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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Author
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Topic: Running Film Cleaner...opinions?
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Chris Brown
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 105
From: Fairport, NY, USA
Registered: Nov 2004
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posted 05-15-2005 12:13 AM
Ok here's the thing...for the last year or so at my theatre, we've run film cleaner on every print every week, without fail (with Film Guard, naturally). This was all well and good, never caused any scratches or other problems with the prints.
Now, when I was doing my BCP certification recently, I told my certifier of this practice and he said that it was not at all necessary as long as between shows, the gate and trap area were thoroughy cleaned. Would this really prevent most dirt from getting on my prints? While I naturally take my certifier's word, I just thought it would be good to get some opinions on here. What do you guys think?
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Mark J. Marshall
Film God
Posts: 3188
From: New Castle, DE, USA
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted 05-15-2005 01:13 AM
This is a wonderful illustration of how the BCT class is in essence a joke. Dirt doesn't come from the projector... although it ends up in the projector. It comes from the floor (which is where your certifier most likely lays his leader while threading), it's picked up by the film as it travels through the air on its way from the platter to the projector, etc. And cleaning the projector doesn't get the dirt off of the film. Cleaning the FILM is what gets the dirt off of the film! Sooo... I'd say that you're right, and he's wrong.
I've been to theaters that teach the BCT class, and clean their
projectors religiously, but only clean prints when they're either really dirty or scratched. Their presentation sucked.
I've been to theaters that clean their prints (with Film Guard) religiously, and only clean their projectors when they're dirty. Their presentation is awesome.
I currently work at one of the latter theaters. We just had a walk through from home office, and we were complimented on our presentation. We clean prints on a regular schedule: four times over opening weekend, once a week after that. We clean our projectors when they're dirty, or about once a week.
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Randy Stankey
Film God
Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 05-15-2005 01:17 AM
If your booth is, otherwise, well-run and kept clean, no, you don't need to use FilmGuard on every single pass through the projector.
Up to a point, the more you use FilmGuard the better-off you will be but that doesn't necessarily mean the less you use the worse-off you'll be.
Just read the instructions that come with the bottle. If you work in a multi-projector booth the instrucions say that you can swap cleaners around between projectors/prints to maximize the use out of the number of cleaners you have. Taken to its logical conclusion they say, "No, you don't have to use FilmGuard on every single show."
There is a continuum at play, here. Places that have problems with scratched and dirty prints (Second Run/Art Houses, etc.) or those that have difficulty keeping the booth clean would obviously need to use FilmGuard more often. Those that have a well-run operation wouldn't need to use it so much.
It's easy to get addicted to using FilmGuard. You start to think that, if you don't use it every day, you just aren't doing a good job. While, with film, there's almost no such thing as being "too clean" you also have to think about the law of diminising returns. Is the work you do and the expense you undertake worth it for the amount of benefit you get out of it?
If you are working in a well-kept booth whose operators keep the equipment as clean as they should, there's no harm in treating a print for the first couple-three days then stopping. Later on, if you look at the screen and you decide the print needs a little TLC, there's no reason you can't put the cleaner back onto the projector for a few more shows.
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Brad Miller
Administrator
Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99
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posted 05-15-2005 03:08 AM
quote: Monte L Fullmer
if one likes to FG a print on every pass (which is actually a waste, for once a week if sufficent), so be it.
Monte, I think you need to clarify your comment there.
NO there is no need to "resoak the media" more than one time a week, regardless of how many "passes" you put on the media for a given print.
YES there is a HUGE difference to passing the film through the cleaner as many time as possible (given the number of cleaning machines in the complex).
It is also important to note that theaters with brightly lit images will show off the benefits of FG much moreso than theaters scraping by at the low end of SMPTE light levels or underlit.
Other points of importance, running film "dry" will over time (maybe a week, maybe a months - depending on the projector) abrade the digital tracks of the film. FG prevents that and actually makes them perform better with less error correction. Also, a FilmGuarded print for the most part does not shed in the first place, so cleaning the projector is something that just isn't hardly necessary. If you see any dirt left behind in your projector after a show, your booth is not clean enough to run without film cleaners (unless your standards are low I guess). This statement can easily be seen just by watching reel changes go through. As the extra thickness of the splicing tape passes through the gate, it knocks up the dirt that has collected throughout the show. This is why you can go to a theater that does not clean their prints and see after a short amount of time that the dirtiest parts of the film are at the reel changes, which of course gets worse with every pass.
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