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A sync box is a footage counter.

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Which comes in REAL handy for ambigious reel changes and fade-in/outs. The UA theater I worked at some years ago didn't have one, so I was thrilled when I finally got to use one later on.
 

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Posted by Pete Lawrence (Member # 130) on 04-16-2004, 02:13 PM:
 


This is Neumade's version of a footage counter. I got one off eBay a while back for $25. Sometimes it pays to buy your own tools.
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 04-16-2004, 06:50 PM:
 
Matthew, I know this probably isn't the right forum to ask this. But your member photo...are you eating a potted plant!?
 

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Posted by Tao Yue (Member # 836) on 04-16-2004, 09:04 PM:
 
A sync box is a gadget used to sync up 24-frame video with the camera shutter when shooting a film. Bottom of http://www.cinematography.net/45%20monitor.htm refers to it. Buy one from http://www.mandy.com/1/class3.cfm?id=14494. Can't seem to find a manufacturer's page, many in the film business are still not on the 'net.

A sync block is a footage counter with at least two wheels for film. Near the bottom of http://www.sfu.ca/sca/Manuals/ZAAPf/s/sync_path_oview.html there's a picture of a 4-wheel sync block with mag heads, used to keep soundtrack (on mag fullcoat, probably) in sync with picture when cutting.

Is this a case of an error in an official fax, or is it another typo in Matthew's post?
 

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Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 04-16-2004, 10:14 PM:
 
Do you suppose they saw my rant on newsgroups (rec.arts.movies.current-films, r.a.m.tech and alt.fan.tarantino) where I challenged viewers to report theatres cutting off the fades?
 

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Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 04-18-2004, 07:49 AM:
 
Of course the question is, why the eff was the print cut this way in the first place? There is no reason. If he wanted to preserve fade-ins and fade-outs in today's booth environment where you might find "booth attendants" (as the UA Theatres execs like to call them, so loathed are they of the word "projectionist") that might not have the experience of verteran projectionists, he damn well should have cut the reels on shot changes and not on opticals. And then to stick that nonsense instruction sheet in the can that would confuse anyone, is a joke. I know of plenty of booths that don't even have frame counters. And to call for a sync box or to refer to 15 and 0 and not explain what he's talking about or to mention reel 1AB and 5AB to many a booth operator who have never heard of A/B 1000ft rolls, is just pathetic. And what in hell is this sentence supposed to mean? "Please note that kill bill vol, 2 is a reel show." As opposed to what may I ask?

And how much you want to bet that in the fades there are no visible frames to make it even more of a pain in the butt. If he cut a print in such a manner, I say he deserves whatever crap happens at his freaken reel splices. After all, TO KILL BILL V2 is a reel show!!

Geez, what an a-hole.
 

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Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 04-18-2004, 10:46 AM:
 
On my print I found a small circle that looked like a changeover cue. It was a lone circle. Took into account the direction the film was going and used the circle as a referance to cut the film. That circle was positioned in the same manner as a Changeover cue so I cut three sprocket holes down from the circle. Everything ran fine with no out of frames or abnormalities.
 

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Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 04-18-2004, 10:59 AM:
 
Agree with Frank, completely. The editor made a mistake, just like that reel change with 'Lion King." His laziness at not fixing the one problem caused thousands of people (making up prints) headaches.
 

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Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 04-18-2004, 03:45 PM:
 
The theater I saw it at, I heard a sync-pop (bleep!) at the aforementioned reel changes.

=TMP=
 

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Posted by John T. Hendrickson, Jr (Member # 849) on 04-18-2004, 06:11 PM:
 
Right on, Frank!!!

Bottom line here is that there are going to be a hell of a lot of presentations that are going to be
 

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Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 04-18-2004, 09:11 PM:
 
What the hell are you guys bitching about?

Are you saying that filmmakers should make changes in the way things have been done FOREVER (and has worked just fine, by the way) because SOME exhibitors are too cheap to properly equip and to train people to properly operate their projection booths?

That's like saying all exhibitors should convert to digital projection because some distributors are too cheap to pay for prints to send their mostly-crappy and under-performing product to 8,000 screens opening weekend.

