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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Topic: Harry Potter
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Jonathan M. Crist
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 531
From: Hershey, PA, USA
Registered: Apr 2000
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posted 10-25-2001 08:07 PM
Saw Harry Potter today at an exhibitor screening at the GCC Franklin Mills 14 in Philadelphia. By my watch it clocked in at 2 hours 31 minutes, 30 seconds. About 2 hours and 25 of picture and 6 and one half minutes of credits. The picture was very deliberate in getting where it was going but held the full attention of the 'intended audience' (anyone above about 8 years old who has read the book). The problems we as exhibitors will face was graphically illustrated by the family sitting in the row in front of me. The family consisted of a father, mother and three children ages approx 12, 9 and 5. The 12 and 9 year old were enthralled. After about 30 minutes the 5 year old had enough and began to wander first between her parents (who were on either end of the kids), then throughout the row and then up and down the aisle(playing on the stadium risers). The father fell asleep; the exhasperated mother kept trying to alternately quiet and occupy the 5 year old. For this parents should leave the real young ones (under 7) at home. (In my opinion it really pushes the envelope for a PG with many frightening scenes). However it is inevitable that the whole family will come along (including the real young ones) and the problems that I experienced will be repeated. If any adult or filmgoer really wants to enjoy this film (and there is much to enjoy) I would seriously recommend waiting for a 9:30 PM (or later) show. This was my first visit to the Franklin Mills and the presentation left much to be desired. The print (a wetgate studio dye transfer) was very dark particularly in the opening reels. As soon as it hit the screen there was a noticeable flicker. The picture had that fading dull look of a bulb on its last legs. When I finally went to the booth to complain about the sound (more on that below), I noticed that the bulb in the lamphouse (4,000 watts which should have sufficient) had over 18,000 hours on it. (The fallout from Chapter 11?) I got the impression that the projectionist felt that as long as the bulb still struck there was no need to change it. The presentation was intended to be in DTS (which was the only digital format available for that screen). Well it was...Sort of. The print came with two discs which looked like they had home made in someone's CD burner. Disc One had reels 1,3,5, 7, and 9 and Disc 2 had reels 2,4, 6 and 8. A couple minutes into the feature Disc One quit and would not run anymore at all for the rest of the show. It was readily apparent that the analog was missing a good part of the center channel. Upon my complaint, it was explained to me that since they didn't use the analog much they had never bothered to optimize it. When the DTS worked, the sound was excellent. But the end result was 20 minutes of Analog and 20 minutes of Digital alternating throughout the show.
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So I would guess that they tried to work in as many of the details as they possibly could, because if they shortchanged the story at all, word of mouth will be terrible.
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