Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Janitors in the Projection Booth

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-22-2002, 03:37 AM:

My management has come up with a suggestion (and it's only a suggestion at this point in time) that in addition to cleaning the lobby, bathrooms and auditoriums, the janitors also venture upstairs to the booth every night. I feel uncomfortable with this. First of all, there really isn't much the janaitors can do up there. We don't have any problems changing the trash or toilet paper, etc ourselves when needed. We only have 6 screens so finding the time to do such things is not difficult. Our tile floor is 27 years old and it shows. No amount of cleaning/buffing/whatever can ever make the floor look truly "clean". Same goes with our fabulous cinderblock walls. Plus the fact that we have ORC consoles up there guarantees that the place will always look "dirty".

How does everyone else feel about this? There is no amount of cleaning that can be done that will improve our presentation in any way. Many of our prints are used(art house), but Filmguard usually clears that up. I can't imagine them wanting it clean just for visitors, as surely the visitors would see the ancient, pathetic equipment and not be impressed no matter what.

Posted by Jeff Skallan (Member # 891) on 11-22-2002, 04:15 AM:

Mr. Redifer,
Perhaps you could arrange for the janitorial crew to clean your projectors every night! [Big Grin]

Think of it this way... it's less work for you and if you're lucky, they could also be taught to thread the projectors for the morning set. Maybe they could even complete your weekly film work!! [thumbsup]

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 11-22-2002, 04:19 AM:

Can you trust them not to steal your trailers, posters, food from the fridge...

Posted by Ken McFall (Member # 845) on 11-22-2002, 05:20 AM:

NO WAY!!!

simple as that. In the past I've had security showing people around so I put a stop to it. None of the front of house staff have access to the department. No one has the code to get into the projection room, except the manager and projection staff. The code is changed often as a matter of routine security.

This is the only way you can be sure no one is interfearing with things. We have thousands of pounds of portable equipment as well. Free access is just asking for things to 'get lost'.

We have more than enough time to wash and polish the floor etc. We dirty it.... we clean it.

Also the problem of print security was raised again with Harry Potter.... You may know your cleaners but do you know their friends!

Sounds very distrusting.... but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Posted by Joseph D. Olson (Member # 1340) on 11-22-2002, 06:15 AM:

This is a joke, right? Janitors in the booth makes about as much sense as Janitors in the bank-vault.

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 11-22-2002, 06:43 AM:

quote:
No one has the code to get into the projection room, except the manager and projection staff. The code is changed often as a matter of routine security.

Your booth must be very MI6 indeed!

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 11-22-2002, 06:44 AM:

I'm with Ken. This is a bad idea.

But to stop cleaning becoming a hassle and taking longer than is necessary, projection boxes should be designed with maintaining a clean environment in mind. Bare cinderblock walls are not a good idea, and carpets are an absolute no-no. However often you Hoover them, the things are basically dust repositories - not what you want in a film handling environment.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 11-22-2002, 07:05 AM:

Hmmm, that looks like cinderblock walls to me...and in the same room as you are handling film! [Eek!]

I must strongly disagree with the carpet thing though. Carpet has never been the slightest problem in my booths and also helps to dampen the projector noise so the audience doesn't hear the projectors chattering away due to less-than-perfect port windows. I've never visited a theater with bare cement or tile floors that I couldn't easily hear the projector running from inside the auditorium, regardless of window design. Carpet should be mandatory. For that matter, so should ceiling tile.

Everybody duck! Here comes all the old school fellas who will complain to the end of time about my carpet stance. (Come visit me and allow me to prove you wrong.)

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 11-22-2002, 07:15 AM:

How about walls made out of bare cinder block, 2 layers of drywall, and a layer or two of half inch plywood to top it off?

...and I even keep those floors nice and shiney without the janitors help!

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 11-22-2002, 08:28 AM:

Security is a real issue, both for the equipment and the prints themselves. I recommend that booth cleanliness be the responsibility of the projectionists.

Prints pick up dirt from the surfaces they may touch, and from airborne particles. Certainly, make-up tables, platter surfaces, projectors, rewind benches, and equipment like splicers should be cleaned frequently. Short-nap carpets are fine, as long as they are kept clean (use a central vacuum system or a vacuum with a HEPA or water filter to avoid generating airborne dirt). Use of HEPA filtration in the air supply, or a stand-alone HEPA air cleaner, will greatly reduce the amount of airborne dirt that can settle on the film or on film-handling surfaces.

