quote:

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Waahh! So big deal! - Fix it! Aint gonna kill you...!

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quote:

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This is what being a projectionist is all about: Shit DOES happen...!

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Monte, you rock!

AJG
 

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Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 03-13-2005, 09:36 AM:
 
I've got a better one for you. When I ran the original release of Grease at a drive-in, circa 1978, the leader to the 2nd reel was spliced out of frame... in the dupe negative!! After the second night of changing over to that reel and it coming up out of frame, I knew something was wrong. Sure enough, I counted sprocket holes, and the leader went out of frame somewhere between the "3" and the start of picture.

That was the only time I ever had to CUT a new, unspliced piece of film to PUT it in frame.
 

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Posted by Richard Greco (Member # 2032) on 03-13-2005, 09:54 AM:
 
I'm not bitching....I was just wondering if anyone else had the same problem.

But

You are the man Monte
 

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Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 03-13-2005, 11:40 AM:
 
Thx guys, but didn't "mean" to come on too mean. (Getting to be a mean "ol fart"..LOL)..just love to get to the point on some matters.

Try when someone, with acetate film, wet spliced a 100 ft. section of film upside down within a reel and you feel stupid that you had to present it since you didn't inspect the reel when the print came in. A coinsidence: it was a used print of "Grease" that I ran at a drive-in in 1979-danged yard was full of 400 cars..LOL...try to explain that one to the manager who's getting the gripeout from customers, plus the yard is doing their horn chorus.

-thx Monte
 

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Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 03-13-2005, 01:34 PM:
 

quote: Monte L Fullmer

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didn't "mean" to come on too mean.

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You're entitled to it Monte. It comes from paying "old fart" dues!
 

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Posted by Christian Appelt (Member # 1067) on 03-13-2005, 03:17 PM:
 
In a CINEFEX interview, Mr Lucas said that he broke off enough fingernails peeling off tape, opening and remaking splices during the STAR WARS editing process.

Now you can't expert Mr L. to check all the splices for you, if you do not run his trailers in digital magick, you have to do it yourself.
 

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Posted by Chase Hanson (Member # 2779) on 03-13-2005, 03:34 PM:
 
negative, ours was in frame.

Reguardless i have made it my personal "rule" to never assume that the projectionist who spliced the film before me had the time to do it just right.

Id rather put a film up 2 minutes late because I checked every splice, than have it go up on time...and not stay in frame throughout the whole presentation.
 

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 03-13-2005, 07:34 PM:
 
Well Richard, you got burned once and assuming you are one of them smart 'uns, you will never trust another depot splice again. I'd say about 10% of them are out of frame, so you simply cannot rely that they will be in frame, but now you know better.

BTW, my splice on both prints WAS in frame at both the head and tail of the trailer. However all 4 of the depot splices were pathetic beyond description and I would have never let it run through a projector. They had to be remade anyway, just like they ALWAYS do for quality's sake.
 

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Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 03-13-2005, 08:01 PM:
 
At least out of frame depot splices can be fixed (and hopefully caught on inspection). The ones that I can't stand will cut into the opening fadein and/or soundtrack of the feature, which of course can't be fixed without a replacement reel (which Brad can probably get for his theatre, but which I can't for most of the shows that I do).
 

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Posted by Dominic Case (Member # 1830) on 03-13-2005, 08:14 PM:
 

quote: Tim Reed

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I've got a better one for you. When I ran the original release of Grease at a drive-in, circa 1978, the leader to the 2nd reel was spliced out of frame...

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It's an eventful life in the movie industry, isn't it . . . .

(sorry, couldn't resist )
 

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Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 03-13-2005, 08:24 PM:
 

quote:

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The ones that I can't stand will cut into the opening fadein and/or soundtrack of the feature,

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Hey Scott...I can tell you a secret on this one: Let's go back to 1977, when the original StarWars came out.

I worked for Mann Theatres at that time running booth at large single screen house. With circuit ownership, there is that always required "policy/feature" tag that must be attached at the front of the first reel.

