Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Sony to Stop Paying for 3D Glasses in May 2012

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Topic: Sony to Stop Paying for 3D Glasses in May 2012

Frank Cox
Film God

Posts: 2234
From: Melville Saskatchewan Canada
Registered: Apr 2011

posted 06-05-2012 09:38 PM

My standard line when someone tries to bring in an outside drink/candy/whatever:

Would you go to a restaurant and bring your own sandwich?

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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

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

posted 06-05-2012 09:49 PM

quote: Mike Blakesley
Wrong, and wrong.

Never! Ticket prices steadily increasing has nothing to do with installed equipment inside any given theater. Instead, it's just plain inflation, most of which the studio keeps. It does not matter if a theater uses VPFs or not, my point is that there was no surcharge the customers had to pay on auditoriums with either digital sound or digital projection (both of which probably initially cost more than what they could get away with selling a 3D system for now, it's not that complicated). Granted, most theaters made very bad deals with whatever brand of 3D they have. Now they are forced to apply a surcharge. Real D is, what, 10 years? That's just ridiculous. After those 10 years are over, will Real D theaters still tack on a surcharge? Real D is clearly smarter than most theater owners are. I don't know the conditions behind Dolby's 3D or Master Image so I can't comment on how much their contracts probably suck. But these companies saw an opportunity to make some big cash and they took it. Theater owners fell for it and now they don't even own their own equipment. Pretty soon the studios will own you.

So bottom line, yes I expect either the theater or the studios to eat the cost for 3D. The theater for the equipment, the studio for the glasses. And a theater who didn't apply the surcharge and advertised it would gain patronage vs theaters that stuck with the surcharge.

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Sam D. Chavez
Film God

Posts: 2153
From: Martinez, CA USA
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 06-05-2012 10:59 PM

I think cinema owners saw sound upgrades as real long term added value for every film so had no big problem digging up the money.

3D was seen by most as a gimmick that would fade away like every time before and the 10 year contract didn't really matter as 3D would be long gone, so they gambled and went with the system with no big cash outlay.

3D has already lasted longer than I thought and there is more to come, so it shows what I know.

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Manny Knowles
"What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???"

Posts: 4247
From: Bloomington, IN, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 06-06-2012 08:55 AM

quote: Sam D. Chavez
Finally, there is the issue of the cinema policy of prohibiting you from bringing a package of store bought Junior Mints into the cinema. I think this is where Manny is coming from with regard to an upcharge for glasses.

It's even worse -- imagine if I paid a premium for Junior Mints at a movie theatre and still had some leftover -- tried to take those same leftovers back the next time I went to that theatre -- and they made me buy a new box of Junior Mints, even though I already have what I need to get me through another movie.

That's what it feels like when people are FORCED to buy Real-D glasses over and over and over.

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Manny Knowles
"What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???"

Posts: 4247
From: Bloomington, IN, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 06-06-2012 10:10 AM

And, yes, with Dolby there's the washing expense, but you'll get a lot of mileage out of those glasses by being able to re-use them. So -- pardon the pun -- it's a wash, IMHO.

And, let's just come to the point -- glasses or no glasses -- you're not going to convince me ANY TIME SOON that it's worth ANY EXTRA MONEY to see a movie in 3D. That's what it really all boils down to for me -- it doesn't enhance the movie for me and I resent having to pay extra for it.

Yes, I've seen (and shown) one or two 3D movies that I felt were very well done, but I still didn't think it was worth paying extra to see them that way. On principal.

And I don't ever recall paying extra for 3D movies when they were shown on film, and there were additional costs associated with that format too. So, to the consumer, it comes across as a sign of the times -- double-dipping and price-gouging with no real improvement for the person who's getting ripped off in the process.

I realize that I am biased also. But at least I'm right. [Wink]

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

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

posted 06-06-2012 11:16 AM

Joe - with Dolby there is no contract. You buy the system and you own it.

quote: Manny Knowles
with Dolby there's the washing expense, but you'll get a lot of mileage out of those glasses by being able to re-use them. So -- pardon the pun -- it's a wash, IMHO.

Dolby's system costs more up front but you make more money over the long haul by NOT having to pay the 50 cents or whatever it is that RealD charges per ticket. But, the Dolby system is A LOT more work than RealD's, due to the glasses hassle. And you do need to replace the glasses from time to time, especially the kiddie ones which were apparently never tested with real kids from planet Earth.

quote: Manny Knowles
And, let's just come to the point -- glasses or no glasses -- you're not going to convince me ANY TIME SOON that it's worth ANY EXTRA MONEY to see a movie in 3D. That's what it really all boils down to for me -- it doesn't enhance the movie for me and I resent having to pay extra for it.

