#3 in a Series Memorable Mishaps: Follow the Bouncing Dot by Anonymous My adventure starts on an extremely low-budget horror movie. A friend of mine hired me to conform the picture to a Lightworks cutlist for previewing. The reference numbers were key numbers. My career had afforded me many opportunities to work with film and key numbers, so I was in no way concerned. At one point, another crew member on the project asked which end of the key-number frame was the frame to use (aka "the zero frame"). I had worked often with Kodak film and always used the end of the key number for each foot as the zero frame, adding plus frames from there, so that's what I told my associate. Well, this show not only used Kodak film, but it also used Fuji film. I called a negative cutter and a couple of other friends to confirm that I had given the other crew member the correct information, and they all said it was fine. Unfortunately that wasn't the case. It turns out that the proper frames to use are indicated by a "dot," which Fuji film places at the beginning of the key number. Kodak, on the other hand, puts it at the end. I didn't know about the dot, and therefore our preview print had several cuts that were a frame off. By the time I discovered the error, it was too late to recheck all the cuts. YIKES! I was the assistant who was in the booth for both the preview plattering and the screening. As we started the first preview I was sweating bullets, because I was the only person who knew of the potential sync problem. With every cut I nearly had a heart attack, but somehow no one noticed my mistake. Luckily, the affected cuts occurred at points where there was no dialogue! Although I got off scot-free, I nearly died worrying that my mistake would be discovered. And so I never again forgot to pay attention to the key-number dot indicator.   The author is an assistant editor.   Have you made a mistake that you're willing to share? Let us know about it and spread the wisdom of learning by doing. Call the Newsletter editor with your story, or send it via email   Reprinted from The Motion Picture Editors Guild Newsletter Vol. 20, No. 2 - March/April 1999   Guild Home | Newsletter Home | Top of Page   Copyright © 1999, All Rights Reserved by The Motion Picture Editors Guild, IATSE Local 700