw print stock during the splicing phase.
I am happy to share any constructive knowledge that I can with anyone who wishes it.
I have retired from many occupations but, as my wife says, "You can get the boy out of the theatre but you'll never get the theatre out of the boy!"
KEN
1. Why do they even need to splice the film? I understand the need to splice it in the theater, where you get damage, and have to lose a frame or 10. But these lab splices don't have any missing material. What was the need for the splice, then?
2. We wouldn't mind the splices so much if they weren't done in frame. Is there an actual reason why the splice has to be done at random points?
------------------
"One man can make a difference."
The reason a lot of lab spices are out of frame is because the splices are made in raw, not processed stock. Because there are no framelines in blank stock, as well as the fact that the splice must be made in near darkness, it is impossible to hit the frameline 100% of the time.
Hope I helped answer a few questions 
Josh
------------------
"Film is made of silver, video is made of rust"
'nuf said
Most of the labs making release prints purchase the film as either 4000-foot or 6000-foot lengths. Few reels are exact increments of these lengths, so there is usually a "short end". Several release print labs now use printers that "loop" the picture and sound negatives, and use feed-on and take-off "elevators" to allow splicing on raw stock print film without stopping the printer. These ultrasonic "lab splices" are made in darkroom conditions, and may fall anywhere within a reel. Assuming 2000-foot reels printed onto 6000-foot raw stock rolls, on average, one reel out of three will have a lab splice. If you receive a reel with more than one lab splice, it may be that the "short ends" were spliced together off-line before being printed on a non-loop printer.
Here is what the Association of Cinema and Video Laboratories (ACVL) has to say about lab splices:
http://www.acvl.org/4c.htm
Discoloration around a raw stock splice is caused by excessive exposure to the "safelight" used to help the operator see the splicing operation. Safelight "fog" is usually cyan or blue in color. Request a replacement reel if there is excessive fogging (visible on screen or interferes with reading soundtracks).
------------------
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
Some lab splices are actually decent but some you look at and think to yourself "What the F#@*!" And on some rare occasions some of the frames leading up to that splice might have damage. If you are ever in a movie and notice one go through then compare that with the splice you could make and decide which one would be better. That is why some lab splices are cut out.
quote:
The reason a lot of lab spices are out of frame is because the splices are made in raw, not processed stock. Because there are no framelines in blank stock, as well as the fact that the splice must be made in near darkness, it is impossible to hit the frameline 100% of the time.
How is the image printed with the splice already in the stock??