16mm movies

[thatkid]

Specifically, commercials, change-overs, and "slugging" films... National commercials and PSA's were almost always sent to stations in many multiple copies; as reels of commercials were spliced together in advance for use on air, in the order prescribed by the ad sales department (this spot to run at 4:28 pm, etc.) The multiple copies also allowed for any damaged spots to be discarded and replaced. By contract, excess prints left over were to be discarded or destroyed; but quite a few ended up "sub rosa" in the hands of school, college, or library film departments where they were used as "junk" test film. Frankly, this was a good thing as it is probably how many old commercials have survived and been preserved today...

At many stations, two 16mm projectors and two slide projectors would be arranged in a cross shape around a central unit called a multiplexer, which allowed all four to feed into one (usually vertically-mounted) camera by flipping mirrors in the box which would reflect the image into the camera's lens. Some 16mm telecine projectors used the same more or less standard 2000 foot reels used for classroom and home-movie 16mm machines; others could handle huge 5000 or 6000 foot reels, which required special rewind tables, etc.

The program films ran on one projector, the commercials on the other. At the points in the show where the commercials were to run, the print would be "slugged," slang for a length of usually white leader film to be spliced in. The tech would see the "slug" coming and be ready to roll the other machine with the commercial. The program-film machine would then be temporarily stopped to allow the commercial to run, then re-started. If you ever see an un-cut mint 16mm TV show print, the lab would insert an on-screen warning "PLACE COMMERCIAL HERE" to indicate where the print should be "slugged." The commercials were similarly "slugged" with leader in between to allow for start-and-stop on their machine. I know at least one station that used a "red, white and blue" coding system for their films; white was for "slugs" and the head leader on color films, blue was for the head of b/w films, and red was for the tail leader on any film. Red leader on the outside of a reel of film meant it had to be rewound before showing.