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Friday I receive a print of Chicago. Reel one is trashed and so I call TES for a replacement print. The 10pm arrival comes and goes so I call again. Now it is 12:30 which actually becomes 1:30 am
So I miss all of Friday shows, but as the print arrives, I see something that never ceases to amaze me. And to think I am in the Fingerlakes region of Upstate NY. Anyone know anything about where the replacement print finally came from?
lance







[This message has been edited by LanceC (edited April 12, 2003).]

It's not the end of the world, but you can see it from there.

And now you know why it took so long to arrive.

I hope that the print was to your satisfaction. If so, Tony can be proud.

[This message has been edited by Large (edited April 12, 2003).]

Lance I would have thought from your experiences when I made up your opening night films with the TES quality assurance stickers would have been enough said

Yep...Tony did good. All that was needed was a quick run through the cleaner and we have a reel nice presentation. Faith is restored.
lance

whew!!! thank goodness.......after my nightmarish weekend, it's nice to here my guys are doing something right....long story. Anyhow, actually that print was at the Colonial for 4 weeks, then we ran it here at the Temple for 2, so Mike should be proud of both theatres!

I have a question who are the idiots trashing these prints? (Chains I know)

The art house I consult for receieved a trashed print of the Hours its was coated in oil and scratched. Can't these people not scracth prints?

We finally got the replacement in and built before the 7 pm show.

The oil was probably 'FilmGuard', a cleaner/protectorant, which may have been applied more liberally than needed in an attempt to conceal/repair the scratches. I use it quite regularly to help eliminate static, which it does. It makes the print look like there is oil on it, but it causes no harm. I have not found that it helps scratches though as is claimed. If you don't know about the stuff you can read volumes about it on Film-Tech.

It is not all chains that ruin prints, but they do it frequently. I got a print of The Gladiator from a nearby single screen theatre. The entire opening credits and the lengthy written narrative was gone. The first few feet of what was left of reel 1 was scrunched beyond belief. I confronted the owner/operator later and he denied any knowledge! I had to play it like that all weekend.

Think everyone here adheres to professionalism. Good job, Mike and Tony.

That print had been through 4 weeks at the Colonial and then 2 weeks at the Temple: good work kudos!!! to the projection team.

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Michael Hurley
Impresario

We find that Film Guard does help us protect against scratches that would have been worse if the print hadn't been treated prior and it does help to keep some scratches in a newly received print from showing up on the screen that otherwise would have. We now have a lot more evidence than we would have at our single screen where everything runs just like it should and prints are never trashed.

Confessions of an Independent Print Scratcher:
We have done much work here at the 4 screen but we have not been able to eliminate all equipment scratches even after 12 weeks of cleaning, adjusting and replacing parts. Our most recent find is that the guide rollers on the soundheads of the old Internationals are composed of multiple parts which appear to move around and cut the film periodically. We ordered single piece replacements several weeks ago. They have now arrived but we must take off most of the sound heads, replace them and then rebalance the sound systems. Lots of work to do on all 4 machines, but we consider it our duty to do what we can to quit trashing prints. I am sure that we have a bad reputation for trashing prints but the damage is at least minimal now and we will keep working until we are up to standard.

This could not have been filmguard because it was projector oil. There was no way that anyone could have covered the platter scratches with film guard. deep green ones.

The second print we recieved was treated with filmguard (so it said) and it was ok no oil etc.

I just don't remeber scratching the &&*& out of prints when i worked for the chain. (maybe I had pride in my work




[This message has been edited by GTEntertainment (edited April 15, 2003).]

Any print damage is unexcusable so if it is equipment related get it fixed or you could end up paying a lot of print replacement bills

I agree with Gordon. If you know you are scratching prints, get it fixed! Sometimes, it takes someone from the outside (e.g., a theatre service engineer) to see a problem that's been missed.

Here's some hints from the Kodak website:
http://www.kodak.com/country/US/en/motion/newsletters/pytlak/sept99.shtml
http://www.kodak.com/country/US/en/motion/newsletters/pytlak/june2001P.shtml
http://www.kodak.com/country/US/en/motion/support/technical/hand.shtml

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Customer Technical Services
Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Eastman Kodak Company
Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Telephone: 585-477-5325 Cell: 585-781-4036 Fax: 585-722-7243
E-Mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Since we open many films and are always looking hard at the ones we did not we know when it's us who did the deed. It does happen. Inexcusable but it does occur. Something gets stuck on the backside of the film path so you don't see it until the next show, a roller guide that somehow jumped up and tweaked itself sideways. Etc. We have an ethic of keep it clean and stay on it every moment and it still happens. I try my best to remind the staff that when you're feeling cozy and hanging out chatting up the popcorn gal is when you're shreading a print. Someday we'll all be digiatl and then there will never be any more problems.

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Michael Hurley
Impresario

Mike wrote: " Someday we'll all be digiatl and then there will never be any more problems. "

I hope you meant !

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Customer Technical Services
Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Eastman Kodak Company
Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Telephone: 585-477-5325 Cell: 585-781-4036 Fax: 585-722-7243
E-Mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion