Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: E.T. (TCM/Fathom SO DARK YOU CANNOT SEE THE CHARACTERS' FACES 2012 reissue)

This is topic E.T. (TCM/Fathom SO DARK YOU CANNOT SEE THE CHARACTERS' FACES 2012 reissue) in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 10-03-2012, 10:43 PM:

AMC Orchard, Westminster, CO. 7pm. Auditorium 12

I had to leave during the opening credits to tell them to turn the lights off. It didn't help much.

Not worth anyone's time or money.

I think I'll stay home and watch TV.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 10-03-2012, 10:53 PM:

Do you think it was because of a crappy transfer or because of under gunned and/or poorly maintained equipment?

While I hope it is the latter, I am worried that it might be, at least in part, due to the former.

You're right. I work at a theater and I hardly ever watch movies anymore. Poorly lit screens with crappy contrast and bad color, not to mention the sterile, synthetic look of a digital picture, really keep me from even wanting to look at a movie much less sit through a 2-hour crapfest that's less entertaining than watching paint dry.

Being a "movie guy," it pains me to think that movies as we know them are pretty much dead or dying. [Frown]

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 10-03-2012, 10:54 PM:

what? you didn't watch the presidential debate?? [Wink]

glad I didn't fork out my money to see this - glad tomorrow's 'Lawrence of Arabia' is an actual DCP and not a satellite feed (sad that the Fathom event lived up to it's name)

Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 10-03-2012, 11:01 PM:

quote: Randy Stankey
Do you think it was because of a crappy transfer or because of under gunned and/or poorly maintained equipment?

I honestly don't know.

I could see horizontal lines scrolling up the screen at times. Like you get with a bad TV signal.

I couldn't see any jagged edges or pixelation, like I have seen before with digital. But the image was soft and fuzzy.

Contrast was horrible.

I tried to complain to someone in the lobby afterwards. She just said "It's not us, it's TCM."

Oh, and there was a constant splash of light on the left side of the screen from the hallway.

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 10-03-2012, 11:05 PM:

the 'splash of light' on the screen though IS the theater's fault - they can't be blaming TCM for that! - not sure why TCM would be at fault either - I'd be pointing the finger at Fathom.

question, did Sony's Hot Ticket go belly up or something? I'm surprised that 'Lawrence' isn't being presented via Sony themselves and not through Fathom - the few titles I saw through Hot Tix; 'Rent' and 'Cirque Du Soleil' were incredible and put Fathom screenings to shame.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 10-04-2012, 12:54 AM:

We used to do the Met with Fathom. Their quality wasn't the best but you still shouldn't see lines in the picture.

We switched to By-Experience for the Met because it was cheaper and the quality is better.

Comparing the two, the differences were mostly because of the bitrate. Fathom did it with standard Dish Network equipment with, probably, 100 other channels crammed into the same transponder space. By-Experience has its own slot on its own satellite. (AMC-9, IIRC.)

With that aside, I can't remember seeing a lot of difference in contrast or color/brightness.

Remember, this would be the exact same signal, coming out of the same truck but being sent via two different satellites.

Thus, I can't imagine that, even if Fathom's quality is the way I remember, it would be the cause for what you saw.

You didn't mention whether you know what kind of projector they present their show on. Considering that it was mentioned that Fathom is presenting "Lawrence of Arabia" as well, I can't say for sure, but I have doubts that the film to video transfer was bad.

I'm not saying that the transfer was definitely good but I have a hard time thinking that Sony (owner of "Lawrence") or Speilberg (owner of "E.T.") would let those films be shown with such a bad transfer. Maybe not perfect but it couldn't have been as bad as you say it was, solely because of a bad transfer.

How about we say it was a poorly maintained, under gunned projector that exacerbated a fair-to-middling transfer of the movie?

Your report of the interference line in the picture bugs me. That shouldn't have happened and I never remember Fathom or By-Experience doing that. I'm betting it was due to a fault in the local equipment.

Bottom line: I'll hazard a guess and say that the fault lies 80/10/10. 80% with the theater. 10% with Fathom. 10% with the transfer.

Posted by Edward Havens (Member # 4715) on 10-04-2012, 01:05 AM:

I'd have to say it was 100% the theatre. Our shows today looked fantastic. But then, we just changed the bulb in that projector last week.

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 10-04-2012, 12:04 PM:

You just said "that projector" - this leads me to a question:

Are the Fathom Events being projected from a different projector than the regular features?

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 10-04-2012, 01:00 PM:

Ive seen when locations that still have film, uses their 3k lumen HD units to broadcast these Fathom Event showings.

Posted by Edward Havens (Member # 4715) on 10-04-2012, 02:52 PM:

Dennis, please don't overanalyze this.

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 10-04-2012, 05:07 PM:

quote: Dennis Benjamin
Are the Fathom Events being projected from a different projector than the regular features?

thankfully the Fathom Event presentation of 'Lawrence of Arabia' at AMC Mazza used it's new Sony 4K projector on it's largest screen - and it was Amazing[!!!]

Posted by Chase Pickett (Member # 5975) on 10-04-2012, 08:10 PM:

I know the Orchard uses Sony 4K's and I may be incorrect here, but the last time I was working for AMC and was in Denver, they had all SRX 220s. That's what the theater was built with anyways but I did hear they might be switching to 320s. That might explain why the picture was so dark. As for the light on the screen, it is from the lights on the stairs going down to the lower seats closer to the screen. They are bright as hell, and pointed directly at the screen. Then add a silver screen on top of that, and viola! It was an issue we had at Flatirons, and I bitched my way to no longer working for the company because of it.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 10-08-2012, 12:05 AM:

What the heck is "Fathom" and "TCM" doing with E.T.? Isn't that a Universal picture? I wouldn't think they'd sign away the rights to some other company...or am I missing some piece of the puzzle?

Posted by Joseph L. Kleiman (Member # 3097) on 10-08-2012, 12:42 AM:

TCM = event sponsorship; Fathom = licensing for d-cinema distribution as promotional event for blu-ray release.

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 10-08-2012, 05:00 PM:

both Fathom and TCM are also doing for a couple of Hitchcock Universal titles as well.

Posted by Edward Havens (Member # 4715) on 10-09-2012, 01:09 PM:

TCM and Fathom are presenting Universal's Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein on October 24th, and To Kill a Mockingbird on November 15th, as part of Universal's 100th Anniversary and TCM's now-monthly Event Series. I'm curious to know what the December movie will be.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 10-09-2012, 04:28 PM:

So why are all the words in the thread title linked with a hyphen. It squashes the main forum page as a result since it cannot line break where it needs to.

Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 10-09-2012, 06:31 PM:

Hyphens removed.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 10-09-2012, 06:59 PM:

Damn. I used a period in my first sentence above instead of a question mark. Now I feel like an idiot and people will forever remember me for being an idiot. Oh well, nothing new. [Smile]

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 10-09-2012, 08:38 PM:

Mike oughta look into Fathom to do these special broadcasts along with other satellite venues to really showcase his location.

Posted by Danny Baldwin (Member # 6553) on 11-07-2012, 08:04 PM:

Anybody know if the upcoming Tarantino shows are DCP or pre-recorded DBN?

Posted by Edward Havens (Member # 4715) on 11-08-2012, 05:53 AM:

Both are DCPs.