Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Seattle 70MM FILM SERIES Sep 27

This is topic Seattle 70MM FILM SERIES Sep 27 – Oct 2 (2019) in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Ed Gordon (Member # 10866) on 09-21-2019, 10:43 AM:

The following 70mm films will be shown at the Seattle Cinerama from September 27th through October 2nd:

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
2001: A Space Odyssey (New 'Unrestored' Print)
Lawrence of Arabia
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Roma
West Side Story
Back to the Future Part II
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
The Dark Crystal

Detailed schedule and reservations at: https://cinerama.com/Festival.aspx?ec=0000000029

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 09-22-2019, 02:53 PM:

On which screen?

Posted by Terry Monohan (Member # 8285) on 09-24-2019, 07:50 PM:

Hope It's the Cinerama® screen but I doubt it. The reg curved screen they use 98% of the time will still look huge and curved for these 70mm films to be shown on.

Hopefully the 70mm prints this year will be in good condition not like some in the past that were spliced all over and faded color.

The projectionists need to be trained about overtures and intermission curtain cues ect on most older classic roadshow 70MM prints. The curtains need not be open If they start with just music. Many years ago they just left the curtains open in Seattle on a white screen for the opening entrance overture.

Posted by Mark Campbell (Member # 4411) on 09-24-2019, 07:55 PM:

Kong and Dunkirk were on the flatter screen so I imagine that will one the case here. The series is being followed by the Joker in 70mm for 1 week. (then digital I assume)

Posted by Aaron Ridenour (Member # 5735) on 09-26-2019, 07:25 PM:

Thanks for the input, Terry. I think the projectionists are doing just fine in terms of curtain cues and overtures. Next time you're out for a 70mm screening and see something you don't like feel free to let me know [Smile]

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 09-27-2019, 01:02 PM:

quote: Terry Monohan
not like some in the past that were spliced all over and faded color.

With the exception of E.T. and assuming that LOA and WSS are the restorations, all those movies were made after 1981, and so even original release prints should be on low fade stock. E.T. was on the cusp of its introduction, so some of the surviving prints of that may have gone pink (in the same way that some the surviving original release prints of Sunset Boulevard are on nitrate, and others are on triacetate - the movie was released while the transition was in progress). I don't believe that I've ever handled a print of E.T..

Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 09-27-2019, 01:03 PM:

Do any Film-Tech members work at the Seattle Cinerama or are friendly with any of the projection crew or management? I ask because it might be worth checking the datecode on the leaders of the "E.T" print.

If Seattle screens the same print that has circulated in the past year or so then the print will have been assembled from two (or more) prints of different vintage. In particular, (1) there is some debate among collectors as to whether there were ever any LPP copies struck on this title, and (2) take an extra close look at the leaders of Reel 4 as I'm told there is a censored bit during the Halloween scene (suggesting that reel was from a later batch and/or used during a re-release and/or intended for international).

Let us know what you ascertain!

Posted by Sascha F. Roll (Member # 9043) on 09-27-2019, 01:50 PM:

Michael, concerning the doubts if there were ever any LPP prints:
The original 70mm print I saw 2 years ago during a festival in Czech republic (AFAIR the print was from an offical czech or slovak national archive, with etched subtitles) was definitely LPP, absolutely no fading whatsoever.

Posted by Mark Campbell (Member # 4411) on 09-29-2019, 02:49 AM:

I saw E.T. today at the Cinerama with my kids. 70mm and 1.85 pillarboxed in the 2.20 frame. This appeared to be a British print. The film was preceded by a "U" certificate from the British Board of Film Censors and that card was followed by the United International Pictures logo rather than the Universal logo we are used to in the US. The certificate and UIP logo were true 2.20 but the rest of the film was 1.85.

The presentation was fairly decent, better than I had expected. The color was rich. Vertical scratching was fairly minimal. Sound was good though surround was fairly minimal and seemed directionless (mono surround?). There were a few repair splices here and there. Reel changeovers were pretty rough from a print standpoint. Changeover cues were black circles that seemed burned in accompanied now and then with an X.

Problems:

- for about 10 minutes the movie was faded, distinctly pink and quite scratched. I did not see when this started. I had taken my kid to the restroom and when we got back it was pink. This was the section of the film when E.T. and Elliott are on the gurneys surrounded by the government scientists/doctors. Cut to a scene in the living with Elliott and his mom and color is back to normal for the rest of the film. I did not notice a changeover or cues when it shifted back. Not sure if the pink was a full reel or part of a reel. So when we are back to Elliot saying what he thinks is his final goodbye to E.T. inside the body bag in the cooler the picture is normal again.

- after the 1st reel the whole reel runs out on screen "End of reel 1" sign and everything on screen then the theatre goes dark. About the 30 seconds later the 2nd reel fires up. I am not a projectionist (just a film and theatre buff) so I don't know what procedure they were following. The Cinerama has 2 Kinotons but we were in the balcony above the booth so I could not see what was going on. I assume the 2nd projector missed its start. Which brings the question how would they load and prep the reels for the show. During this festival the Cinerama is showing 2 or 3 titles a day and only Last Crusade and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood have a second screening later in the week. Would they alternate projectors reel by reel and avoid building up a larger reel for each projector? I always assumed they'd splice 3 reels or so together so as to have an hour or so before switching projectors. That seemed the case with Dunkirk and other recent 70mm releases.

