|
|
This topic comprises 4 pages: 1 2 3 4
|
|
Author
|
Topic: Is There Any "Showmanship" Left?
|
|
|
Tony Bandiera Jr
Film God
Posts: 3067
From: Moreland Idaho
Registered: Apr 2004
|
posted 07-28-2008 04:12 PM
Bill, many thanks to you for providing that information. ![[beer]](graemlins/beer.gif)
The entire crew there, including the floor staff, did a great job, it was one of the better cinemas I had ever been to. I saw the show at the twin IIRC.
A long time ago, SRO opened a five-plex in La Mirada. Great staff, real ushers wearing white gloves, waterfall curtains on all screens, and great presentation. Also had 70mm in at least one house. (I saw "Amadeus" there.) Great presentation standards too. (Although eventually their 70mm print of "Amadeus" developed a most unfortunate glitch...a splice which dropped the sound out right after Salaeri says "....a single note, hanging there, unwavering...". Caused a lot of unintentional laughs. I notifed the manager and a few days later the reel was replaced.)
Then.....SRO went under, Pacific took over...and the standards went right down hill. Saw "Twister" in 35mm...no more curtains being used, no non-sync, heard the leader run thru the machine, image was off-center, and the sound which was allegedly Dolby Digital or DTS, was total crap...until the analogue fallback, then it was shit. Muffled and no center channel really. So they totally ![[sex]](graemlins/sex.gif) a perfectly good theatre. ![[fu]](graemlins/fu.gif) Pacific.
| IP: Logged
|
|
Frank Angel
Film God
Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999
|
posted 07-30-2008 01:25 PM
Brad, I think you are right about automation, but showmanship is different than presentation. In fact, in reality it is management that should be setting the standards for showmanship. The projectionist, either thru manual operation or configuring his automation, only executes the protocol that either the local manager or corporate management establishes. THEY are the ones who in the end determine what their shows should look like.
When I worked for Interstate Theatres in Austin, they had a very hefty manual which they called "The Bible," that spelled out in minute detail how every show should look. Everything from curtain operation, to lights, to order of the stuff before the feature were all predetermined. The projectionist didn't have much input on that. His job was to make sure it all worked according to the protocol and that picture and sound were perfect. In other words, his job was presentation; management determined showmanship.
If management has about as much of a sense of showmanship as a toilet seat, then that's not the projectionists fault. If these corporate Philistines can't see the aestheics of a curtain or proper masking or well-chosen preshow music and how all of that is supposed to mesh together, then point to the suits as aholes, not the guy or gal in the booth.
I remember vividly that one of the items in that manual was boxed and underlined and in caps -- the admonition that at Interstate Theatres, the audience must never EVER see a "naked" screen. Having an audience see a naked screen, it said, was the mortal sin of the movie theatre. It also said (paraphrasing)that the exihibitor's product isn't the movie that's up on the marquee....that's the product of the studio; the product that Interstate Theatres is offering the patron is the quality and comfort of the environment in which a patrons sees that movie.
And Brad is right in that automation can do everything a human can do, but it has to start with management KNOWING what they want, i.e, what level of showmanship they aspire to and then to make sure the automation can actually deliver all the things need to accomplish it -- to reproduce what the human would have done. The problem is, they start with the automation system and then see what showmanship they can get out of it, which many time many not be all the buttons and switches that a human could have managed.
For example, I use preshow music that is programmed; it is a given length and is recorded on a CD, usually it is between 15 to 20 mins in length. When the last cut is about to end, the light sequence and the projector are started so that when the very last strains of the music are still heard, the first frame of the WB cartoon logo hit the screen, the curtain opens. The non-sync audio overlaps the film soundtrack by a few seconds. The non-sync is an integral part of the sequence; it doesn't just fade out (or worse, just stop abruptly as I've heard in many theatres) wherever in the cut it happens to be playing. It has to END and the film start with a precise overlap. I human can do that....can automation?
Yes, automation could, but it would need to be able to read the CD time code and use that to trigger the rest of the sequence or have an internal timer that could be programed to start the CD and then wait the proper length of time for the CD program to play and then start the rest of the sequence. And that, I would guess would be high-end automantion, not low end. Someone in management would have to say, to make that happen is important to the way we want the show to look and we need to invest in whatever automation that will do it. Not, can what we've go do that? No? Then to hell with the aesthetics (to me, aesthetics and showmanship are on parallel tracks).
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
Brad Miller
Administrator
Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99
|
posted 07-30-2008 02:59 PM
Frank,
There is nothing that you can do as a human other than mechanical work (threading the projector, focusing and framing it, etc) that an automation can't. For example, even if an automation system cost $4000, how many weeks can you personally work for that amount of money. Any weeks after that time runs out is "wasted money" in the eyes of the suits.
And yes, "showmanship" can be done BETTER with automation. You may be able to get close, but a good automation can be frame accurate every show, every time.
By the way in using your example above, I currently have an automation system setup that upon start time will fire everything up in an exact sequence of events with precise timing. An intro on blu-ray plays, then changes over into 35mm film for the previews, then back to the blu-ray for the policy, then back to 35mm for the feature (switching aspect ratios and such as needed). How much human intervention is needed? Absolutely ZERO.
