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Topic: Dolby Unveils 7.1 Channel Sound for Cinemas - Premiering with Toy Story 3
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 06-25-2010 12:44 PM
quote: Ken Lackner
I agree with you in that it's a movie theater; it's supposed to be loud. However, in terms of customer service, what else are you supposed to do when a customer complains that it is too loud and asks if you can turn it down?
It's a tricky situation for any theater staff member to face. He can agree to turn down the fader to satisfy that one customer's complaint, but he will risk annoying many others in the process.
I think Brad has the right idea and approach. I wish every movie theater ran the movie trailers and TV commercials at lower volume levels than the feature. The only snipes that deserve to be run at feature level are sound/projection format trailers. Actually it makes the audio on those sound/projection format trailers seem even more impressive. Some trailers play at reasonable volume: fine. A THX trailer plays: whoa, that was cool. Most theaters do not use Brad's method and I really wonder if more than a small number of people operating projectors even know how to do it.
For years I have suspected movie trailers to be the chief culprit on loudness complaints. Most of them are mixed way too hot and have harsh audio quality. Add to that the issue so many movie trailers are now a laughable cliché of whoosh-thoom-bang sound effects, flying words, rapid edits and story spoiling imagery that I've actually grown to hate many of them. I used to love watching movie trailers. Not so much anymore. I can see how certain audience members would find all the constant whoosh-thoom audio eruptions grating on the nerves after awhile and demand relief.
It's clear the movie industry is never going to do anything to police itself on regulating movie trailer volume. They have promised in the past and never delivered. If anything the movie trailers today are even more whooshy and boomy than ones made a few years ago. <THOOOMMM> Did anyone in the flanking auditoriums hear that?
Another big plus of turning down movie trailer volume significantly: fewer incidents of speaker damage. That might actually please some bean counting executives.
quote: Mike Blakesley
Somebody needs to come up with a generic "This cinema features digital sound" trailer, so a print could be moved between different auditoriums and not be "wrong."
Certainly some sort of audio trailers are needed for digital cinema, or at the very least the audio portion of the presentation needs to be mentioned somehow in the digital projection snipe. It might be too technical for most customers to see "24-bit 48 kHz 5.1 LPCM" but they might understand "high quality uncompressed 5.1 digital sound."
No one in the movie industry has figured out that one yet. Just look the end credits of any Hollywood feature for proof. You'll still see logos for lossy Dolby Digital, DTS and SDDS included, but no mention of superior LPCM multichannel in D-cinema shows -or even D-cinema for that matter. With Dolby's brand name strength one would think at least their D-cinema and digital 3D systems would get some sort of mention.
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Ken Lackner
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1907
From: Atlanta, GA, USA
Registered: Sep 2001
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posted 06-25-2010 01:36 PM
I once worked at a theater that played the trailers in format 04 with the fader at something like 4 or 5. I had a customer complain about the quality of the sound, that it wasn't in digital and there were no surrounds. Grrrr! You can please all people some of the time, or some people all the time, but you just can't please all people all the time!
Personally, I think playing trailers in digital (ONLY if the feature is going to be in digital), with surrounds, but no sub, around 4.5 or 5, would be better. Just my $.02.
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Frank Angel
Film God
Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 06-25-2010 08:38 PM
Let's talk about the marketing of 7.1; tonight here in the New York market (we are not talking chump change here), they are running a barrage of TV ads for TOY STORY 3. Do you see any mention of the spanking new 7.1 Surround format?
Now if the studio isn't marketing this format, how can it be taken seriously? As for the public, there has got to be a saturation point. You can't hype a new sound format every few years and still think it can be effectivly marketed to make a difference to Joe Moviegoer, especially when there is only a fairly subtle difference between Left, Right Surround and Left Center Right Surround and now 7.1 Surround that will be very difficult for an audience to distinguish between them. I mean, it's not like walking into a theatre just outfitted to play EARTHQUAKE in Sensurround.
quote: Bobby Henderson
It's a tricky situation for any theater staff member to face. He can agree to turn down the fader to satisfy that one customer's complaint, but he will risk annoying many others in the process.
I tell the House Manager if he or any of his ushers ever calls the booth to say a customer complained about the sound being too this or too that or the heat not to their liking or the damn theatre ambient light too dark or to light, then they will be water boarded.
The protcol is to tell any complaining customer that we will take care of the problem immediately. They must then go INTO the theatre and make an intellegent assesement themselves. There will ALWAYS be someone who will think it's too loud, too low, too hot, too cold. And you DON'T adjust ANY auditorium parameter for the whims of a single patron. The people who work in the theatre on a day in and day out basis are well equipped to determin the quality of picture sound and the theatre environment.
It's a simple rule-of-thumb that has served us well for decades.
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Frank Angel
Film God
Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 06-26-2010 04:33 AM
quote: Bobby Henderson
I've heard lots of stories about angry, confrontational customers. I don't envy the manager or staff member who has to deal with a customer demanding a lower volume level and doing so angrily.
The trick is, as you say, to have a thick skin (simply another word for "professionalism") and that comes from experience and being able to step back from your personal emotions. But also you must respect the complainant and take steps to assess their complaint. Let them see that you are reacting quickly (getting on the walkie-talkie and voicing the issue helps); either the floor assistant or Performance Manager can go check it out. NEVER let the patron feel he/she's being shrugged off. 9 time out of 10, if a patrons sees he's being taken seriously it disipates his anger. And no question, it's not easy, especially if the first contact is hostility and it is seemingly directed at whomever the patron first encounters. Some staff can never master the ability to "let it run off your back;" some can. Those who can't shouldn't be in any job that has contact with the general public. When you get a House Manager that can be this professional and NOT react in kind, you've got gold -- pay him/her more money!
As for patrons who really get abusive to any staff member -- I have only had that happen three or four times in over 30 years which is not a bad track record for New York -- we have no problem telling that patron very quietly but unequivocally that we won't tolerate abusive behavior to any of our staff family. The offender is given a refund and told to leave the theatre.
As far as I'm concerned, once they cross that line and get abusive (and that is mine or the House Manger's discretionary call without need of explanation or debate), that patron becomes persona non grata and that's it; not only are they asked to leave, but they told that they are not welcome back. If they don't voluntarily leave the premises, they are trespassing and so informed. We call Security. We've even told the Box Office Manager that if they show up again, they are not to be sold a ticket. Tell em to go to a theatre where they tolerate that kind of incivility.
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