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Author Topic: Exit signs that shine on screens! Jesse Skeen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1517 From: Sacramento, CA Registered: Aug 2000 posted 06-16-2002 11:30 PM                     I'm posting this in Ground Level because it seems like the sort of thing the ground level people should take care of, or at least notice, but don't always seem to. I just sat through "Sum of All Fears" with red light from the EXIT signs shining onto BOTH sides of the screen! What really scares me is that this theater (Sacramento Downtown Plaza) has been open for about 9 years (UA owned it first, then was sold to Century 2 years ago), and possibly the exit signs have had that problem since the day it opened! One would think that the people who work there and see this every day would do SOMETHING to fix it! If they can't be moved, they could at least be turned down or have something put in to block the light from the screen (they weren't distracting to me otherwise). You have to also wonder who decided to put them there in the first place! I just sent a note about this to the company through their website, asking them to let me know when this problem is fixed, but until then I won't go back to this theater- it's the first time I've been there, the place looks pretty nice besides that.  |  IP: Logged Jan Hackett Expert Film Handler Posts: 148 From: Albuquerque, NM, USA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 06-16-2002 11:47 PM                     that blows...maybe you could put lower wattage bulbs in the signs... ------------------ Jan Hackett Theater Operations Manager Extreme Screen Dynatheater NM Museum of Natural History Foundation  |  IP: Logged Adam Fraser Master Film Handler Posts: 499 From: Houghton Lake, MI, USA Registered: Dec 2001 posted 06-17-2002 12:00 AM                        Jan said what i was thinking, we use a bulb bright enough so people can see them but too bright as they shine on the screen.------------------ Adam Fraser www.pinestheatre.com  |  IP: Logged Paul G. Thompson The Weenie Man Posts: 4718 From: Mount Vernon WA USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 06-17-2002 12:12 AM                     Get the nuclear powered exit signs. They cost about 150 bucks, and last about 10 years, completely maintenance free. They can be obtained from an electrical contractor supply house.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 06-17-2002 12:29 AM                     I prefer Paul's answer, but in a pinch you can run to the office supply store and purchase some of those cheap "book report covers" that bind together up to 50 pages and have a transparent cover tinted red or green. Just trim one or two of those to size and viola, the output is dimmed.  |  IP: Logged Adam Wilbert Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 590 From: Bellingham, WA, USA Registered: Mar 2002 posted 06-17-2002 12:55 AM                        We also have a problem with the exit sign brightness, but it isn't on the screen. If you sit in the back 7 rows, the rear sign casts shadows. I put a single piece of blank paper in the sign (they're LED signs, so there isn't a fire danger!), which dimmed it down enough to not be obnoxious, but was concerned about fire-code compliance. I don't think that they make special provisions or exceptions for theater auditoriums, and that they require a specific wattage bulb or brightness. I took the paper out for our annual inspection two days ago, just in case, and will put it back in after our re-inspection.  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-17-2002 06:38 AM                     Also most signs use 2 lamps rewire them in serries to drop the intensity  |  IP: Logged Michael Brown Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1522 From: Bradford, England Registered: May 2001 posted 06-17-2002 09:42 AM                     I had to green ligh shining over the right hand side of the screen for Spiderman. It's a problem inherant with exits right next to the screen I suppose.  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 06-17-2002 10:14 AM                        Usually the problem is simply that the sign shines light on the screen. In many cases, it is possible to build a black baffle or tilt the sign to keep its light off the screen, without having to dim the sign and compromise safety. The audience NEEDS to see the sign in case of emergency, the screen does not: Contrast Killers ------------------ John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA Tel: +1 585 477 5325 Cell: +1 585 781 4036 Fax: +1 585 722 7243 e-mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion  |  IP: Logged Greg Mueller Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1687 From: Port Gamble, WA Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-17-2002 10:24 AM                        I'm betting that there's some fire code that dictates the wattage or output of those exit signs. Probably it would be better to put a baffle up rather than to limit their output. There might be legal issues with altering them ------------------ Greg Mueller Amateur Astronomer, Machinist, Filmnut http://www.muellersatomics.com/  |  IP: Logged Paul G. Thompson The Weenie Man Posts: 4718 From: Mount Vernon WA USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 06-17-2002 11:30 AM                     Greg, there is, as well as the color. In Mount Vernon, the MVFD would not allow lighted red signs for emergency exits. They had to be green. There is another style used, it is full of green LED's. Those things are bright!  |  IP: Logged Paul Mayer Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under! Posts: 3836 From: Albuquerque, NM Registered: Feb 2000 posted 06-17-2002 12:18 PM                        We had the same problem at the theatre I just left--the signs in some auditoriums were mounted flat on the side walls close to the screen causing light contamination. Las Vegas and Clark County fire codes mandate a minimum wattage so nothing can be done about that, though radioactive is acceptable. Red or green is fine here. But baffling or using a wedge mount to angle the offending sign away from the screen works well. One sign we couldn't do anything about though--it was mounted behind the screen! Idjit architects...  |  IP: Logged Ian Price Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1714 From: Denver, CO Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-17-2002 03:11 PM                     When I was a projectionist in Denver for United Artists I was sent to Sacramento to train the Projectionists for the UA Downtown Plaza.  |  IP: Logged Dennis Benjamin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1445 From: Denton, MD Registered: Feb 2002 posted 06-17-2002 03:34 PM                        Yes, Paul - the architects who designed the Neonopolis 14 were obviously smoking something when they put those designs through. I know that most of the design flaws were carried over from the original Mann theatre design from a few years ago. I have never been to a Mann Theatre - but this one would have been a theatre manager's nightmare. Actually ---- it still is. Although 95% of the customers love it - so go figure. Dennis Benjamin GM Crown Neonopolis 14 Las Vegas, NV ------------------ "Running through life at 24 frames per second"  |  IP: Logged Mike Williams Master Film Handler Posts: 255 From: Knoxville, TN Registered: Feb 2002 posted 06-17-2002 03:44 PM                     My bet is that if the fire marshall would have a problem with you dimming the exit sign, he might have a problem with it being moved or partially blocked or filtered. The Nuclear signs are good. We used them at the theater I was at. No worries about bulbs or batteries going bad, and less light output. On top of that, the fire marshall (at least the ones down in Dade County) approve them.  |  IP: Logged

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