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Topic: Interstellar and fader 7

Marco Giustini
Film God

Posts: 2713
From: Reading, UK
Registered: Nov 2007

posted 11-15-2014 01:27 PM

Brad,
When 35mm was on, we were blaming the lack of automation.
Now that (almost) every digital system has volume cues, those cinemas still run films at 4.0.

I call it laziness or they simply can't be bothered.

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Brad Miller
Administrator

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

posted 11-15-2014 02:38 PM

Either of your two scenarios are still laziness. [Razz]

I agree, it is pathetic and there is no excuse.

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Buck Wilson
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 894
From: St. Joseph MO, USA
Registered: Sep 2010

posted 11-15-2014 04:45 PM

quote: Brad Miller
I still run my sites at 4 for previews (surrounds and subs off) and approximately 7 for feature. (There is an auto-ramping control that looks at percentages of tickets sold and sets it typically around 6.5-7.5, so for the purpose of this discussion I say feature at 7). On occasion a site will play as high as 4.5 for trailers. The complaints GO AWAY on all accounts and everyone is happy.

Brad, your ingenuity and showmanship astounds and inspires me(and surely others) daily!!

When I win the lottery, you're building me my dream theater and I'm just going to give you a blank check and let you let your imagination run wild! [Big Grin]

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Paul Mayer
Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under!

Posts: 3836
From: Albuquerque, NM
Registered: Feb 2000

posted 11-15-2014 06:40 PM

quote:

Movie Theater on 'Interstellar' Sound Complaints: Take It Up With Christopher Nolan

A multiplex in upstate New York put up signs notifying customers that its equipment is not the issue

The Cinemark Tinseltown USA and Imax in Rochester, New York, has a message for customers having trouble understanding the dialogue in Christopher Nolan's Interstellar: Take it up with the director.

After receiving numerous complaints, the multiplex put up signs informing Interstellar ticket buyers of the following: "Please note that all of our sound equipment is functioning properly. Christopher Nolan mixed the soundtrack with an emphasis on the music. This is how it is intended to sound."

Moviegoer Jay Shooke tweeted an image of the sign on Nov. 12 to Hollywood Elsewhere's Jeffrey Wells.

No one at the Cinemark Tinseltown could comment on the record per corporate policy, but one person told THR that the complaints didn't stem from the Imax showings of Interstellar, but only from those customers viewing the space epic in traditional digital screenings.

The signs were put up at Cinemark Tinseltown without the knowledge of Cinemark headquarters. A Cinemark corporate spokesman told The Hollywood Reporter that there were no issues with the film itself, and that the location instead experienced technical issues due to a hard-drive problem that have since been resolved. The signs were taken down earlier on Thursday.

quote:
View image on Twitter
Jay Shooke @JShooke
Follow

Hey @wellshwood this is taped up all over the box office. People are obviously complaining

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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99

posted 11-15-2014 06:56 PM

Why is it the elderly are always the first to complain about the sound being too loud? Shouldn't their hearing have deteriorated to the point where they want it louder (like in the THX Simpson's snipe)?

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Brad Miller
Administrator

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

posted 11-15-2014 07:48 PM

quote:
the location instead experienced technical issues due to a hard-drive problem

Bullshit. Seriously, am I the only person calling bs on that?

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Paul Mayer
Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under!

Posts: 3836
From: Albuquerque, NM
Registered: Feb 2000

posted 11-15-2014 09:48 PM

Typical corporate bullshit obfuscation and denial. Brad and Mike Olpin both called it...

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 11-15-2014 10:32 PM

Even I, as a non-corporate small cinema owner can smell the BS all over that one.

quote: Joe Redifer
Why is it the elderly are always the first to complain about the sound being too loud? Shouldn't their hearing have deteriorated to the point where they want it louder (like in the THX Simpson's snipe)?

It may not always be the actual volume that bugs them. An old guy told me once that he couldn't hear the dialogue because the surrounds were too loud. I didn't understand how that could be since I could hear the dialogue fine -- but I was thinking possibly the sound coming from the sides is distracting to the old folks?

I dunno....I'll let you all know in 13 years when I turn 70.

