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This past weekend, I had a service call to check on a problem of "sound drop-outs". I had not previously met this projectionist. He informed me, in a conspiratorious manner, that he was a bit of a "perfectionist" (always a dangerous thing to admit).

I smiled and did what I usually do to judge the attitude of the projectionist - I inspected (inconspicuously, of course) the booth. I was impressed. The lenses and port-holes were clean (not always found nowadays), the equipment was immaculate and the booth could rival the cleanliness and organization of a hospital operating room. Not a single frame of film on the floor.

I began to think that this guy was right. He was one of the few that really give a damn. (Most of the rest are on this Forum).
He showed me a flourescent light he had mounted on the make-up table to be able to see the platter for make-up and break-down during low-light (performance) conditions.

I took a seat (on my toolbox) beside the projector in which the sound problems had been reported. It was at the end of the first reel that I noticed it. A splice - using opaque tape. Same thing for all the reel splices.

When I brought this up to the projectionist he replied "Ah, c'mon, it's no big deal. We do so much make-up and break-down that we need this tape" (He had to buy it from a local independant supplier - the chain does not stock it). "Besides, he added, its only half of one twenty-fourth of a second. Who's gonna see it?"

I like Zebra tape to see where I made a splice I need to break later. I usually use clear tape to repair a film break. Sometimes in the heat of the moment you make a mistake.

With the Zebra tape I only use the lines on the outside of the frame. I let the frame line of the tape go to waste.

When the theatre I worked at opened, yellow opaque tape was part of the start kit. When Joe left that theatre 6 years later, the yellow tape was still in the film cabinet, unused. I will never use that tape! I can see it go by. I can hear it go by. I'll bet I could smell it go by.

I hate that it leaves sticky yellow gunk on the film after you peel it off.

I don't know if I would build up a print with the ultrasonic splices like Brad does but if you can see it on the screen; don’t put it on the film!

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John Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Professional Motion Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Eastman Kodak Company
Rochester, NY 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Fax: 716-722-7243

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The other commonly used pre-process lab splice is an ultrasonic splice, which will have some discoloration immediately around the splice, and unfortunately, has only slightly better than one chance in four of being on the frameline. (Remember, these splices are made under darkroom conditions before the image is actually printed on the film). If an ultrasonic splice is on the frameline, it can usually be left in the print, as they are quite reliable. Reinforce it with one layer of clear splicing tape if in doubt. If the splice is not on the frameline, remove it and remake it with clear tape.

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John Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Professional Motion Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Eastman Kodak Company
Rochester, NY 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Fax: 716-722-7243

I bought an ultrasonic splicer from "Metric Splicer" (there's a link on the site) and it is FANTASTIC! It is MUCH better than the splices being used at the labs. (I should note here I cannot stand the 8 perf lab tape splices as they are horribly made.) What kind of ultrasonic splicers are the labs using that make these horrible splices? Perhaps they should switch to the Metric unit? Also, I've never had a splice break and reinforcing it with a tape splice will only make it extra thick which will cause the picture to jump in the gate as well as in most instances being able to visually see the edges of the tape project onto the screen. I'm not for that. Everything must be perfect.

Which leads me to a Kodak recommendation. In the old days, film stocks used to have little marks every 4 perfs on the film's edge. This would make it extremely easy for the labs to make their splices on the frame line. Why oh why was this practice stopped??? Can it be reinstated??? It was also GREAT for credits and such. Even if the frame lines weren't printed in accordance to the marks, if you knew the frame lines was 1 perf to the left of the mark, making a splice on a dark reel change or in credits was effortless. And do I even need to mention how nice it would make building up trailers?

So how about it? Who would be in charge of making such a decision? I would really like to see this back.