Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Attention Managers and Owners....

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Posted by Gordon Bachlund (Member # 124) on 07-09-2001, 02:21 PM:

In a letter to the L. A. Times Entertainment Section of Saturday, July 7, a reader commented as follows:

"I'm at the 11:45 a. m. screening of 'A. I.' at the Mann Village (a single screen first run theater) in Westwood. One hour and forty-five minutes into the picture, the framing goes askew. Chants of 'framing!' start.

"Time passes. Nothing happens. More chanting. Still no change in the frame. In the lobby, there's confusion. They tell us they're 'looking' for the projectionist. Five minutes later, I walk out of the theater, taking a refundable ticket on my way out.

"How appropriate: At a movie decrying the loss of 'human-ness' in the mechanized world, there's no human in the projection box."

Call me a curmudgeon if you will, but when I worked as projectionist such a situation would never have happened. It would have been unthinkable to thread out of frame, and heresy not to correct framing and focus, if required, right after the changeover!

Managers and owners, if you don't want to see the business continue to go down the drain, hire and retain competent union projectionists. Provide the entertainment experience that you are charging for.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 07-09-2001, 04:59 PM:

Interesting. Anyone know if this place runs platters or automated changeovers? I wonder if they replaced a bad reel and misframed the splice.

Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 07-09-2001, 06:19 PM:

The key word in Mr. Bachlund's post is competent. Theatre owners are not interested in competent, only cheap. They get what they deserve, unfortunately the public bears the brunt of their cheapness.

Posted by John Schulien (Member # 215) on 07-09-2001, 06:35 PM:

I went to see AI at the Village North in Chicago about a week ago. The first trailer started, and it was obvious that the picture was out of focus. I got up and went to the lobby. I told the usher that the picture was out of focus. He told me, "Don't worry about it, it will be ok once the movie starts." He wouldn't send anyone up to fix it, and wouldn't tell anyone. Needless to say, the picture was out of focus for the entire movie. I would have left, but I was with a big group, it was the midnight movie, and I didn't want to make an issue.

That's another theatre scratched off my list. My problem is that, with the exception of the Music Box, which doesn't show first run movies, I'm running out of movie theatres! It's just been one bad experience after another for the last few years. I saw Chicken Run at Webster Place, and the image was so dark that I walked in during the previews, and literally couldn't see the floor in front of me.

So are there any good first run theatres left in Chicago at all?

Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 07-09-2001, 06:50 PM:

Ushers are not too inteligent, remember Rodney in "the Projectionist"?

There was one time when I had a long run of back to back starts. Well, it just so happened that someone had shot a huge spit-ball onto the port glass of one of the theaters. I did not have time to go down and clean it, so I asked assistance from one of the floor ushers. (BIG MISTAKE!) I had specifically told him to use glass cleaner and paper towels, in fact, I left some by the "booth" door for him. Well, the dumbass used a filthy broom on that glass! It was a nightmare to get that glass clean-not to mention that he scratched it.

Goes back to what I was saying in my post about Union Projectionists. I think that this a way of ensuring quality as well as fair wages. But there are the policing and honesty issues on both sides that ruined it for everybody!

Posted by Mark Ogden (Member # 43) on 07-09-2001, 08:32 PM:

To answer Brad's question, the Mann Village runs a platter to a Norelco AA2. I don't know if it is still the case, but at one point I had heard the projectionist at the Village was also required to run across Broxton Street and thread up and start the show at the Bruin as well (this is going back about 10 years or so).

A.I. seems doomed to bad presentation at big theaters. I saw the film at a Fourth of July afternoon showing at the Ziegfeld in NY, and the first couple reels were trashed, bad scratches and filthy (tho after about 30 minutes or so it cleaned up, looked like at a previous screening someone spotted a problem and stopped the show to fix). The Zieg has lost a lot of luster since being taken over by Clearview, a New Jersey based chain notorious for some of the worst conversions in history (the chain's philosophy seems to be jam as many screens into a old single as you can, which results in some of the most astonishing off-axis projection you'll ever see). Sad.

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 07-10-2001, 10:02 AM:

"Theatre owners are not interested in competent, only cheap."

