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Author Topic: Exhaustive projectionist training videos Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 09-08-2016 11:04 PM                     Well ok, not really "exhaustive"...more like "exhaustion". Anyone know who this guy is or what theater this is? This has to be hands down the worst training video on how to run 35mm I've ever seen, and no I'm not nitpicking the camera work, sound, lighting or anything like that. If this is how new projectionists are learning the craft, it's no wonder so many prints are getting trashed these days. Part 1 of 7 Part 2 of 7 Part 3 of 7 Part 4 of 7 Part 5 of 7 Part 6 of 7 Part 7 of 7 Most importantly note this venue is 2 projector changeovers. To the movie studios, they would consider this an "archive venue" just because they are running on reels. (Meanwhile they scratch everything they run.)  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 09-08-2016 11:37 PM                        I only looked at the first couple of minutes of part 1, but that told me all I need to know. He's walking around holding the film can vertically with one hand. If the reel inside is loosely wound and his hand slips and he loses his grip on the can, the result would be 2,000 feet of film all over the floor. If the rest of it demonstrates such sloppy film handling practices, then yes, it's not surprising that so many prints are getting trashed so quickly. Oh, and those sharp-edged split reels are almost guaranteed to scuff the edges of the film pack.  |  IP: Logged Bill Brandenstein Master Film Handler Posts: 413 From: Santa Clarita, CA Registered: Jul 2013 posted 09-09-2016 12:06 AM                     OK, I'm no professional, but his hack-job repair examples in part 1 made me squirm. He's tearing open a "defective" splice and removing a frame of picture and "brittle footage" from a blue-track IB print instead of repairing it? Seriously? And fingerprints all over the film? Hack. You guys could add far more to this, but even I get the point. Seriously, Brad, how about a rebuttal video? Or some real training ones?  |  IP: Logged Peter Foyster Expert Film Handler Posts: 102 From: ROLEYSTONE WESTERN AUSTRALIA Registered: Aug 2016 posted 09-09-2016 01:25 AM                     It looks and sounds more like he is trying to impress the girl doing the camera work. And even after she pointed out the obvious mis-threading over the roller below the sound head in part 6, he made some flimsy excuse about keeping the film tight. Had that been a full reel, it would be scraping on the sound head after a few minutes. The camerawork is probably the most professional part of the whole thing. I found his presentation cringeworthy and couldn't watch it for more than a few seconds at a time. If this guy knew his craft he certainly wasn't letting on!  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 09-09-2016 03:03 AM                        "Inching knob" is now my new favorite insult.  |  IP: Logged Frank Bolkovac Film Handler Posts: 27 From: Monroeville, Pa. USA Registered: Mar 2011 posted 09-09-2016 09:53 AM                     I could never understand that if the film company was so concerned about their prints that they would send some of them on "cores". I always knew "change-over Ques, not dots. If you have to "remember" righty tighty and lefty loosie, it would be fun watching you open your water bottle much less servicing anything.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-09-2016 09:58 AM                        I also enjoyed his mention of the "doohickey" that holds the reel in place. Sheesh what a disgrace.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-09-2016 10:53 AM                        Wow. Take a look at part 6 from about 4:15 to about 5:00. He gets the film on the wrong side of the black roller above the penthouse (where a full reel of film would probably rub against the body of the penthouse). Then, he gets the lower loop way too big (causing more emulsion scratches). And he gets the film on the wrong side the lower black roller (below the soundhead), causing base scratches against the body of the soundhead when the takeup reel gets full. The guy is obviously not a natural teacher, and whoever made the video needs to learn about composition, lighting, and sound. I could accept these issues, though, if the "instructional" part of the video was actually correct.  |  IP: Logged Bill Brandenstein Master Film Handler Posts: 413 From: Santa Clarita, CA Registered: Jul 2013 posted 09-09-2016 11:12 AM                     What's with the lamp house venting directly into the booth? I think watching that may have killed brain cells.  |  IP: Logged Frank Bolkovac Film Handler Posts: 27 From: Monroeville, Pa. USA Registered: Mar 2011 posted 09-09-2016 11:39 AM                     And make sure the film is on the "spikes"...painful.  |  IP: Logged Marco Giustini Film God Posts: 2713 From: Reading, UK Registered: Nov 2007 posted 09-09-2016 11:59 AM                     I like when he tries to use the stepladder as a desk and when he realises that the reel wouldn't fit, he does what anybody would do: he puts a pillow on the floor!  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 09-09-2016 12:25 PM                        So that's how it was done!! ... and to think I spent all those years, managing to get into the Seattle local and working with guys whom, at least until today, I thought were good role models to learn from. Good thing we're digital now and I'm not allowed anywhere near the actual image. It seems I'd been doing it all wrong for decades!  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 09-09-2016 01:06 PM                        quote: Frank Bolkovac I could never understand that if the film company was so concerned about their prints that they would send some of them on "cores". In cans on cores is how release prints are shipped in most of the world outside the US and Canada. Shipping reels in Goldberg cases are essentially a North American thing. Both methods have their advantages and their gotchas. Shipping reels in Goldbergs probably safeguard the film more effectively against careless handling if - and it's a big if - they are in good condition. If a chunk is torn off a plastic shipping reel, the jagged edge can cause horrendous damage if the reel is not wound off it with extreme care. Dented and battered steel Goldbergs can also be a safety risk to projectionists and shipping personnel, because again there can be sharp edge injury risks, and if they get jammed shut and you need to lever them open with a screwdriver, there's a risk that this won't end well. Cans and cores offers shipping cost savings (smaller packages), and is a better bet for protecting acetate and nitrate against decomposition in long-term storage (especially if the cans are vented), but handling the film requires a higher skill level. Large reels on 2" cores (like the one shown in the video) are also bad news, because the inner 200-300 feet can deform through shrinkage pretty badly, and you risk the core being crushed and/or falling out without super careful handling. quote: Scott Norwood The guy is obviously not a natural teacher... He's not even a natural practitioner, let alone a teacher. quote: Joe Redifer "Inching knob" is now my new favorite insult. "Captive screw" is quite a good one, too.  |  IP: Logged Dwayne Caldwell Master Film Handler Posts: 323 From: Rockwall, TX, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 09-09-2016 02:15 PM                     You just know this guy loves pulling that knob an inch at a time.  |  IP: Logged Paul H. Rayton Expert Film Handler Posts: 210 From: Los Angeles, CA , USA Registered: Aug 2003 posted 09-09-2016 03:59 PM                    What freaks me out is that those are 35/70 projectors. With this incredibly intensive (!) instructional course, it will be just days before someone gets the brilliant idea that, in the vein of Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland, "Hey, let's put on a 70mm show!" And they'll request one of the very few remaining 70mm prints out there, and before we know it, that print will be scratched (Century JJ-style) beyond salvation, never to be viewable again.  |  IP: Logged

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