What is the general opinion here regarding rating presentations opening day/weekend? Our fearless friend Evans has actually taken rating presenatations to a new level with his website, but to my knowledge he has never taken into account the fact that (it appears) he sees most movies on opening day, or at least opening weekend.
My firm belief is that ANY theater, even those equipped with complete idiots in the projection booth, can "do film right" on opening weekend. There are theaters that have not cleaned their projectors in years, but of course put a brand new print through them and it appears on-screen to be an excellent presentation. I see this all the time and even the studios don't seem to think about this, for otherwise why does TAP review the "first show, opening day" (never to return for a re-review) when they do their in-theater presentation ratings? That is in my opinion a complete waste of time. First it does not take into account the possibility of a bad reel and does not allow the theater to secure a replacement (no doubt due to TES not shipping prints early enough). Second, like I said ANY dump of a theater is going to appear to have a great presentation the first X number of times the film is ran. So why do people even bother rating a presentation during the first couple of weeks?
Evans, do you ever go back and watch a film that you gave a "perfect presentation" rating to on opening weekend a couple of months on down the line? I'm betting they wouldn't quite get the same review. Few theaters can truly keep their presentation up to the quality standard of the first performance.
I still say that a theater's presentation should not be rated unless they are running a film that is at least 2 months old. Sure many prints do not stick around for that long, but get a popular film and check up on it many weeks down the road and THEN you will see just how good the presentation really is. Even those theaters that manage to not scratch their prints during that time will almost always have objectionable dirt buildup at the reel changes. (Objectionable dirt buildup meaning any dirt whatsoever, no matter how minute, of course.) Online film cleaning is an absolute necessity as is proper film handling, well maintained equipment and correct threading every single time. I don't care how organized the booth is, what the projectionists wear, or how the film is transported (platter/reel to reel/tower). Without all of the above 4 points present, it just doesn't happen.
Opinions, reactions, comments?
Of course, all it takes is one mistake to ruin a print, so even a good first screening is not guaranteed.
On the other hand, I think there are more theatres out there that try to do a good job than people realize. Last year, I went to see "Gladiator" at a busy 25-plex a full two months after it had opened. And aisde from a little bit of dirt around one of the reel change splices, it still looked brand new! So it's not a safe assumption that theatres will automatically start to do a bad job after opening night is over. (I understand that's not necessarily what you're saying Brad, but I thought I'd point it out.)
I think one possible indictator on theater presentation quality could be determined from this: have someone check the print itself when it is returned or sent to the second run theater. It is print dirty and scratched to hell. Was the print even taken apart and put in the cases in the original order in which it arrived?
Now certainly this would not be a method for posting online reviews of movies and their presentation, but it might be a way to kind of police the sloppy methods of some theaters that just don't have their act together.
I want my reviews to reflect how the majority of people see movies in the local theatres. Attendance for any given movie is usually at its peak on opening weekend. Therefore, more people see the movie on opening weekend than two months later. Even with this attendance pattern of mine, there is a wide variation in presentation quality ratings, so I don't see this as a major problem with my system. Many movies seen on opening day/weekend have many notable problems, and the theatres that are the most sloppy, in my experience, are the ones that have the most scratches/dirt on prints after several weeks.
I do occasionally make a point to see movies that have been running several weeks at theatres just to see if they have excessive print damage.
Regarding prints that arrive at the theatre damaged and presented with defects whiel a replacement reel has been ordered -- I take that into account too. Suppose a reel arrives with, say, one reel with a defective DD soundtrack, causing the reel to play in analog, and the manager tell sme that a replacement reel has been ordered, then I don't deduct. This has happened, and the replacement reel was indeed ordered and the problem went away.
Trust me: There are plenty of other problems other than print damage to evaluate. If a theatre is sloppy, they'll get deductions for alignment problems, running things out of frame, showing previews with the wrong lens (scope/flat), brightness uniformity problems, sound problems, etc., even without the print damage.
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Evans A Criswell
Huntsville-Decatur Movie Theatre Information Site
quote:
My firm belief is that ANY theater, even those equipped with complete idiots in the projection booth, can "do film right" on opening weekend.