Around here all the managers looked like they just graduated from Bizness College. A few years back when I heard everyone I talked to say that they were going to college and were majoring in business I wondered what they all would do. Now it seems they all run theaters. Not that it matters much to them. This is the bean counter generation. "Generation Beaners". Yesterday they managed McDonalds today theaters, tomorrow...? The content of what they do has no meaning at all, it's just the numbers in the ledger at the bottom of the page, or should I say spreadsheet. This is what happens when there is no love for the work they do, no dedication. Know what I mean? They would never sleep on the floor of their business so they could keep it going. Nor would they invest years of sacrifice to build a future. Long before anything like that the numbers would speak to them and say "we don't balance, time to give up" and they would. It's a different world now and anyone that "cares" and/or "sacrifices" is a dinosaur.
Sorry for the rant

------------------
Greg Mueller
Amateur Astronomer, Machinist, Filmnut
http://www.muellersatomics.com/

Posted by Aaron Mehocic (Member # 15) on 07-10-2001, 01:16 PM:

Greg: Don't apologize, you're right. I've got a Bachelors of Science in Education and I continue to work as a projectionist for a number of reasons including, as you say, "cares and/or sacrifices". I've worked with a number of people over the years with everything from GED's to law degrees and most of those who been to college are more ignorant about dedication and the future than those who struggled through high school and never went off to higher learning. It seems as if college does something to the masses. The idea that "I have a degree", makes most educated types belive that they are too good for the work and they won't stay. Being an operator is an honorable profession, but many times people ask me when I'm going to quit and become a "professional". Professional what? Teacher?, Manager?, Salesman? Hell, I'm a professional now. I use my degree to teach part time, and work in the booth because I enjoy it. Sure the bottom line sucks, but there is more reason to stay other than for a paycheck. I love to tinker with the equipment and try to put on a good show. THATS PROFESSIONAL. The college educated manager who is too meek to approach district about a full time projectionist - THATS NOT.

Posted by Mitchell Cope (Member # 32) on 07-11-2001, 01:10 PM:

I spent some time away from home last week in Lubbock, Texas. There was a second run $2 movie house there, so I went every day to catch up on movies I hadn't seen. Well the first show was flat ("Angel Eyes") and the screen was fixed with masking for scope. The projector could be heard very well from inside the theater.

The next day I saw "The Mummy Returns", a scope picture. While the masking was great on the sides and top, the bottom masking didn't quite reach the picture. I think the masking was set for a 2.2:1 image. Almost, but no cigar. Though I could survive this, the lighting from the ceiling was distracting. I remembered that they had more lights out the day before in the same theater.

The third day I saw "Along Came A Spider", another scope picture. This time I was watching on a different screen. Same 2.2:1 masking problems on this screen. Framing was also off that the bottom of picture was on the top masking. If the top masking could have hidden this well, I might not have noticed. The projector needed to be reframed and pointed a little bit lower.

Each day when the movie started up, the frameline was always in the center of the picture. Fortunately (?) the projectionist anticipated this and was prepared to correct immediately.

When I got home, my wife and I rented the DVD "State And Main". No problem, good picture and great sound. While I may love the movie going experience, what's going to convince the general public to keep coming back? Something has to be worth the inconvenience to leave home and go out for entertainment. Shall it be Digital here vs. Digital there? Or will it be Digital here vs. A Great Movie Going Experience? If the latter can not be found, I'm staying home.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 07-11-2001, 01:52 PM:

It's hard to beat "Film Done Right".

But the examples you cite of "Film Done Wrong" are a disgrace . Similar "sins" are likely to be committed against Digital Cinema in the name of cost savings. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, high-end HD "home theatre" will be the real competition in the future, and theatres will have to offer superior presentation quality to stay in business.
Seven Deadly Sins

------------------
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 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Posted by Brett Rankin (Member # 31) on 07-11-2001, 04:23 PM:

"A.I. seems doomed to bad presentation at big theaters. "

Indeed it does! I saw ths opening day at the Mann's Chinese in Hollywood, and the framing was off throughout the entire film. Not a lot, but enought to distract me. I could see the upper border of hard masked shots like the opening Dreamworks logo along with several others throughout the film, and it wasn't corrected. I was with some friends and didn't want to step over people to complain, but my God, this is prbably the most famous theatre in the world, and they couldn't even get it right!

Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 07-17-2001, 02:51 PM:

I remember back in April, I went to see "Exit Wounds" at the Wynsong in Des Moines, IA. Just as the movie began, the focus and horizontal framing went bad & the sound defaulted from DTS to SR (Probably the wrong discs in the drives, or none at all).
I know that the sound could have been worse (I've endured a bypass mono film in my day) but the fact that the movie was playing out of focus & on the bordering wall made me go ask a manager that he check the picture & sound of the movie.
I couldn't believe that he made no effort to fix the framing as the film went on, and did little about the focus. As for the sound, he simply turned it up to a near distorted level!
I sat through half of the movie and left (feeling that what I could see & hear wasn't worth the rest of my money).
I agree that the standards (especially for large chain theaters) need & deserve to be higher.

