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Author Topic: How are 70mm prints packaged for delivery? Robert Burtcher Expert Film Handler Posts: 194 From: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Registered: Jun 2005 posted 04-07-2006 06:09 AM                     I was talking with my boss the other day about 70mm prints (in essence, me pleading to try and get something, anything in 70mm before our tech rips out our Cinemeccanica Vic 8, and my boss not sounding too enthusiastic about the idea) and he said he saw a 70mm print of something (Titanic, I believe) at the local ETS depot. He said the print was in individual reel cans, and there were 28(!) of them. Is this how 70mm prints are shipped to theatres, or are they packaged along the same lines as 35mm prints - split reels in multiple octagonal-shaped shipping cases?  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 04-07-2006 07:32 AM                        Like this:  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 04-07-2006 08:54 AM                        Yes, even though they are somewhat heavy. (The main reason we don't have "large 35mm reels is that the container of two of them is "too heavy.") Wouldn't 2 35mm large reels be similar in weight to one 70mm reel? Louis  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 04-07-2006 09:08 AM                        Brad Miller would be able to say how many 70mm reels "Titanic" required, since he ran it at the GCC Northpark in Dallas. But it's certainly less than 28! 5-perf 24fps 70mm prints run at 112.5 feet per minute. AFAIK, the maximum length of 70mm film put on the normal shipping reels is less than 2500 feet, since that is the sales length of the 70mm print film Kodak sells.  |  IP: Logged Robert Throop Master Film Handler Posts: 412 From: Vernon, NY USA Registered: Jun 99 posted 04-07-2006 10:03 AM                     quote: John Pytlak AFAIK, the maximum length of 70mm film put on the normal shipping reels is less than 2500 feet, since that is the sales length of the 70mm print film Kodak sells. Back in the sixties "Grand Prix" had one reel that ran about 34 minutes (3825 feet). Also reel 8 of "Sound of Music" was around 30 minutes. Bob  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 04-07-2006 10:52 AM                        quote: Robert Throop Back in the sixties "Grand Prix" had one reel that ran about 34 minutes (3825 feet). Also reel 8 of "Sound of Music" was around 30 minutes. Bob I assume those had to have a splice somewhere in the middle of the reel?  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 04-07-2006 01:49 PM                        Maybe someone combined two reels onto one? The print in the pictures is "The Abyss" and R7 and R8 will just barely fit onto a single reel.  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 04-07-2006 02:30 PM                        Assuming a 35mm to 70mm blow-up, a 35mm reel nominally edited for a full 2000 foot length (rarely done) would translate to 2500 feet of 70mm print: 2000 x (5/4) = 2500.  |  IP: Logged Paul Linfesty Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1383 From: Bakersfield, CA, USA Registered: Nov 1999 posted 04-07-2006 02:43 PM                     Back when I use to time such things when watching, I remember 2 MGM 70mm's in the mid 70's: Wind and the Lion (1975)and LOGAN'S RUN(1976). Each film ran just under two hours, and there were 5 reels for each film: the first three reels were around thirty minutes, with the last half hour broken down into two reels. These were both Metrocolor films. However, another 70 I saw in 1975, Rollerball, had 20 minute reels.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 04-07-2006 02:50 PM                     Titanic was 10 reels, just like it's 35mm counterpart. However when inspecting I assembled them onto 5 reels with plenty of space leftover on the shipping reels before plattering it, so that title could've easily fit on 5 standard length 70mm shipping reels. The reason is because this was not a mag striped print and was also polyester base.  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 04-07-2006 02:58 PM                        Certainly, for anything recent, it's likely the 70mm reel lengths will directly correspond to their 35mm counterparts, even though the standard 70mm reels can accomodate much more film.  |  IP: Logged Aaron Sisemore Flaming Ribs beat Reeses Peanut Butter Cups any day! Posts: 3061 From: Rockwall TX USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 04-07-2006 03:18 PM                     quote: Robert Burtcher he said he saw a 70mm print of something (Titanic, I believe) at the local ETS depot. He said the print was in individual reel cans, and there were 28(!) of them. It may have been a print of Branaugh's 1996 Hamlet; it was 20 reels. -Aaron  |  IP: Logged Dick Vaughan Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1032 From: Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK Registered: Jul 2000 posted 04-07-2006 06:58 PM                        It was indeed 20 reels but they were all very short. We were asked to combine reels for return shipment as the UK transport companies charge per item so I think we returned it on 9 or 10. We were allowed to keep the spare reels and transit cases for own use which have come in very useful over the years  |  IP: Logged Jeffry L. Johnson Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 809 From: Cleveland, Ohio, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 04-07-2006 07:05 PM                        quote: Paul Linfesty However, another 70 I saw in 1975, Rollerball, had 20 minute reels. The 70mm prints of Rollerball that I have handled had some, but not all, 30 minute A/B/C rolls, equivalent to 1 and 1/2 35mm reels. In several instances the 70mm prints were incomplete, so the equivalent 35mm reel(s) were played in place of the missing 70mm reel. The 70mm print of Dick Ellman's Panorama Blue was 3 30-minute 70mm reels.  |  IP: Logged John Walsh Film God Posts: 2490 From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way Registered: Oct 1999 posted 04-08-2006 09:12 AM                     IIRC, the film "2001" came on 12 70mm reels, but several were only about half full, a sign of editing, I guess. Seems strange, today, to think that a 2h 20 min film 'needed' an intermission, although it may have ben keptjust because it was already there before the length was cut. I remember thinking how I wish I could combine a few reels, but chopping a 70mm print was considered taboo, even when I ran it in the early 1980's.  |  IP: Logged

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