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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Author
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Topic: Question about Digital Projection
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Jon Miller
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 973
From: San Diego, CA, USA
Registered: Sep 1999
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posted 04-17-2005 02:13 PM
I may be speaking from the minority viewpoint, but not all film festivals trash prints! As a projectionist for San Diego's Latino and Asian Film Festivals, I take pride in the work I do, working with clean, well maintained equipment, and seeing that prints I break down leave the theatre in better shape than they came (even providing cores for prints that arrived sans cores). Being called guilty of trashing prints by association is insulting... ![[Mad]](mad.gif)
That said, it sounds like the festival organizers were unable to book an auditorium with 35mm capabilities and a competent projection crew. Perusing the archives in their Web site, they have used a movie theatre in the past, so maybe they couldn't get the house this time around or maybe a persistent print damage problem left a bad taste in their mouths. If the short was shot and edited in 16mm, showing it in video is understandable as 16mm projection capability is getting harder to come by, but I don't see the same happening for 35mm anytime soon.
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John Walsh
Film God
Posts: 2490
From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way
Registered: Oct 1999
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posted 04-17-2005 03:05 PM
Simply put, many film festival organizers do not want to put in the money required to have a 35mm presentation. It is a small, but growing trend as money get tough to raise (most film festivals seem to be non-profit.)
In my own opinion, if a film festival does not have a 35mm presentation for at least a few films, then they are not worth submitting to. In ten years from now, that will probably no longer be true since by then video will (hopefully) look very good using inexpensive equipment ... but for now any film festival worth it's name will have a 35mm presentation.
I'm sure Jon does a good job with film festival prints; probably most people here at FT want to do a good job ... why else would they read/post here? But, I'm sorry to say, I find that the vast majority of festival organizers don't want to pay for a theater with a good operator. In fact the organizers themselves really seem to not know anything about the mechanics of film. They will talk all day about whether 'Citizen Kane' is the best film ever made, how D.W. invented every 'shot', or the story of finding the orginal negitive to 'The Grand Illusion'. But try to get them to understand why you can't cut up archive prints..... etc.
Sorry about the rant BTW...
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Frank Angel
Film God
Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 04-17-2005 05:15 PM
Rant away John because you are right on the money. I work at a college which has a beautiful 35mm cinema and yet the film department professors have rarely taken advantage of using our facility which they get free for any academic related screening to showing their film major's the titles they are studying. They have a facility like this at their disposal, yet they prefer the easier (and cheaper) route of using a $900 LCD video projector in a classroom; they are perfectly happy with that inferior format. The staggering thing for me is that they don't seem to even understand how much they are missing....and how much their students are missing.
I've often explained to them that not using the medium in which the work was created, especially when they have the opportunity to show films on 35mm film in a real movie theatre, is serioously short-changing their students. I tell them that it is like telling art majors that looking at a lithograph of a Monet painting in a text book is as good as going to the museum and looking at the real painting. There is no comparison and if all they've ever seen is the lithograph, then they haven't really experienced the painting at all. But it was like talking to people who've had lobotomies. No....worse.
And yes, I work two "film" festivals and fewer and fewer entries are actually on film. One, like the one cited here, will no longer accept film even if the work originated on film. What a disgrace.
Oh, and as for receiving films without cores, I've been able to get the festivals that I am involved to publish, as part of their entry rules, the condition in which the prints have to be submitted. Sending a print without reels or cores is verboten. Now the festival will not accept an entry on anything but 2000' reels....if they send them on cores, we use the submission fee for return postage when we reject them (and keep the remaining $$). They also have to have standard SMPTE or Academy leaders correctly marked with the title as well as the image and sound formats, etc; projectionist shouldn't have to guess.
Of late there have been so many video submissions that I've had to add a slew of requirments for them as well (like color bars and ref tone and a 10 sec countdown before first frame, mandatory).
I don't think a projectionist should be required to deal with a print that is not correctly marked and especially one that has no core. The danger of print damage rises exponentially when you have to play around with getting such a pie onto a reel. In fact, a projectionist should find out who's liable for print damage in festival operations. If an accident happens with an "only" print, things can get quite dicey. Does the festival carry insurance? Some of these non-profits may carry no insurance protection at all. Never assume they actually know what they are doing. It could get very unpleasant if a film maker decides to sue a projectionist personally. Over the years my experience in lawsuits has been that they name everyone who was even remotely connected with the complaint. Cover your butts.
And that's then end of MY rant.
