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Topic: Star Wars Episode III Screening

Manny Knowles
"What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???"

Posts: 4247
From: Bloomington, IN, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 05-16-2005 12:24 AM

There was a mini-doc called "Wedgie 'Em Out" on the starwars.com website during the Episode II production phase (it may be included on the DVD). The doc shows Lucas working with the art dept., specifically addressing the need to evolve the "look" of the new trilogy, moving away from the sleekness of the spaceships in Ep1 toward the chunkier look previously estabilished with Ep4.

I've decided that I have a need to see this installment. It is therefore a relief to be hearing good things about it. You guys better know what the heck you're talkin' about or...or...well...you just better be telling the truth!

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Brian Michael Weidemann
Expert cat molester

Posts: 944
From: Costa Mesa, CA United States
Registered: Feb 2004

posted 05-16-2005 01:18 AM

KINDA MAYBE SPOILER: I think the most apparent "sublte change" in the look of the film is nothing more than the fact that we are seeing the interior and exterior of the ambassador ship from Alderan that we see in the first scenes of Episode IV ... in fact, the very doorway that Vader first steps through. That sterile white hallway just screams out Star Wars.

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Edward Jurich
Master Film Handler

Posts: 305
From: Las Vegas USA
Registered: Jul 2003

posted 05-17-2005 07:06 PM

quote: Brian Michael Weidemann
Our regular Digital Cinema technician usually comes in to upload the "film" on the Monday night prior to its Friday opening

So I'm wondering, if the system locks, won't reboot, etc, how long does it take to get the tech back to fix compared to undoing a platter wrap.

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Michael Schaffer
"Where is the
Boardwalk Hotel?"

Posts: 4143
From: Boston, MA
Registered: Apr 2002

posted 05-17-2005 07:42 PM

Why are you comparing a system shut-down to a brainwrap?

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Edward Jurich
Master Film Handler

Posts: 305
From: Las Vegas USA
Registered: Jul 2003

posted 05-17-2005 09:18 PM

quote: Michael Schaffer
Why are you comparing a system shut-down to a brainwrap?

I figure these would be the most common problems with the two.

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Paer Hoegberg
Film Handler

Posts: 81
From: Borlänge, Sweden
Registered: Apr 2005

posted 05-17-2005 11:30 PM

We almost never do screening of any major film. The reason is simple, the print arrives only some hour before the first show - there is no time.

I look forward to see this movie, why? Ths is the first Dolby-EX print we receive since we got our CP650:s.

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Brian Michael Weidemann
Expert cat molester

Posts: 944
From: Costa Mesa, CA United States
Registered: Feb 2004

posted 05-18-2005 12:19 AM

Actually, the most common problem we have with the DLP is automation stuff, likely because it's integrated (poorly) with its sister Christie 35mm. At the worst, we have to cue the house lights manually and switch the sound format. Big deal! That's pre-school projection anyway.

The server is very reliable and I think it's crashed only once since it was installed years ago, which was an upgrade from the prototype we've been running since ... 1997? '98 maybe. That one was just as reliable.

But if it did require a service call from a tech, we'll probably just lose that one show. But we have pretty much always been playing a 35mm in another auditorium to whatever movie is in our digital, so a few passes and rerouting to let them finish their movie wouldn't be out of the question.

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Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

posted 05-18-2005 04:38 AM

To all:

We had our screening tonite at one of our theatres to check out the print. (One FRIKKEN GOOD MOVIE! - good luck to all who works in their theatres who have the opportunity to present this movie).

This seems like simple routine to some, or all, but it was a very special night for me....

I have ALSO gone full circle...

....For I've opened ALL of the six STAR WARS releases-from the 2nd release in June of 1977 (we didn't make the inital 100 print release of May of that year), to tomorrow night when I actually opened the midnight show.

That's 28 years from the beginning to the end for Luca's "Space Cowboy" movie that wasn't supposed to do any business (thank goodnes that FOX floated Lucas the dough to make this epic).

..just a personal tribute that I must share..(and wonder if there is anyone out there who has acheived such an accomplishment) as this that started tonite with this screening and will end with the press of the start button on a X-90 console running film through a Mil-2000 machine (and the sound in SR-D), Wednesday night.

