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Topic: Projecton Booth Destruction

Michael Voiland
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 219
From: Naperville, IL US
Registered: Aug 2009

posted 05-15-2010 01:43 AM

We are getting digital. Out projection booth basically just had a bomb dropped in it. They did a bunch of work on the hvac and made our 2 13x13 inch windows into a 4 x 6 foot window's in 4 of our theaters. All our stuff was moved and we have been cleaning. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to pick up the remnant dust we currently have swept daily and mopped daily.

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Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

posted 05-15-2010 03:33 AM

It's gonna take a while for all of the construction dust to settle down.

Otherwise, do wet mopping instead of sweeping if you got tile or hard floors. Wet rag with water bucket the walls down for dust loves to stick to vertical surfaces.

And your new digital machines is gonna suck in the dust like crazy, so plan on changing the filters out more than regularly..(oh, the HVAC filters will have to be changed out at well on the same basis..)

Oh the fun of remodels .... Good Luck - Monte

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John Hawkinson
Film God

Posts: 2273
From: Cambridge, MA, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 05-15-2010 01:57 PM

Suggestion: Get some HEPA filters, or perhaps attach filters to the HVAC exhausts for the room, and keep the air running 24x7. Clean/replace the filters as soon as they get dirty.

--jhawk

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Jonathan Smith
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 201
From: Youngstown, OH
Registered: Jan 2010

posted 05-15-2010 04:24 PM

They tore out the film projectors and they didn't "tear you out" too?

I'm not naturally a very cleanly person, but I made sure to keep my booth spotless with film.

With digital, honestly, why bother? That's someone else's problem who has an exclusive maintenance contract.

I'd crawl around on my hands and fucking knees, off the clock to get every last bit of dust out of the path of a platter and projector system, but I couldn't care less about our digital projector. Keep the lens clean of dust and the air intake, and the filters clean, as has been already mentioned, but why go any farther.

It's a projection room. Who cares what it looks like, except up on the screen?

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Rick Raskin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1100
From: Manassas Virginia
Registered: Jan 2003

posted 05-15-2010 05:03 PM

Your last statement is sure to get a lot of response.

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Chris Slycord
Film God

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

posted 05-15-2010 05:15 PM

quote: Jonathan Smith
Keep the lens clean of dust and the air intake, and the filters clean, as has been already mentioned, but why go any farther.

quote: "Benjamin Franklin"
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

You prevent the dust to begin with and you find yourself not having to as often clean the lenses and replace the filters.

Otherwise, it's like repeatedly throwing your kid in a pile of crap, washing him up, then doing it again.

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Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

posted 05-15-2010 05:46 PM

quote: Jonathan Smith
It's a projection room. Who cares what it looks like, except up on the screen?

quote: Jonathan Smith
but I couldn't care less about our digital projector. Keep the lens clean of dust and the air intake, and the filters clean, as has been already mentioned, but why go any farther.

..obviously, your area of expertise is not in the theatre exhibition business. Have to be careful what you say, for the lot of use do care about our business in a whole.

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Jonathan Smith
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 201
From: Youngstown, OH
Registered: Jan 2010

posted 05-15-2010 07:46 PM

Let me restate: Who cares about a projector that is obsolete the day you buy it, that will be torn out again in two years?

I'm not saying leave a mile-high pile of dust on the floor, but it isn't the same as with film. You have to do a basic amount of cleaning, but not like with film.

And, no, no matter how anal retentive you are, ultimately the way the movie looks on the screen is what matters, not how your booth looks. I know PLENTY of people who care more about the latter than the former. Whatever floats your boat, but if you have scratches up on the screen, and your booth is spotless and organized a PARTICULAR way, or your booth is sloppy but the prints are spotless, which one do you think the customer will like better?

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Jack Ondracek
Film God

Posts: 2348
From: Port Orchard, WA, USA
Registered: Oct 2002

posted 05-15-2010 08:18 PM

Guess it's a matter of what kind of environment you're willing to work in.