Give me a break.
 

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Posted by Dominic Espinosa (Member # 2122) on 04-22-2004, 02:58 PM:
 
Oh, I loved Kill Bill Vol. 2...At first I was a bit thrown by the fact that it was edited like that...And what's with the "intentional" beep 250 feet into r2? A sync pop? Whatever, the memo for KB 2 didn't show up in my fax machine until I had already loaded the first 4 reels to the platter. I admit to cutting about 6" off on the first reel, I respliced it later, the splic is virtually undetectable while watching since it's in the middle of all that pictureless grey film.
I believe reel 5ab contained a "splice here" mark which I think should have been on all three of those reels. However, in the event you don't happen to have a sync block lying around the Miramax memo did indicate footage listings which I later checked against a ruler, they are in fact a viable means of finding where to cut it.
 

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Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 04-22-2004, 05:21 PM:
 
There are three different notes on this film. Numbers 2 & 3 are in the cans of the feature.

1) The fax (which I have never seen).

2) The note in the cans of the B&W reel one prints.
Kill Bill Vol.2 Important Projection Notice Miramax Films thanks you for playing Kill Bill VOL. 2. We do however need to ask for some extra care when projecting this feature:

Please note REEL ONE of this print of KILL BILL VOL. 2 is printed on B&W film stock with a color trailer print of HERO attached. Due to increased heat absorption, you may need to adjust focus at the changeover or transition to Reel 2.
Also, there is an audible beep 205 feet into Reel 2. This is intentional and should not be cause for concern.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
8004140
From Miramax Films.

3) Note in the cans of the color stock Reel ones prints.
There is an audible beep occurring 205 feet into Reel 2 of this feature. This is intentional and should not be cause for concern.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
8004139
From Miramax Films.

Every theatre, plex, screening room that I ran in Los Angeles all had footage counters in each booth. We never had this much problems with fade-outs and fade-ins on prints.

Adam well said
 

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Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 04-23-2004, 01:11 AM:
 
While I do not think that the film should be edited differently to make up for lazy projectionists/booths with poor equipement it certainly would have helped if the leaders had had a 'splice here' or 'LFOA' mark on them.
 

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Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 04-23-2004, 11:46 AM:
 
IMHO, films should be edited in the "worst" way possible, so that shitty theaters will stick out like a sore thumb.

Put some dialogue in the black areas before the fade-ins. Say the killer's name at the reel change. Play music across reel changes with distinguishable beats. Put a stretch of black after the final scene at the end of a reel, followed by 10-15 seconds of the next scene, and see if the next scene ends up with the tail.

I remember when we got Charlies Angels 2 at the sub-run. There was a reel where the first 20 seconds or so were cut-ins of still pictures with fade-outs after them. (they would cut to Charlie's speaker, then fade out. Cut to another part of the room, then fade out.) All this with dialog going on. And -- you guessed it -- the previous theater left this ENTIRE sequence on the head leader!!!

But 90% of theater management in the multiplexes never even look at the screens, (unless they're cleaning theaters) so as long as the feature plays at the advertized time, they won't notice.

=TMP=
 

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Posted by Dominic Espinosa (Member # 2122) on 04-24-2004, 11:42 AM:
 
Thomas brings up another good point, which is completely unrelated to this topic...But how do you feel about the manager that pays no attention to anything on screen? Just a curriosity I've been having.

From the distributors stand point it'd be in the best interest to edit the film in the typical manner with picture to cut at and so forth. I say this because there are just too many projectionists out there who get trained to just start whacking film off at the first visible frame. It's terrifying.
When I got "Monster" (2004, NM) the bloody New Market logo was cut in half! When I first arrived at my current theater trailers were spliced first green band frame to last visible frame on the previous trailer. It was...interesting to watch.

I'd love it if reel changeovers could be made in areas where there's no picture. It'd make them that much smoother. A tape splice at best still distorts the focus slightly when it passes through the gate, but in black film it's nearly impossible to detect. Well, there's my 2 cents...time to go to work
 

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