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» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Film Handlers' Forum   » Tips for training new projectionists...??? (Page 1)

 
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Author Topic: Tips for training new projectionists...???
Justin Hamaker
Film God

Posts: 2253
From: Lakeport, CA USA
Registered: Jan 2004


 - posted 04-28-2008 02:06 PM      Profile for Justin Hamaker   Author's Homepage   Email Justin Hamaker   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I know most old school projectionists cringe at the idea of having novices handle film unsupervised. However, I run a 5 plex and I struggle to find people competent to use as assistant managers let alone fully train to be good projectionists. As a result I'm forced to train teenagers to thread and run projectors. Otherwise I would be doing it myself 7 days a week.

But I do spend time making sure that the people I train not only know how to thread the projector, but understand the basics of how it works as well as how to fix common problems associated with threading.

I drill it into their head from the beginning that being in frame and having the soundtrack in the right orientation are absolutely critical every time. When possible, I usually start by having them spend 2-3 hours threading 5 minute trailer reels over and over. And until they show they can thread with out errors every time, I'm checking their work every time.

Recently I've started having them pull through just enough leader to thread the projector and then motoring through to the start point so they can check for errors well before the show start.

I'm curious to know if anyone has any thoughts and/or pointers I can use to help my novice projectionist get even better.

For what it's worth, I only teach a small handful how to tear down film and even fewer how to build up. I do take pride in a quality presentation and I try to teach that to everyone I'm training in the booth. And I am proud that almost every print we ship is free of scratches and mostly dust free - even after 4-5 weeks.

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Fred Tucker
Film Handler

Posts: 90
From: Sugar Land, TX
Registered: Sep 2007


 - posted 04-28-2008 03:59 PM      Profile for Fred Tucker   Email Fred Tucker   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
SOunds like your doing good so far. I have the same problem, the retention rate at my theater is horrid. One thing to think about though, the more you start & stop the motor the harder it is on the the motor... especially the capacitor. I do like your idea of threading trailer packs over and over though. I run a 24 plex so my employees get plenty of practice that way.

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99


 - posted 04-28-2008 04:08 PM      Profile for Brad Miller   Author's Homepage   Email Brad Miller       Edit/Delete Post 
Just keep beating it into their heads running 5 minute movies over and over. I've done that a lot and it works well. Just make them go away from the booth for a week and THEN bring them back and have them thread up cold to see how much they retained. Just because after a few hours they are doing the job consistently doesn't mean it isn't just being learned in their short term memory.

quote: Justin Hamaker
And I am proud that almost every print we ship is free of scratches and mostly dust free - even after 4-5 weeks.
hahaha, only 4-5 weeks. I remember running the same film print for up to a year!

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Chris Slycord
Film God

Posts: 2986
From: 퍼항시, 경상푹도, South Korea
Registered: Mar 2007


 - posted 04-28-2008 04:22 PM      Profile for Chris Slycord   Email Chris Slycord   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
And I'm a firm believer in having one person do the training. I've seen people get trained by a good, competent worker then have them work alongside someone else who could barely thread the next day. Pretty much defeated the purpose of training.

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Justin Hamaker
Film God

Posts: 2253
From: Lakeport, CA USA
Registered: Jan 2004


 - posted 04-28-2008 04:49 PM      Profile for Justin Hamaker   Author's Homepage   Email Justin Hamaker   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
hahaha, only 4-5 weeks. I remember running the same film print for up to a year!
The longest run I've had since I have worked in theatres is 16 weeks for My Big Fat Greek Wedding. After that it's 12 weeks each for The Sixth Sense and Star Wars Episode 1. For most movies, we're lucky if it can run 3 weeks. And we might get 3-4 movies a year that go 5 weeks. Granted, I'm in a fairly small community where there is almost never a problem seeing a movie the first weekend.

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99


 - posted 04-28-2008 07:14 PM      Profile for Brad Miller   Author's Homepage   Email Brad Miller       Edit/Delete Post 
That's nothing. I ran Phat Ass Greek Wedding for over a year at one theater. I also remember running titles like Beauty and the Beast playing for 9 months straight, 6 shows a day.

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Darryl Spicer
Film God

Posts: 3250
From: Lexington, KY, USA
Registered: Dec 2000


 - posted 04-28-2008 07:21 PM      Profile for Darryl Spicer     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Ahhhh the good ol days.

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Tim Reed
Better Projection Pays

Posts: 5246
From: Northampton, PA
Registered: Sep 1999


 - posted 04-28-2008 07:40 PM      Profile for Tim Reed   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Justin Hamaker
I'm curious to know if anyone has any thoughts and/or pointers I can use to help my novice projectionist get even better.
In the old days, people seemed to learn faster...

 -

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Andy Muirhead
Master Film Handler

Posts: 323
From: Galashiels, Scotland
Registered: Dec 2000


 - posted 04-28-2008 08:28 PM      Profile for Andy Muirhead   Email Andy Muirhead   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
5 Minute packs are a good idea. Further to that, build them in 60 second blocks, ie leader-60sec trailer-end leader-start leader-60scec trailer-end leader, etc. So they get to load, then practice start ups, lens changes etc (and get them doing it without automation). This way they will get a few start ups in per load. If you don't do it this way, then just make your training pack 60 seconds long. There's no point getting your trainee to sit for 5 minutes waiting for the pack to finish when they could be practicing loading.

