I've only been to a small number of showings done this way (they show at the same times as we do) but I've never particularly noticed the image to be bad (ignoring the small number of DVD artifacts) nor have I heard any complaints. But they are only projecting onto small(ish) screens (though the throw is in some cases quite long), so perhaps you wouldn't expect to notice.

First off,...now is probably a good time we stopped refering to these
little fun gatherings as "FILM Societies;" VIDEO Societies is about the long and short of it. Secondly, I'll bet 80-90% of all these campus setups are run with the particularly youthful perspective of: "Exhibition license? We don't need no stinking exhibition license." The MPAA should make a lot more of a stink about this kind of infringment than squawking about some guy selling a trailer on ebay for five bucks.

Lastly, once again this seems to be just another example of America's joy at wallowing in mediocrity. Sure you can SEE an image, sure you can follow the movie storyline, but instead of watching the quality of 35mm film, and caring about all the time and creative energy that hundreds of craftsmen put into creating a film of a particular quality, these kids find no problem SETTLING -- settling for expediencey, for the fast and cheap, and for the less than perfect....and not minding.

Do we care that the image has be tortured to fit into a square screen when it was composed for a wide rectangle? Do we care that the contrast ratio is garbage or the resolution doesn't come lose to the original? Nah; we think that's just fine. It's our cultural disease. It's like looking at a Monet painting, only not the original work, but a picture of it in an art book, or hey, even a xerox of that art book picture. Are you seeing all the nuances of Monet's genius? Not a chance.

Problem is, evidently we'ver raised a generation who could care less....a generation that actually thinks that the stuff they serve at McDonald's/Burger King/White Castle et al, is really food and the noise that comes out of Brittney Speares' mouth is really music.

Again, my apologies for posting before I've had my morning coffee.

The cost of a DVD license from Swank is the same as the cost of a 16mm license.

--jhawk
 

We have run some "classic" films from DVD when the 35mm prints just weren't available. The one comment that stands out about the video presentation is "the subtitles were readable for once" (they were inserted below the letterboxed image on the DVD - I adjusted the zoom to fill the screen from the top to just below the picture with the subtitles just above the bottom masking. White letters on black - easy to read .

I'v gotten up close to the screen and I notice the holes in the screen before I can see any pixalation from the video projector.

Of course, YMMV.
 

I work on and near two college campuses and although you are doing the right thing by licensing thru Swank or other non-theatrical houses, I can point to at least half a dozen screening rooms in dorms or even common Student Union rooms where students run "Movie Festivals" with no more concern for paying a $300 - $400 licensing fee than they do for the drinking age laws. Now multiply that by every college dorm and Student Union building across the country and you can see why Films, Inc, Audio Brandon, Twyman Films, etc., all went belly up and why Swank holds on to the non-theatrical market by its fingernails.

As for seeing pixilation and image brightness? You are probably right, you may not see pixilation and they may be able to get a "bright" image. But pixilation and screen illumination are hardly the only artifacts that separate the rich look of film from the look of NTSC projected video. Is the video watchable? Sure. Is it film? Come on.
 

I would still rather screen a pristine 16mm or 35mm print, but when those are not options we have to do our best to get the best video image possible on screen.
 

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: +1 585 477 5325 Cell: +1 585 781 4036 Fax: +1 585 722 7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion
 

quote:

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Sorry, I'd just stay home to watch a movie on videotape or DVD, even if I had a free pass.

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In this respect student film societies (and video societies who show movies on television screens) have something of an advantage (even if they are using DVD or VHS projectors) because most students don't have their own TV, or VHS player (at least not at my universtiy), and only small (growing) number can play DVDs on their computer. And even if they did have the eqiptment, seeing a film is often a social event, and many students rooms aren't big enough for having lots of people sit round a small screen.

Of course nothing will match the quality of 35mm film (done right), which is why our society only uses 35mm, but other such societies in our university thrive from showing films from DVDs and so I presume audiences can't be too worried about the lower quality.