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Topic: Unnecessary Bells & Whistles in the Booth?

Alan Brandt
Film Handler

Posts: 28
From: Salem, Ohio, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 04-12-2000 02:13 AM

Does GCC still install unnecessary booth equipment at their new cinemas?

They used to have timers, remote switches from every possible location throughout the building, indicator lights everywhere, alarms,

If they do...WHY?

Don't they hire projectionists to do all that, or do they just hire m

nkeys to thread and take the chance that all will be well when they remote-start the movie from 2 miles away?

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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

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

posted 04-12-2000 02:36 AM

I can't speak for GCC, but having status panels to indicate whether the movies are running or whatever in a large building is awfully nice. So are timers, if the projectionist is a good one. In my building, we have four booths and over 80,000 some odd square feet of space. Alarms are very nice, and in my opinion, an absolute necessity in a multiplex.

We don't have any remote switches, but I could get a software package that would let me start, stop, adjust volume, or do anything else from my desk while I sit on my ass.

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Brad Miller
Administrator

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

posted 04-12-2000 02:51 AM

It's not unnecessary in a multiplex. Even if there is a full time projectionist on duty, many booths today (and even older 6 plex GCC theaters) have their booths set up in different rooms or around corners and such where the projectionist cannot keep watch on every screen at the same time. Status panels and alarms are definitely not an unnecessary thing to have. Also, let's say you are running a 16 plex by yourself and have 5 prints to build up and a few to break down all in one 7 hour shift. Timers make that a reality. Timers are also a fantastic feature to have in a booth should the projectionist lose track of time for whatever reason as well as if a projector breaks down and the projectionist must attend to it...timers will keep the shows running.

Such items are not money wasted by any means.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 04-12-2000 08:27 AM

I've always thought that having some sort of steam whistle of large bell that goes off when the film breaks would be neat.
Actually I prefer to keep the booth as simple as possible. Timers are real nice in large theaters (6 or more screens) and a run indicator at the projectionists station or at the ticket box. Beyond that not much else really is needed. Anything else WILL just confuse a releif projectionist anyway.
Mark

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Dave Williams
Wet nipple scene

Posts: 1836
From: Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 04-12-2000 05:39 PM

I myself have a bell and a whistle, but no one here knows how to ring or blow. And timers would be nice, or even alarm clocks, you know, to let me know when to wake up so I can turn the lights on.

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"If it's not worth doing, I have allready been there and done it"

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Dustin Mitchell
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1865
From: Mondovi, WI, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 04-12-2000 06:20 PM

Timers would be nice, problem is certain projectors have 'little problems' that necessitate someone being there when it is started. Like malfunctioning dousers on our Christies. Some are either stuck up, or keep falling down, requiring them to be taped up. So unless you want that nice bright light on the screen (we use clear leader) you gotta be there to put down the hand douser.

Oh, and before you guys start making suggestions to fix these like the helpful folks you are, we've had this problem for a while now and MTS can't figure out why they keep breaking.

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Dwayne Caldwell
Master Film Handler

Posts: 323
From: Rockwall, TX, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 04-12-2000 08:40 PM

Personally, I think it'd be nice to have klaxons and sirens blazing in the booth if there's a problem. But that might be because I had a print dump its first fifteen minutes on the floor recently. Hadn't had that happen since I worked at AMC (gag here) almost two years ago.

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The man with the magic hands.

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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

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

posted 04-12-2000 08:54 PM

Dwayne- There will be alarms in your booth soon when a platter does not engage. In fact, it will be impossible to dump film onto the floor unless you personally hit the motor switch on purpose.

Dustin-- Don't bitch at MTS about your Christie changeovers. Bitch at Christie. Try e-mailing:
engineering@christieinc.com
and tell them of your problems. Tell them that you expect the projectors to be functional! The Century 16 theatre out here has the same problem, and they are only a year old. They are still under warranty. Why they don't get them fixed or have Gary Stanley fix them is beyond me.

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George Roher
Master Film Handler

Posts: 266
From: Washington DC
Registered: Jul 99

posted 04-12-2000 09:28 PM

Status boards and timers are not unnecessary extras in modern plexes. The most professional projectionist on earth can't be in two places at the same time. At the larger plexes where shows start every 5 to 10 minutes all day, and rat mazes of booths are all over the building, timers are essential if any print work is going to get done (unless multiple operators are on duty).

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Andrew D'Vrey
Film Handler

Posts: 92
From: St. Paul, MN USA
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 04-12-2000 10:42 PM

I'm a GCC Monkey...just read the signature.

We have a very large booth. Only 14 screens, but the distance between the two furthest projectors is greater than any in our area. Put it this way...management rides a bike between the two large booths.