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William Hooper
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1879
From: Mobile, AL USA
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 04-18-2005 01:53 AM
There's more & more of various groups putting on a "film festival" with any type of video projector they feel like renting or buying. It's getting ridiculous with the number of libraries, universities, & now some PAC's & arts groups running "film series" & "film festivals" on a shoestring, just for the glamour of saying they have a film festival. It will look good on someone's resume to say that they initated & operated the "So-and-so Film Festival", even if the festival was little more than a gesture.
Film is still state of the art in the exhibiton industry, & if the "film festival" can't run film, they're just trying to look like players. Don't be afraid to laugh.
The problem I see also is that this is an animation film festival, so it's an even smaller niche than independent & amateur. It would be good to have another film festival on the list of places where its been run, but one that can't run film is not going to be taken very seriously by someone reading about where it's run.
It would be different if they called it "Independent Videomakers Festival", "All Digital Future Filmmakers Festival", or something that wasn't attempting to look like it encompasses works in the mainstream exhibition format.
Doesn't look good for being seriously considered even as a "Digital Works Only Because They Are The Wave Of The Future" pose:
quote:
Format: All Films submitted shall be on
VHS (NTSC or PAL).
http://kafi.kvcc.edu/2005/CallForEntries/
We're probably talking another inexpensive video projector, not something for theatrical presentation.
That website shows an archive for 2002 & 2003; was it unable to operate in 2004?
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Scott Norwood
Film God
Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 04-18-2005 09:43 AM
Aside from festivals catering to specific formats (e.g. Super-8 festivals, 16mm festivals, video festivals), I haven't heard of any that don't take 35mm (the one and only worldwide standard) as a submission format. Sadly, 16mm seems to be fading in favor of hit-or-miss video projection (to be fair, though, 16mm projection seems to be hit-or-miss, too).
I've found that video is actually more work than film. DVD-Rs don't play in some machines, Beta/Digi-Beta/HD tapes have to be fast-forwarded through and checked for sound quality (and many have nonstandard uses of bars, countdown, etc.). Also, most venues have permanently installed film equipment (at least 35mm), but video requires special setups. The upside is that it's easier to show unskilled volunteers how to inspect and cue videotapes than to inspect and repair film.
The festivals that I have dealt with will bring in their own projectionists (who are typically better than day-to-day theatre projectionists) to inspect and run the films. I'd be nervous about sending a print to a festival held in a chain multiplex, however.
If I were giving advice to filmmakers, I would suggest that they have at least two prints made of their film--one to keep for special screenings, and one for "festival" use. They can assume that the "festival" print will be damaged and won't look very good after it makes the "festival circuit."
I ran "Robot Stories" four times at different festivals (all reel-to-reel with good equipment) over the course of a year and got the same print each time. For each show, the print looked a bit worse and was missing a few more frames, though it was still watchable for the last show.
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Frank Angel
Film God
Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 04-18-2005 11:42 AM
William,
The thing that kills me about this festival is that they are stating infatically that they ONLY accept VHS....the slime on the bottom of the boat, so to speak. I mean, if someone wanted to enter with a digbeta, they would have to transfer it to VHS?!! What a joke. But then again, it's Kalamazoo (no offense to the good folks out there)....it's just one of those words that is just funny when you say it. Kalamazoo. hehe. Maybe it's cause it's got the word zoo it in. Isn't in the lyrics of some 40s big band tune? Anyway, if it's all these people can afford, they really should think twice about their "mission" as they love to call it (when they are applying for grants for their VGA video projector). Why bother if all you are going to offer is that lowest common denominator?
Thing is, it's the continuing dumbing down of the audiences, getting them to accept garbage. Then when they see 2K....they will be all "Oooos" and "Ahhhhs"...."It's digital!" They'll think it's just peachy. And Lucas will have won.
What I'd like to see is truth in advertising. In their flyers they should say up front what format they are running. I hate having to call up to ask if they are running 35mm film, like I have to do all the time now.
And Brian, each year we have to keep adding entry rules because, just when we thought we had seen everything, and covered every possible situation, something else pops up, like a film has a false ending really close to the end of the reel, only for something else to pop up. Surprise, projectionist; the thing is not over yet. Usually that can be caught on inspection, but at festivals we never get to previewed these entries so it's nice if something like that were clearly indicated. I know they are filmmakers, but surely they can write a few sentences to explain theirs is an unconventional ending.
We now say they have to have either standard SMPTE change-over cues OR a description of the last frame before black enclosed with the reel.
Another example, you would think this would be obvious, but we had to have a rule for video entries that the piece has to start at the BEGINNING of the cassette. They can't stick a note to the case saying, start after the third piece on the tape. Likewise the projectionists shouldn't have to hunt for what needs to be run either. The piece has to be the ONLY thing on the reel. We once got a 16mm reel that had three works of the filmmakers spliced together on the reel. SORRY. Entry Denied! And it goes on and on. If you would like me to send you these long, detailed rules, I'll email them to you when I get to the office.
