70mm film handling done (sorta) wrong!

[Tony Bandiera Jr]

Found this video on You Tube, where a projectionist does and says a few things that are cringe (look at 14:10 - 15:00), especially since film is so rare these days. Be sure to blast him in the video comments. To be fair, most of it shows a good amount of care and attention to detail, but the aforementiond comment in that timestamp set me off a bit.

It also shows a unique way (to me, anyway, never saw it before) to load the film on the platter with special reels and what looks like a special deck guide roller set that includes a speed control.

Have at it:

[Ryan Gallagher]

When he is not running film he is all over the place doing YT content on radioactivity topics. I followed him a while ago after one of his previous booth videos... interested to check this one out after I get home from my films.

[Victor Liorentas]

I thought he did okay but it was not clear where he threaded on the leader. He should be threading on the Christmas tree leader at the start. It has frame lines and then it's followed by over 2 minutes of mostly clear leader which keeps your finger print oils far away from the actual picture start. That's unless you wind it all the way to the countdown to thread which the studios don't want and Brad at Film Tech strictly prohibit.
I wish he made it clear how he was doing that. Also He didn't leave the tail leaders on the reels which is the best and recommended procedure. Instead he rolled them up by hand Imax style.

[Ryan Gallagher]

What would be the preferred method to wind the leader other than the hand "imax" method he showed. Throw a core on it and turn it gently by hand? (ask having never run a platter).

In the 14-15:00 range of the video he is working with the test footage reel... I don't think it had the same 2 min of clear like reel 1 of the print did... maybe he didn't show as clearly where he was threading with the print... there was a at least once shot sequence with the projector not running yet and the green leader framed up in the gate.

I assume the comment that is objectionable is "all of this is leader, it is supposed to be touched". ;-) And I agree with the objection cause you can construe his words to mean the actual countdown leader of Reel 1 (or any reel in a changeover). When alternative additional leader is provided (or available in the booth), no touchy the lab leader!!

[Victor Liorentas]

What would be the preferred method to wind the leader other than the hand "imax" method he showed. Throw a core on it and turn it gently by hand? (ask having never run a platter).

In the 14-15:00 range of the video he is working with the test footage reel... I don't think it had the same 2 min of clear like reel 1 of the print did... maybe he didn't show as clearly where he was threading with the print... there was a at least once shot sequence with the projector not running yet and the green leader framed up in the gate.

I assume the comment that is objectionable is "all of this is leader, it is supposed to be touched". ;-) And I agree with the objection cause you can construe his words to mean the actual countdown leader of Reel 1 (or any reel in a changeover). When alternative additional leader is provided (or available in the booth), no touchy the lab leader!!

On the Film Tech instructional video they recommend leaving the tail on the reel.

[Sean McKinnon]

In the 14-15:00 range of the video he is working with the test footage reel... I don't think it had the same 2 min of clear like reel 1 of the print did... maybe he didn't show as clearly where he was threading with the print... there was a at least once shot sequence with the projector not running yet and the green leader framed up in the gate.

Im sure he shot some of the sequences out of order and possibly before the print showed up.

It also shows a unique way (to me, anyway, never saw it before) to load the film on the platter with special reels and what looks like a special deck guide roller set that includes a speed control.

That is the Film-Tech Platter Loader that is now the standard method for shipping and assembling these prints.

[Steve Guttag]

On the Film Tech instructional video they recommend leaving the tail on the reel.

What instructional video? When did throwing the leaders/tails (heck, even the print) on the floor not become a thing?

[Victor Liorentas]

What instructional video? When did throwing the leaders/tails (heck, even the print) on the floor not become a thing?

The new video showing how to use the Christie platter make-up kit.

[Steve Guttag]

And that video is posted where?

[Victor Liorentas]

And that video is posted where?

I wish I could find it! I've been searching all day.

[Brad Miller]

It's an old video shot 3 years ago for the Oppenheimer release. It was sent out to projectionists. It was never intended to be posted publicly.

[Victor Liorentas]

It's an old video shot 3 years ago for the Oppenheimer release. It was sent out to projectionists. It was never intended to be posted publicly.