I'm not so sure. I recently went to see Spy Game the day after it opened at a local 1st run theatre and it had a horrible scratch from the very first trailer all the way thru the credits about one third the way in from the right side. (The trailers were badly scratched all over). It was probably the most noticable scratch I'd seen in quite a while. I made it a point to search out the manager/projectionist and ask him about it. He said it was not there when he previewed the film after build-up, but he was off the next day and found out about it when he came back the second day. ( It only ran 3 times the first day). He wasn't happy about it and basically trashed his co-workers, and said he knew it was not caused by the equipment, and his response was something like: when you pay minimum wage, you get exactly what you pay for....
Yet, a caring and skilled projectionist is also a very important factor in "Film Done Right". Decades ago, it was not uncommon for a print to run for many months in a theatre, accumulating close to 1000 screenings. Even without film cleaners, prints remained very clean and scratch free in theatres that had projectionists who knew what they were doing and cared about quality.
We've all seen diagonal "platter scratches" that happened during makeup due to improperly positioned guide rollers, or a vertical scratch throughout an entire print caused by a misthread early in the life of a print. "Film Done Right" is more than having good film and good equipment, it's having good PEOPLE in the projection room.
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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion
You're right about many theatres handling film "just good enough" to have a decent presentation for a week or two. However, those theatres that handle film "just good enough" also tend to do everything else "just good enough" to get by and don't keep everything aligned as well as they could, don't keep the sound systems maintained well, and aren't as careful about running movies (especially flat) in frame.
The Regal River Oaks Cinema 8 in Decatur, AL, is an example of a theatre in which the manager goes the extra mile to keep everything in good shape. There are fewer alignment flaws and misframed movies there than anywhere else, and only on one occasion did I detect a minor audio problem. That's great! Guess what? That's also the theatre I can visit and see a movie that has been running for months and it will have negligible print damage! There is a high correlation between sloppy presentation quality and cumulative damage to prints. That's why I don't go to too much trouble to check older showings all that often. I believe the system I use for rating is sufficient, due to this correlation.
Go to my presentation quality review section and look at the rankings (not counting facility deductions for lack of adjustable masking) and those rankings also correspond to the amount of print damage that occurs over time. Carmike 8 in Decatur, AL is the worst and Regal River Oaks Cinema 8 in Decatur is the best. It's just that simple. By the way, I'm told that the Carmike 8, after that Decatur Daily article ran (I put it in its own thread), will soon have a different manager. Things might improve some there. It is common to see print damage there on opening weekend.
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Evans A Criswell
Huntsville-Decatur Movie Theatre Information Site
Here in Lawton, the manager at the Carmike 8 is the main guy doing all the projection work and if he has any assistant managers building prints he rides their butts to make sure they do the job right. He knows how to work on the projectors and troubleshoot most problems. He also has a very good tech working in the district that visits the theater at least several times a year to fine tune the sound systems. The high school kids working the box office and concession stand stay downstairs. I've seen plenty of shows late in their run at this theater and they usually look very good.
Accidents are going to happen at even the very best theaters. No one is 100% perfect. Theater managers and projectionists who take the initiative to cure problems immediately will provide audiences a greater benefit. I've visited a good number of dumps where certain speakers were still blown months later or the same gooey gummy bears and Coke stains were still rotting away on the screen. The new partially stadium seated theater here in Central Mall had one of their "Harry Potter" prints built up wrong to where a mis-frame occured. It ran all weekend until the following Tuesday before anyone fixed it!
Probably true in many places, unfortunately!
quote:
Evans, I think you are giving the manager a little too much credit. Most of the really good theaters are staffed with excellent operators (and in house techs) and it is THEY who keep things in alignment. I'm not saying the manager isn't important, but if you were to work at a theater I think you would understand. The manager has got a ton of things to deal with as it is regarding the floor operation and a lot more other things (paperwork of insane levels for one thing) than you realize. He/she does not have the time to personally deal with the booth unless it is a very small theater that does not do much business.
I don't think I'm giving the Regal River Oaks manager too much credit. He's got at least 25 years of experience and although he is busy with floor operations a lot, he seems to keep excellent staff members and trains them well. I believe he gets involved with booth operations more than most managers, since he has the knowledge and technical ability to take care of things. He also has his staff constantly look for problems. Whatever he does works, and that location is measurably better than any other theatre in the Huntsville/Decatur area. I know that the manager is not the only determining factor in determining presentation quality, but in this theatre it is more of a determining factor than in other theatres. This theatre has had different booth people and different staff over the years, but the presentation quality has remained excellent and consistent. That says a lot for the manager, and I don't believe for a second that I give him too much credit. I believe all the Regal theatres in my area have the same "tech" guy, so nobody can argue that River Oaks has a better tech guy. It has the best, most experienced, most professional manager, and if anyone can prove to me otherwise, I'm willing to listen, but I have plenty of data and experience in going there to know how good that manager is.
