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Topic: What gloves?

Antonio Marcheselli
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1260
From: Florence, Italy
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 03-24-2001 07:57 AM

Hello everyone!
Since I've started to work as projectionist I've felt the need to wear gloves when buklding and touching films.
However I've tried few types of gloves without results:
1. "Kitchen" gloves: too big, too thick and I cannot "feel" the print. Moreover you get in trouble when splicing.
2. "medical" gloves. Two problems: are too thin and splice tape will attack to gloves. Second: I'm allergic to that type of rubber and my hands will become red...

If anyone use a pair of gloves, what do you use?

Antonio

Chris Duvall
Film Handler

Posts: 18
From: Las Vegas, NV, USA
Registered: Mar 2001

posted 03-24-2001 08:03 AM

My boys in the booth use thin cotton gloves as I did years ago when I was projector jockey. Regal orders these for the booth through our light bulb(not Xenon) distributer along with Film-Guard. The company is David Tyson Lighting. When I get a chance, I will get a phone number for you if you want. The gloves are thin enough to to feel the print but kind enough so not to damage it. They are like a very thin t-shirt like material and lint free.

------------------
Chris Duvall
General Manager
Regal Cinemas
Colonnade 14
Las Vegas, Nevada

Jerry Chase
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1068
From: Margate, FL, USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 03-24-2001 08:55 AM

Thin cotton gloves are commonly recommended. Larger photo shops or photo supply places will have these. That said...

I worked as a pro still photographer, where a fingerprint or speck of dirt meant a ruined print or wasted time spent manually retouching with a single bristle artists brush. Cotton gloves created more of a problem with lint spots as they solved by reducing fingerprints (which any pro will never leave anyway). Additionally, these cotton gloves are ill-fitting unless you have a standard size hand.

Rather than wearing gloves, I found that washing my hands to remove excess oil, and handling the film by the edges or by using a kimwipe would cause far fewer problems. Kimwipes are a sturdy lintless tissue available at photoshops. Too bad there isn't a paper disposable glove that is lintless.

The only time I've seen a practical use for the cotton gloves is when hand editing film, where twenty or more scene clips might be hanging in the bag and there is constant handling of the sequences and splicing. Even then, film is typically hand cleaned three or four passes after the reel is completed. YMMV.

John Pytlak
Film God

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

posted 03-24-2001 11:53 AM

If you have the discipline to handle the film by the edges only, you probably don't need to wear gloves. But do wash and dry your hands so there is no oil or sweat on them.

But if you tend to be "all thumbs" and get fingerprints on the surface of the print, lint-free gloves are a good idea. Test the gloves by putting a piece of sticky clear splicing tape against the fabric --- they should not leave lint on the adhesive surface of the tape.

------------------
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 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Bill Purdy
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 139
From: Seattle, WA
Registered: Oct 1999

posted 03-24-2001 12:32 PM

Most film editing equipment suppliers will have gloves. Some are made of nylon which helps with the lint problem. I used to use some that originally had been military dress gloves. I liked them because they were heavier and a tighter weave that didn't drop so much lint. Once in awhile you just washed your hands with the gloves still on and let them dry overnight. The repeated washings also lessened the lint.

In any case, bless you for caring enough to ask about them.

------------------
Bill Purdy
Component Engineering

Scott Norwood
Film God

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

posted 03-24-2001 02:11 PM

Christy's Editorial in Burbank, CA. sells stuff like this. I really like their customer service and fast shipping, but their prices are kind of high. Still, it's a good place to get certain types of supplies like editing gloves, which shouldn't cost much anyway.

Christopher Seo
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 530
From: Los Angeles, CA
Registered: Jun 99

posted 03-24-2001 02:22 PM

Light Impressions (www.lightimpressionsdirect.com) sells good nylon gloves made by Polygenex. They are listed under the "Film Storage" drop-down menu. They are expensive (unfortunately the price seems to have been bumped up now to $4 a pair from $3) but washable and very lint-free.

Still, handling tape with the gloves takes its toll on the fabric, but not as much as on the cheap "disposable" cotton gloves I've tried.

Antonio Marcheselli
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1260
From: Florence, Italy
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 03-24-2001 06:08 PM

Thanks for all your replies!
John: yes, prints shouldn't be touched.
I always clean my hands with soap twice when building a film but unfortunately my hands are frequently sweaty and sometimes touching film is necessary (when spicing, for example, it is hard to don't touch film for fitting the print in the splicer).
However have a pair of gloves will make things easier and faster for me.

I surely will try all of your suggestions.

Bye
Antonio

John Pytlak
Film God

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

posted 03-24-2001 07:52 PM

Another idea is to use the latex rubber "finger cots" that are used by people that handle alot of paper, to avoid paper cuts. They look like miniature condoms, so don't leave them around, or people will joke about the size of other parts of the anatomy!

Many pharmacies stock "finger cots" in the first aid (bandages) section.

Randy Stankey
Film God

Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99

posted 03-24-2001 07:53 PM

Oh! Do you mean you're not supposed to wear wool mittens?

John Pytlak
Film God

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

posted 03-24-2001 07:59 PM

Randy:
I once toured the booth of a new multiplex just before it opened. A trainer from the circuit headquarters had been teaching the "newbie" projection crew how to splice and make up film for projection. I actually did see a young trainee using wool mittens, and asked why he was wearing them. He said he was told "to always wear gloves when handling film".

Randy Stankey
Film God

Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99

posted 03-24-2001 08:14 PM

In a place whose name rhymes with "mates"?

John Pytlak
Film God

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

posted 03-24-2001 08:22 PM

Nope, in Rochester NY, and not a Hoyts.

Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 03-25-2001 08:03 AM

I don't really like cotton 'editing gloves' because in my experience bits of cotton can settle on the film (quite often helped by traces of adhesive from the joining tape) and cause eventually hairs in the gate.

I then tried the latex gloves which the restaurant downstairs uses for food handling. They get round that problem and also I find it much easier to feel the edge of the film for damage, split perfs &c. as I'm winding it. But they make your hands very sweaty and uncomfortable, and I find that I can't really use them for more than half an hour at a time.

However, the huge drawback with gloves of any description is that you can't remove layers of joining tape that other projectionists haven't bothered to remove by unpicking them with a finger nail.

My film handling practice is to ALWAYS use gloves with new or nearly new prints. Here there is no tape to remove, and the only cutting needed is on the ends of reels if it's going on the platter (that I do with sharp surgical scissors, since I can make a straight cut by eye, I have total control over the amount of overlap and the guillotine cutters on the CIR joiners we have are shite). However, with older and worn prints, I tend not to use them as there's often a lot of tape to unpick and I feel that the odd fingerprint is a price worth paying to be able to identify damage by feel, which I think you can only really do with bare hands.

Jeffry L. Johnson
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 809
From: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 03-25-2001 09:40 AM

I use an old glove with a finger tip hole on my splice peeling hand. I use a new glove on my inspection hand.

I also think gloves are useful on older prints as well as new prints. The older prints are dirtier and that dirt transfers to your hands. Plus any edge damage will snag on the glove instead of ripping flesh from your finger and drawing blood.

When making a tape splice, smoothing out the splice is neater and faster with a glove than a bare finger. If you're making lots of tape splices you won't rub your finger raw from the friction.

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