I can't remember who shared it but it was interesting. I love the Christie AW3 I've been running at the Queensway Toronto! So smooth and quiet!

[Andrew Walker]

Found this video on You Tube, where a projectionist does and says a few things that are cringe (look at 14:10 - 15:00), especially since film is so rare these days. Be sure to blast him in the video comments. To be fair, most of it shows a good amount of care and attention to detail, but the aforementiond comment in that timestamp set me off a bit.

It also shows a unique way (to me, anyway, never saw it before) to load the film on the platter with special reels and what looks like a special deck guide roller set that includes a speed control.

Have at it:

Not sure what you think I said or did that was "cringe". The way I loaded the film was the way instructed by Boston Light and Sound. There is no other way to load it as there hasn't been a makeup table in this booth for a very long time. They had a film bench in here last time I ran with Oppenheimer but now that's gone.

I also thread up with the Christmas leader on the print. The threading I showed was from the Tango test reel.

[Victor Liorentas]

Hello Andrew!
Welcome to Film Tech!

[Brad Miller]

Not sure what you think I said or did that was "cringe". The way I loaded the film was the way instructed by Boston Light and Sound. There is no other way to load it as there hasn't been a makeup table in this booth for a very long time. They had a film bench in here last time I ran with Oppenheimer but now that's gone.

I also thread up with the Christmas leader on the print. The threading I showed was from the Tango test reel.

Hi Andrew - Welcome to the forums. There are lots of people here with a serious passion for quality film presentations. It's pretty clear to me that Tony just was horrified to see the leader being projected on screen because he didn't realize that was just the junk "test reel" with no audience. Don't take offense, misunderstandings happen and text is easily misinterpreted. (Also your print of Oppenheimer from Bridgeport Village was in the group of best-returning-condition prints, so don't sweat it.)

Victor - I don't think you have ran one of those old "Tango Test" reels (which was a short clip of Hateful 8 followed by a short clip of The Master) that Andrew is running from about 13-16 minutes into the video. Those had the original red/green "Christmas" leaders which were introduced in 2015 for Hateful 8. Unfortunately those leaders were so short the team assembling the prints had to add a slug of black with clear framelines in the middle of it. So when you see Andrew threading on black frameline leader in the video, that is the added slug to make the original Christmas leader long enough to reach back to the takeup platter. In essence Andrew DID thread on the Christmas leader.

FYI - The leaders are currently as long as they are because the majority of platter prints that had shorter leaders suffered BADLY in the first minute due to the projectionist having to push too many buttons and watch over too many things during startup, meaning he is distracted and not closely watching the platter when everything is starting up (and often not able to act fast enough even if something wrong was seen).

Long platter leaders like we send out now which force the projectionist to stand there for a couple of minutes solves that problem because there is nothing else to do but to check over the leader running down at full speed for the film possibly dragging off of a roller or a loop slapping, a brain wrap happening, a takeup platter not actually taking up, etc. The long leaders are there to protect the FEATURE and historical evidence over the last several years has proven that the practice of using long leaders works very, very, very well as long as there isn't some idiot bypassing them in some manner. (You know the type. They're those "I was taught to put da 8 in da gate by mah great granddaddy" people. The same ones that simply cannot grasp the concept that better ways to handle film have been learned over over the years and they are hung up on grossly outdated practices which are not in the best interest of the long-term health and presentation quality of the print just because "that's how I was taught".

Now before some reel to reel snob come in screaming about terrible they think platters are and romanticizing the fetish of watching reels spin and making changeovers, I'll just point out that barring a misthread or a physical issue with a specific platter, the platter prints in almost every single situation come back in better condition than the 2-projector changeover theaters. It's just a fact. Just like with platter prints though, extending leaders on the changeover prints has also proven to help massively to minimize the dirt and scratches at the reel ends. This of course assumes the projectionist doesn't handle the Academy/SMPTE/Fotokem heads or tails at all, otherwise the prints quickly become one of those where the viewers can tell when the changeovers are about to happen before the motor cue even hits the screen because the image becomes crusty with the dirt and scratches. It's all preventable, but people have to care.