I consequently also saw AI at another Carmike in Des Moines and noticed that a good deal of the film was poorly focused.
Really now, give your films the deserved, if any, effort!

Posted by Gordon Bachlund (Member # 124) on 07-18-2001, 11:46 AM:

Anent John's remarks, the July 2001 issue of the SMPTE JOURNAL contains the following in its “SMPTE Almanac” section (75 years ago in the Journal)...

The September 1926 issue reported in an article by F. H. Richardson on The Useful Life of Film: “The ultimate and only purpose of the motion picture industry, insofar as theatres are concerned, is to provide a program which the theatre will be able to sell to the public at a profit and to continue to do so indefinitely. The purpose of the motion picture is, in the main, to supply entertainment and amusement. …the motion picture industry will succeed exactly in proportion to the general excellence of the entertainment it provides. …consider what your reaction would be…to a feature in which there were long, wide scratches and thousands upon thousands of small ones, all so filled with dirt as to be either opaque or semi-opaque, with breaks in the action of the play every few feet caused by pieces of film having been cut out in the making of repairs to the print, and with an occasional bobbing up or down of the picture as a whole as a wide, stiff splice passes through the projector…”

Hmmmmm.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 07-18-2001, 12:26 PM:

Gordon: Film, projection, lens, and sound technology have come a long way in 75 years. We all know that "Film Done Right" provides unsurpassed presentation quality. But too often, the mentality of "good enough" or "we don't hear many complaints" has allowed cost-cutting to rule at the expense of presentation quality and showmanship. There is no GOOD excuse for a poor presentation, but plenty of BAD ones.

Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 07-23-2001, 11:58 PM:

Richardsons comments from Mr. Bachlunds last post describe exactly what must have been the case on the previous screenings of many of the prints I get, prints in that condition never get on out screen.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 07-24-2001, 11:35 AM:

That same issue of the SMPTE Journal (July 2001, page 464) also has an item "50 Years Ago in the Journal" about the "imminent maturity" of "theater television", and the belief that "the new industry is well able to solve its own commercial problems" in July 1951. Digital Cinema anyone?

Posted by Gordon Bachlund (Member # 124) on 07-26-2001, 09:23 AM:

IN AND OUT OF FOCUS
By LEONARD MALTIN

from Playboy Magazine, Volume 48, No. 8
August 2001

I go to movie theaters in Los Angeles on a regular basis. It’s easy to spot me: I’m the one running up the aisle to the lobby of the multiplex, desperately looking for someone–anyone–to tell that the film I’m trying to watch is out of focus.
There’s a ritual to be observed. I’ve learned that no matter how blaring the noise, no matter how blurry the preview trailers are, those indignities are to be ignored; the sound and focus have been set for the feature film, and it doesn’t pay to complain until the main titles come up. Then, and only then, can I see if I’m in for a decent presentation.
As often as not, I’m the only one complaining. No wonder theater owners seem to have no concern about giving the public its money’s worth.
In olden days, it required only a couple of loudmouths to shout, “Focus!” or “Frame the picture!” to remedy these ills. Nowadays, those pleas fall on ears that aren’t so much deaf as nonexistent. Most of the time, there is no human being at the projector.
The dodo bird has nothing on the professional movie projectionist. One of the last full-time union-carded projectionists in Hollywood explained to me that he only works at his company’s flagship theater on the night shift. That way, he can repair the damage done during the day by inexperienced theater staff who simply switch the machines on and off. Management figures that if anyone complains during a sparsely attended matinee, it’s cheaper to pay them for their inconvenience with free passes than to hire union men to work all day.
What’s more, the labor involved in screening a movie has been dramatically reduced by the invention of the platter projector, which holds an entire film in one loop, eliminating the need for reel changeovers–formerly a projectionist’s major task. The problem arises from having to set a fixed focus and sound level, which forces an audience to live with wild variations during the preshow. (The other problem is that films are subjected to more wear and tear than ever before; perhaps that’s why even relatively new prints have distracting lines, scratches and splices.
Acknowledging the need for quality control, Kodak launched a program called Screen Check several years ago, sending field representatives to theaters to make sure the equipment was properly maintained, enough light was being used, etc. The last time I saw the promotional trailer for this service at my neighborhood theater, it was projected out of focus. Honest.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 07-26-2001, 09:53 AM:

Film critic Leonard Maltin wrote: "Acknowledging the need for quality control, Kodak launched a program called Screen Check several years ago, sending field representatives to theaters to make sure the equipment was properly maintained, enough light was being used, etc. The last time I saw the promotional trailer for this service at my neighborhood theater, it was projected out of focus. Honest."