Using compressed air to "blow out" dirt just makes it airborne to redeposit elsewhere. Much better to use a central vacuum system, or simply wipe the dirt up. Use a vacuum to clean out debris in film shipping cases. Remember to clean dirt buildup or change filters on ventilation fans used on electronic equipment.

My "ideal" theatre would have a central vacuum system for keeping the booth clean.

Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 11-22-2002, 08:48 AM:

We discourage cleaners in the booth. This is not always possible though. In one of our theaters, the architect 'brilliantly' put the slop sink for the entire 2ed floor in the booth (booth, bathrooms and an office) so we're stuck there. Architects will also put candy storage rooms, latters to the roof, electrical panels and other things that make it necessary to practically leave the booth open.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 11-22-2002, 08:50 AM:

Agreed with all previous comments. This is a well-intentioned but misguided idea. There are too many items in the typical booth which are either fragile and/or dangerous and/or potential theft targets (tools, etc.), and no one without proper knowledge or training should be in the booth unsupervised. However, it might not be a bad idea to arrange for periodic booth cleaning (including floor waxing/shampooing, vacumming, etc.) by a professional crew under the supervision of the projectionist and/or manager.

Posted by Joe Beres (Member # 678) on 11-22-2002, 09:20 AM:

I used to work for the University of Wisconsin. Late one night, I was setting focus and sound levels for a screening the next day. One of the janitors came in and was asking lots of questions about what I was doing and how I was doing it. After a while, he asked if I could show him how to do it. I politely but firmly told him that it was impossible and a bad idea. He emptied the trash, the only this the janitors were supposed to do in the booth(but rarely did), I finished setting the film up, rewound the reels and went home. The next day, I came in and found one of the projector doors open and lamphouse switches in the wrong position. It seemed strange, but I didn't make much of it as I was exhausted when I left the night before. I threaded up the film and started the show. The film was unbelieveably out of focus. I was shocked. I reported the incident and never saw that particular janitor again. If that isn't a reason to keep unnecessary people out of the booth, I don't know what is. If the people can be trusted, I think emptying the trash is as far as they should go. I want to do anything beyond that myself.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 11-22-2002, 09:29 AM:

Brad: Yes, that's a cinderblock wall, but not a bare one. It has got several coats of paint on it to seal the dust.

My ideal floor covering is lino - a quick wipe over with a mop and bucket and all the dirt is gone. That's far quicker than Hoovering a carpet and gets rid of pretty much all the particles on the floor surface.

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 11-22-2002, 09:59 AM:

Probably once a year a good floor cleaning with a machineis a good idea and then only when you are there to supervise otherwise a good damp mopping of the floor is best done by the booth staff

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 11-22-2002, 10:00 AM:

I don't think it is a good idea. Unfortunately, many booths were not designed with security in mind. Some of ours were like that. Janitors have to enter the booth to turn on the cleaning lights, and some janitors like to turn the sound systems on so they can listen to music. Several theatres I have been associated with used the "panic" facility of the house light dimmers for cleaning lights because the theatre was never equipped with cleaning lights.

Some of the theatres have suffered from broken buttons or brightness controls moved beyond their mechanical limits in the dimmers, and some sound equipment was damaged because of improper start-up procedures for one reason or another.

Other things have happened as well, such as missing tools, flashlights, and other supplies.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 11-22-2002, 10:55 AM:

The last cinema company I worked for had (at all the sites I saw) cleaners' lights that were operated from a switch in the auditorium, precisely so that cleaners did not have to go in the box.

The problem was that ushers would switch them on during the credits (while customers were still watching them) to start cleaning the auditoria. In one site it got to the stage where I was having to switch them off at the breaker in the projection box during the day, and of course if you forgot to switch the breaker on again before going home, then next morning the cleaners were screwed.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-22-2002, 11:25 AM:

Our cleaning lights are in the booth. We turn them on before we leave for the night and turn them back off when we arrive ready to begin a fresh new day of fabulous movies and exciting adventures!

Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 11-22-2002, 12:30 PM:

The manager at one of the theaters I worked at thought it would be a good idea to have the janitors wax the floors upstairs. Sounds like there's no harm in that, right?