On another note, I have a 'learning to drive' theory on training projectionists'. The theory being, don't teach them to drive and fix the car. Teach them to drive it first. The fixing can come later.

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Justin Hamaker
Film God

Posts: 2253
From: Lakeport, CA USA
Registered: Jan 2004


 - posted 04-28-2008 09:36 PM      Profile for Justin Hamaker   Author's Homepage   Email Justin Hamaker   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Andy
The reason I do 5 minute packs is so the film has enough girth to allow them to take out the centering ring without the film flopping around. So they get plenty of chances, what I do is set up two projectors and they just bounce back and forth. Generally it winds up that they are just finishing one when the other ends.

I agree with the idea about lens and masking changes, but all of ours are manual to begin with.

I like your learning to drive approach. Until they become very proficient, I don't ever teach them anything complicated. What I teach them is how things like the split fingers, fail safes, frame knob, and take-up arms work so they understand why they have to do things a certain way and what happens if you do it wrong. Just like learning to drive, you have to know what to do if you stall or put it in the wrong gear.

Further, I teach them how to deal with things like when the pay-out platter starts to wrap or if you're out of frame by 2 perf. But I can assure you they are not learning how to fix anything other than their own mistakes until I know they can handle threading correctly.

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Stu Jamieson
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 524
From: Buccan, Qld, Australia
Registered: Jan 2008


 - posted 04-29-2008 07:28 AM      Profile for Stu Jamieson   Email Stu Jamieson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
 -

"A New Method Of Learning Using Reward And Punishment Techniques"!
 - Haha, that sounds great! Where can I get a copy of that?

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Andy Frodsham
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 238
From: Stoke on Trent, Staffs, UK
Registered: Nov 2006


 - posted 04-30-2008 11:52 PM      Profile for Andy Frodsham   Email Andy Frodsham   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
What was the punishment?

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Chris Slycord
Film God

Posts: 2986
From: 퍼항시, 경상푹도, South Korea
Registered: Mar 2007


 - posted 05-01-2008 11:13 AM      Profile for Chris Slycord   Email Chris Slycord   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Brad Miller
That's nothing. I ran Phat Ass Greek Wedding for over a year at one theater. I also remember running titles like Beauty and the Beast playing for 9 months straight, 6 shows a day.
When I lived in NC as a kid, I swear the dollar theater in the neighborhood had Lean on Me for even longer than that. Eventually, they had decided to get rid of it but due to popular demand it was brought back something like 2 weeks later (and it had been over 6 months at that point).

Not all that surprising, though, that it was uber-popular since my parents' apartment was next to a black neighborhood.

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Marc Jensen
Film Handler

Posts: 20
From: Auckland, New Zealand
Registered: Jan 2006


 - posted 05-02-2008 08:28 AM      Profile for Marc Jensen   Email Marc Jensen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I have an old 'training reel' sitting around that's always useful to throw at a newbie towards the end of training.

  • First up, it's just a basic leader and cue pulse to get a basic start up and 'show' running.
  • An old trailer hits the screen and everything's fine until an upside down censor tag hits the screen.
  • Trailer #2 pops up and it's out of frame. Trainee gets introduced to Kinoton's framing knobs right there.
  • The third trailer goes back to the previous framing, the trainee reacts and then soon discovers what "soundtrack backwards" looks like after a splice mid-trailer. They learn to stop and flip the film around the other way at that point. The automation beeps a film break alarm through the re-thread and I sometimes say things about impatient audiences if I feel I need to ramp the tension up a bit. [evil]
  • Another splice surprises the trainee with a change from flat to scope and they get the manual lens and masking changes down real quick.
  • Then the upside down trailer. They have trouble wrapping their heads around that one and I usually have to dissuade them from ideas of "stopping it and turning it around."
  • Then there's a bit on the end without any designed faults just to bring the reel to a close.
The whole thing runs for about 10 minutes. I've been known to shut down the lamp and sound and have a trainee just thread it for threading sake early in training, but mostly it serves as a late stage problem identification and correction training tool.

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Jarrad Salmon
Film Handler

Posts: 25
From: Baulkham Hills, NSW, Australia
Registered: May 2006


 - posted 05-03-2008 12:29 AM      Profile for Jarrad Salmon   Email Jarrad Salmon   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
If you want to leave them to run your booth, I suggest a bit of problem solving to be randomly placed into training...
Things like:
Wrong lense and aperture identification
Bypassing automation and running manual (if applicable)
Circuit breakers and fuses can be throw or removed to replicate a problem. (Nothing worse than being called in to a panicing projectionist with "a major technical problem" and only have to turn the breaker on).
Repairing brain wraps (using old trailers of course)
Basically if your site has a gremlin or glitch that comes in once every blue moon make sure they know how to repair it.

Personally I find that the right attitude and repetition will make a good trainee and eventually a fine projectionist.

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