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Author
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Topic: Masking motor / automation issue
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James Westbrook
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1133
From: Lubbock, Texas, Usa
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 08-06-2007 01:51 AM
Strange scenes in the gold mine... We have Rentec automation with Rentec consoles, circa 1990 issue, and the house in question has top masking. The default for the masking to be in because we run Firstlook is flat ratio, or masking up. When we start the trailers (35mm), we lower the masking for the scope films. In this particular house, the movie was Bratz, which was fortunate as this meant fewer people noticed the problem... After the 5pm show dropped, I noticed the masking did not reset itself to flat. I attempt to manually do this using the automation controls on the console. (Whoever set these up in 1990 assumed Flat meant "close" (like side masking) and "open" means scope. I do not know if it was an installer preference or someone at Rentec, but this causes confusion to anyone we train upstairs.) The masking stayed in the down position all evening, cutting off the top of the Firstlook. Due to show schedules, I didn't have time to go behind the screen until after the last showing of Bratz dropped. I got in the auditorium as the credits to Bratz's last showing was running, and stationed myself close to the masking motor to see if the unit would even attempt to run when the movie dropped. (This is activated by the dcn's controls, somehow. This doesn't sctivate by the close of the projector dowser, but the failsafe's dropping.) The motor did not buzz or do anything. Not a peep. I am thinking it's not getting any power. I dust off the controls on the motor itself and, interestingly, was able to raise, lower, raise, lower and raise the masking. Now I am thinking it's the automation, or at least the function that controls the masking. I go back upstairs, and...now the open/close masking switch on the console's automation panel IS WORKING. Is this a Rentec thing or did the masking motor decide it wanted the night off?
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Jesse Skeen
Phenomenal Film Handler
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Posts: 1517
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 08-06-2007 12:56 PM
It seems like more theaters are doing this now, which is an abomination of showmanship. Especially with common-width screens, the masking should NEVER move when there are people in the audience to see it, only exception being if you're showing a double-feature with one movie in each format or if a certain trailer just HAS to be shown that doesn't match the movie. It just looks awful to go into a theater, get used to the screen in the ratio set for the preshow, then have the screen get SMALLER when the feature starts. If I wanted to watch a letterboxed movie, I can do that at home! I tend to sit a row or two closer to the screen if it's common-width and the movie is scope, but I can't do that if the masking's always set to flat when I go in and I don't know what format the movie's going to be. Making it even more awkward is if the first scope trailers that hit the screen are 'windowboxed' with black on the sides, or if the movie is one that starts out that way (Simpsons, Brother Bear, Galaxy Quest).
If the movie is scope, keep the masking down and re-size the preshow so it fits properly on the screen. Having the masking change for it tells your customers that the pre-show is more important than the actual movie. (I actually left my last full-time theater job when they forced me to do this, and I will not patronize any theater that does this.) And if the pre-show IS that important, why the hell did you put in common-width screens in the first place??? I've seen brand-new theaters built within the past couple years with common-width screens but they want the masking adjusted for the pre-show- if you have a screen with side masking then you can keep it the same size no matter where the masking is, and of course that's also the preferable way to put in a screen anyways!
This practice is just one more reason to give up on the theater 'experience' and wait for the DVD.
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Thomas Pitt
Master Film Handler
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Posts: 266
From: Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK
Registered: May 2007
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posted 08-07-2007 03:49 PM
In the UK, nearly all pre-show adverts and trailers are supplied in the flat format, whereas movies themselves can be supplied in flat or scope format. If you need to have a pre-show advert and trailer session, the projector/masking needs to be set to flat and then change over to scope (if necessary) for the feature.
The way I see it, there are only two ways to avoid the masking change. Either have a short intermission between the final trailer and the start of the movie (changing masking while audience won't notice). Or, set the screen up for scope and shrink flat features to the vertical confines of the scope screen.
When I visited Cineworld Sheffield, they did the latter - the screen was sized for scope all the time, with no masking. Flat features just filled the middle of this area, leaving dark bands on the left and right. Scope features filled the screen.
Vue Leeds Light uses top masking (single blind) in all their screens. It's not very nice to have the entire screen appear to move down a bit when the masking changes! If I'm going to see a movie there, I check on Film-Tech forums to see whether it's flat or scope... if scope, I sit a little further down so I'm more in the vertical centre for scope pictures.
In Vue Sheffield, some screens use side masking and others use top and bottom masking (two blinds; centre of picture remains the same). It's always obvious when the screen is about to change size. For a couple of seconds, a very scratchy white or green piece of leader is actually projected. This is the 'spacer' film to cover the time needed for the turret to rotate. However, they place the cue mark at the beginning of the spacer film, and it doesn't actually trigger the changeover until it's been projected briefly! Oddly, I've never seen this effect in any other cinema I've visited, and the changeover has been much quicker (faster turret?)
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