The next morining, the booth smelled of stale smoke, there were cigarette butts on the floor, the lower deck of one of the platters had a dent in the side, and any foreign particles that were left on the floor (hair, film frames, etc.) were waxed right into it!! [Eek!]

Another incident happened at my friend's theater that threaded their prints overnight for the next day. They also kept some cleaning supply stock in the booth. The result? A half-assed cleaning job by the janitors and an unscheduled 4:30am show of one of the prints.

=TMP=

Posted by Jennifer Osborne (Member # 1220) on 11-22-2002, 12:38 PM:

Recently our manager decided taht it would be a good idea to have the floor in our booth re-waxed. Apparently the janitors didn't have very good control of the machine that they were using, because the next day I found one of the projectors and the platter next to it had been moved. So the projector showed the image |------------| that far off the screen. They must have really hit the projector hard in order to move it, because it was a pain to move it back. . . and where is the manager at this time?? No where to be found.

Posted by Ken McFall (Member # 845) on 11-22-2002, 03:27 PM:

We used to have the same problem with the cleaners lights being turned on by the front of house staff during the end crdits.... So my solution was to change the switch to a two way switch, box and rear auditorium and to make the auditorium a key switch. NONE of the front of house have a key, only the managers. The cleaners have keys for the switches of course. Woe betide ANY manager that turns the lights on whilst a picture is still on screen....

As for the department being very secure, yes it is. Visitors must be admitted personally and not given a code. If the code is given out then I change it!! If the managers need to bring anyone to the box they MUST phone up first. The last thing I need is people milling about if I have a problem. It works well because I'm given the trust, respect and support to run my department. That way the only people who are in there are trained and responsible. Not that front of house staff are irrisponsible...

As for carpet, I'm all in favour of it. Do you have any idea how long it takes to vacume, mop and then polish a 170' long projection room?

Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 11-22-2002, 03:58 PM:

Janitors don't belong in the booth, plain and simple. In older theatres, that may not be possible, but in modern 'plexes nearly all the closets/controlls they need to get to are made available downstairs.

My janitorial crew (who has worked for us for many years) have the ability to go upstairs and turn the master switch on our Christie consoles in order to give them a little more light to clean with. Amazing that in the design layout, some houses (100 or so seats) only have ONE 400W MH cleanup light in the ceiling. And then, it's not even on center.... I guess the guys who drew the plans never worked in a theatre.... [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Ken McFall (Member # 845) on 11-22-2002, 05:24 PM:

Now if we're gonna have a go at designers.... may I be first in line.

The building I work in has won many awards for design... apparently. However, for a user friendly building they must have come last!!
What planet do these guys, and gals, live on?

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 11-22-2002, 05:54 PM:

I think it's just about unanimous!

Speaking of janitors in strange places, how about a Cinemark theater having the janitors clean concession at the end of the night? I'm talking food service equipment and popcorn kettle! And probably right after s/he cleans the toilet. [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 11-22-2002, 06:21 PM:

Adam, I don't know about Cinemarks vs. Regal or anyone else, but I think it depends on the actual staff of a given location as to whether that is a good idea or not. Some cleaning crews I would say would do a hundred times better job than the concessionists, while other theaters may have a good concession staff and sloppy janitors.

Posted by Gerard S. Cohen (Member # 994) on 11-22-2002, 10:02 PM:

I worked a 14-plex where the booth floor was cleaned while the projectionists were on duty. During a break between the matinee and evening shows, a team of four maintenance workers, walking abreast, pushed dry-mops the length of the 150 yard long booth. They returned with wet-mops, and did a thorough job on the tiled floor. Needless to say, the booth was spotless and there were no security problems.

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 11-23-2002, 12:34 AM:

Professional janitors rarely create any problems. They do the job fast and when they are done, it really looks good. Most professional services like that are licensed and bonded as far as I know.

But...the people hired off the street are the ones who create the problems. You get what you pay for.

Posted by Demetris Thoupis (Member # 833) on 11-23-2002, 01:47 AM:

Well,
Actually, in my opinion I don't think anyone else, not even the manager, should have access to the projection booth. NOONE can be trusted besides the projectionist. WHAT IS THERE TO BE CLEANED anyway since we are all "perfect" projectionists and our leaders never touch the floor [Smile]