Scott, your idea of having filmmakers have two copies of their work is a good one, but usually these folks are running on a shoestring budget and can't afford extra prints, which makes it doubly important that competent, seasoned tech people who know what they are doing and who have respect for the filmmakers' work be hired by festivals to care for prints. Video, not so much. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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John Walsh
Film God
Posts: 2490
From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way
Registered: Oct 1999
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posted 04-18-2005 11:39 PM
Hi, Brian.... I'm so glad you asked, so I could go into ranting wild man mode again! I agree with Scott that much equipment is donated. In addition, people volunteer free help to send mailings, make phone solicitations, act has ushers and 'go-fers', etc. Forgive me for speaking in italics, but I feel an important point must be made: The purpose of many film festivals is to make money for the organizers. The organizers use this money to buy nice dinners, pay for personal things like cell phones, etc., squeezing as much profit for themselves out of what is supposed to be a non-profit organization. Real film and a competent operator are an expense to avoid. They feel they can save money by using video equipment, since it can't be any more complex than a home DVD, right? The organizers rarely (if ever) show up for tech setup or screenings, so have no idea what's involved. You can be sure, though, they will attend the film festival party where they can 'network' with well-to-do people in town. Perhaps there will be money to get some B-list actor to show up and fake interest in judging the winner of the East Nasitrop Film Festival, or whatever.
If you were polite enough to read all of my whining above, I will now tell you a slightly funny story. Once when setting up a video for a film festival (although at least there was some 35mm at this one) one of the organizers asked me what it was. I told her it was one of Andy Warhol's last films, similar to his 'Empire State Building' film. I said, it is the image you see on TV when they sign off the air, and it is a metaphor compairing people who are so hooked on TV, they can't do, think or feel anything if the TV's not 'telling' them how; they just go blank and tune out. She was an English major from Georgetown U. and she belived me, but found out I was full of shit before the next year's festival. She was one of the major donators, and I actually got into some trouble over it, but still giggle to myself when I think of it.
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Dave Callaghan
Film Handler
Posts: 60
From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 04-19-2005 01:13 AM
quote: Frank Angel
The piece has to be the ONLY thing on the reel.
A story from a Festival that finished this past weekend.
The Beta tape has a Running Time, with an additional note that the feature is FOLLOWED by a 1 minute trailer for the feature.
Murphy must have prepared this one, because the feature ended 1 minute BEFORE the indicated Running Time had elapsed. Confusing - R.T. INCLUDING the following trailer.
Given what I have seen at a variety of Festivals over close to the last decade, video continues to be a CRT monitor medium. Video projection remains a hardware technology. The smarts about projection of an image on a screen in a theatre as a craft practiced in an informed way with professional discipline by a "projectionist" remain in the "you wish / in your dreams" category.
People can and do learn, but video may never be taken seriously in theatres. Besides film done right, there is projection done right. People see video in their homes every day for free on direct view displays, artifacts and all without complaint. Inroads by projection displays in home theatres will have consequences for exhibitors that I believe no one can predict since the technologies and their mass dissemination are still in their early stages.
Festivals will probably always have a place because they exhibit niche market material with a theme with little or no distribution otherwise.
The one advantage that theatre owners have always had with 35 mm presentation was that almost no one had a screening room in the home. All is changed with video. While platter scratches, etc. don't drive the public home in droves, maybe inferior video presentations will cause the public to stay at home because they can see they can do it better themselves, even if that involves nothing more than balancing the house levels on a 5.1 sound mix. The release date would be the only advantage the exhibitors have left. And release dates to video are in the hands of the distributors.
I think it was back in the 70's - maybe the 80's - I came across an article in Box Office magazine about a turnkey theatre operation that was entirely automated, from the turnstiles that eliminated the Door Man position, to aisle lighting that eliminated the Usher position, to endless loop projectors that eliminated the Projectionist position, to vending machines that eliminated the Concession employees. The Manager IS the payroll. Nirvana for some, but while the technology has existed for decades, it has never been embraced in a widespread way to this day.
Going to video could be the end of the multi-plex as a financially viable business enterprise. The customer base for first run in competition with mass availability of home video by downloading after the distributors take their percentage from the box office may not leave enough patrons at the concession to pay to keep the doors open. From Lucas on down, if the revenue is the same, I can't imagine the distribution side of the industry lying awake nights figuring out how to keep the theatres open.
As to VHS in a festival situation, when the DVD or Beta - whether analog or digital, craps out - the VHS is good enough when it is the only screening and all else has failed.
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