Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: My first two days of being in projection

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Posted by Dean Kollet (Member # 1789) on 07-28-2003, 02:10 PM:

After working my tail off downstairs, I finally got moved up to projection and have been training all week. After my 3rd day the Manager gave me a shift b/c I picked it up quickly, and what a first two days it was. Two theaters went out (sound head broke off, and power supply failed, both not my doings, it was on a earlier shift). When I was on shift the malls fire alarm went off twice and that shuts off all the projection equipment requiring a manual restart (fun!!) And to top it off, someone (who won't fess up) dropped the Bad Boys II print (3 of 4 that we have built up) and I got to help the manager fix it for 5 hours into the wee hours of sunday morning....FUN...It wasn't too bad and I was assured that this has never happened before....Man I love Booth... [beer]

Posted by Tim Turner (Member # 1109) on 07-28-2003, 02:49 PM:

Great! Now wait till after about 4 weeks, you'll start to really have some fun! [Razz]

And people have the nerve to think projectionist just watch movies all day! Shame shame!.

Heres to all projectionist [beer]

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 07-28-2003, 05:00 PM:

Sound head broke off???

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 07-28-2003, 08:42 PM:

Come on Dave; didn't you ever play with Rock'em Sock'em Projectionists when you were a kid: "You knocked my soundhead off!"

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 07-28-2003, 08:49 PM:

I hate it when my soundhead falls-off....

>>> Phil

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 07-28-2003, 10:05 PM:

quote:
And to top it off, someone (who won't fess up) dropped the Bad Boys II print (3 of 4 that we have built up) and I got to help the manager fix it for 5 hours into the wee hours of sunday morning....FUN...It wasn't too bad and I was assured that this has never happened before....

Never happened before??? I have this bridge across the East River... [Roll Eyes]

http://www.endex.com/gf/buildings/bbridge/bbridge.html

Always get help, ideally a person, for moving a made-up print between platters, or it's "Russian Roulette" to get a bloody mess on the floor.

Posted by Jon Miller (Member # 163) on 07-29-2003, 12:01 AM:

Now, real fun is being one of the projectionists for a film festival in a platter house with 30+ 35mm features, along with 35mm shorts, video, and a touch of 16mm thrown in for good measure, spread out over three screens for an eleven-day run. Needless to say, there's a whole lot of print moving going on...more in one day than the average theatre does in a month. If you can handle that without dropping a single print, you've definitely earned your keep. [beer]

Getting help to move prints is definitely worth it, whether it's one print in a week or six prints a day.

Posted by Dean Kollet (Member # 1789) on 07-29-2003, 12:02 AM:

sorry, I noticed that I'm a newbie and that sounded retarded...
the rollers (forget the technical name) that keep the film on the lower sprocket wheel (again don't know the term, it sends the film out to the failsafe) snapped off.

It's fun though, I really enjoy it and hope to learn more and more everyday. Oh yeah, that Bad Boys print that was dropped, hasn't been played and needs to be taken down Thursday...talk about Murphy's Law, at least I learned how to build up prints and I was on the clock. [Big Grin]

Posted by Dan Lyons (Member # 1454) on 07-29-2003, 01:28 AM:

Welcome.

From what you just described, it seems like you're saying that the pad roller or pad roller assembly broke off? Never heard of that before. Scary.

What make and model of projector/soundhead are you running?

Danny

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 07-29-2003, 01:30 AM:

Dean, not to worry...don't take it personally. Most people here are great! Most are very knowledgeable and MANY have a weird sense of humor.

And...there are a few smart-ass jerks.... Ummmmm.... I'm one of the good guys! NO MATTER what Brad, Daryl, Rachel, Mike, Paul, Steve, Adam, etc sez! [Big Grin]

Welcome!

>>> Phil

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 07-29-2003, 02:54 AM:

What?! Phil's talking crazy-talk again!

Posted by Christopher Seo (Member # 7) on 07-29-2003, 03:05 AM:

Dean,

Technically, you would say, "The soundhead holdback sprocket pad roller assembly fell off," or maybe, "became disengaged from the soundhead," to make it sound more complex (always good when explaining to management). Yeah, you have to watch those sometimes, I've had certain Simplex soundheads where the pad roller assembly would always get loose requiring an allen wrench to tighten the set screw. Funny thing is the Simplex 5-Star soundhead will generally pass film without the pad rollers (NOT recommended, though, of course).

Posted by Tim Turner (Member # 1109) on 07-29-2003, 09:09 AM:

I've seen those pad rollers have the springs pop off so thats theres no tension when you try to close it over the sprocket. When that happens we get a bunch of rubber bands to hold it down until it gets fixed without canceling shows.

Posted by Dean Kollet (Member # 1789) on 07-29-2003, 09:58 AM:

yeah, we rigged it to pretty much play without it being really attatched. The weird thing is, the screw that leads into the fram of the Simplex 5 like cracked, it was very weird. Paert came in today though, so they should have it fixed soon