National Film Archive of Japan - Film Handling

[Ryan Gallagher]

Not many people making videos like this, since this is NEW thought I'd share.

Unfortunately no english language CC or subs, so maybe just some film handling ASMR for everyone. But no subs needed for most of it. ;-) They at least highlight the do and don'ts pretty clearly.

[Brad Miller]

Ummm, yeah these people need to learn a few things. The highlights:

Right off of the bat in the first minute they are winding the protection leader down past the projector before threading. Actual professional projectionists that understand the detrimental consequences to the print do not do that.

Then they proceed to get their hands all over the leader in the next scene as they claim it's "protected" by going into a trash can.

Next they show what happens when the center falls out of a core of film due to improper film handling of the core. While it's important to demonstrate the bad handling of the core for the video, their repair isn't exactly the best solution since if there is any dirt on that film it will cinch scratch using their technique. (This one I'll only dock a little bit off as an actual theater would not have a rig to center-feed it and this could be the only way that a theater could get it back together without cutting the film.)

The rewind table they are using is crap. Just an on/off switch with no ramping ability. An archive should not even possess such a thing.

They DO at least point out to never tape the end of the film to the core, so at least they got THAT right!

Pretty sloppy film handling at the splicer, and of course a dead wrong demonstration of the tape application. On that same note, the splicer blades are clearly out of alignment, which is an easy fix.

Idiots drew grease pencil "X" marks for temporary cues on the LEFT side of the picture.

They should not wrap their yellow flags around the film. They should have punched it using the splicer on one face of the film. Wrapping can cause the image to shift laterally during projection as the flag passes through the trap.

Then they apply cue tape mid-air and proceed to wrap that around the edge of the film as well. Ugh.

Just another training video with good intentions but with a lot of bad techniques and procedures.

[Randy Stankey]

Just another training video with good intentions but with a lot of bad techniques and procedures.

I think this might be another case of "Hey! I got a great idea! Let's make a video!"

While that's all well and good, it also means that there's going to be a lot of garbage videos out there and, with production technology improving every day, it's it's getting harder and harder to tell the wheat from the chaff.

[Ryan Gallagher]

Ummm, yeah these people need to learn a few things. The highlights:

Right off of the bat in the first minute they are winding the protection leader down past the projector before threading. Actual professional projectionists that understand the detrimental consequences to the print do not do that.

Then they proceed to get their hands all over the leader in the next scene as they claim it's "protected" by going into a trash can.

Next they show what happens when the center falls out of a core of film due to improper film handling of the core. While it's important to demonstrate the bad handling of the core for the video, their repair isn't exactly the best solution since if there is any dirt on that film it will cinch scratch using their technique. (This one I'll only dock a little bit off as an actual theater would not have a rig to center-feed it and this could be the only way that a theater could get it back together without cutting the film.)

The rewind table they are using is crap. Just an on/off switch with no ramping ability. An archive should not even possess such a thing.

They DO at least point out to never tape the end of the film to the core, so at least they got THAT right!

Pretty sloppy film handling at the splicer, and of course a dead wrong demonstration of the tape application. On that same note, the splicer blades are clearly out of alignment, which is an easy fix.

Idiots drew grease pencil "X" marks for temporary cues on the LEFT side of the picture.

They should not wrap their yellow flags around the film. They should have punched it using the splicer on one face of the film. Wrapping can cause the image to shift laterally during projection as the flag passes through the trap.

Then they apply cue tape mid-air and proceed to wrap that around the edge of the film as well. Ugh.

Just another training video with good intentions but with a lot of bad techniques and procedures.

I was noticing lots of things on my first watch I would not consider doing/advising too. Was wondering how many others would have critiques. ;-)

The core recovery and cinch scratching was definitely a thought I had. Especially their 2nd approach by growing the reel and then shrinking it again, not a single frame was spared.

Also the tendency to show care when handling, but only wearing one glove, and then not bothering with the one glove on the inspection hand. I know many people ignore gloves when inspecting release prints, but this is coming from an National Archive!

I didn't even catch the temp changeover mark on the screen left. Maybe that is normal for over there? Better take meticulous changeover notes, I'd definitely miss that one.

I do like those nice flush trimmer/scissors they had for cleaning up any splice overhang. Might have to look for a pair. But blade adjustment seems to be the real solution.

Then they proceed to get their hands all over the leader in the next scene as they claim it's "protected" by going into a trash can.

Partly wonder if that was them showing someone checking that the lab leader reel number matched the labels/leader/can, and was not in fact in preparation for threading. But why would you not put it on a winder to do that... so yeah. That and they did show someone handling the lab leader when threading, despite it appearing most of their prints used in the filming had TONS of additional leader.