So, vote with your wallet. Don't see the movie in 3-D. Almost every plex is offering 2-D shows of all their 3-D movies, and we are offering them too even though we're a single screen. So I don't really see what your gripe is.

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Manny Knowles
"What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???"

Posts: 4247
From: Bloomington, IN, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 06-06-2012 11:40 AM

My gripe is that I think it's wrong to charge for the glasses.

I do vote with my wallet. But that doesn't mean I'm happy to see this business model persist.

Yes, the Dolby glasses create extra work. And that's fine by me. You save money in the long-run by re-using the glasses, but there's a little catch -- you have to sort and wash them. There is a little "give and take" everywhere in life. I think the added work is a fair trade-off. And I sure hope nobody's complaining about having work to do in THIS economy.

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Jesse Skeen
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1517
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 06-06-2012 02:26 PM

quote: Mike Blakesley
So, vote with your wallet. Don't see the movie in 3-D. Almost every plex is offering 2-D shows of all their 3-D movies, and we are offering them too even though we're a single screen.

Most theaters seem to be doing that now, and I don't like it. Would they play alternating shows with mono sound too? If a movie is done in 3D, even if done poorly, there was probably a reason for it being done that way and that's the way I want to see it. If they're charging too much, I'm not going to see it in 2D, I just won't see it at all and wait til I can buy it on Blu-Ray for a more reasonable price.

On the "DVD Talk" message board, one user has as their signature: "See it in 3D- Throw your money away!"

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Manny Knowles
"What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???"

Posts: 4247
From: Bloomington, IN, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 06-06-2012 02:44 PM

Didn't I read (on Film-Tech) that the studios get to decide which showtimes can be 2D? Didn't I read that the prime time shows are required to be 3D and the "crappy" showtimes are assigned to the 2D version?

Yes, it turns out I did...

...I read it here...

...and see Brad's post here.

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Jonathan Goeldner
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1360
From: Washington, District of Columbia
Registered: Jun 2008

posted 06-07-2012 12:45 PM

^ that seems to be the case at the Uptown, the 1 and 7pm showing of Prometheus at the Uptown are 3D, the 2D at the 4 and 10pm screenings.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

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

posted 06-07-2012 02:00 PM

Manny - I can't speak for what happens with chains, but with smaller places the studios don't "dictate" show formats. They WOULD LIKE all the prime (read: 7:00) showtimes to be in 3-D but it's not required in the contract. We've booked some 3-D movies in 100% 2-D, in fact.

Here, at least, we have done a variety of things just experimenting around: Early shows in 3D, late in 2D; matinees in 2D; or certain days of the week in 2D and the other days in 3D. The last two things seem to work the best with most movies.

What we do also depends on the movie. With Star Wars I, for example, the whole reason for that reissue was 3D, so all our shows were 3D on that movie. With the upcoming Madagascar 3, we're doing more 2D shows than 3D because it's going to be huge with little kids who don't like to wear the glasses. (Personally, I wish they'd made that movie in 2-D for that exact reason.)

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

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

posted 07-29-2012 01:06 AM

So I'm guessing Sony completely backed down on this. I guess they can make.believe they charged everyone since they do charge everywhere but the USA.

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Ron Funderburg
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 814
From: Chickasha, Oklahoma, USA
Registered: Nov 2007

posted 07-29-2012 12:02 PM

They did back down big time.

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Marcel Birgelen
Film God

Posts: 3357
From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Registered: Feb 2012

posted 08-26-2012 10:53 AM

quote: Carsten Kurz
Talking about Sony and 3D glasses - Sony is just about to release the Panavision 3D system with their split-lens as an alternative to RealD XLS. This will not need silver screens. It will have reusable glasses similiar to the Dolby/Infitec approach.
Maybe these two different 3D systems is part of the reason why Sony wants to stop subsidizing 3D glasses. Sure it's unfair to support only the cheap disposable glasses, but not the reusable ones.

Panavision 3D died a few months ago: http://www.dpvotheatrical.com/Home_Page.html

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Peter Williamson
Film Handler

Posts: 1
From: Eastbourne, United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2012

posted 12-29-2012 06:19 AM

Any thoughts on holographic technology, especially for live music concerts?

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