Graduation | The Invisible Projection Screen.

[Edrick]

Robert Norton - Principle: I'd like to take this time to thank the Woburn Public Media Center for all their help in filming this graduation today, and for presenting the graduation on the projection screen so we may see the slideshow and the ceremony. (Big long thankyou speech) .......

Audience / Graduates - "scratching head"

Me (Production Van) - I guess he forgot to update his speech.

Carl (Production Van) - God **** screen and the cost.

----

(2 Hours Before Graduation Start)

So you guys all set (to the projector guys). Yeah almost but for some reason our projectors are thearmling out.

-Well it's mid day the suns pounding down on the black projectors which are 10k each stacked ontop of each other. So I wonder why they might be a tad hot... burning to the touch.

So they throw a tarp over it and I suggest throwing a fan behind it well that fixes the heat issue however they're still thermaling out. So then they think hey maybe we should check the voltage cause the fan is also dropping and dying out. Sure enough with only one projector on the voltage drops from 115 to 100 then you power on the 2nd it kills both projectors. Just with one projector on as the bulb would warm up the voltage dropped to 60 before the projector died out then it jumped back to 115.

Can you guess what the issue was? I'm standing there suggesting that it might not be a high enough gage they're running 12 gauge 400 feet. Coupling 5 extensions cords, so we go talk to the generator guy to make sure the generators feeding the right voltage sure enough it is and as I suggested 30 minutes before he also tells them they need atleast 10 gauge to go that far.

Alright so they decide to power the projectors off of our production van generator BAM blows the breaker. Alright so finally they get the projector running and the 20x20 foot screen is swaying all over the place and topples over once and then we have to stand on it to hold it down.

So now the projectors are up and running and the projector screen has to be about 5 feet infront to see anything and needless to say the picture is tiny well it turns out 20k total isn't bright enough for outdoor usage. You'd think someone would have picked up on this at the ordering time.

So we have to disassemble it and apparently the principle didn't care to notice the big giant (lack there of) projector screen.

 

[bobgaggle]

I have yet to hear a rant that praises admin...

 

[Edrick]

The principles just fine, great guy. I graduated last year, the issue was whoever down at the company speced out this setup said it would work. Even the guys setting up said it wouldn't have worked and they dunno what the company was thinking. They were great guys though, feel bad it didn't work.

 

[GeneralDoom]

That seems to be the case in most companies, they get the wrong stuff even when someone tells them it won't work

 

[LDTom]

Hehe sounds like you tried everything that you possible could to make it work and even when it did, it was nothing special. Sorry to hear about that.

I have heard of companies that either A. usually rent projectors and the screens to venues inside were the lighting is controlled and is out of the elements. Maybe because those projectors were what they have used before on projects in a indoor venue they thought that it would work. Also if the bulbs through the whole day were constantly on and then off and losing power so that the bulb was hot and it was already hot outside that could of lead to the drop in brightness.

But it is kind of worrisome and funny at the same time when the techs from the company come out to set it up and say that it wont be bright enough and have no idea what they company was thinking.