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Topic: TES Exhibitor Guide

Mike Spaeth
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1129
From: Marietta, GA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 09-21-2000 11:55 AM

Did anyone else get this ridiculous fax? I get to work and my fax machine spits out the following:

LOOK OUT!
The wait is over...
The orange box is on its way...
Arriving in theatres this week...

THE EXHIBITOR GUIDE

brought to you by
TECHNICOLOR
The Greatest Name In Color

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Dave Cutler
Master Film Handler

Posts: 277
From: Centennial, CO
Registered: Jun 2000

posted 09-21-2000 12:17 PM

Didn't get the fax, but I got the 'Exhibitor Guide' today. Haven't looked through it much yet, but the binder says...

"Technicolor: The Greatest Name In Color"

Yeah, great color, lousy service.

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Mike Spaeth
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1129
From: Marietta, GA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 09-21-2000 12:19 PM

Was the orange box all beat up like their film cans? Did the binder have broken O-rings?

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 09-21-2000 12:26 PM

I can top that....I HAVE THE GUIDE! It showed up this morning. I have already wasted 10 minutes reading it from cover to cover. Aside from having a few interesting pictures of the inside of their warehouses, it is a complete waste of time. (As expected.)

Funniest parts:

On the page called Print Preparation and Shipment, there's a picture of an Airborne driver deliviering a print. This pic is a scam all the way... the theatre marquee is "blank".... and the cans being delivered are obviously empty.

Here's a hilarious paragraph from "Customer Service" page: "Sometimes a circuited print will arrive at your theatre accidentally miscut. If so, call Customer Service. A representative can walk you through the right way to align frames on the reel, or even fax a copy of the frames showing where the actual reel breaks are..."

ALIGN FRAMES ON THE REEL???

The Guide also solves the mystery of why delivery of prints is just one day before play date.....it's for security purposes.

There's nothing about broken reels, bent film cans, the flimsy reel bands with breaking strings, cans with missing handles, etc. And of course, the pictures are all real small so you can't see much detail, and everything IN the pictures looks "perfect." There's info about "missed pickups" and such, but of course all the blame is placed on the theatres or "the studios."

There are more hilarious/ridiculous parts, but I don't want to spoil ALL the fun for everyone else!

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Jeremy Spracklen
Film Handler

Posts: 39
From: Arlington, TX, USA
Registered: Jun 99

posted 09-21-2000 07:31 PM

If Technicolor already has a sheet with all of the "reel breaks" clearly marked, why can't they just send it out with the other pieces of paper they stick in the can? This would eliminate the need for some theaters to leave refrence frames. If a projectionist is unsure if the splice is in the right place, they can just look at the sheet and say, "Ok, the tail of reel three is suppoused to be two men walking by a lake, the film shows two men walking by a lake, WE'VE GOT A MATCH!"

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Ky Boyd
Hey I'm #23

Posts: 314
From: Santa Rosa, CA, USA
Registered: Jun 99

posted 09-22-2000 12:14 AM

Well you never know when an extra binder is going to come in handy.

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Steven Gorsky
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 146
From: Frederick, MD, USA
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 09-22-2000 02:04 AM

Not to defend TES, but part of the problem is
Airborne. I've gotten other things shipped via Airborne, and they were far worse then the film cans.

After glancing through the guide, I found out I am not supposed to use masking tape, or regular clear tape for splices. Darn! I did love all the pretty pictures though, and we did get the nice little poster, but I didn't see the magnet. Our booth now has a wonderful binder to store useful papers in.

Steven Gorsky

------------------
Projectionist

Disclaimer:
Anything expressed in this post is my personal view/opinion, and not necessarily the view of the company for which I work.
Any technical questions are for my personal knowledge only.

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Michael Cunningham
Expert Film Handler

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

posted 09-22-2000 02:36 AM

Yes, that is a wonderful binder for other uses!! Although it was quite useless for its intended purpose. The magnet included works quite well for holding papers to the side of any metal object (safe, filing cabinet, etc.) Other than that, it merely lists the number for Technicolor that you have to call to bitch at them [1(800)99-FILMS] that we all know anyway. Oh well.

-Mike

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Brad Miller
Administrator

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

posted 09-22-2000 04:01 AM

Well I'm extremely disappointed I did not get my copy in yet. I was so expecting a barrel full of laughs today.

By the way, if that guide states to use yellow tape for buildup, there's gonna be "words" flyin' real soon.

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Paul Konen
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 981
From: Frisco, TX. (North of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

posted 09-22-2000 08:17 AM

I thought the funniest part was the "sub-run" inspection.

They show these workstations with people wearing gloves and looking at film. If I remember correctly, it looked like they were inspecting just the film with no reels attached.

'Cause they know how crappy they are.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 09-22-2000 01:01 PM

The problem of bent film cans could be solved (or at least reduced) if they would put the proper number of reels in the cans. When those flimsy 3-reel cans arrive with only two reels inside, they are invariably crushed. That could be one use for the busted flange reels...put an empty, busted one inbetween the two full ones in a 3-reel can.

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John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 09-22-2000 01:17 PM

Mike Blakesley said: "The problem of bent film cans could be solved (or at least reduced) if they would put the proper number of reels in the cans. When those flimsy 3-reel cans arrive with only two reels inside, they are invariably crushed."

How common is the practice of not filling the shipping case with reels to prevent shifting and damage during transit? I can understand shipping a 5-reel feature in two 3-reel cases if 2-reel cases are not available, but there should be three reels in each case, even if one reel is empty.

BTW, how do the DTS disks fare during transit? What type of packaging is used (I've only seen the plastic "reel" insert with the jewel boxes). Is the packaging adequate?

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com

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Brad Miller
Administrator

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

posted 09-22-2000 02:19 PM

They typically put a 5 reel movie in two 3 reel cans. The "loose trailer" is supposed to magically save the cans (and the film) as that third reel spacer. Alternatively, the dts caddy is supposed to do that. (The dts caddy seems to protect the discs fine.) Of course, neither work acceptably and it is rare when I find a spare reel in that third slot. TES used to have this corrugated wafer thing to fill the slot which was a good idea, but fell apart. Whenever possible, I tear up the foam packaging from a xenon shipping case and that makes large nice squares that are the width of a reel. TES should consider something along those lines.

By the way, those trailers commonly get destroyed when they are crammed in the extra slot in a can. At best, they are dirty as hell from the flaky cardboard inserts.

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Glenda Cockrum
Film Handler

Posts: 58
From: Monaca, PA, USA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 09-22-2000 02:43 PM

Well, I saved the inserts I thought I might have some use for later, and now my ten year old daughter has a "neat/cool" binder to take to school

No chance this binder will get mixed up with someone elses ! Glenda

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Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

posted 09-22-2000 03:55 PM

When I've shipped films to others (collectors, not theatres), I've had good luck with using old 2000' metal lab cans as "spacers". This seems to work fine for me. I'm surprised that neither ETS nor Technicolor seems to have figured this out. They could put the "enclosed" trailers inside the can in order to keep them protected from the dust and junk that one normally finds in old shipping cases.

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