Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Why do some chains insist soundtrack down?

my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

»	Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE » Operations » Film Handlers' Forum » Why do some chains insist soundtrack down?

Author

Topic: Why do some chains insist soundtrack down?

Rob Brooks
Film Handler

Posts: 57
From: NY, U.S.A.
Registered: Oct 1999

posted 01-23-2000 01:14 PM

I work for Sony. They insist on sound track down onto the take-up platter. On feed (Christies Auto Wind 3) if the feed lags a little the emulsion side will bounce off the metal of the brain bottom. Can any one tell me the logic of sound track down??

------------------
Rob

| IP: Logged

John Walsh
Film God

Posts: 2490
From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way
Registered: Oct 1999

posted 01-23-2000 01:23 PM

Some people feel that it's less likely that the film will stick together and cause a platter wrap. We do that at our Trumbull, CT theater.

It's not a cure-all, but it does seem to help sometimes. Of course, other times I've done it, and it didn't do anything at all.

Voodoo theater technology...

| IP: Logged

Mike Colley
Film Handler

Posts: 25
From: Dacula, GA
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 01-23-2000 01:54 PM

I've always thought that would also cause problems with focus drift from head to tail of each reel. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

| IP: Logged

Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 01-23-2000 02:49 PM

Some 20-odd years ago SMPTE found running old fashioned reel to reel with acetate film stocks that winding emulsion in would benefit focus drift from the beginning of the reel to the end of the reel. Now personally I've always wound emulsion out when I run reel to reel as I've found I got better results, but that doesn't matter. (I even reverse the direction of the takeup.)

Anyway, the above really doesn't apply for platters, since the core to outer diameter ratio is less than 3 to 1 (the argument for reels). Plus, we are now using polyester film stocks which have a reverse curl. Hence, this information is really, really outdated advice.

Running soundtrack down "can" destroy a print on a platter. Should the takeup roller be a tad bit too low, you'll wind up with horrid green and yellow diagonal scratches. Also, should the film drag a bit around the back side of the center feed, you will have a strong chance of scratching. (On SPECO platters, if the film jumps off the top rollers of the takeup elevator and you're running soundtrack down, you will completely destroy the print!) As to curing static, that is nonsense. Currently the only effective way I'm aware of (and trust me I've tried everything) is FilmGuard. Even just wiping FilmGuard on the edges of the print and not even cleaning with it will stop the static.

I'm sure Sony or your local tech read this somewhere and has decided it MUST be true since it was in print somewhere.

| IP: Logged

Anthony Matarazzo
Film Handler

Posts: 30
From: Brisbane Australia
Registered: Jun 99

posted 01-23-2000 06:52 PM

Here in Oz, I've worked for two different companies. Hoyts Cinemas, run their sound track up and when I moved to Greater Union the sound track was down. No one could give a good reason why the sound track should be up or down. They said it's was company policy.

| IP: Logged

George Roher
Master Film Handler

Posts: 266
From: Washington DC
Registered: Jul 99

posted 01-23-2000 11:48 PM

I don't like the idea of theatres mandating the winding orientation of their operators. How the show is run must be left up to the people who are actually in the booth on a regular basis and know what's best for their particular situation. An operator I worked with at General Enema was written up to the home office for prints being "upside down on the platters"! He had run some prints soundtrack up (and we were a soundtrack down house) because he was new to this booth and was used to running soundtrack up in other theatres.

I prefer soundtrack up myself and have had fewer static problems this way.

| IP: Logged

Michael Cunningham
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 186
From: Anchorage, AK
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 01-24-2000 12:59 AM

Yeah right!! People actually familiar with the booth (projectionists) making decisions regarding film handling!?! Not in today's corporate world. At least I'm lucky enough to have managers who understand that company policy is not always the best policy.

-Mike

| IP: Logged

Ian Price
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1714
From: Denver, CO
Registered: Jun 99

posted 01-24-2000 01:28 AM

I ran a 12-plex with the film on the platter soundtrack up. Once a week we would run a Kelmar (dry media) film cleaner on each print. Each and every time we would find that the side that was dirtiest was the side on the platter, in our case the inboard side. The moral of the story is: What do you want to hear, the soundtrack or the dirt?

I run soundtrack up, away from the dirt. I cover my prints at night so that the settling dust doesn't land on the film.

| IP: Logged

Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99

posted 01-24-2000 04:07 AM

You're right Ian! I remember that. For some reason the STRONG platter decks attracted dirt like crazy. Eventually I assigned each projectionist 4 projector and platters to keep clean each week. Each week those platters had to be scrubbed and the paper towels would be black. I once took the cleaning solution and wrote "Clean Me" on one of Ian's platters. It's probably still there.

I have never cleaned a Christie platter deck. While I don't doubt that they can get dirty, I just never felt comfortable with it, as prints can tend to slide around. With FilmGuard, I have noticed that it is very rare that the deck side of the film is dirtiest. But it is always the edges. John Pytlak and I have had a couple discussions about that. After a week or two of running through FilmGuard, the edges don't show up as much on the media pads. Instead I start getting odd colors from the picture area. My Toy Story 2 print is now leaving behind green and yellow media pads without much trace of the edges. The print looks incredible.

| IP: Logged

Ian Price
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1714
From: Denver, CO
Registered: Jun 99

posted 01-24-2000 11:52 AM

Joe!

You’re wiping off the "Technicolor!" Stop! Immediately send one of your ushers to the UA Greenwood and ask Wendy for a bucket of "Technicolor." Have her fill the bucket to the brim. Don't forget to tell the usher that it is extremely toxic and to be careful driving it back to the Chinese.

| IP: Logged

Erika Hellgren
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 168
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: Jun 99

posted 01-25-2000 03:07 AM

Hee hee hee

technicolor *snicker*

| IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

Printer-friendly view of this topic

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.