Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Broken Reels Right outta the Cans!

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Posted by Mark Farr-Nash (Member # 4233) on 07-04-2007, 07:47 PM:

Man, this is frustrating. How is it that these new films end up on such crappy reels? I'm trying to deal with building up Transformers right now, and reel five is completely unusable, and no amount of sliding, twisting and pushing will get that reel back together again. Is there some old Booth-Monkey Fix for this? It seems like every other film I get from my depot has at least one reel on it with no note to me saying, "Be careful, this one sucks." Am I missing a trick?

Mark

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-04-2007, 09:16 PM:

Welcome to the real world.

A complaint note (or phone call) to the offending depot might help, but broken reels are just a fact of life.

If a reel won't stay together for return shipping, you might consider enclosing the reel (with film) in a plastic bag, wrapped tight around the reel and secured with tape. You can write "broken reel enclosed" on the bag with a marker.

If the can is full and you have no plastic bags, just insert the broken reel normally but attach a note to it so the next guy won't spill the reel all over when he pulls it out of the can.

Posted by Mark Farr-Nash (Member # 4233) on 07-04-2007, 09:34 PM:

I've been writing notes for the next guy. But maybe going the bag and can route would actually get the broken reel taken out of circulation. Hmmm...

I'll write them a note and see if it helps. My guess is that it'll get tacked up on the board, and darts will be thrown at it, but hey, you never know...

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 07-04-2007, 10:47 PM:

Remove the film from the broken reel, keeping it on its core, of course. Throw the broken pieces into the trash.

Disassemble one of the other reels you already built up. Reassemble it onto the film you just took apart and use it as a substitute so you can build up the print.

Leave the substitute plastic reel on the core with the film that's missing its reel.

When you break the film down, spool the film back onto its core then remove it from the reel. Put the film into a plastic bag. As a safety measure, you can use a couple of pieces of cardboard to protect the reel in the caan if you wish.

Finally reassemble the plastic reel in its rightful place and continue breaking down as normal.

Put a note in the can as to the fate of the missing reel.
(e.g.: "Broken reel discarded due to possibility of film damage.")

The next guy to get that film will:

A) Have a split reel or some facsimile, thereof, to build the movie up with.

B) Use the same procedure you used.

If you don't have a split reel, I suggest you get one. They can be invaluable in situations like this.

If your boss is too much of a cheapskate to buy you one, snitch an extra plastic reel out of one of a film can to use as a makeshift split reel.

Posted by Mathew Molloy (Member # 666) on 07-04-2007, 11:34 PM:

This is the very reason why I save the spare reels sometimes used as spacers in the cans/boxes. I replace the spare reels with cardboard and use those reels to replace broken reels.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 07-05-2007, 02:24 AM:

Was there such a problem with broken reels during the time of 20 minute change over long before the use of platters?

-Claude

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 07-05-2007, 03:35 AM:

In those days the reels were metal. Film arives at the depots from the labs on cores shrink wrapped in plastic. In the old days each reel was wound from its core onto a metal shipping reel. Due to tight schedules modern depots do not have time to wind film from the cores onto a reel, so the take apart (there's another term for it but I'm having a brain fart) was invented. The two halves of the reel slip onto the core and are supposed to lock in place. Various designs have had varying degrees of sucess at making this work reliably.

From what I understand the metal shipping reels could have their problems also, namely the flanges getting bent.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 07-05-2007, 04:45 AM:

In the days of the metal reels, sometimes, we would have to bend out the flanges to be straght again before we would mount the print on our house reels on the film bench since we had to inspect every print that came in our theatre. Why also we had to make the flanges straight again is that the shipping reels became our takeup reels for shipout in our changeover machines. We always send prints out tails out-which was the requirements of the depots in those days since they received the print tails out, then inspected it by winding from tails to heads on the inspection table before that print left for another theatre.

Last year, I just about fainted when this one print came in to our theatre: We had a Kid Show ("Chipmunk Adventure".. 4 reels) that came in in mint condition. Acetate base and mounted on 4 new metal Goldberg reels with the heavy paper REEL ID wrap around each reel.

...also, with plastic reels, they do help lightens up the cans a bit. When plastic reels became into being in the mid 70's (and still solid hub), it was apparent that this was the way to go in reducing shipping weight, but the split reels didn't show up until the last 8yrs or so.

Just be thankful that you didn't have to go through the very crappy black plastic, 1st gen reels that came out of TECH about 8 yrs ago, (and those HORRIBLE 6k plastic shipping reels that WB and NL decided to use there for a short time..) esp when those things had broken hub locks and couldn't be locked together at all. I would take some spray vandalism remover,(which contained toulene) and glue those reels back together with this spray. I knew that TECH would have a biddie fit finding their reels glued together, but it was the only way to mount the film back on the reel when using a Christie MUT.

Yet, what is kinda fun, esp with TECH sending out those cans with that "spacer reel", and sometimes, they shove in some very old metal reel as that "spacer reel". One print that came in our theatre from TECH, had a very glossy bronze painted Goldberg reel with the stamping of the film studio (MGM) and the month and year (9-38) on the outboard of the flange. (Back in them days, studios did their own releasing and they owned their own shipping equipment-why you see on grey can shipments, the film studios, and if you get lucky, the date stamp on the cans themselves..).

The plastic reels we now have are really nothing: if they come unlocked in the cans, or that "foxbox", just clip them back together and learn to deal with the new technology we now have.

If the flange is actually cracked and broken, take some good ol' masking tape and tape them back together and let the depots handle these problems.

-Monte

Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 07-05-2007, 09:53 AM:

yes, the years of the metal reels....I remember them well. I remember once when the reels were so bent they had jammed them down into the film can and I had to get someone to hold the can down while I took the clawed end of a hammer and hook it on the reel flange to pull the reel out of the cans. Then they went to the one piece plastic reels and started to eliminate the metal reels. Then the two piece split locking hub reels. Those 6k reels were fun. Especially when your mutt would only accept one size and your make-up table did not have the half inch hub attachment. I had to order one of those for the table. Soon as I get it I never see another 6k plastic reel again.