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Topic: The studios think people who run digital screens are morons

Dustin Mitchell
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1865
From: Mondovi, WI, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 03-01-2010 02:26 AM

My company never had dedicated projectionists. We did have extra staff to run the projectors on the weekends and they were gradually phased out.

Honestly there is no reason for booth staff in an all digital complex.

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Jonathan Smith
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 201
From: Youngstown, OH
Registered: Jan 2010

posted 03-01-2010 11:31 AM

The people that handle film prints are often times idiots (the ones who never bother to come here ;-) ).

People on here are opinionated as hell, from what I can see, but they in general know what they are talking about, most of the time.

This is NOT the case with some of the theatres I have worked at, been to see shows at.

In general, this industry is dominated by people with a Laissez Faire attitude towards presentation.

"Good Enough" is the golden rule in most projection rooms.

So, why would anyone be surprised that they expect the same sort of inexperience, slopiness, with digital?

They ought to have those cards with every film print, but instead of just a small booklet a rather, large manual fill of bold print with bullet points.

God knows the people that scratch up prints need to be spoken with like little children and led around by the hand, because some of them apparantly dropped out of H.S. in the 10th grade with a parent's approval.

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Joe Elliott
Master Film Handler

Posts: 497
From: Port Orange, Fl USA
Registered: Oct 2006

posted 03-01-2010 12:14 PM

quote: Jonathan Smith
They ought to have those cards with every film print, but instead of just a small booklet a rather, large manual fill of bold print with bullet points.

That's part of the problem. The information the studio sends out it generally WRONG. Try setting your auditorium to 7db. You won't be able to hear anything in the auditorium. There was a good one we received a couple of years ago, "Make sure your projector is putting out 128 ftL of light. Wow, you'd burn a hole through the screen. They did fax out a correction for that one.

The point is that the studio's in trying to hold the idiot projectionist's hands are doing more harm than good, as the info they pass along is wrong about half the time. When it is right, it is still pointless, because if they have to be told that info, they are idiots anyway and will still screw it up. Good projection is still good projection, and bad projection is still bad projection, no matter how many letters you throw at it.

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Jonathan Smith
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 201
From: Youngstown, OH
Registered: Jan 2010

posted 03-01-2010 12:18 PM

Well, the problem is that there is no "number check" for typos. They have to hire someone to fucking PROOFREAD.

That's something that is going to become totally extinct though when the major newspapers go out of business.

There are a lot of out-of-work copy editors already.

Both of those cases are obvious typos: 70dB instead of 7, 12.8fL instead of 128.

In either case, I doubt it would be possible to even get to 128fL, unless you had a 40,000W lightbulb!

The local newspaper, I assume due to staff reductions and wage freezes, has been putting a lot of "number typos" on a theatre I work at's TIMES lately. Needless to say, patrons are NOT happy to find out they either have to wait three hours or join a movie already an hour in progress.

I've noticed more and More and MORE this last year. . .

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Chris Slycord
Film God

Posts: 2986
From: 청주시, 경북도, South Korea
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 03-01-2010 12:19 PM

quote: Joe Elliott
Make sure your projector is putting out 128 ftL of light. Wow, you'd burn a hole through the screen. They did fax out a correction for that one.

Brad was able to get 119 fL out of a Christie digital projector and I can safely say that the screen doesn't have a hole in the screen (since I work where he installed it).

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Jonathan Smith
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 201
From: Youngstown, OH
Registered: Jan 2010

posted 03-01-2010 12:24 PM

quote: Chris Slycord
Brad was able to get 119 fL out of a Christie digital projector and I can safely say that the screen doesn't have a hole in the screen (since I work where he installed it).

Chris: Did patrons have to wear sun glasses instead of 3D glasses on that one?

If the screen didn't have a hole in it at the end of the show, I bet a $40,000 DLP chip did [Roll Eyes]

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Tony Bandiera Jr
Film God

Posts: 3067
From: Moreland Idaho
Registered: Apr 2004

posted 03-01-2010 01:14 PM

I have to say that people who dump ALL of their 35mm equipment to install D-Crapema...well, they are morons. [Big Grin]

Folks, the constant stupidity of the studios and the constant technical problems with [bs]

WILL completely kill the exhibition industry within the next 5-10 years.