We run one operator. It is impossible to watch all 14 screens at once. We need status indicators. There is also a status board in our lobby. It's nice when a customer asks, "Did the movie start yet?" you can look up and say yes and know it.

Failsafe, failed lamp ignition, failed vent, and tension alarms are very handy.

Timers are a luxury. But it certainly helps start pritns on time when management schedules opposite end simultaneous startup times. That and I like to timer ahead when I do Interlocks so I can maintain focus on that.

I don't have any more problems using timers than I do when I'm there to start. And in combination with alarms, it's rarely a big deal.

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"And the monkey flips the switch."
- Major Don West, "Lost In Space"

Andrew D'Vrey
IATSE Local 219

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Dwayne Caldwell
Master Film Handler

Posts: 323
From: Rockwall, TX, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 04-13-2000 12:38 AM

I hope you don't think I was being critical of the booth I'm working at now, Joe. I just think I'd be cool to have klaxons and sirens. Maybe even a voice that says "ALERT,ALERT" until you cancel the alarm.

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The man with the magic hands.

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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

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

posted 04-13-2000 12:59 AM

Actually what I want is for all the lights to go off in the booth. Then a bunch of strobe lights would come on and pulsate at independant intervals. There would be an audible siren and a female voice saying "Alert! Projector number 11 is down. Immediate attention required." At the downed projector would be bright, twirling lights. All that would be needed beyond that would be aliens crawling in the ceiling.

That way the booth would feel just like a James Cameron movie.

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Tim Reed
Better Projection Pays

Posts: 5246
From: Northampton, PA
Registered: Sep 1999

posted 04-13-2000 12:27 PM

Guys: I vote for one that says, "(beeep, beeep) Climb! Climb!"

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Better Projection Pays!

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Greg Anderson
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 766
From: Ogden Valley, Utah
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 04-13-2000 04:49 PM

Back when I was a teenage projectionist, I worked at a six-screen multiplex. I spent most of my time downstairs helping the ushers, but I was continually going upstairs to perform my other duties. Each time a film ended, I would first help the ushers clean garbage out of the auditorium. Next, I'd run upstairs and re-thread that particular projector. Then I'd come back downstairs to help the ushers. THEN, when it was time for the show to start, I'd go back upstairs and start it. And then, once I knew it was running okay, I'd go back downstairs and stand in the back of the auditorium for a minute to make sure the presentation was still good from the audience's perspective. If there was a problem, I'd make another trip upstairs. That was my typical mode of operation for all six auditoriums for eight hours a day, five days a week. Man I was in great shape back then! (The other guys would typically not go upstairs until it was time for the show to start, then they'd thread the machine and start it in just one trip.)

If we'd had the automation which could start the projectors, even a meticulous guy like me could have saved at least one round trip upstairs per showing. (And imagine if I'd waited until TWO projectors needed to be re-threaded!) I could have really gotten a kick out of standing in the back of the auditorium, looking at my watch and then seeing the show start up all by itself. Cool! Then again, I can imagine myself going upstairs and standing next to the projector to watch it start up all by itself. It's more fun to stand behind a machine to make sure it's doing its job than to stand behind a person and make sure he's doing his job.

Efficiency doesn't mean the projectionist is lazy. And why should the sprinkler timer in my yard have more brains than the automation on your projector? No, I don't think any of this technology is unnecessary.

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Alan Brandt
Film Handler

Posts: 28
From: Salem, Ohio, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 04-13-2000 05:18 PM

With experience in a 24 screen theater, I can honestly say that I have done it all by myself more than once.

It was at Cinemark Theatres Movies 24 in Houston, TX. It was a Thursday in July, and the other projectionist never showed for his shift. Because Cinemark is a cheap chain, they didn't call anybody else in. Cinemarks Policy is no alarms, no indicators, no timers, etc...just projectionist(s) on duty to run the booth. If there was other stuff to do, like build 5 prints, breakdown 3, and make up 18 different trailer packs, you just had to learn to budget your time, and wisely at that. Sure, all of those extra items would have been nice, but by no means were they "necessary". Anyone who has ever worked for a Cinemark can vouch for this. Their corporate policy is any theatre 12 screens or less is to be manned by no more than one (1) projectionist, with the only exception being a Thursday night and/or Friday morning for obvious reasons. Anyone who has ever worked for Cinemark can support the fact that one doesn't need all those gadgets in a piddly 6 screen

...regardless of how many walls there are. How long does it actually take to walk the booth of a 6, 8, 10,or 12 screen theater? From 30 to 60 seconds? With this in mind, that is why I don't see the logic with those items in a booth.

.. ESPECIALLY ANY cinema with fewer than 12 or 14 screens. A projectionist (without the aid of alarms and such) was able to find a problem quickly in the booth because he was doing his job as opposed to running the booth like Homer Simpson runs the Nuclear Power Plant.

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