Learning - Learning - Learning

McPhoto

MGF, Master Grumble Framer
Joined
Mar 24, 2002
Posts
817
Location
Clearfield, PA
Thru another framing forum (FramersForum@yahoogroups.com) the concern of movie poster collectors was brought up.
Many of us on the TG have learned from others regarding conservation framing & FACTS. I would urge you to visit:
http://www.learnaboutmovieposters.com/
and take their test for framers. It always pays to learn more about how to improve your craft.
I didn't do so well on their test - only got 50% correct (need to study) but I learned alot by checking out their website.
 
Dang, I only got 65%

But for someone who has framed less than a dozen movie posters in 39 years....... I'll take the score.

Interesting sight. Thanks Mike.
 
Didn't we go thru all this about 2 weeks ago - the infamous Sue Heim - Hollywood framer??? The one who thinks glass is 1/8th of an inch thick and all framers are money-grubbing idiots.

Plus there's so many ads on the site I never found the test. Where is it???
 
I couldn't find it either!!

Elsa
 
I'm not sure why the test is for framers only. There is not one framing question on the test. I don't think I need to be that informed on collecting to use my judgement to frame the posters. So, I didn't bother with the test.
 
Well I scored 65% but I agree with Kathy - if a person is a poster collector they should know this stuff - be as knowledgeable, say, as the average K****** collector! LOL!

All we have to do is put the 1/8th inch thick glass and the acid-laden foam board in the cheesy frame!
 
Sorry - didn't mean to start a brouhaha.

I know that in the past, it was my mistaken idea that when a customer brought in an old movie poster or some other similar item to be framed was that they were planning to display it proudly in their home & wanted it to look as good as possible.

At that time (5+ years ago) it was not unusual for us to recommend dry-mounting as well as matting & framing to help "preserve" this form of advertising. And as such, honestly did not realize that there was or would be any intrinsic value - after all, like it states on the website - theses advertisments were made to be thrown away after the movie ran, hence they were printed on the cheapest paper w/ the cheapest inks available.
My point was here was another venue where we could learn how others view our business methods and pehaps interact w/ them.
 
Well I really bombed!!
Didn't even understand half of what they were asking about!!
I think I just made a decision on how to treat this.
Anytime a movie poster comes my way, I will ask.."Is this a collectible?" and take it from there. I figuer the customer ought to know, and if it is then they must know how they want it framed and they can dang well tell me and I'll do it!!
I am just not going to lose any sleep over this cuause I know dang well---NOW--after looking over that site, that I sure have done it wrong in the past!!

Thanks Mike--for bringing this to our attention!!
you done good.

Elsa
 
Originally posted by McPhoto:
Thru another framing forum (FramersForum@yahoogroups.com) the concern of movie poster collectors was brought up.
Many of us on the TG have learned from others regarding conservation framing & FACTS. I would urge you to visit:
http://www.learnaboutmovieposters.com/
and take their test for framers. It always pays to learn more about how to improve your craft.
I didn't do so well on their test - only got 50% correct (need to study) but I learned alot by checking out their website.
i couldn't6 find the quiz :confused:
 
Mike, Thanks for the informative info. I have always thought that framing a very espensive print with glass was a disaster waiting to happen. I have reframed many wedding and high school pics that had fallen and the glass broke and damaged the print and matting.

Good Job Mike.....great info.....Keep it coming. Very informative, I will view the ads at the local movie theatre very differently now, pay more attention, may try to pick up some of the discards for future framing.
 
I didn't even read the responses here so sorry if this has been said.

Took the test and I find the information to a picture framer to be completely irrelevant. How does this test help a framer? A customer wouldn't come to me (and shouldn't) to find out if here half sheet is supposed to be original. What a waste of my time that was.
 
ok... I found it, read the info and than read between the lines of the quiz. 95% first time. Whop Whop Whop
Now I am not sure how often I will get to use this information, I will posibly forget most of it soon.
I do feel the most important thing is to
* ask your customer what they want to do.
* recomend options and upsell.
* close the sale.
Custom framing and matting can enhance the beauty of the artwork and become an extension for what the customer truly wants. WE love to upsell, but to do this we have to listen.
We learn from asking questions and reading. By the way, I prefer glass, but will give the customer the option. So, has this Sue Heim ever been to a trade conference, logged on to the 'G', or certified as a CPF? I was willing to read the information she had prepared is she willing to Learn about the framing industry, for as long as she has done it you would think she might figure out some of the truth.
Enough of that for now, I know we all work hard at building our business and getting the facts down pat. From searching out past articles I see this topic has brought on some heated debate.
fire.gif
Our intention should not be to add fuel to the fire but to control the situation and make it a plesant experience for our clients.
 
I got about the norm...atleast for my grades in high school. I got a 60...I was not even sure if the first question was a question or statement or what. I am happy, because it was not important.
Patrick Leeland
 
There must be much more clumsy people out there than where I am located. I rarely replace glass, and usualy it was from moving and shipping it.
 
How to mount/frame movie posters is a recurring discussion. The website is selling product - framing and linen backing, so they have a certain bias.

briank makes a good point - it is not necessary to know the curatorial information on the quiz in order to frame the posters properly.

What the framer needs to know is that these pieces can be very valuable, and therefore shouldn't be drymounted. (Of course I don't think anything should be drymounted ;)

Personally, I don't think they should be linen backed either.

As with most irreplacable items, less is more. If they need flattening, I humidify with Gore-tex and press dry between heavy duty blotters. If they need mending, it's usually Japanese paper and wheat starch paste, or a Lascaux mending tissue. In worst case scenarios, they are backed with light weight Japanese paper. In the conservation world, the less one changes the original appearance/quality of the paper, the better.

There are a number of good quality, reversible framing methods that can be used. If they can't afford framing, I recommend encapsulation with Mylar D and double-sided tape - or the Mylar edges can be welded if one has the machine for it.

Rebecca
 
Taking Rebecca's perspective one step further,
it is worth asking whether valuable posters should
be kept in the light. Even if they were printed with relatively durable inks,they were probably
printed on paper that contains lignin. This makes
them poor candidates for long term exposure to light and a wise collector will store the valued
originals in the dark, and frame reproductions,
since condition is critical to the value of any
collectible.

Hugh
 
That's a very good point Hugh. One of my clients had some of a kind, never exhibited movie posters from the teens. They were printed in parts, and had never even been joined.

He wanted to send it on a shoe string budget traveling exhibit around the world. Yikes! I convinced him that the reason it looked so good was precisely because it never had been displayed, and that he should have it copied, and send the copy. It took some convincing, but I finally got him on side.

Sometimes clients really really want to see the original, in which case we try to work out modifications to the environment to keep light levels as low as possible for as long as possible (e.g. curtains in seldom used rooms). Or, to do like museums and galleries do, and rotating/temporary displays, with the bulk of the ime in dark storage.

Rebecca
 
Back
Top