Strange tape found on a release print

[Benjamin Yap]

Hi, I'm new here. Nice to meet you all. I currently work at a film archive and have been encountering peculiar ways in which projectionists have handled the release prints we have in the collection.

The following image is stumping me. Someone (maybe not the projectionist) has stuck silvery tape between 2 frames of the film and further covered it up with splicing tape (where there is no splice there).

Does anyone have any idea what possible reason there could be for this? Some kind of mark for the projectionist? What function could it serve? The tape occurs on only 2 reels of the set of 6.

[Frank Cox]

That's trigger tape. There are electrical contacts above or below the projector that read that when it goes through them and switch a relay that can do things like turn the lights up and down or open and close the curtains. By putting the trigger tape in different positions on the film (center, left edge, right edge, etc.) you can have different actions triggered when it goes through.

[Mike Blakesley]

Also known as cue tape.

Most people didn't use those giant pieces of tape, most cue tape was 1/4" wide and could be placed between two frames (or on the edge of the film) where you hopefully wouldn't see it onscreen.

[Randy Stankey]

Yeah! You're supposed to make it neat and professional looking so that it won't mess up the picture.

Use one frame-length of cue tape (1/4" wide) folded over the edge of the film, either on the outside or the inside edge, depending on how your automation works. Run the tape sideways, along a frame line, for a center cue. Again, it depends on how your automation works. YMMV.

I really hated it when I would see prints with half-assed, goobered up cue tapes stuck on every which way. Worse, they have to be removed because they'll cause false triggers in my automation. (I've seen it happen!) That means I'll have to search the entire print for old cues, peel them off and clean up the old stickum before I can put my cues on.

For cryin' out loud, people! Just take off your stinkin' cues before you return your prints! At least, use some kind of cue tape that doesn't need to use a Volkswagen full of circus clowns and a team of Clydesdales to remove it.

[Sam Chavez]

Randy's a little late with his admonishment.

There were very early (1973) home-brew Christie automation units that relied on a ferrous metal cue applied to the film with splicing tape. There was essentially a magneto at the bottom of the projector soundhead that sensed it going by. Another feature of it was to erase any magnetic soundtrack that went by it over time.

Ruined a nice print of Dr. Zhivago on a move over from the big magnetic stereo screen. I predicted that it would happen but no one in management cared.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Randy's a little late with his admonishment.

There were very early (1973) home-brew Christie automation units that relied on a ferrous metal cue applied to the film with splicing tape. There was essentially a magneto at the bottom of the projector soundhead that sensed it going by. Another feature of it was to erase any magnetic soundtrack that went by it over time.

Ruined a nice print of Dr. Zhivago on a move over from the big magnetic stereo screen. I predicted that it would happen but no one in management cared.

That's some interesting info as I was wondering how this was going to fly with the splice tape all over it. Having a magnet detecting any ferrous metal makes some sense but indeed would be a perfect way of messing with any magnetic soundtracks nearby...

[Randy Stankey]

Hmm... That makes me wonder about those metal detecting cue sensors from Component Engineering that I used all over the place.

I'm guessing that the ever present magnetic field from the drive coil would serve to slowly degrade any magnetic soundtrack that was on the film.

What about the ferrous oxide in the magnetic sound medium causing false triggers?

Thankfully, I never had to contend with it. Any of the very few places I have been in that had the capability to run magnetic soundtracks would not have had cue detectors at all. Still, it's one of those things one tends to forget about really easily.

[Benjamin Yap]

Thank you all for the quick and informative responses!

[Marco Giustini]

I've come across an automation which required a very long piece of cue tape at some point to do a specific action. So you'd see this massively long (Long time ago, I guess 50cm) black thing in the middle of the picture at some point... Amazing!

[Jim Cassedy]

If, you're working in a film archive and this is the first time you've encountered this, you should consider yourself
a lucky man!

There were some types of automation systems that relied on some sort of optical, magnetic, or RF proximity
detectors to sense cues, and, in general, these often required larger patches of foil tape to be reliably
detected, and some actually required putting the cue tape in the center of the film, often in the image area,
which always seemed like a dumb idea to me. The fact that there is splicing tape OVER the cue foil is
a good clue that this was done for a system which relied on proximity detection, & not on a system that
that required actual electrical contact with the foil to sense the cues.

The cue foil has a different bending coefficient than mylar or acetate film, and, over time, this would cause
the adhesive to 'bleed' out from under the foil tape with every pass through the projector. Putting a piece
of splicing tape over the cue foil was a way to keep the creeping adhesive from leaving a sticky residue
on the film which would then attract dust & dirt which would then find its' way into mucking up the film
and over time leave sticky deposits on the projector too.

