This is topic Senator to run 70mm This Weekend in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 04-27-2000, 03:50 PM:
To all....it is offical....The Senator theatre in Baltimore, MD will be running three 70mm films this weekend (4/29/00 and 4/30/00).
The features will be MY FAIR LADY, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, and SPARTACUS. Mr. Harris and Mr. Katz (the restorers of the above films) will be in attendance and will introduce the films.
The prints are all 70mm and striped (magnetic) with Dolby SR noise reduction and split surrounds where applicable (My Fair Lady, for sure...I test ran a reel today).
For you technonuts...The Senator uses a Bauer U2 for 70mm projection, Dolby CP-200 for processing and Altec A-4s (with JBL HF sections) for stage speakers and Klipsch surrounds (with EX, though not for this series, obviously).
The details are supposed to be posted on their web site sometime today...
check http://www.senator.com/
Steve
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"Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"
Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 04-27-2000, 05:00 PM:
Dang, Now thats cool Steve! Wish I could be there. Do you know if these are Bob's personal prints that are going to be run?
Mark
Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 04-27-2000, 05:10 PM:
For those who haven't been, I can assure everyone that the Senator is a great theatre. Anyone who's within a few hours' drive of it _must_ go!
(I'm in Boston at the moment, but I'm semi-seriously considering making the trip...)
Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 04-27-2000, 07:40 PM:
Mark,MFL _might_ be his print...it what I saw of it was in cherry shape. The label on the can seemed to be from his company. The other two I am pretty sure are in circulation.
It is too bad there is only one showing each of these films. SPARTACUS, for some reason, is on Sunday, by itself. Lawrence is Saturday evening and should be the biggest of the shows. If it were me, I would have had SPARTACUS as the Saturday afternoon show and MFL the Sunday show.
I will be missing the event...I'll be running that boat movie at the Uptown on Saturday and attending the Bowie Baysox on Sunday (AA baseball team)
Steve
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"Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"
Posted by Martin Frandsen (Member # 74) on 04-28-2000, 02:20 AM:
Why does annoncements of film festivals always come in the last minute! 
Geez i'll give my right arm to be there.There my all time favorite films, i almost want to jump on a plane and get there! BTW Marni Nixon will be there to 
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It's the new small talk. You do it so awfully well! - My Fair Lady
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 04-28-2000, 05:09 AM:
That 200 with an Aux rack and 1/3 eqing for the surrounds?
Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 04-28-2000, 07:45 AM:
Brad...yup it has an AUX rack but I have disabled the 1/3 octave EQ for the surrounds.....
When I installed the SA-10 for surround EX, I added 4-channels worth of RANE constant-Q equalizers (1/3 octave) for the surrounds. The cry rooms are only mono surrounds but have 1/3 octave EQ via the "S" output on the CP-200.
The RANES are the surround EQ for all digital formats...including SDDS.
Steve
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"Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"
Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 05-01-2000, 06:08 PM:
For those who care: yes, I was nutty enough to go to this (and the IB Tech fest in LA in February). The MFL print was the final answer print made off of the camera negs and is reserved for "special" screenings. The timing isn't quite perfect, but the condition was practically mint.
This was well worth the trip...it was great to meet Harris and Katz in person and see these three films in one of the best venues in the country. The audiences were great, too. Actual quote from people sitting a few seats down from me at the LoA screening: "you really _can_ tell a difference with that 70mm thing!"--they didn't know what "70mm" was, but they could see how much better it looked than 35-scope!
Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 05-01-2000, 08:45 PM:
Scott:I'm glad you thought it was worth the trip! It was put together in a bit of a rush but I hear all went well. LOA, I'm told was the worst condition of the three films. What I saw of MFL confirms your observations, very clean.
Steve
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"Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"
Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 05-01-2000, 08:50 PM:
BTW...I just got this e-mail from Mr. Harris today....>>BTW, the Senator was the closest I've seen to perfection outside of the
Academy.
Thanks for all your help.
RAH<<
Chalk up another Senator lover!
Steve
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"Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"
Posted by Per Hauberg (Member # 529) on 07-11-2000, 06:41 PM:
Every single 70mm screening be praised, and those restore jobs not less, but why has the new prints to be mixed othervise than the originals - I mean: in the good old days, "Laurence" dialouge did abolutely not come from center speaker only... !?Comments, please...
BTW: Is it generally considered a joke, running 70mm on a Dolby CP65...?
Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 07-12-2000, 09:55 AM:
Running 70mm is always good, regardless of processor!
Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 07-12-2000, 10:27 AM:
Theatres need to keep ASKING for 70mm prints, and support the format for their large screens by maintaining the equipment and competency to run the prints without damage. A 70mm DTS print probably costs at least five times more than a 35mm print. (Even though the raw stock for a 70mm print only costs 2.5 X more, it is printed on slower printers, and there are extra costs in making the 65mm "blow-up" duplicate negative and DTS time code track negative. The separate DTS track negative also usually requires a second pass through the printer.) Most people on this forum would agree the added cost for 70mm is more than justified, as it puts dramatically superior quality on large screens. Distributors need to know the demand is still there, and that if prints are made, they won't be trashed by poorly maintained equipment or carelessness.
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/newsletters/reel/december98/pppp.shtml http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/newsletters/reel/march99/pytlak.shtml Excuse me, while I go tilt at some more windmills. A major release with 200 70mm DTS prints --- "To dream the impossible dream". 
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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 07-12-2000, 02:27 PM:
It's not the projectionists, it's the damn bookers. They don't give a flip about 70mm. Just TRY and convince one of them that it is worth begging for. On top of that, you've got lazy circuit techs. They don't want to have to go in and deal with it, so they push AGAINST getting it. Why should they push for it? Their paycheck is the same regardless! My favorite line was always "35mm scope with 6 channel digital sound is exactly the same quality as a 70mm print". Yeah, right.
Posted by Dave Cutler (Member # 515) on 07-12-2000, 03:16 PM:
"35mm scope with 6 channel digital sound is exactly the same quality as a 70mm print"Must agree with Brad on this, what a crock. People who say that don't really know.
Lets see, the image quality award goes to..... 70mm. Much better resolution.
And the award for best sound goes to...
6 Channel Mag with SR noise reduction. Has better response than all the digital sound systems.
I wish that modern theatres would install atleast 35/70 combo's in their big houses. Talk about a marketing point. Come see "Patriot" in fabulous 70mm on our 70 foot wide screen. Would definately attract more than 35mm CinemaScope.
Posted by Jeff Stricker (Member # 224) on 07-12-2000, 03:19 PM:
I watched Spartacus for the first time about a week ago on cable TV - letterboxed, of course. Hard to believe, I'm 50+ years old and never saw the film! It's a great movie (I think I had the preconcieved notion it was some biblical epic)- It's got to look great on the big screen, you won't be dissapointed.
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 07-14-2000, 04:25 AM:
We ran the 70mm reissue of Spartacus in about 1991 (I think that's when it was). The print was brand new and the image was incredible! The sound was great but there were big differences between the original dialogue tracks and the 'new' dialogue that had to be added when they lost the original soundtracks. I would have thought it would be pretty easy to copy the EQ of the original but...it was not to be. 