Lots have changed since back then. The original release was in mono and acetate-few prints were struck in Dolby "A" in that year.

Now, we'll have to wait for Lucas to do his "Indiana Jones" project...and then I can have the opportunity to do full circle with that one as well.

thx again-Monte

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 05-18-2005 11:42 AM

Monte, did you handle an original "Star Wars" print, or did you handle an original "Star Wars Episode IV" print? The first batch (of I think about 100) did not say "Episode IV in the opening crawl. I've ran one of those originals. [Cool]

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Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

posted 05-19-2005 04:03 AM

quote: Brad Miller
Monte, did you handle an original "Star Wars" print, or did you handle an original "Star Wars Episode IV" print?

..If memory serves me correctly, I handled the first one, for I don't remember seeing the "IV" in the title in the scroll, and unfortunately I wasn't really paying attention at such details at the time.
Yet, I've got 50 feet of that original print from machine damage due to a takeup belt deciding to let go and I wasn't up in the booth-being downstairs in the concession fixing a syrup tower delivery problem. that 50 ft, course has long since gone to magenta, but from me fixing the damage that was done to that section using splicing tape, it's still runnable. I didn't get into trouble for that after I told my chief engineer what happened, he just ordered another print and called this damage "excessive print wear.." (whew, got out of that one easily enough..lol..)

But the '78 re-release of SW (in which I ran again that following year) did have the "IV" in the title and soundtrack encoded in Dolby "A"

Still...quite some experiences to be had in these six releases..

thx-Monte

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Phil Blake
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 558
From: esperance western australia
Registered: Nov 2003

posted 05-19-2005 09:04 AM

This release is some what an anniversary for me , December 1977 saw us open episode 4 at the drive in , it was my first first solo movie i ran.

back on topic , I can understand the print care in regards to piracy , lets face it piracy is a nail in all our coffins! , Our episode 3 print arrived the day before the screening , I guess many other australian sites would have had similar delivery times .

Out of interest I checked out a P2P fileshareing site over a week a go finding that Episode 3 was there all 700,000 odd Mb of it free to download ! so how did it get there ? my guess not from any cinema operators as they did not have any prints ....... ???
the plot thickens.

As with the new USA laws regarding camcorders in cinemas I think Australian govenment should take steps to stop pirate DVds coming in with holiday makers from Bali . tens of thousands of Bali holiday makers return home with pirate DVD which they paid no more that $2.00 each for , and the titles are more than often films that have not been released in australian cinemas as yet.

anyway I had a look at episode 3 on the big screen with big sound and it was great ,something that could not be reproduced with home entertainment stuff. The saga ended on a good note .

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Michael Coate
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1904
From: Los Angeles, California
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 05-19-2005 01:19 PM

You knew this post from me was inevitable. [Smile]

quote: Brad Miller
Monte, did you handle an original "Star Wars" print, or did you handle an original "Star Wars Episode IV" print? The first batch (of I think about 100) did not say "Episode IV in the opening crawl.

quote:
If memory serves me correctly, I handled the first one, I don't remember seeing the "IV" in the title in the scroll. But the '78 re-release of SW did have the "IV" in the title

From: http://www.fromscripttodvd.com/star_wars_a_day_long_remembered.htm

quote:
"Star Wars" opened initially in a mere 43 locations across the United States.

quote:
The “Episode IV: A New Hope” tag at the head of the opening scroll was not present in the original prints of the film. The tag was seen for the first time by audiences in America during the spring 1981 re-release, the first re-release after the 1980 original release of the follow-up to “Star Wars”: “The Empire Strikes Back.”

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Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

posted 05-19-2005 02:01 PM

Great site there!

Being younger at the time, paying attention to detail wasn't on my high priority list at the time, but as you grow older.......

...and now it's offical: I've started ALL 6 premiere showings of Star Wars - from 1977, to 2005. (Whew! - 28 years with one movie. Wonder if anyone else has these memories and experience as this..)

Here is a pict of me starting this morning's 12:01a (00:01) Thursday opening show.

.. and it was still a lot of fun seeing the crowd's reaction when the "FOX" trademark (which is the old one from the initial 1977 release, but with the added "News" slug below the "pyramid"), to the "STAR WARS" flashed on the screen.

Actually started two houses that night.

thx-Monte

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