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» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Digital Cinema Forum   » Paranormal Activity blowing out Center Speakers (Page 1)

 
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Author Topic: Paranormal Activity blowing out Center Speakers
Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

- posted 01-04-2014 03:24 PM      Profile for Steve Guttag   Email Steve Guttag   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
It would appear that there is a possible issue with Paramount's Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones.

I have not heard it but the reports are that center speakers are particularly vulnerable to this soundtrack. My personal suspicion is that any speaker with a passive crossover feeding the HF driver (this includes 3-ways that have a passive crossover on the MF/HF) are particularly susceptible as distortions getting to a crossover often have harmonics that come out of the HF portion of the crossover.

Technicolor seems to be handling issuing a replacement soundtrack (Version file that is downloadable) as well as issuing the replacement KDMs to use the new soundtrack version.

Below is the text from the Paramount letter:

quote:
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE MARKED ONES

Dear Projectionist,

Paramount has had reports of speaker damage from some theatres playing PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE MARKED ONES. In several cases we have been able to research, the volume had been turned up to high levels at patrons’ requests.

We are currently working to get information on speaker/amplifier brand and model to see if any particular combination of hardware might be more susceptible to damage. At this time, most of the damaged speakers have been identified as JBL model 4632’s, but this is preliminary data.

We are also working on an audio patch which may lessen the potential for damage.

For the time being, please do not set your volume at a high level on this film.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Lefko Horner
Paramount Motion Picture Operations
Vice President, Worldwide Print Control
Lefko_Horner@Paramount.com

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 01-04-2014 04:36 PM      Profile for Mike Blakesley   Author's Homepage   Email Mike Blakesley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
What do they mean by "high level?" That's pretty vague.

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Adam Martin
I'm not even gonna point out the irony.

Posts: 3686
From: Dallas, TX
Registered: Nov 2000

- posted 01-04-2014 05:02 PM      Profile for Adam Martin   Author's Homepage   Email Adam Martin       Edit/Delete Post 
Technicolor issued the version file and keys earlier today. Seven seconds of audio in reel 4 are replaced. The closed caption in this snippet of the reel displays "(HIGH-PITCHED BUZZING)". [Big Grin]

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

- posted 01-04-2014 05:07 PM      Profile for Steve Guttag   Email Steve Guttag   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
My favorite part of the letter is "Dear Projectionist" Show of hands...how many people have those right now? As a percentage of the industry?

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Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 01-04-2014 05:21 PM      Profile for Scott Norwood   Author's Homepage   Email Scott Norwood   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Do the 35mm prints have the same issue? (Are there any 35mm prints?)

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Marco Giustini
Film God

Posts: 2713
From: Reading, UK
Registered: Nov 2007

- posted 01-04-2014 06:58 PM      Profile for Marco Giustini   Email Marco Giustini   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
For a distributor to admit a problem like that there must be a serious issue with the soundtrack!

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Frank Cox
Film God

Posts: 2234
From: Melville Saskatchewan Canada
Registered: Apr 2011

- posted 01-04-2014 08:35 PM      Profile for Frank Cox   Author's Homepage   Email Frank Cox   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I wonder who's responsible for the cost of repairing those speakers? And the lost shows while waiting for the repairs, and the refunds given that night as well.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 01-04-2014 08:49 PM      Profile for Mark Gulbrandsen   Email Mark Gulbrandsen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Mike Blakesley
What do they mean by "high level?" That's pretty vague.
You'll know when it hits Mike. That new ticket counter window that was just installed will simply explode.

Yep.... had a Paranormal happenning in Elko this weekend. It blew the amp and hf diaphram out! Of course the email about the replacement patch arrived while we were driving home but it's since been taken care of. Was just waiting for some force to pull pop ladder out from under mke while I was back screen...

Actually it was nice to get to do a "normal service call" again. I haven't done one in almost two years now.... but hey, conversions resume again tomorrow... so back to that.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 01-04-2014 10:57 PM      Profile for Mike Blakesley   Author's Homepage   Email Mike Blakesley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
It probably won't hit here...we've never played one of the Paranormal Activity movies yet!

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Frank Cox
Film God

Posts: 2234
From: Melville Saskatchewan Canada
Registered: Apr 2011

- posted 01-04-2014 11:38 PM      Profile for Frank Cox   Author's Homepage   Email Frank Cox   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Really? You should consider playing them. They always do reasonably well here. They've never been really huge, but still worth the week on the screen.

Around here, the real chop-em-up stuff can do better than Paranormal Activity, sometimes, but it's really inconsistent. I've had huge crowds for some of the blood-and-guts stuff, and three or four people for others. Unfortunately, there's no way to tell which it will be in advance.

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Chris Slycord
Film God

Posts: 2986
From: 퍼항시, 경상푹도, South Korea
Registered: Mar 2007

- posted 01-05-2014 03:01 AM      Profile for Chris Slycord   Email Chris Slycord   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The previous Paranormal Activity movies don't completely translate into how well this one will do due to the fact that it's the only one so-far to be Rated R (instead of the PG13 like the previous movies).

This is, of course, the US ratings but that's really the only type Mike would care about.

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Justin Hamaker
Film God

Posts: 2253
From: Lakeport, CA USA
Registered: Jan 2004

- posted 01-05-2014 03:51 AM      Profile for Justin Hamaker   Author's Homepage   Email Justin Hamaker   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Chris, you are incorrect about the ratings on the Paranormal Activity movies. All of them have been rated R so far.

Paranormal Activity (2009) Rated R for language.

Paranormal Activity 2 (2010) Rated R for some language and brief violent material.

Paranormal Activity 3 (2011) Rated R for some violence, language, brief sexuality and drug use.

Paranormal Activity 4 (2012) Rated R for language and some violence/terror.

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2013*) Rated R for pervasive language, some violence, graphic nudity and some drug use.

*The current movie was originally scheduled for release the last weekend of October 2013.

The ratings are all from the MPAA rating site: Filmratings.com

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Marcel Birgelen
Film God

Posts: 3357
From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Registered: Feb 2012

- posted 01-05-2014 06:00 AM      Profile for Marcel Birgelen   Email Marcel Birgelen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Frank Cox
I wonder who's responsible for the cost of repairing those speakers? And the lost shows while waiting for the repairs, and the refunds given that night as well.
The studios surely put something into their contracts that avoids their responsibility, although that might not always stick in a court room. Also, they've chosen their wording carefully: "In several cases we have been able to research, the volume had been turned up to high levels at patrons’ requests." They're already tentatively pointing the finger at someone else.

It might also be an interesting issue if your equipment becomes damaged while it's still under warranty.

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Marco Giustini
Film God

Posts: 2713
From: Reading, UK
Registered: Nov 2007

- posted 01-05-2014 06:14 AM      Profile for Marco Giustini   Email Marco Giustini   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I guess very few systems are - on paper - capable of coping with a 0dB FS soundtrack when the sound processor is set to 7.0, and you always need to prove that your system is properly calibrated.

I have the feeling that it would be quite tough to prove that the speaker has failed because of something wrong on the soundtrack. Studios can easily say "the speaker wouldn't have failed if your speaker had been properly spec'ed for the size of the room".

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

- posted 01-05-2014 08:51 AM      Profile for Steve Guttag   Email Steve Guttag   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Justin Hamaker
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2013*) Rated R for pervasive language, some violence, graphic nudity and some drug use.
And that is just from the technician having to change the diaphragms!

Anyone? Huh? Anyone? Tough crowd.

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