This is topic Ugh, ran across horrible splicing tape in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by David E. Nedrow (Member # 4981) on 12-11-2010, 02:13 AM:
 
I inherited a print from another local theatre. To save everyone time, they wound it off the platter onto two 6000' reels -- meaning most of their splices were left in place.

Normally when I do a move over like this, I remove the old splices, manually clean the film for about 8 feet on either side of the splice, then splice anew.

I could NOT get their splicing tape off. It would come off in little pieces. The pieces I did get off almost looked frosted, though it seemed clear when it actually was affixed to the film.

So, I didn't touch the rest of the splices. Two was enough. I don't look forward to breaking this print down.

Has anyone ever run across a brand of splicing tape that shears like this?
 

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Posted by Kenneth Wuepper (Member # 1174) on 12-11-2010, 07:31 AM:
 
Our print of "Life As We Know It" had this kind of tape and it was the kind with yellow stripes on both edges and dashes across the frame line. "T" stripe tape. A pain to remove but it left no adhesive behind.

3M once made a packaging tape that was very strong along the length of the strip but could easily be torn at the roll. This was advertised as a real convenience since the tape had great strength for holding while you could easily tear it to length without a cutter.

Perhaps the splice tape you have found has this type of grain. If it does not come off when lifting it from the edges of the film it may come off along the length of the film. One must be very careful not to scratch while removing the tape from the emulsion, picture side, of the print.
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 12-11-2010, 09:58 AM:
 
When this happens to me, I often must sacrifice a frame. Usually the cuts are so bad that there would be a gap if I kept them.
 

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Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 12-11-2010, 12:41 PM:
 
I vote for clipping the frame, too.

If the operator cuts the film properly and uses good quality splicing tape that peels off without leaving stickum behind it would not be necessary.

While it is not the best thing to have to clip the frame, if YOU splice properly the next operator and all subsequent operators should not have to. It is a short-term sacrifice with long-term benefit.
 

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 12-11-2010, 02:59 PM:
 
Always peel from the base side of the film first since it doesn't scratch as easily. Once the base side of the splicing tape is off, you are left with essentially a single sided splice which is easier to give the film a slight twist on to remove the tape from the emulsion side.

Once you get the tape off, burn down the offending theater that bought cheap tape.
 

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Posted by Jim Bedford (Member # 4) on 12-15-2010, 03:51 PM:
 
You hear that no group of producers sat down in advance and said, "Let's make the worst movie we can," so I assume that no splicing tape manufacturer ever decided to make tape where the adhesive came off the tape and stuck to the film rather than the tape. Decisions are made, corners are cut, quality control and customer service aren't, so you get crummy tape.

When tape doesn't come off or if stickiness remains, that's when the naptha comes out. It dissolve the glue and softens the tape splice.

As a film collector, I have on occasion taken off what seems to be five to 10 old spices from each heads and tails of some older prints, some with two to four (I've seen six) ID frames, each one clipped and taped back on. Upon such activity, sounds of rage usually emanate from my booth. The best (and probably only) thing good about modern prints is that since they don't get repertory screenings, they don't get splices on splices on splices . . . (until they don't run through the projector anymore).
 

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Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 12-15-2010, 04:02 PM:
 
Clipping a frame either side of the splice will certainly look better on the screen than whatever is left after 10 minutes of picking. I've seen a couple examples of frosted tape on prints that come in, it looks similar to Magic Mending Tape but thinner, I don't believe it's splicing tape, just some brand of very thin general purpose tape.
 

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Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 12-16-2010, 10:26 AM:
 

quote: Jim Bedford

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You hear that no group of producers sat down in advance and said, "Let's make the worst movie we can," so I assume that no splicing tape manufacturer ever decided to make tape where the adhesive came off the tape and stuck to the film rather than the tape. Decisions are made, corners are cut, quality control and customer service aren't, so you get crummy tape.

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quote: Chris S.

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Of course, they don't say "We're gonna make the worst." But I definitely could see them saying "We're gonna make it cost less" which in the end result isn't all that different from them saying the other...

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You're right, it's not as blatant as that. Every corporation has a fiduciary responsibility to its shareholders/partners/etc to MAXIMIZE shareholder value. Basically, the mantra is, "what is the least amount of quality we can assign to this widget, such that someone will still buy it." If they do anything else, they risk the wrath of shareholders and, potentially, regulators.

Now, at the low end, most of us (we're an S-Corp) are so small as to be considered closely held. This means that a business like mine can make decisions favoring quality over net revenue. Yes, there's some give and take, but for the most part we can go the quality route. We don't have a to implement something like "no phone call with a customer can last longer than 2.3 minutes, even if their problem isn't solved. They can call back multiple times for resolution, but our stats need to be maintained." (Actual, real-life thinking at a company I used to work for.)

Ah, well. That was a ramble I guess.
 

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Posted by Michael Brown (Member # 890) on 12-16-2010, 07:12 PM:
 
About a year ago I had a print of something for kids shows with horrible splicing tape that had been used on it. Coming off in tiny pieces, spend 10 minutes getting the tape off the print and then another 5 minutes getting the little bits off of my fingers. Took me a whole shift to build this one 5 reel print.

The other thing I’ve encountered a few times now on used prints is metal cue tape that is hard to get off. The brand that we use is metal on both sides and the sticky side is very early to remove once applied. However a few prints have come in with metal cue tape that has like a masking tape style base on the sticky side so when you peel it off you get a white paper residue left on the print. Had that a few times now.
 

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Posted by David E. Nedrow (Member # 4981) on 12-16-2010, 08:24 PM:
 

quote: Michael B

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About a year ago I had a print of something for kids shows with horrible splicing tape that had been used on it. Coming off in tiny pieces, spend 10 minutes getting the tape off the print and then another 5 minutes getting the little bits off of my fingers. Took me a whole shift to build this one 5 reel print.

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quote: Michael Brown

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...and then another 5 minutes getting the little bits off of my fingers.

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quote: David E. Nedrow

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I figure I'll saturate the remaining splices for a couple of minutes with naptha, or maybe some denatured alcohol.

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quote: Randy Stankey

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FilmGuard does the job for me 90% of the time.

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