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» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Digital Cinema Forum   » THIS is why the exhibition industry is fading...literally (Page 2)

 
This topic comprises 3 pages: 1  2  3   
Author Topic: THIS is why the exhibition industry is fading...literally
Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

- posted 09-28-2015 02:38 PM      Profile for Bobby Henderson   Email Bobby Henderson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Monte L Fullmer
Now, with digital, it's all pointing towards the management team that used to make the floor staff do these duties and now having to do something they didn't have to do prior...and they really hate it.
Our local Carmike 8-plex always had the GM or one of his assistant managers threading all the shows when they were running nothing but film. The theater has been digital for several years, although they've had a few 35mm screenings since the changeover. I think Inglorious Basterds was the last thing they showed on film.

The old Plitt/UA/Hollywood/Wallace Cache 8 theater that closed here in Lawton several years ago, and was finally demolished not too long ago, usually had minimum wage paid counter personnel threading the shows. For all I know they might have been building the prints too!
[Razz]

Neither approach is perfect, but one would think a theater manager might pay a little more attention to detail than a revolving door of minimum wage paid counter people.

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Arnold Chase
Film Handler

Posts: 41
From: West Hartford, CT United States
Registered: Nov 2013

- posted 09-28-2015 08:26 PM      Profile for Arnold Chase   Email Arnold Chase   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Ken Lackner
Why would use use the standard 3D light level as a reference point for a 2D presentation?
I was trying to make a point that this 2D show was WAAAY dimmer than even a 3D show would be.

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Frank B. McLaughlin
Film Handler

Posts: 76
From: Denver, CO
Registered: Dec 2011

- posted 09-29-2015 07:40 AM      Profile for Frank B. McLaughlin   Author's Homepage   Email Frank B. McLaughlin   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I am totally surprised: you have no conception of the economics of theater operation. You lower voltage on blubs or use one size lower than recommended: saves money; minimum wage kids can be taught to thread projectors: saves money; when running 35mm auditoriums and digital in the same complex always soft focus digital so public can't tell difference. Remember: it is all about the money!

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Louis Bornwasser
Film God

Posts: 4441
From: prospect ky usa
Registered: Mar 2005

- posted 09-29-2015 10:19 AM      Profile for Louis Bornwasser   Author's Homepage   Email Louis Bornwasser   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
It was ALWAYS the fault of management. They hired/kept the booth monkeys. Now, however, they have no one else to share the blame.

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Martin McCaffery
Film God

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

- posted 09-29-2015 10:40 AM      Profile for Martin McCaffery   Author's Homepage   Email Martin McCaffery   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
It's been said here many times before, those who did film bad will do digital bad.

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Rick Raskin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1100
From: Manassas Virginia
Registered: Jan 2003

- posted 09-29-2015 10:53 AM      Profile for Rick Raskin   Email Rick Raskin   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Amen! And the economics of exhibition cited above are some of the reasons I no longer go to the movies.

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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 09-29-2015 11:08 AM      Profile for Paul Mayer   Author's Homepage   Email Paul Mayer   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
In this specific case, those CP2000ZX are getting old enough that the auto lamp focus assemblies have either failed or need a good cleaning of the x, y, and z actuators. During my short time with Christie (Callahan) covering 114 screens in New Mexico (most of them ZXs) I must have changed out a dozen or so lamp focus assemblies on those (all of them with about eight years of service at that point).

But while waiting for those parts, a trained person can go into the lamphouse and manually adjust the x and y to produce a centered hot spot, and manually match the z setting (with the lamp off) of a neighboring machine to get a reasonably good brighness field. As long as someone doesn't try to do a auto lamp focus, the lamp will remain in position until the focus assembly can be replaced or cleaned. Being inside the lamphouse is definitely not something I'd expect a non-tech to safely attempt.

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Pravin Ratnam
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 844
From: Atlanta, GA,USA
Registered: Sep 2002

- posted 09-29-2015 02:51 PM      Profile for Pravin Ratnam   Email Pravin Ratnam   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Bobby Henderson
Neither approach is perfect, but one would think a theater manager might pay a little more attention to detail than a revolving door of minimum wage paid counter people.
poor manager is probably not making much more per the hour!!!

