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Author Topic: Regal to Implement Digital Projection by End of Next Year! Mark Ogden Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 943 From: Little Falls, N.J. Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-05-2002 08:00 AM                     Actually, the AMC Empire 25 in New York City has been doing this for quite some time now. All the 'trivia slides' are now computer animations, and all the NCN "pre show countdown" advertising content is run off a video server thru a small DLP machine (I don't know what make). The film projector dosn't roll untill it's time for the trailers. The ads don't present with the same brightness and resolution as the film, of course, but otherwise the system seems to work fine.  |  IP: Logged Thomas Procyk Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1842 From: Royal Palm Beach, FL, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 12-05-2002 01:47 PM                     How are these things timed with the film projection? I know with slide projectors, I often see the first trivia slide, and before the answer comes up, the show starts! (Oh no! Now we will never know what movie title this scrabled word spells: "NAITCTI") It would look especially unprofessional if there's a full motion video ad playing, and it's interrupted by something else when the "usherjectionist" hits start. =TMP=  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 12-05-2002 01:56 PM                        As I understand it, Kodak's Digital Cinema Operating System has full automation interfaces with other projection equipment: http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/digital/cineOpSys.shtml If you have broadband, a Quicktime Movie is available, showing its operation: http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/digital/vnr.shtml  |  IP: Logged Jesse Skeen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1517 From: Sacramento, CA Registered: Aug 2000 posted 12-05-2002 02:01 PM                     *I* always made sure if a 'question' slide was onscreen before start time, the 'answer' came up before starting the show- I'd usually manually advance the slide projector if needed. Of course, I refused to have the top-masking screens go to flat every time so the slides could get the "biggest screen possible", so that makes me a bad person.  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 12-05-2002 03:11 PM                        Thomas, I think the answer is TITANIC. I would never have come up with the answer myself. It is really a hard question. But I have a scrabble program on my computer. If you like riddles, here is another tough one: Which famous movie hero hides behind this combination of numbers (to make it more difficult, I have had the numbers shuffled by a randomising program): 070 More seriously, here is something I don`t understand: When I was in CA, I was surprised to see that there are no commercials before the features. Everyone told me that American audiences won`t accept commercials in the cinema. So what is the point of this exercise?  |  IP: Logged Evans A Criswell Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1579 From: Huntsville, AL, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 12-05-2002 04:24 PM                        quote: Cinemark has been showing the same trivia slides for so long it's getting ridiculous. Hey! The Star Wars Trilogy is going to be rereleased to theatres in DTS! This slide was still being shown here in Huntsville 2 years ago. (Cine-Facts).  |  IP: Logged Christopher Seo Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 530 From: Los Angeles, CA Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-05-2002 04:57 PM                     quote: Actually, the AMC Empire 25 in New York City has been doing this for quite some time now. Not without incident. When I visited the booth, for example, there was a complaint of an odd "line" and shading at the sides of the image during the (film) feature. The video projector had decided to turn back on (or never turn off) and was projecting a black image onto its part of the screen. Of course the video image was not totally black but dark gray, and clearly visible during many scenes. The projectionist said this was very unusual because the video projectors usually go to blue screen, if anything!  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 12-05-2002 05:24 PM                        Michael, I don't think American projectionists will accept ads in cinemas. Patrons are a whole different story.  |  IP: Logged Dustin Mitchell Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1865 From: Mondovi, WI, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 12-05-2002 07:59 PM                     Micheal, it used to be that Disney wouldn't allow any ads on their movies. When we started our new contract with Screenvision (the company that distributes the ads) this summer that restriction was dropped. American audiences won't accept more than a couple of ads before features without complaining. If I understand it correctly, you guys overseas have a ton of ads before the feature, however knowing this people show up late to skip them. In the states we only adverstise one showtime. We don't start the program before this time (I've heard of people doing this in other countries) so when the customers sit down for their movie at 7:00 they 'have' to watch the ads. Part of the problem is that onscreen ads are a fairly new thing in the US. Just over the last decade have they really penetrated every market. There are a lot of people who haven't been to the movies in years and aren't expecting to see anything but previews before the feature.  |  IP: Logged Mike Olpin Chop Chop! Posts: 1852 From: Dallas, TX Registered: Jan 2002 posted 12-05-2002 09:43 PM                     I really didn't like this idea when i first heared about it, but as i did more research into Regal's plan for this, it has grown on me. We all know that advertising is becoming a vital part of our industry. Research shows that in theatre ads are incredibly sucesful, with an average recall of 80%. What this program will allow Regal to do is to eliminate rolling stock. The ads currently shown as rolling stock will now be shown between trivia, news, music videos & trailers. Then, when the advertised showtime begins, the trailers start right away (in 35mm) followed by the feature. What this means is that we can advertise to our customers, but the customers don't connect the advertising to the feature, so they won't complain (as much). Content will be distributed from Compaq servers to digital DATA projectors and also to LCD monitors around lobbys and concession areas. More info can befound at www.regalcinemedia.com  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 12-05-2002 10:30 PM                        Yes, over here the show starts at the advertised time with commercials. There are more commercials in winter as the attendance is better in winter therefore mor commercials are booked. The length of the commercial reel also depends on the size of the individual auditorium. Sometimes there are up to 45 minutes of commercials and trailers Most people hate it, but accept it as the way it it has always been and will ever be. The worst is that the projectionists have to edit the reels every week, there are often 10 going out and 10 going in. That is really the only part about working in cinemas I hate very much.  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 12-05-2002 10:34 PM                        45 minutes! I get pissed off when they exceed 2.5 minutes. You were right before, there is no way anybody in North America would endure 45 minutes of ads.  |  IP: Logged Darryl Spicer Film God Posts: 3250 From: Lexington, KY, USA Registered: Dec 2000 posted 12-06-2002 01:22 AM                    right now we are running the following screen adds that I can remember body fantasies body wash 3 of them back to back that are different by why three. there is a car one volvo or volcswagon I can't remember wich. norelco some kind of video game warlord or something like that de beers R rated films only drive thru about smoking pot and the trouble it can cause coke trailer psa friends for a better life or something like that all in all we have to start the projector 6 minutes before the advertised showtime.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-06-2002 07:41 AM                        Will the digitally projected Regal ads have sound, or will they just serve as a motion-picture version of slides? As a customer, I hate screen advertising in theatres (actually, I hate it as a theatre employee, too, due to all the time required for changing trailers, replacing slide projector bulbs, etc.). If I went into a theatre and they assaulted me with advertising by showing TV commercials with sound on the screen from the time I entered the auditorium, I would definitely choose to patronize another theatre. I don't like slides, either, but at least they aren't intrusive and don't prevent conversation with friends, etc. before the show starts. I am always amused to hear the big chains' complaints about how difficult it is to be financially successful in this industry and how they have to make compromises like showing ads, not hiring projectionists, not maintaining their older theatres, etc., while I know of a number of successful independent theatres which don't show slides or film ads, do hire projectionists (one per screen in single-screen houses), do maintain their theatres, and do provide a quality product for their customers, all at a lower ticket price than the chains.  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 12-06-2002 10:49 AM                        Tech friend of mine sez they're wiring the server(s) into the non-synchs. Word is they could conceivably try to include the trailers right up through the policy strip, then switch to film. Hey... they could save a lot on policy strips, eh? Guess if you really want to scrape for a positive aspect to this... they won't be able to run their Movietunes CDs  |  IP: Logged

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