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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Author
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Topic: Today’s episode of “How does this happen?”
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Frank Angel
Film God
Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 06-06-2019 01:52 AM
What is Fathom?
And not for nuthin, if I sat down to watch SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and was confronted with a pile-o-sheet image cropped like the one you showed us, I would have walked out and demanded my money back. Any so-called "cinema" personnel who, when confronted with such a piss-poor presentation, shugs and thinks "that's just the way it is"...you know, because old movies are "weird," that person needs to be roundly embarassed in front of all the patrons and then fired.
William, I strongly suggest you go to Yelp and write a review...don't let them get away with this kind of mutilation of classic films. Go to their Facebook page or their twitter or any other place they have a presence and write a scathing review. And if this is they way this Fathom outfit authored the film, the theatre should have refused to play it outright, although my gut tells me to suspect a brainless theatre operator before thinking a distributor sent out such a faulty DCP. Seems like this exhibitor, if they really are so incompetent as to not even realize that something is very VERY wrong with the presentation, they would be better off just getting a Taco Bell franchise and get out of the movie business altogether.
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William Kucharski
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 244
From: Louisville, Colorado, United States of America
Registered: Oct 2012
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posted 06-06-2019 08:07 AM
I have to say I see a lot of Fathom screenings and always discuss presentation errors here, but I have never seen “zoomed in” presentation like that Will experienced, but if I had, I would have demanded a refund.
Though receiving content via DISH rather than a DCP may explain some of the poor contrast presentations I have seen, or it could just have been bad presentation.
As far as why someone would go to a theater to watch a bad presentation from satellite, I’m sure most theaters rely on customers not knowing any different. All they know is it’s an opportunity to see (insert movie name here) “on the big screen.”
The problem is that audiences will probably think that as horrible as they look when shown in these presentations, that is the way they originally looked theatrically. Most people have no clue what these features looked like theatrically unless they’re old enough to have seen them during their original release.
I will say the AMC/Fathom presentation of Saving Private Ryan I saw also had the volume too low, but that’s a perpetual complaint of mine. I saw on its original release presented in a THX-certified theater, so I know what it should sound like.
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Frank Angel
Film God
Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 06-08-2019 01:03 PM
quote: Carsten Kurz
Probably a mix of live/prerecorded live events and 'classic' presentations. They obviously are selling the 'classic' presentations as something special - but if all they do is showing a typical satellite DVB-S feed, that's just plain cheap. Why would I go to a movie theatre to watch a meager satellite video instead of a proper DCP of these titles?
You wouldn't and I wouldn't but such is the power of sleazy marketing. Get the uninformed in and suck the money out of their wallets before they realize what happening.
Not knowing what Fantom was, I thought perhaps it was a sub- distributor packaging "classics" (there's an over used word) but it's just an AMC move to try to fill seats on off-peak hours or something to put into their multiplexes that may have a few too many screens to fill with current product.
Remember when one of the selling points for digital that they were shouting about...the capability of digital to play all kinds of "alternative content" that would fill seats in off-peak hours? I guess Fantom is it. I always scratched my head thinking, there is a REASON the place is empty at 11am on Monday morning, even when a blockbuster is playing; what makes anyone one think a video of a Philip Glass opera or the Royal Shakespeare's stage production of, well, anything is going to fill those seats at 11am on Monday morning? And what is the difference between those classy alternate content shows than a PBS Great Performance, especially on a big screen TV.
Evidently AMC thinks it will pull in ticket buyers.
Granted, I have gone to a number of those "AC" shows and was glad they were available, but at almost all of them, you could count the number of other people in the theatre who were glad they were available on two hands and maybe half of one foot. Probably not enough to pay for the electricity to turn on the projector and the amps. Then again, possibly even if they lose money on such one-off shows, AMC or other exhibitors may do it just for the "classy" factor...give their place some gravitas. It might be good for their branding. But if they keep up this kind of botched presentation, a curse on all their houses.
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Buck Wilson
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 894
From: St. Joseph MO, USA
Registered: Sep 2010
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posted 06-15-2019 10:07 PM
quote: Frank Angel
What is Fathom?
Fathom is a third party company that provides all sorts of alternative content and live events to movie theaters. Typically have different ticket prices as well.
quote: Frank Angel
And not for nuthin, if I sat down to watch SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and was confronted with a pile-o-sheet image cropped like the one you showed us, I would have walked out and demanded my money back. Any so-called "cinema" personnel who, when confronted with such a piss-poor presentation, shugs and thinks "that's just the way it is"...you know, because old movies are "weird," that person needs to be roundly embarassed in front of all the patrons and then fired.
While I agree that is the cinema's responsibility to provide correct and proper presentation, I hardly feel it'd be appropriate for a 16 year old minimum wage popcorn jockey to be shamed and then fired because they doesn't know what aspect ratios are. Even management may have little to no control in the presentation at the location, willingly or not. If you want to complain, complain to corporate or you yourself may be the one making a fool out of himself. Trust me, I'd love to control as much as I used to, but nowadays, we barely even have control over showtimes let alone projection tech.
quote: Frank Angel
I always scratched my head thinking, there is a REASON the place is empty at 11am on Monday morning, even when a blockbuster is playing; what makes anyone one think a video of a Philip Glass opera or the Royal Shakespeare's stage production of, well, anything is going to fill those seats at 11am on Monday morning? And what is the difference between those classy alternate content shows than a PBS Great Performance, especially on a big screen TV.
The Opera events do fairly well here even despite zero advertising, especially to the target audience. Those typically look very good on screen too. They certainly do better than whatever holdover in it's 3rd week would do at noon on a Wednesday. Fathom is a decent option for theaters who wish to provide alternative content but want it to be easy and don't want to do it themselves.
quote: Frank Angel
Evidently by "astonishing results" they mean lots o money, not lots o great presentation.
In my experience, a large majority of these events don't look any worse than any given standard current movie. Not to say that couldn't or shouldn't be improved but still....
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