As far as it being an underhanded tactic to let those like us focused on pic quality to buy tickets for the fake large format houses (like Liemax), it works. I saw MI3 in IMAX mainly because of the better brightness that is a sure thing in the Liemax auditorium even if the image was probably the same size as that projected on the biggest screen of a non IMAX multiplex.

That could be IMAX"s new tag line "maybe a tad bigger, maybe louder, but certainly BRIGHTER!!"

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

- posted 09-29-2015 04:22 PM      Profile for Bobby Henderson   Email Bobby Henderson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
poor manager is probably not making much more per the hour!!!
That's probably true considering just how many hours some theater managers work. My old friend, Jack Connor, who managed our Carmike theater up until shortly before he passed away, worked longer hours than anyone else I knew here in town. It was crazy how often he would be there from open to close.

I think it's another corporate stunt of penny pinching to have salaried managers working marathon schedules while having as few hourly people as possible on the clock.

quote: Pravin Ratnam
As far as it being an underhanded tactic to let those like us focused on pic quality to buy tickets for the fake large format houses (like Liemax), it works.
I think it only works to a certain extent, mainly on just how badly the customer wants to see the movie. I'll go out of my way to watch a well reviewed movie that has a good Dolby Atmos mix or is using something really rare like 70mm. I see very little attraction for digital IMAX and its HDTV resolution picture. Brighter 3D is the only selling point for me. I think it's a waste of money otherwise. If IMAX can get a lot more of those dual 4K laser systems deployed I might see things a little differently.

It's very easy for me to skip a movie's theatrical release wait three months and then rent it only Blu-ray. The picture is going to look properly focused and well detailed on my 65" HDTV set. And the picture is letter-boxed, just like they have it on the IMAX screen!
[Razz]

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Buck Wilson
Jedi Master Film Handler

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

- posted 09-29-2015 04:28 PM      Profile for Buck Wilson   Email Buck Wilson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
We should start a thread with a one line per post list of things wrong with the industry and see how many pages it gets to.

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Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

- posted 09-29-2015 07:00 PM      Profile for Monte L Fullmer   Email Monte L Fullmer   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Be an interesting idea, but what's the gain in doing so?

Instead of comments on what's wrong with the industry, see how we can find ways to make it work.

Be a solution and not the problem to the problem.

quote: Louis Bornwasser
It was ALWAYS the fault of management. They hired/kept the booth monkeys. Now, however, they have no one else to share the blame.
What we had here for a good while: a manager who never got involved with the location, never paid attention to the operation while expecting the location's assistant managers to do his work for what little pay they got, never disciplined the staff, yet was quick to point the finger of blame when issues popped up or issues that were beyond man's responsibility. He eventually got the boot.

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Rick Raskin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1100
From: Manassas Virginia
Registered: Jan 2003

- posted 09-29-2015 07:01 PM      Profile for Rick Raskin   Email Rick Raskin   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
-

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Martin McCaffery
Film God

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

- posted 09-29-2015 07:58 PM      Profile for Martin McCaffery   Author's Homepage   Email Martin McCaffery   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Bobby Henderson
It was crazy how often he would be there from open to close.
It will be interesting to see how the industry reacts to the new overtime rules next year. Raises or overtime? Or just hire more part-timers.

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Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

- posted 09-29-2015 08:14 PM      Profile for Monte L Fullmer   Email Monte L Fullmer   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Some of the big box circuits have already implemented the 29hr/wk schedule per hourly employee.

Yet, it's composed of not just 29 hours flat, but more as an average.

Thus, one employee can work almost 40hrs one week, but the following week, that employee only gets 15 hours to keep that employee under 58 hours for that two week pay period.

Those that were grandfathered in for the new rule are exempt including overtime.

I see more part time employees being hired.

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James Wyrembelski
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 114
From: Beaverton, MI, USA
Registered: Sep 2015

- posted 09-30-2015 12:15 AM      Profile for James Wyrembelski   Email James Wyrembelski   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Underemployment becoming more and more the standard....

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