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Author Topic: Melted Film My A**
Martin McCaffery
Film God

Posts: 2481
From: Montgomery, AL
Registered: Jun 99


 - posted 07-16-2011 08:49 AM      Profile for Martin McCaffery   Author's Homepage   Email Martin McCaffery   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Unless, of course, Harry Potter is printed on Magic Stock
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/07/15/harry-potter-deathly-hallows-part-2-screening-cut-short-by-melted-film.html
quote:
The ‘Harry Potter’ Meltdown
Cursed by Voldemort? A midnight showing of the last Harry Potter installment went up in smoke after the film melted. Robert Verger talks to disappointed Muggles about missing the finale.
Jul 15, 2011 9:30 PM EDT

An event from the world of Muggles conspired against the forces of good at a midnight show of the final Harry Potter movie early Friday morning in Upper Montclair, New Jersey, as the film reel melted in the projector about an hour into the show, ending the screening.
...
A manager at the Clearview movie theater said that film melting in the projector “doesn’t happen all the time, but it happens.” She referred questions to the corporate office, which provided a statement: “Regrettably, there was a technical glitch during this particular showing of Harry Potter, and all of our guests were provided with refunds and free return passes. All screens of the film are currently up and running, and we apologize for any inconvenience.”


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John Wilson
Film God

Posts: 5438
From: Sydney, Australia.
Registered: Dec 1999


 - posted 07-16-2011 09:01 AM      Profile for John Wilson   Email John Wilson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The ‘Harry Potter’ Meltdown
Cursed by Voldemort? A midnight showing of the last Harry Potter installment went up in smoke after the film melted. Robert Verger talks to disappointed Muggles about missing the finale.

An event from the world of Muggles conspired against the forces of good at a midnight show of the final Harry Potter movie early Friday morning in Upper Montclair, New Jersey, as the film reel melted in the projector about an hour into the show, ending the screening.

“The movie’s tremendous. The first half is incredible. It’s better than anything we’ve seen so far,” said Judd Harner, 45, who went to the theater with his wife and three children.

But at a crucial moment in the film, when Hogwarts professors were in the process of using their wands to create a force field to protect the school, the film caught in the projector and began to melt. “It felt like Voldemort actually stopped the film,” Harner added.

Harner’s 11-year-old daughter, Olivia, said she had read the final Harry Potter book 24 times and was excited to see the film. “When the movie started burning,” she said, “it looked like the Death Eaters were trying to break the force field or something—and then it turned out, it took everyone like five seconds [to realize] that it was not the Death Eaters, it was the film.”

Olivia was there with friends. “I was definitely annoyed because the first half of the seventh movie was already a cliffhanger, and it turns out that the second half we just have to wait again, which is another cliffhanger,” she said. “So I guess I got a little angry, but not that much.”


What was remarkable is that the kids did not actually revolt. Some sort of laughed.


Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom, Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley and Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2.", Warner Bros.

Ellin Baumel, a film producer, was also at the aborted screening, along with her 10-year-old daughter, Claire, who’s friends with Olivia Harner. Some minutes after the movie stopped, Baumel, who was sitting near the theater’s exit, saw two young staff members come in. “I heard them as they come in,” she said, “and they sort of heard the volume rising in the theater, and one was saying to the other, ‘What, you’re not leaving me in here alone, I’m not doing it,’ and then they leave,” Baumel said.
It started to get louder in the theater. Baumel said she went out and found the two staffers, telling them, “I think you’ve run out of time, you better make that announcement like, now.” A staffer told the audience that the film would not be continuing. “They handled the crowd management, I have to say, pretty well overall,” Baumel added.

Looking back, Judd Harner said, “What was remarkable is that the kids did not actually revolt. Some sort of laughed.”

A manager at the Clearview movie theater said that film melting in the projector “doesn’t happen all the time, but it happens.” She referred questions to the corporate office, which provided a statement: “Regrettably, there was a technical glitch during this particular showing of Harry Potter, and all of our guests were provided with refunds and free return passes. All screens of the film are currently up and running, and we apologize for any inconvenience.”

For Olivia Harner’s 11-year-old brother, Alex, the feeling Thursday night was annoyance.

“It’s almost like 1 o’clock in the morning, and I’m really tired,” he said. “I just want to see the end of it. I’ve seen all the movies, I’ve read all the books, I’ve heard all the tapes, so I just really wanted to finish it.”

Judd Harner said the family will try to see the film again Saturday night at the same cinema, but this time in 3-D.

----------

Yeah, nothing goes wrong with Digital. [Roll Eyes]

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Bruce McGee
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1776
From: Asheville, NC USA... Nowhere in Particular.
Registered: Aug 1999


 - posted 07-16-2011 09:17 AM      Profile for Bruce McGee   Email Bruce McGee   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
So they couldn't repair the film and continue the show?

