Besides, think about it. First, if this was really happening due to FilmGuard, this would have turned up on the forum a long, long time ago. Second, if this was really a problem, there is no way so many theaters would be using it. Finally, there is no way I would have released the product to the open market if such a problem was the case. I have done ridiculous amounts of torture testing in every possible condition I could come up with over the last 12 years, including projecting a film that had sat for YEARS without a fresh application (it still looked perfect). It most certainly would have turned up by now. So again, your answer is no.

You need to start screening your prints on Thursday nights (and that doesn't mean letting any kid from the floor staff do the screening, for they never catch any print defects) and reject any reel that you find objectionable marks on to solve your problem. Of course if you are at one of those gigaplexes, this will be incredibly difficult. In that instance do what I do...screen the "A" print yourself (in the biggest house), have someone relatively trustworthy screen the "B" print and then let whoever has a pair of eyes screen the "C" print (in the smallest house). Then as you ship them out, ship them out in reverse order. Get rid of the "C" print first, then the "B" print and finally the "A" print. At least the odds will be with you that the best print will be seen by the most customers. Another good tip is that once the feature hits the screen on a pre-screening, turn off the exciter/led on the analog soundhead. That way if a reel has a defective digital track, there is no way any moron won't notice the drop to dead silence.

One last tidbit to think about, currently the labs are completely swamped with print orders. Harry Potter had over 8000 prints struck, and we're talking 9 reels worth of film here. Lord of the Rings is having who knows how many prints made and just about every other release this holiday season will find two copies per complex. That adds up to a whole lot of film printing and very little time to do it in. Quality control always seems to drop a bit around the summer and Christmas.

I think the Film Guard is ok. I use it now. Just like any good product, I think it is necessary to follow instructions.

I had an old reel of a Daytona race that was hanging on a nail in my storage shed for at least 18 years. The temperature in that shed over the years ranged from 20 to 80 degrees, and the relative humidity varied from 50% to 100% (almost) because the roof leaked.

I took that reel out of the dank shed about 3 months ago. That film was incredibly dirty. I took it to the theater and used Film-Guard to clean it up, and sent it to a friend of mine. He seemed to be pleased with the results.

Paul

As far as screenings are concerned, I agree that every print should be screened Thursday night (or Wednesday night if the studios would dagree to that extra day) by someone with some sort of experience with film handling.
But as you guessed, I do work for one of the dodecaplexes, and to add to that keeping a staff period is very difficult, and as an unfortunate result, most of the prints are not screened properly.
Many times, the kids from the floor dont even want to watch them either because they get out late or the movies just plain suck.
Both my managing director and I agree that we need to do something about this problem.
I like your method of screening prints, but I am often stuck tearing down prints Thursday nights, so I rarely get the chance to screen anything.
I do have some other ideas that I have been throwing around in my mind, but I really need to sit down and think about what steps I need to take to make them work and discuss them with my managing director too see how doable they are.

As far as the labs these prints are coming from, I will definitely have to check into that tomorrow.

Thanks for the input.

"Spotches" that are already on the new print before any treatment, and that cannot be removed, may very well be splashes from the soundtrack redeveloper used to develop silver in the analog soundtrack. If the developer accidently got in the picture area, it leaves a deposit of silver in the dye image. Often, it tends to be near the soundtrack (left side of the screen image). Although not a common problem, it can occur at any lab.

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
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

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