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Author Topic: Take Your Cues Off!!! Robert E. Allen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1078 From: Checotah, Oklahoma Registered: Jul 2002 posted 11-08-2006 11:18 PM                     We are a sub-run house and get films about six weeks out. One of the biggest problem I have when building a print is searching for and removing the last guys cues. Because of the different automation systems not all cues cause the same action on all systems. I missed one once that caused my system to change the lens from scope to flat as the credits started rolling. Do most sub-runs have the same problem?  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 11-08-2006 11:44 PM                     LOL ... do it all the time with me doing a discount, 2 buck house. Just something that I've trained myself to do for a good number of years.. Kinda like rhythm to do now.... ..but once in a while, I snooze and do forget one, or one that isn't visible due to that it was place on the base side of the film when I'm making up from the MUT... I even did it when I was in a first run house and receiving prints that were run for sneaks...automatically hunting for other cinema's cues. ...oh well .... the fun stuff we projectionists have to do at times... -Monte  |  IP: Logged Charles Greenlee Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 801 From: Savannah, Ga, U.S. Registered: Jun 2006 posted 11-09-2006 03:18 AM                        Crap, I'm sorry. I just realised that I haven't been removing them. Since I've been here, I either have not been the one to break down our finished movies, or if I did break it down, it's usually because someone else didn't and I'm then rushed to get it done. There was just long enough of a hiatus between my theare jobs to get slightly out of rhythm, add to the the rushed breakdowns. I'll check for them now.  |  IP: Logged Anslem Rayburn Master Film Handler Posts: 476 From: Yuma, AZ, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 11-09-2006 05:08 AM                     I just realized, I don't remove cues. I guess I assumed (and you know what that leads to...) that every theater had the same cue system we have. Now that I know, we will make sure to remove them.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-09-2006 08:08 AM                     Hmmmmm Me thinks of an idea...obtain a cue detector identical to the ones used in your theatre....mount it on a rewind table or even in the path on a make up table (rewind would be better) and make it a policy to have all prints screened through it. Have ALL of the cue sensors wired to either cause the rewinder to stop or make a buzzer go off so you know, automatically if there is a stray cue that your sensors will pick up. It really shouldn't be too hard to put the sensors in the path somewhere. Steve  |  IP: Logged Ian Woloschin Film Handler Posts: 54 From: Worcester, MA, USA Registered: Mar 2006 posted 11-09-2006 08:29 AM                        Yay running reel-to-reel with no automation...I don't have to worry about those guys who are too lazy to remove their cues .  |  IP: Logged John Hawkinson Film God Posts: 2273 From: Cambridge, MA, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 11-09-2006 09:46 AM                     It's certainly great if people remove their cues on breakdown, but this is really an issue of "defensive projection" (just like defensive driving). Don't rely on the other guy to do the right thing, because you can't count on it happening 100% of the time. Just like you should never trust somebody else's splice without inspecting it. Even non-automation theatres should remove cues, though, for two reasons: 1) Many cues are visible to the audience. I don't need to see a dark flash on the side of the image right before the credits roll. 2) It's "Film Done Right" -- the next theatre who gets the print after you may well blame you for any cues you leave behind, even if you did not put them there. So, yes, remove your cues. But don't be surprised at having to remove other people's. --jhawk  |  IP: Logged Blaine Young Master Film Handler Posts: 477 From: Kirkland, WA, USA Registered: Sep 2006 posted 11-09-2006 10:30 AM                     Cues that are visible on screen have long been a pet peve of mine. In automations where a cross cue is used, there really isn't much you can do except put it on the frame line - and then if you've got a scope picture, keep it in a black area to minimize. The rather crappy automation that my theater uses is a 'stepping' one. Just outboard cues. I've always tried to keep the cues of a size where they are not only not seen, but not heard. Especially on the 'lights up' cue at the start of credits, to hear a dropout in the audio to ME is distracting. Trouble is that the crappy automation that it 'pulses' an audio format to the Dolby processor which effectively punches "Format 11" again and the processor does a quick fade out/in.  |  IP: Logged Matt Whitney Film Handler Posts: 27 From: Naperville, IL, U.S.A. Registered: Dec 2004 posted 11-09-2006 03:17 PM                     It sure would be nice if everyone took off their cues. It certainly isn't the norm though. We've just gotten used to making sure to look for and take off whatever cues the previous theatre had on there. What I hate is when they use that shoe polish, or whatever it is, on the edge of films to mark the splice between reels.  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 11-09-2006 04:12 PM                        Sadly the folks who need to read this prob don't have enough interest to read Film-Tech. Louis  |  IP: Logged Andy Muirhead Master Film Handler Posts: 323 From: Galashiels, Scotland Registered: Dec 2000 posted 11-09-2006 06:41 PM                     It's always my SOP to check prints for cues on building. One thing I always do when cueing prints is to place cues onto splicing tape, helps so much when removing and I'm always grateful to others doing the same.  |  IP: Logged Ron Curran Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 504 From: Springwood NSW Australia Registered: Feb 2006 posted 11-09-2006 06:58 PM                        I absolutely agree Andy. Left on cues don't bother me if they lift off easily. Those 2 inch long cemented-on cues cause me to say "Oh bother" or words to that effect. The suggestion of installing a cue reader on the make-up bench is brilliant and I will do that as soon as we have an income again.  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 11-09-2006 08:49 PM                     I can handle all of this cue stuff, but what bugs my butt is when those booth clowns snip off the tail lead of the last reel, then just tape it back on with masking tape.. ..are they that stupid to realize that the last reel's tail lead doesn't have to come off, or is their cueing system all miffed up, or just to damn lazy to put cues on correctly:?  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-09-2006 10:56 PM                     When my automation was installed I specifically requested that the cues be set so that the "End-of-show" cue is the center one. That way nothing shows on the screen until the movie is over. The inboard and outboard cues are the ones that turn the lights up or down. If you place those cues carefully there are no blips in the sound nor are there any visible traces on screen. I know that a lot of you guys don't like SpliceMark tape but it does come in handy for marking cue locations. I often get asked how much film is left before the credits. Having that piece of tape makes it easy to see where the credits start. PLUS it reminds the person breaking the print that she should stop and check for cues.  |  IP: Logged Steve Scott Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1300 From: Minneapolis, MN Registered: Sep 2000 posted 11-10-2006 09:25 AM                     quote: Monte L Fullmer what bugs my butt is when those booth clowns snip off the tail lead of the last reel, then just tape it back on with masking tape.. Have worked for first run theaters that practiced this, sadly. Cut the tail & wrote the title with a dreaded wax pencil. This was an ELF theater too, strangely enough. Currently, we use edge cues, inboard & outboard only with co-operators. The move-over prints we get typically have cross foil cues if from Landmark/Regal, or the dreaded opticues from Crown's Big Sky systems. Neither interfere with our system.  |  IP: Logged

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