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Author Topic: Bad Presentation, nearly always Paul Howard Film Handler Posts: 26 From: Huyton, Liverpool, UK Registered: May 2003 posted 05-16-2003 10:44 AM                     I live in the northwest of the UK, and it seems I have some sort of curse following me. Nearly everytime I visit a cinema there is always something wrong with the presentation. Prime example, Phone Booth, last monday at my local Showcase, Liverpool screen 8. Great print, sharp focus, BUT, during the film there is some hard panned dialogue in the left and right channels when Colin farrel is talking to his wife, etc on the phone. All the sound from the left channel was inaudible due to a blown speaker, no sound other than a muffled LF hum when someone spoke. I noticed it from the moment the ads rolled, me being the loony perfectionist I am I just sat there thinking about it, spoiled the film. This is the most horrific, for me anyway, and oddly enough the most subtle. Spirit- stallion of cimmaron, at the filmworks in manchester screen 20. Again a good print, sharp focus and powerful audio woo hoo I thought, BUT during the escaping compound scene I noticed the surround speakers were actually reversed. left surround info came from the right surround speakers and visa-versa. HOW ON EARTH did the techs who installed the sound system not notice, unless it is easily done on the processor, this worries me that no projectionists or anyone else in charge have not noticed this. I have so many stories from all of the cinemas in my area like these, those annoying film spoiling problems. Though to many patrons it doesnt matter, to me it does. Let me hear if I am not the only person that has the afternoon off work, goes to relax and watch a movie only to have it spoiled by some rediculous technical problem. Happens to me nearly every time. Hello to all at the forums.  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 05-16-2003 11:04 AM                        Paul: Is your middle name "Cassandra" or "Job"? If so, please stay away from theatres operated by Film-Tech participants. I assume you immediately brought the problems to the attention of the theatre manager or projectionist? And then followed-up with a letter to the theatre and the head of projection for the circuit? Some theatres/circuits have comment cards or websites to note problems. For chronic problems (e.g., blown speakers, incorrect channels, badly torn/stained screen) that aren't fixed in a reasonable amount of time and several reminders, you may also want to complain to the distributor too, or wait for a release being monitored by THX Theatre Alignment Program, Dolby Distributor Services, or Kodak ScreenCheck who have the "clout" to get things done if the theatre wants to keep showing the picture.  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 05-16-2003 11:26 AM                        I once sat through a show with a lot of panned dialog and sound effects, and it was painfully obvious that the left-screen channel was not working at all. I notified the staff but they were indifferent. So I wrote a letter to the "home office" (happened to be Moyer Theatres). About a week later I got a letter from their engineer thanking me profusely for bringing this to his attention. He said he drove down here from Portland that very day to check it out (the problem happened to be in their primo THX house) and he found a blown fuse in an amplifier (maybe the Dolby Train caused it ). Anyway, my experience has been that if you politely and accurately point this stuff out, the word eventually gets to the right people and things often do get fixed.  |  IP: Logged Bruce McGee Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1776 From: Asheville, NC USA... Nowhere in Particular. Registered: Aug 1999 posted 05-16-2003 12:17 PM                     I saw "Oklahoma!" in 70mm back in the 1980's. The right screen channel tweeter was making a lot of noise. It was distracting to say the least. I nicely told the manager about it. During the show, he went behind the screen and checked it out. As I came out after the show, he singled me out, and handed me a pass to come back. They were still playing the film the next weekend, and I came back. Everything sounded fantastic! The manager told me that they had replaced all 3 screen channel speaker sets during the week! The owners were sticklers for quality, and the speakers they had been using were very old. Every film I saw there from then on sounded great. Theatre: The Columbia Theatre Atlanta, Georgia. It's gone now. Too bad. Vic 8, too! Welcome Paul!  |  IP: Logged Jesse Skeen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1517 From: Sacramento, CA Registered: Aug 2000 posted 05-16-2003 01:36 PM                     There's no excuse for people not going into the theaters and checking the sound. The last place I worked at had one screen with the left and center channels mixed together- right when I walked in I could tell dialogue was coming from the left channel. The place had been open for a year and nobody noticed it. I found out a switch on back of one of the amps was set incorrectly.  |  IP: Logged Tom Sauter Expert Film Handler Posts: 163 From: Buffalo, NY, USA Registered: Sep 2000 posted 05-16-2003 03:22 PM                        I find that theatres tend to live with problems rather than solve them right away; they try to get a tech to come in and solve a host of problems at once rather than piecemeal. Sometimes I have patched something together at 11:00PM on a Friday night to make it through the weekend, only to have them tell me on Monday that they don't want the parts to replace blown horn, etc, since their business is so marginal all they can afford is to put up a picture and sound. Its sometimes hard to convince them that investing in their equipment is necessary, and will provide a good rate of return as attendance. I was recently asked to align an a-chain, but never mind about the shutter that keeps flying off during shows!  |  IP: Logged Charles Everett Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: New Jersey Registered: May 2001 posted 05-16-2003 06:34 PM                     I've been to one theater that does this on a regular basis: Feature is in Dolby Digital but the sound doesn't cut into digital until R4. (With a Friend Like Harry) Audible hum in the left surrounds all the way through the feature. Subtitles get lower on the screen with each reel; R6 starts with the subtitles cut off, has to be reframed. (Together) Projector is aimed off-center; black bar on the right side all the way through. (The Last Castle) Misframed from start to finish; the bottom of the screen shows a sliver of the top of the next frame. (Sweet Home Alabama) That theater? The Destinta New Windsor 12 in upstate New York. It's a stadium theater but that's no excuse for presentation. Yet it drove a nearby 10-plex and 4-plex out of business!  |  IP: Logged Ron Lacheur Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 650 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2002 posted 05-17-2003 02:53 AM                     I was at the matrix opening night showing and who ever built up the print mis-spliced the first reel just after the Dolby aurora trailer. Of course the warner bros tag comes on with the frame line in the middle of the screen, but the " projectionist " was right there to re-frame it. All it requires is a brain that actually works when building up a print.  |  IP: Logged

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