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Author Topic: "Not a scratch on it" Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 11-16-2003 04:17 PM                     Here is the latest example of something that I fail to be impressed with from the movie reviews forum: "Another friend and retired projectionist saw the same show (opening night) and reported a great presentation at the Orleans--in frame, in focus, good sound level, not a scratch on the print." Why is it so many people are impressed with how great the print condition is on opening weekend, especially opening day? The print is LAB NEW! Really, is this such a problem that the typical theater cannot run a print for one day that it turns into a beaten mess and praise for a great job is deserved? Again, it's opening weekend! Of course it's going to look good! THX also did their TAP reports on opening day, but they even took it one step farther, to do it on the very first show. Other than to check the projection equipment itself, this accomplishes little. In fact in doing many TAP reports I would give a great report on the film I was sent to review, then I would walk into other screens that had only been running for a couple of weeks and they looked like shit. So will someone please explain to me why people even bother praising print condition when they screen a print on opening weekend? Seriously, if you want to judge a theater for quality film handling and professionalism, let it play there for at least 3 months and THEN look at it! Prints should look better on their LAST performance than their first performance. That's where the professionals are seperated from the amateurs.  |  IP: Logged Ian Price Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1714 From: Denver, CO Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-16-2003 05:15 PM                     Winged Migration, 23-weeks at the Rialto and "not a scratch on it!" Thanks to Film-Guard and carefull handling.  |  IP: Logged Paul Mayer Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under! Posts: 3836 From: Albuquerque, NM Registered: Feb 2000 posted 11-16-2003 05:40 PM                        I fully understand your reasoning there Brad. But my retired projection friends and I make that comment because quite often in this town the print exhibits damage on the opening day, which means the damage occurred either during makeup or during the first few screenings. So at least on this particular screen with this particular title, the booth kids managed to get it right enough to permit a pristine-looking print to be shown on opening day. That isn't a common enough occurrence in this town (in my opinion anyway). Yes, I too would like to see how the print looks a month from now as a gauge of the theater's film handling practices, but at least this theater got it right on opening day, which is a great start at least. It's true that it should be no big deal, but in this town it is still somewhat noteworthy when a print looks good on opening day, let alone a month down the road. Of course framing and focus are another thing entirely. In my experience, practically none of the booth kids in this town check focus at show start, let alone framing. If it's standard practice to check, it's not being enforced. In virtually every case I've seen here, it takes a complaint from the audience before focus is checked. And proper framing of an open-matte 1.85 picture seems to be a foreign concept here--as long as no frame lines or matte edges are showing on the screen (or if hard matte edges are just barely showing) it's considered to be framed properly. Very annoying, and I see that more often than not here. My friends and I must have the damnedest luck catching so many flawed presentations here, so when we see one done right we say so, even on opening day.  |  IP: Logged Daniel Fuentz Expert Film Handler Posts: 230 From: Fresno, CA, USA Registered: Apr 2003 posted 11-16-2003 07:20 PM                     Sometimes I will see a film that has only been out a day or so with scratches or visible dirt at the local megaplex. I always think to myself "What kind of people are working here that can do that to a print after just 2 days?" Then there was a second-run theatre I went to that had a flawless print on the screen. I was even more amazed at that, the print had been in at least one other theatre for hundreds of shows and not a scratch or mark on it.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 11-16-2003 07:22 PM                     I agree seeing a sub run house with a flawless presentation is extremely rare and impressive. However do remember that in today's times with 8 bazillion prints, the odds are that the sub run theaters are playing a print that only ran for 2-3 weeks. I'm not sure about the TES depot, but I do know the ETS depot will generally ship sub run theaters prints that have the least amount of "weeks of play" on them. It's not a scientific method of determining which prints are the best, but it's better than nothing I guess. BTW I was at a local dollar house a few weeks back and indeed their presentation was better than many first run theaters.  |  IP: Logged Paul G. Thompson The Weenie Man Posts: 4718 From: Mount Vernon WA USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 11-16-2003 08:39 PM                     We had a couple of theaters that turned into a sub-run houses because we could not compete with the mega-plex three miles away. There were many reasons for this, and I am not at liberty to discuss them at this time. However, we still made sure our presentations were top-notched. Unfortunately, when the movies played out at the the first run houses, there was not much left for us to play and make a couple of bucks on them. We were forced to close the doors on 8 screens because of that.  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-16-2003 08:44 PM                     We ran Winged Migration 6 weeks on 2000' reels and not a mark on it  |  IP: Logged Chris Hipp Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1462 From: Mesquite, Tx (east of Dallas) Registered: Jul 2003 posted 11-16-2003 09:36 PM                     quote: In my experience, practically none of the booth kids in this town check focus at show start, let alone framing. I had a guy, new to my booth but with booth experience, a few days ago that started a movie and the lamp didn't strike. And he DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE! He just left and I got a call about 30 seconds later about the lamp not being on, I know it didnt go out becasue you have to turn the lamp on manually on this particular lamphouse.  |  IP: Logged Jonathan M. Crist Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 531 From: Hershey, PA, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 11-16-2003 10:04 PM                     In my area for secondrun ETS generally ships the better prints. However for subrun Technicolor is another story. I often get the feeling that the kids at Technicolor grab the cans nearest the door without even bothering to open them. I know that Brad Carroll got tired of hearing me bitch about the poor quality.  |  IP: Logged Daniel Fuentz Expert Film Handler Posts: 230 From: Fresno, CA, USA Registered: Apr 2003 posted 11-16-2003 10:04 PM                     Thanks for the explainition, Brad, I didn't know that's how it worked! But still, all it takes is one bad operator to trash a print. I have vivid memories of going to a sneak preview where the theatre had managed to put a big green scratch down the right hand side of the print for 2 or 3 reels... I don't know if it was just coincidence or not but we (the radio station I worked for) never had another sneak at that theatre!  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 11-17-2003 01:31 AM                        quote: I agree seeing a sub run house with a flawless presentation is extremely rare and impressive. However do remember that in today's times with 8 bazillion prints, the odds are that the sub run theaters are playing a print that only ran for 2-3 weeks. I'm not sure about the TES depot, but I do know the ETS depot will generally ship sub run theaters prints that have the least amount of "weeks of play" on them. It's not a scientific method of determining which prints are the best, but it's better than nothing I guess. That's a big part of the problem - establishing which of those 8 bazillion prints are OK and which are NFG when they get to the sub-run stage. With second-run mainstream titles I'd frequently ask for new prints to be sent if I got a bad one and that was hardly ever a problem. Eventually I started to get mieowed at over transport costs, though. The worst example of print abuse I ever came across was last autumn at a cinema in South London (which closed down shortly afterwards). The (then) new Hannibal Lecter pic was on a preview day, one week before release. With a bored evening on my hands I went... and boy did I regret it. Assuming it wasn't a reconditioned import that print would only have made two passes through a projector in its life when I saw it (OK, 3 if they rehearsed it). But already the 100 feet or so either side of each reel end was totally filthy, deep emulsion tramlines came and went throughout the show and the joins were so badly done that we were treated to an almighty bang every time one went through. For them to have caused that much damage in just two shows was pretty impressive, I thought.  |  IP: Logged Evans A Criswell Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1579 From: Huntsville, AL, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 11-17-2003 10:39 AM                        Concerning being impressed with shows being focused, in frame, and without scratches on opening night: I agree with Brad's point about not being impressed by lack of damage on a print on opening night, but I am impressed by other aspects of presentation being perfect on opening night. In the several years that I've been reviewing and noting defects in movie showings, I've found that opening night is the time when there's a slightly higher likelihood that something will be wrong with the presentation. In the past year, I've occasionally waited several days, or sometimes a week or two, to see a movie, just to see how the prints look after that period of time, and to see how things are going in some of the smaller auditoriums that I don't see very often. During the past year, the 5 theatres here have been doing a good job of keeping their prints from being damaged.  |  IP: Logged Edward Jurich Master Film Handler Posts: 305 From: Las Vegas USA Registered: Jul 2003 posted 11-17-2003 11:24 AM                     Back before the days of platters, I remember reading a story in "International Projectionist" magazine about a theater that ran a print for a year and it was still in new condition. I think one problem today is that a platter system requires more attention (and work) keeping all the rollers clean and spinning besides keeping the projector clean.  |  IP: Logged Dennis Benjamin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1445 From: Denton, MD Registered: Feb 2002 posted 11-17-2003 11:46 AM                        A lot of theatres in Vegas do have a print handling problem. Mostly because the 18 year old high school students working in those booths have other things on their minds....  |  IP: Logged Gracia L. Babbidge Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 709 From: Bowdoin, Maine Registered: Aug 2000 posted 11-17-2003 01:14 PM                        I remember when Dungeons & Dragons was released, the cinema I was working for at the time didn't run it - due to a bit of a pissing contest going on between New Line & the people that booked the films. But being the geeky fan of fantasy movies that I am, I actually broke down and went to the 'competition' to see it (nevermind that the film was pretty damn lame, I discovered that *as* I watched it.) Having previously worked at the particular cinema, and knowing how that booth was operated, I made damn sure to catch the flick on the opening night! Of course, when I bought my ticket, I couldn't refrain from making a snide comment to the assistant manager at the box office... I said something to the effect of "Well, since we didn't get this film at my theatre, I figured I should catch here before you guys had sufficient chance to trash the print." You know, I don't think he appreciated my comment.  |  IP: Logged

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