I work in a movie theater. I started out in the box office, then moved to being an usher (taking tickets and cleaning the theaters), and am now a projectionist. I was given two weeks of training with the Projection Manager, and was actually threading up the machines and starting them by the second day of training.
First inclination that this would be a killer job when it comes to the stress these machines would give me: the projection manager let me know how much everything costs. All 8 projectors amounts to $380,000 dollars. Each film (we run multiple reels on specific projectors) costs between 2.5k to 3.5k each.
Now, the thing with film now-a-days, is that with all our technology and our advances, the best we have done is to prevent the film from tearing/splitting. Film can be stretched, and will be damaged by simple elements that we come in contact with everyday. Enemy number One just happens to be dust. Dust WILL damage a film if enough of it gets on the film. Along with dust, you have destructive oils, and temperature.
With this in mind, proper care is a must when it comes to maintaining these films.
Second inclination: on my first threading, where my virgin hands touched the experienced flesh that was film, I did decently well. The manager had to stop the machine and fix the flow of the film that was going to the receiving platter, so it would wind up correctly. However, after we moved over to threading it into the machine and through the film gate, she walked away for a moment. Nervous as hell and hyped up on adderal, mountain dew, and Rockstar energy drink, my mind slipped into a blank state.
Well, she came back and we wrapped up. It was then that I decided to take my lunch break. During this break I was thinking about a previous projectionist who was fired for ruining a copy of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. His mistake was that he was on his cellphone while threading up the machine, and mistakingly missed a roller, resulting in having the entire film run over metal for all 2 hours 36 minutes of it.
It was then that I realized I may have made the same mistake in the midsts of my "stagefright" during the internal threading. I went back up to the projector room, and had I the gallon of bleach, I'd have drank it. What I feared was true, the Projection Manager didn't pay close enough attention and I had completely forgot about that one roller during the proccess. I fought with myself for a few minutes, trying to decide whether or not to let her know. I ultimately decided to let it go, as the movie was allready half-way through, and I just couldn't sum up the courage to say "Holy sh[b][/b]it look what we didn't notice!"
The film had not been damaged, amazingly, and I had been lucky. I can honestly say though, that I've never been as stressed out like that before, in my life.
Here I am 2 weeks later, and while things are easier to manage and the previous mistake will never happen again, there is still an incredible amount of stress involved with taking care of all the machines by myself. Is my tension on the film decent enough to prevent problems with the sound? Will customers complain about my focusing? What if I ruin the film somehow and cost the company $2500?
Does anyone else work in an area where mistakes must be incredibly minor, or else the consequences will be severe? Is your job stressful or are you able to relax?