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Martin McCaffery
Film God

Posts: 2481
From: Montgomery, AL
Registered: Jun 99

posted 11-15-2014 11:06 PM

Because their (our) hearing doesn't degrade uniformly. If they lose the lower range first, then the high range will sound too loud. What is more often the case, the high range sounds shrill or distorted, which they interpret as too loud. Alot has to do with where they are sitting in the theatre. Too close to a surround, or too close to a hard wall that will bounce sound and they will perceive it as too loud. Needless to say, if they lose the midrange, they can't hear the voices, but they can hear overwhelming music and sound effects.

Alas, you cannot custom tune a room to each customer, especially when they don't know why they hear things the way they do.

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 11-16-2014 02:14 AM

quote: Marco Giustini
5dB seems a little excessive to me. Your 7 becomes 4.3.

Nope...-5dB is like lowering your fader to "5.5" from 7.0. "4.3" would be about -9.2dB...give or take...depending on how the person did the conversion between analog and digital on their fader. There is normally a "hinge point" around the equivalent of 4.0

See QSC? Using the dB scale just isn't intuitive for most people. The dB scale should be reserved for single-turn pots and sliders...things were you have a visual reference to where you are in the range or for calibration settings...not for normal user controls.

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Marco Giustini
Film God

Posts: 2713
From: Reading, UK
Registered: Nov 2007

posted 11-16-2014 05:53 AM

Thanks Steve,

I knew I was mistaken!
Well, 5dB sound still excessive to me! [Smile]

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Martin McCaffery
Film God

Posts: 2481
From: Montgomery, AL
Registered: Jun 99

posted 11-16-2014 09:00 AM

Meanwhile, Chris Nolan explains his sound choices:
Hollywood Reporter

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Jim Cassedy
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1661
From: San Francisco, CA
Registered: Dec 2006

posted 11-16-2014 10:55 AM

"Christopher Nolan Breaks Silence On Interstellar Sound"
(Hollywood Reporter)

Christopher Nolan finally address complaints about Interstellar sound mix:
HERE

Unfortunately- - I'm at an airport on a crummy hand-held device and a
bad wi-fi connection so posting the whole article is not possible for me
to do here at this time.

Perhaps someone else can do that. Sorry!

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Terry Lynn-Stevens
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1081
From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Dec 2012

posted 11-16-2014 11:34 AM

I don't know why people are getting their panties all up in a knot. Perhaps these people are just watching the movie is poorly equipped theaters.

The sound was fine for the screenings that I attended which included IMAX 70, IMAX-D, and the 70MM DTS version. The 70MM-DTS version sounded best, probably because it was in a THX auditorium.

I think the sound mix was deliberate on the part of Christopher Nolan, heck people are still talking about a movie that did not open at #1 in the first weekend and it is now holding up pretty well in the second weekend even though it has dropped to #3. Any publicity at this point is a good thing. And the fact that Nolan has said he was experimental in the sound mix just helps make people want to find out why everyone is talking about the sound.

A big factor is going to be the auditorium design, equipment, and calibration. A good THX theater should have no problem reproducing sound at the fader lever 7 as long as it was not recorded at a higher volume.

As for the Cinemark sign, if it is true that the sign originated from Cinemark Tinseltown Rochester, well I have been there many times over the years and aside from the purpose standalone built IMAX auditorium, the individual auditorium design is pretty poor and I wouldn't expect very good sound equipment or speakers at this location. I bet some 20 year old relief manager was on Twitter and saw some of the complaints and thought it would be cool to put up a sign.

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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99

posted 11-16-2014 12:46 PM

quote: Terry Lynn-Stevens
I think the sound mix was deliberate on the part of Christopher Nolan

Why do people keep saying this as if to defend the movie? That's the same thing as saying "Christopher Nolan likes shitty sound and therefore shitty sound is good and it is not worth complaining about shitty sound because that's how Nolan likes it." It's not a defense. It's an admission of guilt. Nobody's gonna say "Oh this movie has poorly mixed sound and everyone's complaining about it? Shit yeah gotta run and see that!"

Christopher Nolan movies ALWAYS have bad mixes. Fact. He should not be allowed anywhere near the movie during the mixing stage. He needs to delegate that part out. If he can't stay away then he's not qualified to be making movies. I'm just sad that people don't complain the same way about Michael Bay who is far worse.

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