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Author Topic: Changing Trailers on a Platter Sean McKinnon Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1712 From: Peabody Massachusetts Registered: Sep 2000 posted 01-26-2008 10:47 AM                        I dont know if this belongs here but I think it does because I am seeking a technical opinion, if not I apologize and feel free to move it. I read on another "Big" movie theatre forum numerous posts by a person stating that you cannot easily change trailers or add shorts to a film made up on a platter and that because of that you should use 2 projector changeovers. Well, I sent this person a private email to correct him which he chose to publicly post on that forum claiming that I was attacking him because I like platters better than changeovers, which is clearly not the case. Now I am bieng attacked by other mebers of that forum. Never mind that posting private e-mail on a public forum is impolite, Do you think that I am correct in saying that trailers can be changed and shorts added just as easily on a platter system? Do you think that stating that "It cant be done" and "Can you do it... NO!" is misleading and incorrect?  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-26-2008 11:46 AM                        Well it obviously CAN be done, but it's not as easy as on a changeover system. It just requires a bit of planning ahead. But to say it's impossible is stupid.  |  IP: Logged Ron Funderburg Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 814 From: Chickasha, Oklahoma, USA Registered: Nov 2007 posted 01-26-2008 11:59 AM                        There are several ways to do it. Run the leader though the projector and stop a the point you want the new one and put it on there. Then run the film though (or the tried and true fast forward method of getting from one level to the other). You can snake them in but he is right it is difficult but no where near impossible! Now of course he may just be lazy or he may think that having the film on two projectors saves him his job! He may just not be enlighten as how to do things!  |  IP: Logged Michael Barry Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 584 From: Sydney, NSW, Australia Registered: Nov 1999 posted 01-26-2008 12:24 PM                     It is dead easy to change trailers on a platter system. It can be done in minutes, too. This one is definitely fiction.  |  IP: Logged Ron Funderburg Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 814 From: Chickasha, Oklahoma, USA Registered: Nov 2007 posted 01-26-2008 12:43 PM                        Sean I think maybe on issue of the forum, which is actually the subject of the thread, maybe you just make a polite statement saying you agree to disagree and refuse that you refuse to argue or become part of silliness. See if they don't stop if they don't maybe just drop off the board!  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 01-26-2008 01:33 PM                     Well I can change trailers on a platter much faster than on a reel to reel system, so it's clear to me that they just haven't been properly trained on the right way to do it. There is also no reason to have a show that runs without some or all of the trailer pack. That procedure actually takes significantly longer and causes unnecessary handling of the film.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-26-2008 03:04 PM                        There are a couple of advantages to a reel-to-reel setup that may apply here: a) trailer changes can be done during a show, rather than having to be done during an intermission and b) the same trailer reel can be used with multiple features (whereas a double feature in a platter house would normally require a duplicate set of trailers. On the other hand, some tasks, such as re-arranging the order of existing trailers, can be done more easily on a platter than on the rewind bench. I've always thought that someone should build a rewind bench with three spindles (two powered), as it would make it easier to, say, remove a trailer and replace it with another one when dealing with reels. Regardless, trailer issues would be pretty far down on any list of "reasons to install a changeover system."  |  IP: Logged Thomas Pitt Master Film Handler Posts: 266 From: Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK Registered: May 2007 posted 01-26-2008 05:06 PM                     I would have thought it would be dead easy to change trailers (or commercials) when the movie's on a platter. Run the film onto a reel using your MUT (as if you were breaking down), then when you see the trailer you want to change, splice the film and pull the trailer out. Then splice the new trailer onto the reel and platter film, and wind it all back. Alternatively take the whole trailer 'reel' off the platter this way, then rearrange/add/remove trailers as you wish on the rewind bench before winding the trailer 'reel' back onto the platter. Regarding running a show with only part of the trailer pack, there's an easy way to do that without needing to splice the film at all. Simply thread the projector as normal, and run the film through until it gets to the point where you want to start your cut-down trailer package. Then, when it gets to the advertised showtime, start up the projector and it'll run without the earlier trailers on the film. I've actually seen cinemas do this for 'last play' screenings, on which they have fewer adverts and trailers.  |  IP: Logged Tony L. Hernandez Expert Film Handler Posts: 158 From: Windsor, CO, USA Registered: Dec 2005 posted 01-26-2008 05:07 PM                      |  IP: Logged Andres Briano Expert Film Handler Posts: 162 From: Buenos Aires, Argentina Registered: Jan 2008 posted 01-26-2008 06:04 PM                        The way we do it in Argentina (which is the same way they do it in this chain in Britain, cause the guy who taught me was British) is removing the take up ring and ripping the existing splice where you want to insert your trailer. We take out of the center everything that was before the splice. We drop the trailer in the center and unwind it from the core. Then we just splice back in what we have removed. Hopefully the explanation was as easy to understand as the proceedure is to do. I believe that involving a MUT is much too much work. No matter how wrong you might be, there´s always a polite way to point it out.  |  IP: Logged Ron Funderburg Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 814 From: Chickasha, Oklahoma, USA Registered: Nov 2007 posted 01-26-2008 07:12 PM                        Brad I don't do change outs during showings. As I said before there are several ways the snake it in method as explained by Andres is my normal method of operation but the other is done when there is plenty of time before show. I personal don't care what method you use you are welcome to it I was merely pointing out that there are several ways that work. And for the record where did I say that if I did the run on to another level I wouldn't run all the previews before the show? NO where so you made an assumption one that is incorrect!  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 01-26-2008 07:33 PM                        Sean, your opening post here is not entirely accurate. I read the thread over there, contributed to it as well. Correct me if I'm wrong, but until you brought it up, your name was not mentioned, only text from your email. Certainly, everyone who posts on both boards can now figure out who you are and that you aren't happy. The person who posted text from your response did so because he doesn't see things the way you do. So what? These boards are here so everyone can express their opinion. If you can't handle it when somebody doesn't agree with you, this isn't the friendliest place for you to be. Seems to me that unless you two had some privacy agreement, your message to him became his property, once you sent it into his computer. Nobody's "attacking" you. Your position is just being challenged. Defend it or shrug it off. Just don't plant a bomb somewhere then go to another forum and whine. That said, you're welcome to believe what you do. I've been around projectors for nearly 40 years, and I freely admit that many of the habits I'm comfortable with go back maybe before you were born. That's not to say I'm any more right than anyone else. However, if you or I choose to lay our ideals out in a professional forum, we should be fully prepared to have them challenged by people who don't necessarily agree with you. So how 'bout dialing it back a bit? The guy over there likes things the way he does it and feels most comfortable with a process that you don't care for. You feel OK with the way you do things, even though they're different. The audience doesn't know any better, and the show goes on. Keep clam!  |  IP: Logged Ron Funderburg Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 814 From: Chickasha, Oklahoma, USA Registered: Nov 2007 posted 01-26-2008 07:56 PM                        Thats a Fact Jack there is always more than one way to skin a cat or a rabbit or change a preview!  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 01-27-2008 05:27 AM                     Ummm Ron, that posting of mine was in no way directed at you. It was a general comment as I am simply amazed at how many people out there DO make a total mess out of doing a trailer change on a platter and take forever to do it as well. Sadly I often see people skipping running some or all of the trailers as well because they have the mindset of dealing with the platter as if it is a sort of reel to reel system and don't realize they can drop trailers into the pack in "loop" form (so they end up motoring through what they want to keep, break the splice, motor what they don't want onto the floor, etc...then they start the next show wherever it happens to be at that point). Fact of the matter is I use a few different methods myself depending on where the trailer is in the pack. None of my methods (of which admittedly I have not explained in this post because I am too tired and don't have the time) damage film and all of them are faster than changing out a trailer on the bench when running reels. The counter argument is also there though, in that while reel 2 is playing, the trailer pack can be changed out on reel 1...so my personal opinion is that changing out trailers is physically faster on a platter...but reels, if done while another reel is running on screen, is also in essence faster in that it doesn't require any time at all from the point the movie drops until the next show could start with a new trailer pack. It all depends on how you look at it.  |  IP: Logged John Walsh Film God Posts: 2490 From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way Registered: Oct 1999 posted 01-27-2008 06:10 AM                     Like most things, if an operator knows what they are doing, changing out trailers on a platter can be done quickly and 'cleanly.' But if they don't, it can turn into a nightmare. I would guess that 75% of 'film-threaders' are employees with less than nine months of total theater experience, very little of which is spent learning actual projection. Even then, they are taught improper/lazy/damaging practices. As such, they do not have the skill to properly change trailers on a platter. In those cases, the; 'run the trailers on, stop and splice such that they are not seen for the first show' may be the best way to keep things clean.  |  IP: Logged

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