That being said...Whoever was in charge of editing The Kid Stays In The Picture which opens in L.A. and N.Y.C. tomorrow should go back to editing school. Why? How's these examples -

This is a 93 minute documentary. It's not about music...why is it on 7 reels?

This movie is a compilation of footage...please do not use original footage with changeover cues at the end or your reel. How do I know they're original footage cues? Most of the other reels don't have cues. You think that wouldn't matter in a platter house? Read on...

If you're going to have a scene that looks like it is "tailing out", again, please do not put that at the end of the reel. 99% of the time that footage will cut off. In addition, do not put the and c/o cues at the very end...there should be 16 or so frames after them.

...continued...If you have a scene that ends with a fake tail-out at the end of reel 3 please do not continue the fake tailout on reel 4!

Do not put a reel change in the middle of your credits. Especially those with a lot of black between credits...again, you're just going to lose footage to those newbies that just see a lot of useless black film.

DAMN IT! There I said it. My eyes hurt so bad now. I have spent the past two hours rolling heads and tails of reels back and forth staring at the soundtrack trying to figure out where I should cut. It doesn't help that the soundtrack on one reel is two sprockets off from the soundtrack on the next reel. Oh perhaps I should request a second print? Nah already got one and it's the same.

I pity the foo who cares about print build-up as much as I do and comes across this monstrosity. Actually I am awaiting a call back from the director to confirm the tail-out scene cut - thank god his mom has been calling here all week annoying us to save seats for her and 100 guests tomorrow otherwise I wouldn't have a number to call!

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Here's a little mess I got myself into as well...

The director's mother has been in contact with us all week in regards to reserving seating tonight. I phoned her and left a message with her assistant saying I'd like the director to give me a call if he had a chance as I had a question about a reel change. Well that blew all out of proportion and now I'm pregnant...No but the folks at the distributer think there's something wrong with the print and why would I call the director to ask about print damage, why didn't I go through the proper channels, I should be reprimanded, blah blah blah...

I'm probabaly just being naive thinking that he could have just called to clarify the reel change question. At film festivals I spoke with directors all the time with questions regarding aspect ratios and such and I didn't think this was anything different. I should have just been a hack popcorn jockey and cut the offending footage out of the print.

Yes I'm a little p.o.'d and I can understand that people would be upset if I stalked and tracked down the director to ask him about print damage....HELLO! Use common sense people! I feel I did nothing wrong, especially since we're running this film in Westwood with all kinds of guests in attendance.

I must thank Susan Robertson - from USA films who helped quell the masses and thanked me for being diligent. Once the air was cleared up that is.

Now I'll probably catch shit for saying "the editor needs to go back to editing school".

That said, what an embarrassment! The Kid Stays in the Picture is the second release for Focus (Never Again was the first). You would think the top brass in Universal City would have told the Focus staff to have The Kid Stays in the Picture re-edited to fit on 5 reels.

The only reason feathers got ruffled is because they like to think only THEY have a rapport with the director. They want you to ask THEM questions that they can't answer or even undertand, so that they can then ask the director and in turn then relay some garbled version of his answer back to you, which you won't be able to understand. It's like living in an insane asylum. Ignore the flap. Whenever there is a technical print question, having the projectionist talk directly to the filmmaker is the most efficent way to dispense with miscommunication, potential mishaps and instead to put on a flawless show. Talking with the director is not at all uncommon on first run, independent premiere screenings. Usually it's a nervous director up in the booth on his own, giving last minute directions. It can be a bit annoying, but I'd rather he be there BEFORE the show telling me, "oh by the way, toward the end of reel 3, it looks like the film gets caught in the gate and then there is a simulated frame burn....don't slam down the dowser....it is on the film, not in your projector." Better before the show than come running in after I've stopped the machine, saying, "No, no -- let it run. It's part of the film." True story, by the way.

In the end I did ruffle the feathers of the distributer from coast to coast, I'm told the director was upset and I never did receive a return call. The distributer did have some tech info for the end of reel 3 but nothing on reel 4 (the one with the continuation of a 'fake tail' followed by a fade from black), just telling me to "match the soundtrack" which I did...but how many new kids know or care to do this? However, nobody on my end of things had any concerns with my actions. In fact I was told to "give 'em hell".

You're absolutely right, Frank. It's been in my experience too from the 1000+ films I've run at film festivals, that it really comes down to the director who knows what's going on with his/her print...usually.

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Edit: I remember I had something recently where at the end of the credits there was a snippet of SMPTE leader going backwards. It was intentional and made sense when you saw the film. I don't recall the title--too much lately.

If I were going to be running this for any length of time, I'd combine R1/R2 and R6/R7 onto single reels to avoid at least some of the frustration.

Scott comments, "I'd combine R1/R2 and R6/R7 onto single reels."

Perhaps a ...suboptimal...choice of words. In days of Yore, a "single reel" referred to a 1,000-foot reel, and a "double reel" to a regular 2,000-foot reel.

Not that I believe it's authoritative or anything, but google's first for the above, underGlossary of Film Terms (Joel Schlemowitz's compilation).

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