Got SW in and was ready to attach this tag, but noticed that the soundtrack information started way back into the academy leader and long before the negative attachment splice, where I was going to cut the leader off anyway to attach this tag. And obviously, I wasn't going to cut into Lionel Newman's famous "Fox Fanfare" piece.

What I did was, a foot before the fanfare began, was take vinyl electrical tape, laid it across the remaining part of the lead that still had numbers, thus I can made my cut a good foot above the fanfare entry, thus preserving the complete fanfare, and having a good black entry into the presentation, since I had to attach that tag before all of this.

Another small trick that I did with this original SW release: we all know that end of Reel 1 and the beginning of Reel 2 is a fadeout changeover. I used to place a sliver of this electrical tape on edge where the last number was on the lead of Reel 2, so I would have an "audible" splice to let me know that is when to open up that machine's dowser so I could have a smooth flowing opening fade changeover to the 2nd reel when the 1st reel scene would fade out. I would have my 2nd reel's number at "9" in the framebox on my XL's, so I would have a perfect fade changeover between these two reels.

..little tricks in being of professional presentation that I used to do.

-Monte
 

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Posted by Scott Balko (Member # 438) on 03-13-2005, 09:32 PM:
 
No shit on the pathetically bad splice quality, not to mention the shitty tape used. That crap left so much residue on the film that it took damn near 5 minutes just to get the film prepped for a good splice. It was a full 2 frames wide and acted just like cheap, clear packing tape. You know the shit with the picture of a duck on the core?
 

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Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 03-13-2005, 10:23 PM:
 

quote: Scott Balko

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It was a full 2 frames wide and acted just like cheap, clear packing tape....

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Neumade does make a 8perf splicer, and the tape prob has to be more thicker in making such a longer splice, but the edges of the splicing tape ends at the framelines, thus not being noticable when being projected.

-Monte
 

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 03-13-2005, 10:35 PM:
 
Neumade??? I don't think so.
 

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Posted by Mike Olpin (Member # 1115) on 03-13-2005, 10:50 PM:
 
I built 3 prints of Robots. 2 had acceptable distance between the last frame of star wars and the first frame of Ice Age Short. 1 went from the last visable frame of "May 19th" imeadiately to the first frame of ice age. I had to add a few feet of black mylar to space them out.
 

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Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 03-13-2005, 11:11 PM:
 
Whoops. Sorry, it was the Guillotine that has the 8 perf tape splicer. - Monte
 

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Posted by John Hawkinson (Member # 1135) on 03-13-2005, 11:49 PM:
 
Well, the people who OEM Neumade splicers in Japan make an 8-perf. The HT35(SS)TK/8P. Tokyo Seiki.

--jhawk [edit for typo]

[ 03-14-2005, 10:39 AM: Message edited by: John Hawkinson ]
 

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Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 03-14-2005, 12:18 AM:
 
That's what I saw, was this Japanese made 8 perf splicer one time on a splicer search, in as well as the Guillitoine.

thx, JHawk - Monte
 

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 03-14-2005, 10:28 AM:
 
I guess since so many people botched the Sand Dog trailer, they decided to add the Bosco trailer for us - just to make sure we didn't miss it this time.

Our depot must have the shittiest splicers on the planet. They also needed to be re-done. But they were cut to be in frame.
 

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Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 03-14-2005, 03:49 PM:
 
Does the trailer look as bad visually in the film version as it does on my laptop? The CGI for the backgrounds doesn't look good at all to me on the laptop. If the trailer is any indication, this "film" will certainly win the award of the highest percentage of shots done in front of a green screen.
 

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 03-14-2005, 11:41 PM:
 
Do these guys make neumade quality 8 perf width clear tape?
 

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Posted by Barry Floyd (Member # 385) on 03-15-2005, 12:18 AM:
 
At least your trailer was included. We opened ROBOTS on Friday night, just like everyone else. We got NO SW3 trailer at all. I checked all of the enclosed trailers, but nothing... not even the fake name crap.

I was not attached, nor enclosed in the can. So much for our promotion.
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 03-15-2005, 12:39 AM:
 
Sounds like a defective Reel 1 to me.
 