- The closing credits are a bit of a mess, lots of splices. Fun hearing the music jump ahead of the picture though.

Michael - sorry I don't have an LPP answer for you but given a small stretch of the film is pink could it be a mash up of more than one print?

Question for anyone out there who knows - is there a database of what 70mm prints still exist and are available to theatres? I'm just curious from a booking standpoint when the Cinerama puts these festivals together. I was hoping for Temple of Doom over Last Crusade!

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 09-29-2019, 12:37 PM:

Actually, I misremembered: I did handle a 70mm print of E.T., a couple of years ago:

I wonder if this was the same one?

I didn't project any of it (I was asked to evaluate it for a possible screening, but wasn't given theater time to put any of it up on the screen), but I did go through all of it on a bench, and none of it was pink.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 09-29-2019, 04:33 PM:

1981? You are more interested in when it was shot than its original release?

Posted by Mark Campbell (Member # 4411) on 10-01-2019, 12:07 AM:

Leo - thanks for posting your report. Fascinating for us geeks who like 70mm but don't know how it all really works. I don't think the Cinerama E.T. print was the same as the one you handled. This one had the British certificate onscreen at the beginning followed by the UIP logo. And there was no "When in Southern California..." plate at the end. Plus the 10 minutes or so of pink fading. However it might of had it and the projectionist could have extinguished the light before it showed. The curtains began closing as the final credits were rolling up the screen.

Just caught Last Crusade at the Cinerama. This is the title I've probably seen the most in 70mm because in the summer of 89 I worked at the Tacoma Mall Twin in - you guessed it - Tacoma! Indy 3 played a decent chunk of the summer on both screens, the larger in 70mm. So it was a little trip down memory lane as I had watched it off shift at least 10 times. Presentation was great 50% of the time. The reason for 50% was the left Kinoton was flawless, but when the right fired up on the 2nd reel and every time after that there was an electric hum throughout each reel it played. (I was on the main floor this time so I solved my question regarding if the theatre built up reels at all. Nope. Left played the 1, 3, 5 etc and right played evens. At the appearance of each first changeover cue my buddy and turned our heads to watch the projector swap). The hum was tolerable because any heavy action noise or music overpowered it. But considering the next show that evening was 2001 I hope they have figured it out.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 10-01-2019, 06:02 AM:

Note, for magnetic sound, the projector itself has little/to no control over things like noise and hum. All of the sound is processed by the magnetic preamp, typically located in a sound rack. Kinoton supplied a mu-metal head shield that should keep stray magnetic fields out of the sound. Now I have found that with the Kinoton FP75E there is an unfortunate placement of the shutter motor and inverter such that its whine CAN (and does) get into the magnetic head if you know what you are listening for. It comes through the non-mu-metal and sneaks in under the shield. The shutter speed will vary the frequency that comes through.

Normally, a hum like you describe (steady state) is either coming in due to lack of head shield or is coming in inductively through the wires that connect the head to the preamp. Depending on the preamp they are using, they may have a problem there...however, if they are using the ever-popular Dolby MPU-1...then whatever affects projector 2 should affect projector 1.

Posted by Sascha F. Roll (Member # 9043) on 10-01-2019, 07:49 AM:

Could of course also be that the magnetic tracks on every second reel have been ruined at a previous (changeover) house, saw (heard) that as well in the past.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 10-01-2019, 09:30 PM:

That isn't nearly as likely. Often if you get that sort of damage, it will be in the form of a cyclic tick/noise...if due to just magnetic built up, more of a hiss and it would tend to affect one track more than the other with Left and Surround most susceptible.

Conversely, the cable that carries all of the channels will tend to pass through whatever is generating the noise.

There is also the potential of a grounding issue.

Posted by Mark Campbell (Member # 4411) on 10-07-2019, 07:03 PM:

Hey All.

RE Indy 3:
- Sascha: it probably was not the print because this was my second viewing, Caught it the previous week as well. No hum.
- Steve: hum was steady.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Caught this one before the festival was done. No more hum when the 2nd projector ran - which again played the even reels. The print was in great shape. Some scratching during opening credits and at a couple changeovers, but overall pretty impressive for picture and sound. While being one of the better Star Trek entries in the series, "Star Trek VI: The Apology" felt a bit cheap on the big screen. And seeing not one, but two William Shatners on screen at the same time in 70mm was about as much acting as a viewer can take.

Just caught Joker in 70mm at the Cinerama immediately following the series. Very impressive.

Posted by Mark Campbell (Member # 4411) on 10-18-2019, 07:19 PM:

The Seattle Cinerama just announced its Horrorama festival with two 70mm titles and its 70mm Film Series Part II.

Horrorama 70mm titles:
Ghostbusters
The Thing (my buddy saw this last year and said the print they showed was very pink)

70mm Film Series Part II:
Vertigo
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
The Untouchables
Its a Mad Mad Mad Mad World
Interstellar
Malcom X
Lawrence of Arabia
Dunkirk

Less titles than last fest. More repeat shows.