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99


 - posted 07-16-2011 09:42 AM      Profile for Mike Blakesley   Author's Homepage   Email Mike Blakesley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The "projectionist" probably went home to bed after pushing the start button!

quote:
All screens are currently up and running
I'll bet they just cut out the damaged part and went on the next day. Hopefully they'll get a new reel. I know if that had happened here, we wouldn't have been able to get a new reel until Monday.

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Martin McCaffery
Film God

Posts: 2481
From: Montgomery, AL
Registered: Jun 99


 - posted 07-16-2011 09:46 AM      Profile for Martin McCaffery   Author's Homepage   Email Martin McCaffery   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The story portrays it as the whole reel "going up in smoke". I wonder if anyone who worked for the theatre actually said that. It's not likely they were showing it on single reels.

Sounds like they had a brain wrap or something that jammed the film so the audience got to see one frame melt, and some goombas turned that into a whole reel melting. I'll guess it was easier to send the whole audience home than have them wait to fix the brain wrap when there probably wasn't anyone there qualified to do it.

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Bruce McGee
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1776
From: Asheville, NC USA... Nowhere in Particular.
Registered: Aug 1999


 - posted 07-16-2011 10:38 AM      Profile for Bruce McGee   Email Bruce McGee   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
If I cared about Harry Potter, I would have been royally irked if the show had stopped like that.

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Brad Miller
Administrator

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


 - posted 07-16-2011 12:58 PM      Profile for Brad Miller   Author's Homepage   Email Brad Miller       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: John Wilson
Yeah, nothing goes wrong with Digital.
Had it been digital, perhaps it wouldn't have crashed. Then again, had they used FilmGuard... [Razz]

I agree, it sounds like a brain wrap. They really aren't that hard to fix, but as has been pointed out the odds are the most qualified people associated with that theater were probably at home sleeping by that point.

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999


 - posted 07-16-2011 01:22 PM      Profile for Steve Guttag   Email Steve Guttag   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Could be a brain wrap...could be a belt or gear breakage too. And if you are not technically inclined or have the tools...a belt break is a show stopper and it would have caused the melted frame thing too and would have been unrecoverable.

It is likely a condemnation of the the operation booth operations (lack of real projectionists or any and possibly equipment) then that of film. As for digital, they have definitely had their share of blown shows and screenings. With the way they make these KDMs have such a short window, it is damn near impossible to ensure a good screening.

-Steve

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Justin Hamaker
Film God

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


 - posted 07-17-2011 01:51 AM      Profile for Justin Hamaker   Author's Homepage   Email Justin Hamaker   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I've had a melted frame as the result of an overheated motor on a Simplex 1050. And of course that one didn't trigger either fail-safe.

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James Westbrook
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1133
From: Lubbock, Texas, Usa
Registered: Mar 2006


 - posted 07-17-2011 02:28 AM      Profile for James Westbrook   Email James Westbrook   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I have late night/early morning dyslexia: I keep reading the thread title as "Film Melted My A**"

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Bernie Anderson Jr
Master Film Handler

Posts: 435
From: Woodbridge, New Jersey
Registered: Apr 2000


 - posted 07-17-2011 06:45 AM      Profile for Bernie Anderson Jr   Author's Homepage   Email Bernie Anderson Jr   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
what do you want? It's Clearview Cinemas.

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John T. Hendrickson, Jr
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 889
From: Freehold, NJ, USA
Registered: Apr 2001


 - posted 07-17-2011 07:45 PM      Profile for John T. Hendrickson, Jr   Email John T. Hendrickson, Jr   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Right on, Bernie. You said it in a nutshell.

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Mitchell Dvoskin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1869
From: West Milford, NJ, USA
Registered: Jan 2001


 - posted 07-25-2011 08:42 AM      Profile for Mitchell Dvoskin   Email Mitchell Dvoskin   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Clearview constantly has the worse presentation, whether it be digital or 35mm, of any commercial theatres here in northern NJ. Some locations are better than others, but none that I have seen rise to the level of good.

I was under the impression, apparently incorrect, that their Bellvue Theatre in Upper Montclair was all digital. Back in the '70's and early '80's, when it was still a United Artists single screen, it was one of my favorite places to see 70mm.

The Clearview circuit is owned by cable tv provider Cablevision.

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Martin McCaffery
Film God

Posts: 2481
From: Montgomery, AL
Registered: Jun 99


 - posted 07-25-2011 09:13 AM      Profile for Martin McCaffery   Author's Homepage   Email Martin McCaffery   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Mitchell Dvoskin
The Clearview circuit is owned by cable tv provider Cablevision.
Seems then they have a financial interest in making cinema look crappy [evil]

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