When digital takes over, there really is no excuse for having someone in the booth except a poorly designed system requiring human intervention.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
Frank Angel
Film God
Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999
|
posted 07-31-2008 12:42 AM
Brad, that's exactly right, and my point. The automation CAN do anything the human can do, the but it's the management which in the end is responsible for formulating the "look" of the shows in that theatre; the suits have to WANT superior showmanship and have to demand that it be done this or that way. My point is that today's management seems to care a lot less about showmanship than the old guard did. They would rather go with cheaper, less robust automation and cut corners and not require that the automation do what that human could do. That's not the automation's short-coming, it's just poor management.
If they can buy a crude automation system, they will happily cut out this or that niceity. Then before you can say CinemaScope55, you've got your typical utilitarian assembly line room without the ammenities that make a show stand above the competiton and cause an audience sit up and take notice. And again, this is no reflection whatsoever on the projectionist....he can only excute what is given him and what the management is willing to spend money on. In such a case, that automation certainly isn't doing what a human could do. But as I said, you have to have someone at the healm demanding a certainly level of quality otherwise it won't happen be it a human or a piece of equipment.
William, no, not the Aquarius; this was during the golden age of the movie palaces -- there were no multiplexes, quads or even twins. I as at the State Theatre, I believe it was on Main Street. There were a few other theatres on that block, and I believed at least one other of them were also Interstate.
I worked there two weeks until I realized the union projectionist wasn't in any mood to let the new Assistant Manager come up to the booth "to learn how to run a show." My only interest in a theatre job was to get up into that BOOTH. But my hopes were dashed in no uncertain terms after I went up there the first chance I could get and asked the projectionist if he would teach me how to run the booth.
Union Projectionist to dumb new Assistant Manager: "You want me to teach you how to run a show? Why?"
Dumb new Assistant Manager: "Well, if I knew how to run a show, I could help you out when you wanted to take a break, maybe you could even take a day or two off any time you wanted."
Union Projectionist: "Please leave the booth; the only time you need to come up here is if there is something wrong with the sound or the picture. And I would prefer you just call on the house phone."
Major disappointment. I had absolutely no interest in counting soda cups and taking inventory and I left for Houston at the end of the second week, just after I picked up my one and only paycheck. It was a very nice theatre....I would guess one of their flagship houses.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jack Ondracek
Film God
Posts: 2348
From: Port Orchard, WA, USA
Registered: Oct 2002
|
posted 07-31-2008 06:33 PM
I think there's plenty of showmanship left, especially in places where we control the environment (read: NOT most chain theatres).
Yes, I remember those big, single screeners, with waterfall curtains you could do several 'scenes' with. One that I worked at had motorized variacs for the lights. One other theatre in that town had those old, round rheostats... something like 8 of them, right above the projectionist's head. You could gang several of them and control them with one big handle, or run them separately. They were hot buggers, but worked well.
I agree with Brad's assessment of automation. If you can dream up a program, you can find an automation you can teach that program to. Then, you'll get the same, consistent quality on every single show. I don't think you lose any of the "art" factor by doing it that way. Program your art into the box. Then, every audience will see your best work.
An obvious favorite subject of mine is what you can do at a drive-in. Many of us run a CD player before the show... or maybe (ech), just play a local radio station. I think that's an incredible waste of opportunity. We use our preshow to entertain, promote the snack bar, swap meet and future shows, and add plenty of politically incorrect nostalgia to "set the stage". We have about 140 of these old "Alliance" commercials, 60 of these Coca Cola spots (here's another one), and a number of local spots we produce here for the drive-in. Our automation sequences this stuff with a pretty good-sized music library, including the "Drive-In Radio" syndication.
At showtime, we play the old "hearty welcome to the drive-in" sound track, then a local clip that promotes our phone number and web site for movie information. At showtime, we play this clip , which is one of a package of jingles we had made by "Jam Creative Productions". Here it is without the voiceover.
Our automation starts the projectors at a point where the trailer ratings hit the screen about the time the singers yell "it's showtime"... looks pretty impressive.
At intermission time, the light cue brings up the field lights, ducks the film audio and plays this clip. After that, we remind people they can't switch screens, and direct them to that field's exit, if they're not staying. The automation brings the film audio back up, then waits for the shutoff cue. That starts an intermission program (spots and music) while the projector stops at a 10 minute intermission clock. The whole night is completely automated. I don't do anything but change lenses and DTS disks, and hit a couple of hotbuttons on a touch screen.
There's more to it here, but the point is that there are things we can do to take a presentation past the "hit start" qualifications of the average popcorn jockey. There might not be a lot of this at the chains, but I'd bet we'd find more indies doing something creative with their shows than you might think.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
All times are Central (GMT -6:00)
|
This topic comprises 4 pages: 1 2 3 4
|
Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM
6.3.1.2
The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion
and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.
|
Home
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
.![[dlp]](graemlins/dlp.gif)
.
Printer-friendly view of this topic