Unless someone with some common sense stops the [dlp]

madness.

Yeah right, and I'm gonna have a rich, hot young stud for my boyfriend. [Roll Eyes]

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Joe Elliott
Master Film Handler

Posts: 497
From: Port Orange, Fl USA
Registered: Oct 2006

posted 03-01-2010 01:15 PM

Well, I was kidding about the hole in the screen, but that brings up an interesting image.

AVATAR was Awesome!!!

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Dustin Mitchell
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1865
From: Mondovi, WI, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 03-01-2010 02:08 PM

Tony, from a reliability standpoint I'm going to have to disagree with you. It was a bit rocky at first, but for the last two years at least our digital projectors have been extremely reliable.

Now from a financing standpoint I can't comment either way; I don't know if digital has been cost effective for us the exhibitor or the studios; I don't have access to that kind of information.

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Tony Bandiera Jr
Film God

Posts: 3067
From: Moreland Idaho
Registered: Apr 2004

posted 03-01-2010 02:16 PM

Dustin, then your complex seems to be the exception to the rule. Be thankful you have had such good reliability so far. Bear in mind also that in terms of a cinema's operational life, two years is no time at all.

As for the financial impact, you'll find that out the hard way with your first bulb explosion or other equipment failure.

No matter how you slice it, 35mm is still far less costly to operate OVER THE LONG TERM that any DLP setup.

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Jonathan Smith
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 201
From: Youngstown, OH
Registered: Jan 2010

posted 03-01-2010 02:23 PM

Corrupt cues and files on a certain 2K DLP projector less than ONE YEAR after its installation (April 2009).

Don't get me started on video previews. I said something like this over the intercom yesterday "Unless you are a real idiot, there's no way 35mm slides and ads on film would be this much trouble, EVER."

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Dustin Mitchell
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1865
From: Mondovi, WI, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 03-01-2010 03:00 PM

Well, I can't comment on other equipement packages, but Christie projectors, Doremi servers, Cinedigm's LMS setup, and Technicolor's FREND (sp?) server have given us 0 problems. We have had 0 bulb explosions with Christie bulbs running them far past warranty. A certain other manufacturer's bulbs have had severe problems-company wide-with explosions. At least at my location all these other bulbs that have exploded have been under warranty so other than the annoyance of lost shows its been a 0 cost to us. The problem should go away now that they've switched back to Christie bulbs.

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Darryl Spicer
Film God

Posts: 3250
From: Lexington, KY, USA
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 03-01-2010 03:19 PM

quote: Dustin Mitchell
running them far past warranty.

From what I have been told, if a bulb explodes while it is under warranty the bulb manufacturer will replace the damaged reflectors. If it is out of warranty they will not replace the damaged reflector.

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Tony Bandiera Jr
Film God

Posts: 3067
From: Moreland Idaho
Registered: Apr 2004

posted 03-01-2010 03:43 PM

quote: Dustin Mitchell
so other than the annoyance of lost shows its been a 0 cost to us.

Zero cost? Try again..you have lost:

Revenue from the ticket sales of the lost show(s)..
Revenue from concessions, which is more inportant to your operation....
Loss of patrons who may not/will not return to your theatre...
Cost of technician time for the repairs and
Cost of the parts for said repairs.

(Now of course any of those can apply to a lost show no matter what the media is...)

But keep in mind a lot of 35mm-related breakdowns can be fixed at less cost and sometimes less time that a DLP breakdown or show freezeup. Heck, some problems in 35mm can even be repaired by a reasonably competent projectionist thus eliminating the cost of a tech.

And for those very few theatres smart enough to keep their two- projector setups intact, lost shows are almost unheard of.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

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

posted 03-01-2010 03:44 PM

quote: Dustin Mitchell
all these other bulbs that have exploded

How many explodin' bulbs are we talking here?

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