The tape occurs on only 2 reels of the set of 6.

If the cue foil is on reels 3 and 6, than the person who applied the cues was most likely running that
print on a semi automated change-over system, in which six 2000ft reels would be spliced onto
two 6,000ft reels. Thus, you'd only need cue foil at the end of Reel 3, to trigger the change over to
the 2nd 6k reel, and some additional cues at the end of the 2nd 6K reel to trigger the "lights, up" &
other 'end of show' functions.

[Benjamin Yap]

If the cue foil is on reels 3 and 6, than the person who applied the cues was most likely running that
print on a semi automated change-over system, in which six 2000ft reels would be spliced onto
two 6,000ft reels. Thus, you'd only need cue foil at the end of Reel 3, to trigger the change over to
the 2nd 6k reel, and some additional cues at the end of the 2nd 6K reel to trigger the "lights, up" &
other 'end of show' functions.

Very interesting! I don't have my notes with me but it definitely occurs on the first reel, and maybe the 4th reel which makes it a little tougher to figure out the exact method of projection here. I'm wondering if it's possible the cue tape was on the other reels but have just been removed on those. Would it make sense for a semi-automated system to not have the 6 reels spliced into two larger reels?

If, you're working in a film archive and this is the first time you've encountered this, you should consider yourself
a lucky man!

I'm fairly new at the archive, but we have definitely seen reels in far, far worse conditions with even more "improper" handling. Many were severely deteriorated before they reached us but I'm always fascinated by what projectionists do to mark the reels. We have a set where I think changeover cues were made with a regular hole-puncher!

[Frank Cox]

There was never any standardization for what went where so your cue to turn down the lights might be my cue to close the curtains. If you don't remove the tape before you send me the movie I might get a surprise when the curtains suddenly start closing the first time I play the movie.

And that tape could leave sticky residue on the film that, if not cleaned off properly, could do anything from tearing up the sprocket holes to causing a film break or a jam.

[Gordon McLeod]

The old Cruzett proximity switches required about a 3" long piece of 1/2" tape to operate properly

[John Eickhof]

not to mention the opticue reflective tape that was about 1/2x3/4 and went between the frames (or covered them if placed poorly!) they were applied several in a row and the detector would count them up to perform up to three functions...then raven had the three head proximity sensor at the top of the projector that sensed the ferrous tape pieces in three positions across the frame line to perform up to six functions! later xetron style detectors had up to five cues applied to edges and across center of frame, then kelmar had the round dots that could perform up to five finctions.of course....dont forget about the 6-12" of white shoe polish sloppily applied for reel locating on the platters! thank goodness for edge marking tape later on!

[Phillip Grace]

Some personal observations.

• Most of the systems I encountered used a single proximity detector lined up with the centreline of the film, in combination with an automation controller. The strip of cue tape was usually placed in the frame line across the film. Apart from its other vices, the adhesive on the cue foil was so tough it was almost impossible to remove the foil from the film afterwards. I would leave the backing paper on the foil and hold it in place on the film with a strip of clear splicing tape, which worked fine and made it very easy to remove the cue after the run.
• With the cue tape placed along the frame line it was invariably visible on screen to some extent - usually appearing as a black flash top and bottom of succesive frames. Around one of the local circuits the opertors had a kind of competition among themselves as to where the foils could be hidden within a particular scene to make them less distracting - which impressed me as a creative effort to try to make the best of a sadly flawed system. These were not old-timers, they were young men who had come up through the system well after the management regime of de-skilling of the projection room took hold.
• One instruction manual I read recommended covering the entire frame with cue foil because the brief total blackout was less distracting than the double black flash. I tried this out and found it had merit.
• Positioning of cue detectors on the projector was never standardised, and there was great variation in the capability of the equipments they were used to control. Some automations were deifinitely smarter than others and could run sub-routines from a single cue, while others required a series of foils on the film to trigger each step of a sequence. This could require re-cueing a print at every location it was screened, and made switching screens a nightmare when different systems were installed within the same multi-plex. Only the ingenuity of the projectionist would make the thing possible.
• Cinemeccanica devised a system which used a cluster of three proximity detectors aimed at the base surface of the film, and located near the lower feed sprocket, which gave essentially three cue "tracks" - Inboard, Centre and Outboard. Triggered by cue foils placed on the film each detector controlled one specific function on the projector - lens change - changeover - and I cant remember the other one.- but enough to run a show. At least one U.S. manufacturer took this a step further and used binary logic and relays to expand the number of outputs available from a given set of detectors.