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Author Topic: Slashed screen!! Cathal Griffin Film Handler Posts: 18 From: Galway, Ireland Registered: Feb 2009 posted 08-24-2009 05:01 PM                        It's really not been my day. Look what some little decraved miscreant did to one of my screens today. This hole is about a foot wide This slice is about 5 inches long Managed to patch it with duct tape but we'll have to replace it. Why must these people exist. If I caught him doing it he wouldn't have walked out the door. Any of you guys come across this type of thing in your cinemas? Cathal  |  IP: Logged Paul Mayer Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under! Posts: 3836 From: Albuquerque, NM Registered: Feb 2000 posted 08-24-2009 05:03 PM                        All the time, unfortunately.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 08-24-2009 05:37 PM                        Yikes! That sucks, man. When a past manager at my theater was fired (not too long before I was hired from what I was told) not too much later there was a giant stain that appeared on our silver screen. Of course it had to be replaced. There is no way to prove that it was him, but it sure was very suspicious. It was the only silver screen in the complex and I'm sure he knew that silver screens are very tough to clean. He was fired for very legitimate reasons (he also happened to be a registered sex offender which the owners didn't even know about at the time). But it also could have been some random miscreants who just like to be asshats.  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 08-24-2009 08:58 PM                        Cathal, I have heard (not seem first hand) of screen repairs being made by cutting around the cut -- basically creating a hole larger than the existing slash, and then cutting a piece of screen material to act as a patch, cutting it slightly larger than the whole. The perfs of the patch are then matched to the perfs of the overlapped screen material. The two are carefully sewn together thru the existing perfs. Care is taken not to pull the thread very tight -- the idea is just to hold the patch on top of the screen but not to deform it in any way. Pulling the thread tight would only cause the screen to pucker. It was said to be pretty effective, but you are right, that kind of damage will require a replacement, no doubt. As for the demented individual who perpertrated this crime, there are allot of things that I can think up as punishment should this dickless wonder get caught, and they would make Abugreb look like kindergarden. For starters, crazy glue and his gonads jump to mind....I am sure you can use your imagination.  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 08-24-2009 09:17 PM                     How we did a quick fix on a hole like that was place a sheet of typing paper behind the screen that was sprayed with an stick-on adhesive...kinda made a 'bandage' out of that piece of paper. After we got the back of the screen initially stuck to the paper, then "rolled" the front so it would lay flat against that paper. But, before one would do this, at the end of the tear, we would make a small round hold there so the tear would not grow any further, esp if you got a curved screen. Only small glitch is when the tear is in the middle like that and to use this patch trick, would be the slight reflection of the paper behind the screen since that section of the screen had the holes covered up. We had that patch up there for months before a new screen came in. After that was all did and done, we should have used black poster paper to eliminate any reflection ... but, live an learn. -Monte  |  IP: Logged Jonathan Althaus Master Film Handler Posts: 435 From: Bedford, TX Registered: Dec 2008 posted 08-24-2009 09:18 PM                     Opening night, last show of Get Smart last year some idiot slashed the screen in our largest theatre. Luckily we had a silver screen awaiting install and it was installed a few days later. We were able to patch the screen with some silver colored tape we use on our exhaust ducts (not sure what its called). Ironic thing is that the tear was right where Steve Martin walked out of the screen during the Pink Panther 2 trailer. Must be the ghost in our theatre.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-24-2009 09:23 PM                     Instead of duct tape use white gaffer's tape or, if you don't have gaff, use white athletic tape. First, tape on the back side to pull the damaged areas back together. Try to match the pieces back together as much as possible. It won't be easy because the screen is under tension but, if you try you can get it very close. Once you have the pieces back together, use some more tape on the front to cover the hole(s). Finally, get somebody to put their hands against the taped area on the back of the screen while you press against them from the front so you press the tape down securely in place. (Use a white towel or something to avoid leaving marks.) If you are careful and smooth the tape out till it's very flat, you might be able to make an almost invisible repair. I have repaired holes as big as my hand (like a "barn door" rip) with gaff tape and, from 10 feet away, you would have to squint your eyes to see it. I had two screen slashed in one theater I worked at. The bastard cut about a 3 foot long gash along the bottom of one screen, right near the edge. It was very hard to pull back together but we were able to make a passable repair. I suppose the reason people go for the screen is becasue it is a symbol of sorts. It represents the "power" and the "authority" of Hollywood movies. By destroying the symbol of that power, the perpetrator feels like he is more powerful than the theater. If I was a disgruntled ex-employee of a movie theater I wouldn't go for the screen. I'd do something much more diabolical. I'd go to the bait store and buy 1,000 live crickets then release them in the theater!  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 08-24-2009 10:03 PM                        Clear fishing line, lace it up like you would a shoe. Works so well you won't need to replace the screen. Louis  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-25-2009 03:29 PM                        We have never had our screen cut (knocking on wood) but years ago before I worked there, a flag pole that was stored behind the screen fell over and made a nice rip dead-center. I still remember the white patch that could be seen during bright scenes. I'm guessing the repair was made with athletic tape.  |  IP: Logged Dennis Benjamin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1445 From: Denton, MD Registered: Feb 2002 posted 08-25-2009 04:21 PM                        quote: I'd go to the bait store and buy 1,000 live crickets then release them in the theater! I spent part of my day searching for a cricket in one of my auditoriums yesterday. What a pain in the ass!  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-26-2009 10:14 AM                     It wasn't me!  |  IP: Logged Kenneth Wuepper Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1026 From: Saginaw, MI, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 08-26-2009 10:30 AM                     We once had a cricket behind the pipe organ console. It was loudly singing during a performance of "Gone With The Wind". It literally drowned out some of the dialog. Our concession manager was very knowledgeable about such things and she told us to make a paper towel wet and place it like a tent near where the cricket was. The insect soon found the moist area and crawled into it and also stopped chirping. Stepping on the paper towel then terminated the cricket and the chirping permanently. KEN  |  IP: Logged Andy Bajew Expert Film Handler Posts: 136 From: Bellaire, Texas Registered: Jun 2009 posted 08-26-2009 10:53 AM                     quote: Randy Stankey Instead of duct tape use white gaffer's tape I don't know about y'all, but gaffer's tape seems to be one of the hardest things to find in the Katy/Houston area. Does anyone else have trouble finding this stuff? We had a wedding at our theater and I spent nearly two weeks searching for this stuff around town and wound up going to Academy to buy athletic tape.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-26-2009 11:09 AM                     BMI Supply: http://bmisupply.com/index.htm About $12.00 per roll in single rolls. $11.00 if you buy it by the case.  |  IP: Logged Jim Cassedy Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1661 From: San Francisco, CA Registered: Dec 2006 posted 08-26-2009 11:30 AM                     Condolences to you on your screen damage. I can only imagine how you feel. Several people have replied with posts about crickets. Not to get too far off topic, but the only thing worse and more annoying than crickets is a Skunk! I once had a skunk get behind the screen & 'let loose'. Needless to say, this made the entire auditorium quite unpleasent! Fortunately, it did not actually spray and ruin the screen. Just some stuff stored backstage. We had to have a 'professional' skunk odor removal service come in to de-odorize the place. It wasn't cheap, but we had little alternative. We also tried to plug up the places we thought the skunk might have gotten in through, but this was one of those huge, old theaters with dozens of potential places a skunk or other small animal could get inside through, so we weren't sure we closed up all the holes. We haven't had any problem since though.  |  IP: Logged

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