my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Film Handlers' Forum   » splice in eternal sunshine, r5?

Author Topic: splice in eternal sunshine, r5? Carl Martin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1424 From: Oakland, CA, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 03-19-2004 07:06 AM                        our print of eternal sunshine arrived with an odd splice in reel 5, about 3/4 way through. made with 8-perf tape, sloppily cut, and with a gap. a different shot on either side of the splice. otherwise the print was completely new. reel 5 was tail-out, the rest heads out. i trimmed the edges flush, removed the hanging chads and blooped the soundtrack. when i ran it, i fully expected to see an annoying continuity gap, cutoff dialogue, or at least some sort of sound glitch. but despite my looking out for it, i didn't even notice the splice go by (dang that 8-perf tape! ). so is this a last-minute edit performed after the print was made? if so, someone else must have found this as well. we didn't get a low-number print or anything. anyone? carl  |  IP: Logged Peter Mork Expert Film Handler Posts: 181 From: Newton, MA, USA Registered: Jun 2002 posted 03-19-2004 08:38 AM                     Didn't see anything like that in my print.  |  IP: Logged Dean Kollet Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 591 From: Florida State University Registered: Jul 2003 posted 03-19-2004 09:29 AM                     our reel 5 was also the only tails out...but I didn't see such a splice. I'll note that out print didn't look very good though.  |  IP: Logged Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 03-19-2004 12:13 PM                     Is it truly a significant detail if a reel arrives tails out? Based on my experience, I would have to say it is par for the course to have the odd reel whose orientation differs from the others. I've also seen a number of reels that are head-tails-head-tails, etc. Annoying, yes. But significant...? I always assumed -- in the back of my mind -- that there would be a "perfectly logical explanation" for the phenomenon but, for the most part, I simply accepted it as a very ordinary fact of life in the booth.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-19-2004 12:49 PM                     Isn't it because film duplicating machines are similar to auto-reverse tape decks? (For lack of a better way to describe it.) When the original (negative) hits the end of its reel it reverses and keeps on going the other way. Every other reel of film that comes out of the duplicator will end up being backwards. Thus, it's literally the luck of the draw as to whether you get heads up reels or tail up reels. A conscientious person at the lab/depot might try to make sure that all the reels in one can are the same but, even then, there's no guarantee. ...Or, am I just dreaming?  |  IP: Logged Thomas Procyk Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1842 From: Royal Palm Beach, FL, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 03-19-2004 12:51 PM                     The head-tail-head-tail orientation of the reels when they're shipped might have something to do with bi-directional printing at the labs. In a perfect world, they'd hire someone to separate the "tails" reels from the "heads" reels to send out a uniformly-oriented print, but with the tight schedules and added payroll, that's wishful thinking. I'm happy when our prits arrive with at least SOME indication which orientation they are! =TMP= *EDIT*: Damn, Randy! We were typing the same ideas at the same time!!  |  IP: Logged Carl Martin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1424 From: Oakland, CA, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 03-19-2004 02:10 PM                        maybe i'm lucky, but most reels i get are heads-up. i noted the orientation only because it looked like an indication that reel 5 in particular had been wound through, presumably in order to inflict this splice on it. but i guess none of you have such a splice. strange. carl  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 03-19-2004 02:18 PM                     That 8 perf splice is a lab splice. Not all of the labs uses ultrasonic splicers yet.  |  IP: Logged Adam Martin I'm not even gonna point out the irony. Posts: 3686 From: Dallas, TX Registered: Nov 2000 posted 03-19-2004 02:22 PM                     The 8-perf tape indicates to me that the lab made the splice. The fact that it occurred between two shots indicates that it was done during QC of the reel and that part of the reel was rejected and the good part of another reject reel was attached to make a good reel.  |  IP: Logged Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 03-19-2004 02:42 PM                     We were still working with the DP and Post-Production as of a week and a half ago on "Eternal...". I still have two check original prints off the digital neg sitting in my booth.  |  IP: Logged Carl Martin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1424 From: Oakland, CA, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 03-20-2004 02:16 AM                        quote: That 8 perf splice is a lab splice. Not all of the labs uses ultrasonic splicers yet. reel 4 had a regular ultrasonic lab splice. i guess the difference here is that the tape splice was made later, after the reel was processed. the film edge has a different sheen on either side of the splice, so it does look like an assemblage of parts of 2 reels. shitty splicejob though. it would have made a big pop in our analogue houses if i hadn't blooped it with some tape. carl  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.