When I was a radio engineer in Oregon, I worked in a transmitter building with 8 or 9 100,000 watt dual transmitter sets. On the upper floor, one of the sets was installed in a windowed room by itself, climate controlled, looking like the day it came out of the factory... some 20 years before... a real showpiece.

In the basement was a copy of the same transmitter, sitting in a big room, shared by several others. No climate control here. The transmitter was owned by the building operator, one of the top-rated stations in the market. This transmitter was a cosmetic nightmare. Half an hour with Simple Green would have done wonders... but nope.

The engineer's philosophy was simple. About every 6 months, he'd shut down one side, open it up, clean the interior and put in new tubes. He'd start it up and tune it, and short of a shutdown, wouldn't touch it again until the next cycle on that side, 12 months later. As far as he was concerned, Simple Green on the outside neither added nor subtracted one day from the transmitter's operation.

That transmitter ran 24/7, and was as reliable as the spit-shined model upstairs.

So... While I wouldn't want a dump to work in, I suppose you don't need an operating room environment either, eh?

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Gordon McLeod
Film God

Posts: 9532
From: Toronto Ontario Canada
Registered: Jun 99

posted 05-15-2010 09:26 PM

digital projectors like dust even less

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 05-15-2010 11:09 PM

It is important to have the booth as dust free as is possible, not only for the projectors but also for the server which generally does not have a filter on the intake. Although projectors generally have hepa type filters on their intake. I do know of at least one job site in which much drywall dust made it onto the face of the DMDs and other part of the optical chain. These machines had to be totally overhauled even though they were brand new. Your popcorn popper should also be exhausted outside as well!!!

For cleaning I'd reccomend professional cleaners like Servicemaster if you are on a tight time frame.

Mark

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Chris Slycord
Film God

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

posted 05-16-2010 12:08 AM

quote: Jonathan Smith
And, no, no matter how anal retentive you are, ultimately the way the movie looks on the screen is what matters, not how your booth looks. I know PLENTY of people who care more about the latter than the former. Whatever floats your boat, but if you have scratches up on the screen, and your booth is spotless and organized a PARTICULAR way, or your booth is sloppy but the prints are spotless, which one do you think the customer will like better?

Classic strawman argument.

You've reduced the argument for keeping the room clean into supporting the idea of scratching prints.

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Rick Raskin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1100
From: Manassas Virginia
Registered: Jan 2003

posted 05-16-2010 08:03 AM

quote: Jonathan Smith
your booth is sloppy but the prints are spotless

I find that statement hard to fathom. Anal retentiveness has little to do with keeping a booth clean. Its more a matter of good work ethic. Running a booth is not a one person show; there are others who work there too, and may not appreciate conditions of organized/disorganized clutter and filth.

I worked many theaters where the operator kept a tidy booth and clean machines. I rarely had any difficulty in these houses.

However, there were those few that were pigs at best. Often I'd have to clean the machines before the show. It was not uncommon to find piles of trash, left over food, chicken bones and soda cans. No one likes to work in those conditions.

In the short, good work ethic goes beyond just putting up a good picture.

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Michael Voiland
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 219
From: Naperville, IL US
Registered: Aug 2009

posted 05-16-2010 01:54 PM

They left the film projectors but they were moved 3 feet off center is the distance I am guessing.
The new windows are 6 feet on the horizontal and 4 feet vertical.
I am going to have to clean all the lamp houses for sure and we will be sweeping and mopping like crazy I guess.

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Demetris Thoupis
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1240
From: Aradippou, Larnaca, Cyprus
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 05-16-2010 02:12 PM

Let's put it simple. The booth is the accounting office of the theater no matter how bizarre it sounds. An accountant with a shit office can be good at what he does but the way his office is organised reflects on the speed of delivering correct results. An unorganized office will not deliver at the same speed. Also to that I despise when ppl think of the most important place if a cinema so little. Always remember. A cinema can still run without a lobby a ticket area a wc even a canteen. Kill the booth and the cinema is just a big seating area. No disrespect to all floor staff but unfortunately that is the truth.
Demetris

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