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2018-09-16 |
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Rapport från arrangören i samband med att kopian skadades: I'm really sorry to have to report that we had a pretty major incident during the projection of RITA OF THE WEST tonight, which resulted in significant damage to the print. It seems that the damage occurred because the print had a certain degree of shrinkage and broken perforations in Reel 2. In any case, during Reel 2 the print broke, and unfortunately, instead of simply spooling out onto the floor, it bunched up in the gate and suffered folding and creasing. Our projectionist was right there, but before she could shut down the projector more than 10 feet were damaged. For the most part it's simply a matter of creasing, though at least two of the creases are serious enough that there will probably have to be some repairs made thanks to broken perforations.
I wanted to write you immediately, especially since we have a final screening scheduled for Sunday evening. Please let me know if it's possible for us to make repairs to the print (which would mean making a tape splice where the break occurred, and making sprocket repairs where necessary). If not, we'll either cancel the screening, or simply omit the part of the print where the damage occurred. We most certainly will NOT make any repairs without permission.
I'm very sorry that this incident occurred, and that the damage was so extensive. Again, the cause appears to have been some shrinkage and broken perfs, and the immediate result was simply a clean break. However, sadly the part of the print that followed the break was drawn into the rollers and further damaged, before our projectionist could shut the projector off.
I'm including the report that our head projectionist sent earlier tonight, so you have all the details. I have a feeling you won't see this email until Monday, but I wanted to send it right away just in case you do see it during the weekend, and can grant permission to make repairs so we can go ahead with the final screening on Sunday.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Here's the report from our head projectionist:
"I looked at the damage in reel 2 of RITA OF THE WEST. It starts at about three minutes into the reel at a point where there is stress on the perforations, likely due to that portion of the print being slighting shrunken. There are a couple of broken perforations, and then a couple of frames later, there is a cement splice where the break occurred.
From what Bibi told me, after the break, she stopped the projector as quickly as possible, but during the time when the film continued to be pulled through the gate, it started to bunch up underneath the intermittent sprocket roller. This caused some creases that span the length of about 5-10 feet, where each crease is spaced out at about one crease every foot. At least two creases will need to be repaired with splicing tape, because the perforations have broken on those crease. Then after the creases end, there is another approximately ten feet with sprocket damage in the image which caused a couple of gashes in the image, and there are also a couple of broken perforations which will need to be repaired."
We did make some repairs to the section that was damaged following the break. We did not have time to repair the section before the break (the section that was suffering from shrinkage and perf damage before we received the print, and that presumably led to the film breaking), but we did go ahead with the final screening by simply winding past that portion, and skipping the first three minutes of the reel (the audience was very understanding).
I wanted to share our head projectionist's further notes (below), especially so you're aware that the section leading up to the damage will most likely need further repairs before it's projected again:
"I made repairs to the portion of reel 2 that starts with the break and ends with the last signs of damage that occurred after that break. While I am confident that my repairs will pass through the projector, I am not as certain that the portion preceding the break will run smoothly. The whole beginning of the reel, up until the break, is shrunken and has tension damage on the perfs, and I am concerned that if this section ran through the projector again, without further repair work, it is likely that more damage will occur. If I had more time, I could make the additional repairs myself, but I do not want to rush to fix the opening three minutes of the reel right now right before the screening. So I will thread the second reel at about 3 1/2 minutes in."
Of course you'll do a close inspection on your end, but I wanted to make sure you have all the information from my end. We'll ship the print back asap, and please let me know if you have any questions or follow-up once you've received it. Our projectionist did make a splice where the break occurred, using "zebra" tape (marked with yellow stripes) so you can easily find it.
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