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Author Topic: Janitors in the Projection Booth Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 11-22-2002 03:37 AM                        My management has come up with a suggestion (and it's only a suggestion at this point in time) that in addition to cleaning the lobby, bathrooms and auditoriums, the janitors also venture upstairs to the booth every night. I feel uncomfortable with this. First of all, there really isn't much the janaitors can do up there. We don't have any problems changing the trash or toilet paper, etc ourselves when needed. We only have 6 screens so finding the time to do such things is not difficult. Our tile floor is 27 years old and it shows. No amount of cleaning/buffing/whatever can ever make the floor look truly "clean". Same goes with our fabulous cinderblock walls. Plus the fact that we have ORC consoles up there guarantees that the place will always look "dirty". How does everyone else feel about this? There is no amount of cleaning that can be done that will improve our presentation in any way. Many of our prints are used(art house), but Filmguard usually clears that up. I can't imagine them wanting it clean just for visitors, as surely the visitors would see the ancient, pathetic equipment and not be impressed no matter what.  |  IP: Logged Jeff Skallan Film Handler Posts: 65 From: Littleton, CO, USA Registered: May 2001 posted 11-22-2002 04:15 AM                     Mr. Redifer, Perhaps you could arrange for the janitorial crew to clean your projectors every night! Think of it this way... it's less work for you and if you're lucky, they could also be taught to thread the projectors for the morning set. Maybe they could even complete your weekly film work!!  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 11-22-2002 04:19 AM                        Can you trust them not to steal your trailers, posters, food from the fridge...  |  IP: Logged Ken McFall Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 615 From: Haringey, London. Registered: Apr 2001 posted 11-22-2002 05:20 AM                     NO WAY!!! simple as that. In the past I've had security showing people around so I put a stop to it. None of the front of house staff have access to the department. No one has the code to get into the projection room, except the manager and projection staff. The code is changed often as a matter of routine security. This is the only way you can be sure no one is interfearing with things. We have thousands of pounds of portable equipment as well. Free access is just asking for things to 'get lost'. We have more than enough time to wash and polish the floor etc. We dirty it.... we clean it. Also the problem of print security was raised again with Harry Potter.... You may know your cleaners but do you know their friends! Sounds very distrusting.... but I'd rather be safe than sorry.  |  IP: Logged Joseph D. Olson Film Handler Posts: 26 From: Seattle, WA, USA Registered: Jun 2002 posted 11-22-2002 06:15 AM                        This is a joke, right? Janitors in the booth makes about as much sense as Janitors in the bank-vault.  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 11-22-2002 06:43 AM                        quote: No one has the code to get into the projection room, except the manager and projection staff. The code is changed often as a matter of routine security. Your booth must be very MI6 indeed!  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 11-22-2002 06:44 AM                        I'm with Ken. This is a bad idea. But to stop cleaning becoming a hassle and taking longer than is necessary, projection boxes should be designed with maintaining a clean environment in mind. Bare cinderblock walls are not a good idea, and carpets are an absolute no-no. However often you Hoover them, the things are basically dust repositories - not what you want in a film handling environment.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 11-22-2002 07:05 AM                     Hmmm, that looks like cinderblock walls to me...and in the same room as you are handling film! I must strongly disagree with the carpet thing though. Carpet has never been the slightest problem in my booths and also helps to dampen the projector noise so the audience doesn't hear the projectors chattering away due to less-than-perfect port windows. I've never visited a theater with bare cement or tile floors that I couldn't easily hear the projector running from inside the auditorium, regardless of window design. Carpet should be mandatory. For that matter, so should ceiling tile. Everybody duck! Here comes all the old school fellas who will complain to the end of time about my carpet stance. (Come visit me and allow me to prove you wrong.)  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 11-22-2002 07:15 AM                        How about walls made out of bare cinder block, 2 layers of drywall, and a layer or two of half inch plywood to top it off? ...and I even keep those floors nice and shiney without the janitors help!  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 11-22-2002 08:28 AM                        Security is a real issue, both for the equipment and the prints themselves. I recommend that booth cleanliness be the responsibility of the projectionists. Prints pick up dirt from the surfaces they may touch, and from airborne particles. Certainly, make-up tables, platter surfaces, projectors, rewind benches, and equipment like splicers should be cleaned frequently. Short-nap carpets are fine, as long as they are kept clean (use a central vacuum system or a vacuum with a HEPA or water filter to avoid generating airborne dirt). Use of HEPA filtration in the air supply, or a stand-alone HEPA air cleaner, will greatly reduce the amount of airborne dirt that can settle on the film or on film-handling surfaces. Using compressed air to "blow out" dirt just makes it airborne to redeposit elsewhere. Much better to use a central vacuum system, or simply wipe the dirt up. Use a vacuum to clean out debris in film shipping cases. Remember to clean dirt buildup or change filters on ventilation fans used on electronic equipment. My "ideal" theatre would have a central vacuum system for keeping the booth clean.  |  IP: Logged John Walsh Film God Posts: 2490 From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way Registered: Oct 1999 posted 11-22-2002 08:48 AM                     We discourage cleaners in the booth. This is not always possible though. In one of our theaters, the architect 'brilliantly' put the slop sink for the entire 2ed floor in the booth (booth, bathrooms and an office) so we're stuck there. Architects will also put candy storage rooms, latters to the roof, electrical panels and other things that make it necessary to practically leave the booth open.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-22-2002 08:50 AM                        Agreed with all previous comments. This is a well-intentioned but misguided idea. There are too many items in the typical booth which are either fragile and/or dangerous and/or potential theft targets (tools, etc.), and no one without proper knowledge or training should be in the booth unsupervised. However, it might not be a bad idea to arrange for periodic booth cleaning (including floor waxing/shampooing, vacumming, etc.) by a professional crew under the supervision of the projectionist and/or manager.  |  IP: Logged Joe Beres Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 606 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 11-22-2002 09:20 AM                     I used to work for the University of Wisconsin. Late one night, I was setting focus and sound levels for a screening the next day. One of the janitors came in and was asking lots of questions about what I was doing and how I was doing it. After a while, he asked if I could show him how to do it. I politely but firmly told him that it was impossible and a bad idea. He emptied the trash, the only this the janitors were supposed to do in the booth(but rarely did), I finished setting the film up, rewound the reels and went home. The next day, I came in and found one of the projector doors open and lamphouse switches in the wrong position. It seemed strange, but I didn't make much of it as I was exhausted when I left the night before. I threaded up the film and started the show. The film was unbelieveably out of focus. I was shocked. I reported the incident and never saw that particular janitor again. If that isn't a reason to keep unnecessary people out of the booth, I don't know what is. If the people can be trusted, I think emptying the trash is as far as they should go. I want to do anything beyond that myself.  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 11-22-2002 09:29 AM                        Brad: Yes, that's a cinderblock wall, but not a bare one. It has got several coats of paint on it to seal the dust. My ideal floor covering is lino - a quick wipe over with a mop and bucket and all the dirt is gone. That's far quicker than Hoovering a carpet and gets rid of pretty much all the particles on the floor surface.  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-22-2002 09:59 AM                     Probably once a year a good floor cleaning with a machineis a good idea and then only when you are there to supervise otherwise a good damp mopping of the floor is best done by the booth staff  |  IP: Logged

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