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Author Topic: Keeping riff raff out of the projection room Frank Cox Film God Posts: 2234 From: Melville Saskatchewan Canada Registered: Apr 2011 posted 04-11-2017 06:26 PM                        Sometimes people who have never been here before manage to get lost on the way into the auditorium and end up standing in front of my projection room door. (I've never quite managed to figure out why this is but they do it!) And once in a while they open that door and by then I've hopefully noticed them there so I can tell them that they've gone the wrong way. Every time this happens (maybe a couple of times a year) I think I've got to do something to keep people from opening that door, though as far as I know nobody has ever actually entered it and walked up the stairs). I don't particularly want to put a lock on that door since that sounds like an ongoing nuisance. When it happened last night my wife told me that I should just put a "No Admittance" sign on that door but I suspect that would have as much effect as putting up any other sign, i.e. none at all. I vaguely remember seeing some sort of a trick doorknob years ago that was designed for situations like this, where you had to squeeze the knob or push a button on the back of the knob or something like that to be able to open the door. I asked at the hardware store today and the owner there says that he vaguely remembers something like that too, that was designed to keep Grandma from opening the door and wandering off. Unfortunately, he can't find it. And after much google searching I can't find it either, probably because I don't know what it would be called. What do you folks use to keep the riff raff out of your projection room? And does anyone know where to find one of those trick doorknobs?  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 04-11-2017 06:49 PM                        Our booth door has been right at the top of the balcony stairs for 86 years with no lock on the door and I don't think anybody has ever walked into the booth unauthorized. We don't allow anybody under 21 into the balcony so that could be most of the reason. Since the projection system is password protected, there's not much they could do if they did walk in anyway. Maybe fiddle with the movie volume, that's about it, but I have a remote volume control in the office so I could fix that instantly. I guess if some drunk/stoned goofball wanted to go in there and start knocking stuff over, that's a possibility but after all these years I'm pretty confident it won't happen. (Now watch it happen this weekend during "Fate of the Furious" - excuse me while I find some wood to knock on)  |  IP: Logged Donald Brown Expert Film Handler Posts: 131 From: Lincoln, DE Registered: Sep 2009 posted 04-11-2017 08:10 PM                     While access to the projection room is an obvious security consideration, several years ago, I went into the booth briefly, leaving a rear door to the snack bar back room open momentarily. When I returned to the concession, I noticed what I thought to be water on the floor in a dark corner near the electric service. I checked the ceiling for evidence of a roof leak, since a light shower had recently passed. Fortunately, that didn't appear to be the source, so I discounted the puddle as a spill until I began to notice a peculiar smell. Evidently, an older patron entered the area and urinated on a box of lawn mower parts on the floor! One of the snack bar crew noticed the gent' and directed him out but didn't realize his undiscovered intent!  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 04-11-2017 08:10 PM                        Mike--you don't use the default passwords like every other theatre in the world? Seriously, no one ever seems to change the defaults on D-cinema equipment. As to the original question: do you have a "safety film only permitted in this room" sign on the door? That might clue the clueless in to the idea that perhaps the door is best left unopened. Or maybe just put a "broom closet" sign on the door.  |  IP: Logged Frank Cox Film God Posts: 2234 From: Melville Saskatchewan Canada Registered: Apr 2011 posted 04-11-2017 08:39 PM                        Beware of the tiger?  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 04-11-2017 09:06 PM                     quote: Scott Norwood Mike--you don't use the default passwords like every other theatre in the world? Seriously, no one ever seems to change the defaults on D-cinema equipment. The Roxy's password is"Password" just like Sean Spicer uses!  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 04-12-2017 01:00 AM                        We haven't changed the default password but who's going to know what that is? Plus, I didn't think they were changeable. At least, I've never found a "change password" menu option anywhere. No sign on the door at all, it's just a plain unmarked door...and I guess it helps that about 90% of our customers are repeats who know that the bathroom isn't in there.  |  IP: Logged Wayne Keyser Master Film Handler Posts: 272 From: Arlington, Virginia, USA Registered: May 2004 posted 04-12-2017 02:18 AM                     Sorry for my past of being a "projection room pest". In my defense, let me say that if I hadn't troubled some boothmen (and one booth babe) I would have missed out on this whole field. I would never have spent half an hour in the two-theater booth at the Colonial Williamsburg Visitor Center, when I was 17, and come away with about 20 feet of an old print of utterly unique 70mm (reduced from VistaVision). I would have missed out on producing my first and only film festival (local 16mm films) which was an utter flop but the owner thought it should be one of his duties to the community. I would have missed out on a "relationship" of sorts amid the most boring Summer EVER.  |  IP: Logged Marcel Birgelen Film God Posts: 3357 From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands Registered: Feb 2012 posted 04-12-2017 04:44 AM                     A simple sign: Staff Only or a more descriptive one: Projection Room, Staff Only, would probably suffice for most. I personally prefer a more polite signage, you don't want your guests to feel like potential criminals. I don't like those "KEEP OUT" signs all around. It makes me feel unwelcome. Also, I doubt most people wanting to look inside the booth are really trying to do any harm. You might as well give them a tour and inspire a few of them.  |  IP: Logged Carsten Kurz Film God Posts: 4340 From: Cologne, NRW, Germany Registered: Aug 2009 posted 04-12-2017 04:49 AM                     I think you should start with a sign. Choose something like 'High Voltage' or similar. Everyone believes that a cinema needs high voltage. That's not on the offensive side, but triggers the survival instinct (well, for most...). - Carsten  |  IP: Logged Dennis Benjamin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1445 From: Denton, MD Registered: Feb 2002 posted 04-12-2017 05:35 AM                        What we've done at some of our locations, is to purchase the pads with the combination lock on them. This way, you don't need a key to gain access, but a four digit pin number. With as expensive as this digital equipment is, and a similar problem with people wandering upstairs - it's been worth the investment.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 04-12-2017 07:19 AM                        In Massachusetts, locking the projection booth door is illegal when the building is occupied by the public. Which is not to say that it is not done. I agree that mechanical push-button locks seem to work well. Electronic versions exist, but the batteries will eventually fail.  |  IP: Logged Frank Cox Film God Posts: 2234 From: Melville Saskatchewan Canada Registered: Apr 2011 posted 04-12-2017 09:39 AM                        Why would it be illegal to lock the projection room door? Is it also illegal to lock the door to supply closet with the spare candy stock, or the boiler room or the elevator maintenance shed?  |  IP: Logged Richard P. May Expert Film Handler Posts: 243 From: Los Angeles, CA Registered: Jan 2006 posted 04-12-2017 10:01 AM                     I'd guess that rule goes back to nitrate days, to be sure a projectionist doesn't get caught in the booth in case of a fire. These things tend to never get removed.  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 04-12-2017 12:00 PM                        quote: Scott Norwood As to the original question: do you have a "safety film only permitted in this room" sign on the door? That might clue the clueless in to the idea that perhaps the door is best left unopened. Happy to provide a "Nitrate film present: no admittance to unauthorized personnel" (complete with a triangular explosion logo) one if it would help! However, such a placard was present on our booth door throughout last weekend, but it failed to prevent a number of booth invasions. The only nitrate-related legal requirements I'm aware of are that the door has to open outwards, and that it has to be openable from the inside without needing a key or combo, which our doors are: a key lock on the outside, and a lever to operate the lock on the inside. I just keep the door locked whenever the risk of a booth invasion is significant. It would be nice to have a combo keypad on the door, to prevent the need to fumble around for the key, though.  |  IP: Logged

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