Instead of leaving a reference frame on the heads and tails, he/she decided the best thing to do would be to actually leave 4 or 5 frames of leader/tail black as well, thus this would have been projected on screen.

I'm not sure of their reasoning, but if this catches on, I'm going to take a course in vacuuming.

...and we wonder why they're pushing digital projection...

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"It's not the years honey, it's the mileage".
Indiana Jones.

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The man with the magic hands.

Not every reel, mind you but most.

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Since I am preserving the prints that I have in the collection, I try to repair all the splices at the end of the reels. Usually, all they need is new tape. The ends butt perfectly.

I've got several prints with no splices in the body of the reel, and 6-8 cuts at the head and tail.

I think that there are too many theaters out there that dont give a damn about the prints because after they use them, they're out of their hands.

You'd think that would be the case, but no...there seems to be no reason to it whatsoever.

One more thing, could they have chosen a worse scene to put those ugly black changeover cues than the one where there is a shot of a guy's head and very white background and whammo! there's the motor cue, then to another shot much darker then back to the original shot of the guy and whammo! there's the changeover cue.

Don't these guys think?

Perhaps Filmguard could be modified to remove unsightly cues from prints? One wipe and they're out with the wash!

"I made up our 'glorious' used print of "Pitch Black"... <snip> ..."4 or 5 frames of leader/tail black..."

Well, the previous projectionist was just giving patrons the "Pitch Black" they paid to see....

Actually, I leave 6 image frames on the head/tail leaders when I make up a show. The reason is I know most of our prints go to a few 2nd run houses after. And many have come back to us after even that. Also, any one of those reels could then be used as replacement reels even later. It is very difficult to get the tape off when it's been stuck on for several weeks- simply chopping off the frame is really the only practical thing to do. Usually a frame gets chopped off with each run. I can't stop that, but I can minimize the danger of misnumbered reels.

I do not want a print without at least one, never cut off, all-important ID frame to prove which reel is which. I am willing to lose 1/4 of a second to get that security.

And, my feeling is, it should not matter anyway. Everything after the c/o mark is "extra" and should not be needed. Now, I would never cut off all 24 frames after the c/o, but 6 should not matter. If you are running c/o's, you would stomp on that pedal long before anyone sees those frames. It's like people who think they are getting screwed because they are not getting to see the image under the 70mm mag striping- It was never meant to be shown anyway. It's just the "run-out" in case you were slow on the c/o button.

Yes, I know, "Lion King" had dialog right up to the c/o. But, that is a very rare occurrence- which happened because the editor made a mistake. I will gladly help correct the editor's mistake (and not chop off any frames for ID at all) if he leaves a note in the can. If he does not, I have to assume that making up this film will be no different than the thousands before it. Audio pull-ups should be (and usually are) taken care of by the editor in the same way. If he can't find a few seconds to allow a "clean" looking and sounding c/o or platter splice, then he's to blame for it.

That is insane. I'm sorry, but that is just too much! I would cut off just one ID frame if I felt the need to, and every theater that gets it after me can just cut one more off after that, leaving the ID frame and the frame spliced to it on the leader. When all is said and done, fewer than 6 frames would have been chopped off during the entire run of the print.

Also, leaving a single frame DOES audibly make a difference. I see this all the time where music and/or dialogue runs right through the reel change.

Thanks again for the info.

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But I'm serious. About 23-30% of the features we get have been run, and many of those we had when new (we get them back for some reason.) And if you've ever been through the embarrassment of reels in the wrong order, it only takes once or twice for you to make GD, 100% sure it won't happen again. After 25 years, and literally making-up almost 1000 features, it's happened twice (once with the starring actress in the theater,) both times because there was no ID frame and I trusted what was written. If I left only one, the next theater operator has no problems cutting off the ID frame, because it's proven to _him_ that the reels are correct; he doesn't care about the next guy (me!)

Brad is right, a common sense thing is to cut off the other way, leaving the last frame. But, we don't have that quality of operators. Most of the operators in my area are ushers forced into the job. I will never trust that the previous operator marked the reels correctly. I know if I leave only one or two frames on the head/tail, they will be chopped off when/if I get that print back.

You all probably now think I'm the kind of guy that never cleans, throws the film on the floor, etc. I can't prove that one way or the other, but if you've read my previous posts here, you should'nt think I'm deranged!

I just made up "Shanghai Express" for a sneak tonight. We are also running, "Gladiator," "Road Trip," "Dinosaur," "Flintstones,"U-571, "One From the Heart," "Screwed," "Held Up," "Battlefield Earth," and "Basketball." Tell me where in any of those films removing up to 12 frames would ruin the continuity (worst case: six for me, six for crazy people who keep chopping.)

Or, tell me where I'm wrong techinally, about the way an editor should create reel beginnings/endings, pull-ups, etc.

Brad's idea about cutting off one frame and taping it on the leader is a good one. Gotta think seriously about that.

I received a print of "Tango" which I played for a special audience last summer. I knew I was going to be playing it again for our regular movie season at Mercyhurst. I spent a lot of time making sure I broke it down JUST RIGHT so I'd have an easier time of it when I had to build it up again. I even made notes for myself where the splices, etc. were in the reels so I knew where to look when I was inspecting it again.

I knew that other people might play the print in the mean time but I didn't think they could foul it up THAT bad. Well, when I got the print back it WAS... THAT bad! The same print number. The same label that I put on the tail. It looked like a totally different print.

I have, on occasion, called up the people who had the print before me. 90% of the time these people have NO IDEA what they are doing is wrong. It doesn't pay to try and explain it to them. They are simply NON COMPUS MENTIS!

Somebody asked if everyone's too lazy to peel tape. I'm not, but most of the tape that comes into my booth is the cheap crap that won't peel except in tiny little pieces. When I see that stuff, I trim that frame off.

Neumade tape is the best!