Long ago, even Roger Frazee (VP of technical services at Regal) made a post here mentioning that manager, saying he was a true professional and that the theatre industry could use more managers like him. Here it is, from December 29, 2000:
quote:
It is managed by Ralph Freehauf who is a true professional. He is dedicated to running a clean comfortable theatre and to putting on a perfect presentation. The industry could use more people like Ralph.
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Evans A Criswell
Huntsville-Decatur Movie Theatre Information Site
OTOH, a great manager will set the minimum standard for booth operations (non-union booths) and demote or fire those operators who don't match up. In union situations, these theatres are often seen as the "plums" and fought over by senior operators.
Make no mistake, I am not putting down the skills of any projectionists/tech guys/operators in any way, nor am I suggesting that the manager is singlehandedly doing all the booth work.
What I am saying is that a great manager will not only provide the proper working environment for good people, but he or she will be knowedgable enough to set and maintain excellent standards in all aspects of the operation.
The argument that paperwork keeps a manager constantly occupied can be a bit of a red herring. Many managers offload the repetative paperwork to assistants and employees, then review and correct the reports prior to signing off on them (even if this is against company policy).
There are some circuits that actively discourage such behavior because of the potential for loss of control, but a great manager working like this is often the primary source of the circuit's top new managers. The best thing a circuit can do with one of these gems is perform the standard audits and otherwise leave the person totally alone to do their thing. Such managers have little tolerance for interference, office politics, and policies meant as group punishment because some inept manager screwed up.
Now that you've mentioned the name of this manager, expect other circuits to try and take him away with better offers. 
I'm in total agreement. A good manager will attract and keep good staff, gives them responsibility and clear expectations, and keeps on top of problems without "taking over". They provide the needed tools, time, and support for "Film Done Right". Good people won't keep working for a poor manager, and as news of the manager's bad reputation spreads, recruiting good people becomes difficult.
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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion
I do wish you would take into account that print defects are far more important than show to show problems, for they are permanent and will affect every show from that point on. Having an aperture slightly out of place for one show only affects that one show, whereas dirt buildup or scratches (even if only at the reel changes) affects every showing of that print forever on. An auditorium that is too cold can be remedied by someone on staff altering the settings for the heater. A spill on the floor can be cleaned up. Stale popcorn can have a new batch popped. All of these things are easily "made good", but without a flawless print, the projectionist (or manager) is helpless in putting on a perfect performance. You must look at the bigger picture.
Hopefully I have been able to word this a bit better this time to express the importance of weighing print condition more as time goes on. Opening week is simply not a fair time to perform a print condition rating. For most theaters it is more like "yup, they haven't scratched it yet and the print looks brand new." ...but the print IS brand new! What about a few weeks down the road?" If you go watch "Lord of the Rings" tomorrow on the day it opens and the presentation is flawless, that really should not be a surprise to you and is NOT anything special, for it will have only been ran a couple of times. It's going back to see it in 2 months, to experience exactly (or better) the same quality you saw on that opening day that is impressive.
Jerry does have an excellent point regarding how a bad manager can drive away the good staff. I feel this is not only evident in the booth, but in the floor operations as well.
We got some Dolby Digital snipes with the new CP650's and they are truly complete crap. Even from brand new, some of them had printing errors. But most importantly, they are printed on stock marked AGS which seems to be simply cheap stock. Guaranteed, if I am having problems with a print it's on this stock. It simply flakes off spots tops and tails like no other.
My DTS snipes which have been running twice as long are in much better shape.
As far as TAP only checking during the opening day only......I think the reasoning is that most attendance is during this period for anymovie and thus on a priority level it is the most important day to carry out such inspection. Most dirt, scratches, and other print abuses happen from the get go and become apparent almost from the onset of a print's stay at a theater. An out of focus movie is still out of focus.......a misaligned roller still nicks at the emulsion, greasy consoles still contaminate the film.........staticky theaters almost affect new prints worse than older prints!!!!!!
I think that an excellently exhibited show stands out on its own!!! Even on opening day I think there is a difference. Check and see how clean the splices were put on by how much or little it jerks on the screen. Is the movie in focus..the bulb bright and not flickering.....all these little details are directly proportional to a theaters care on the film. Anyway thats mu opinion
Rory