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 03-15-2005, 12:59 PM:
 

quote: Barry Floyd

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I was not attached, nor enclosed in the can.

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Neither was I.


 

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Posted by Floyd Justin Newton (Member # 1316) on 03-15-2005, 05:53 PM:
 
Richard--

I've been this business for a hell of a long time and I have
NEVER seen anyone bitch, moan, cry and whine about every
little thing that comes along. If the STAR WARS trailer was
spliced on with an out-of-frame splice... SO WHAT. Just fix the
mistake and move on. It's NOT THE END OF THE WORLD! Heaven
forbid if you ever have to run a 70MM Roadshow print. We'd never
hear the end of it!
 

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Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 03-16-2005, 11:22 PM:
 
ROFL!
 

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Posted by Richard Greco (Member # 2032) on 03-17-2005, 01:11 AM:
 
You know what FJN, you aren't even worth getting into an argument with. I private messaged you as to my opinion on your attitude towards me. I am simply asking to see if it was a widespread thing or on a few prints. I believe that I haven't said anything wrong. Yes I do bitch and moan about things, but that's what a few threads on here are about. I log on here to unwind after work. Not to be belittled by you.
 

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Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 03-17-2005, 01:17 AM:
 
Generally speaking, all of our new prints would open on Friday, so Thursday night after closing, we would inspect/screen as many of those prints as possible for any defect requiring attention. So, any splicing problems would be immediately corrected, and any bad reels would be reordered ASAP. This was usually a "must" for those films considered to be "blockbusters"! Unfortunately, we were not paid for this screening time...this major theatre chain felt that having a "private advance screening" was payment enough.

Furthermore, weekly trailer changes was also routine. Whenever trailer changes were made, we did our best, as time allowed, to stand by the projector and make sure that all was well with the trailer change. Occasionally someone would goof and get one out of frame. And this would be immediately noticed at the beginning of the "green-band". So, rather than excessively "cranking" the framing handle, we would stop the projector on the trailer "green-band", quickly adjust the threading (no more than 15-30 seconds) and then restart the show. We would watch the remaining trailers to make sure all was well, and then fix the offending splice at the end of that show. No big deal. We would NEVER stop a projector in the middle of a trailer...only on the "green-band". It just looked more professional, and the audience did not seem to mind too much.

Cheers

K
 

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Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 03-17-2005, 01:41 AM:
 

quote:

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Heaven
forbid if you ever have to run a 70MM Roadshow print. We'd never
hear the end of it!

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..and that's 200% PERFECT Presentation up the MAX!!! (course, you're getting paid 50 bucks/hour for that shift anywho..LOL)

-Monte
 

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Posted by Bruce Hansen (Member # 281) on 03-17-2005, 06:04 PM:
 
It's not whining to want a job done right. Yes, you have to fix it, but everyone with a problem should contact the depot and let them know. Don't yell at them, just let them know there is a problem. This is the only way the problem will ever get fixed. You may want to tell them that they should just include the trailer with the film, and let you splice it on, saving them money. If you were doing something wrong, that was causing people problems, wouldn't you want someone to let you know?

If you get a film late, and are in a hurry to build it up, you could miss a bad or out of frame splice.

I would rather fix problems, than just treat symptoms. Anyone who works as a tech knows, if no one tells you there is a problem, it will never get fixed.
 

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Posted by Jeremy Fuentes (Member # 2135) on 03-18-2005, 09:03 AM:
 
Floyd, I have been on Film-Tech for a hell of a long time, and I have NEVER seen anyone bitch, moan, cry, and whine about every Greco-post that comes along.
 

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Posted by Floyd Justin Newton (Member # 1316) on 03-18-2005, 11:54 AM:
 
Jeremy--

Sad, but true!
 

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Posted by Richard Greco (Member # 2032) on 03-18-2005, 01:32 PM:
 
Floyd Get You Head Outta Your Butt....He was talking about you.
 

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Posted by Floyd Justin Newton (Member # 1316) on 03-18-2005, 04:06 PM:
 
Richard--

Don't you know a joke when you see one?
 

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