Remember the saying: "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink."?

The Kodak Screencheck Experience program offers training programs, but it can't be in the theatre to focus the projector:
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/screencheck/offer.shtml

Posted by Kristin Wahlund (Member # 922) on 07-26-2001, 11:07 AM:

The hardest part of bring that hated projectionist, is that you have several (i have 16) screens to watch at once! Most problems can be prevented by checking every splice in the film especially the ones that come with it. And by if there happens to be some kind of catastrophe with the film, make sure some one capable can fix it with out problems. We had one manager, who would never make a good splice, he just was the bad splicer. No matter how hard he tried. My entire weekend was always spent fixing his missing cues and bad splices. At that theatre, we never previewed our movies, we just waited for customers to complain about something, mark it, and fix it next show. What a way to keep people coming back, they didnt mind because the tickets were 2 dollars. Any way, The point is that you have more than one projectionist, and some people are lazy and don't take pride in their work, and its har for a theatre to fore see who is going to be a good projectionist and who isn't.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 07-26-2001, 01:06 PM:

Kristin said "some people are lazy and don't take pride in their work".

You hit the nail on the head, although I might add that even the best projectionist won't be able to do a good job without the support of management, and won't stay in that job unless they can consider it a career.

It is certainly possible for one person to handle 16 screens, but as you note, things quickly go down the tubes if something goes wrong or if someone else isn't doing their job correctly. And the audience suffers because of it.

Posted by Kristin Wahlund (Member # 922) on 07-27-2001, 12:28 PM:

Thanks John,
No one at my former theatre understood why I left them. My manager didn't get things done and chose poor people for important tasks (such as building films) and I was tired of putting up with him and fixing all the problems, for a while I decided to be the sole "booth chick" as I was called, but that worked to anextent, but the manager didn't help me out with anything in the way of promotions, raises, ect. So I quit. Treat us well and we will stay!

Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 07-28-2001, 03:41 PM:

Just came from seeing Made on the first matinee (1:30 PM) at the Loews New Brunswick (New Jersey).

The picture was off center all the way through. Early in Reel 5 the booth jockeys fiddled with the aperture plates and turned the framing knob so the picture was even more off center. How could I tell? The boom mic was clearly visible in several shots over the last 15 minutes To top that, the bottom half of the rating card was chopped off at the end.

After the movie ended I went to the customer service desk to complain about the bad presentation. A theater employee was standing close by -- he couldn't have been more than 20 years old -- and he told me that's the way it was supposed to be.

What the hell is this crap?

Loews New Brunswick was the first megaplex and the first stadium theater in New Jersey (opened Thanksgiving 1996). Not only that, it was the first megaplex and the first stadium theater in the New York metropolitan area. For more than 2 1/2 years it was my regular theater. I've only been there twice in the past 8 months -- both times when it had an exclusive. I saw Crouching Tiger 2 days before Xmas (prior to wide release) and the sound was muddy. I saw Made today (limited/platform release) and the booth jockeys made sure I couldn't see the entire picture.

If Loews' standards have fallen so far since it went Chapter 11 then whoever takes over Loews should get rid of the current top management. UA was in Chapter 11 for 6 months yet that didn't prevent UA from putting on a good show at Union Square in NYC.

Posted by Gordon Bachlund (Member # 124) on 07-30-2001, 02:09 PM:

I have a friend who is currently installing and aligning projection and sound equipment at a new 20-screen venue for Century Theaters in Tucson, AZ. He tells me that Century Theater booth equipment includes Kelmar film cleaners with FilmGuard cleaning media and cleaner/lubricant.

He further tells me that Century provides good projectionist training to its employees, and he suggests that, if one wants to see “film done right,” one would be well advised to patronize a Century Theater, where the likelihood of experiencing examples of the “Seven Deadly Sins” is minimal or non-existent.

I have followed his advice, and I agree that one does experience “film done right” in Century’s houses. Perhaps that accounts for the number of new venues Century is building. A corollary might be that the patrons of the chains in trouble are experiencing “film done wrong.” It never pays to be penny wise and pound foolish.

That, then, is the message that owners and managers would do well to heed. It still takes money (qualified projectionists, well maintained equipment, etc.)to make money.

Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 12-08-2001, 09:29 AM:

Bringing this back up to tell you the latest horror story:

Last Saturday (12/1) I was at the Loews Jersey Gardens in Elizabeth NJ. A 20-screen megaplex that opened in late August. Yes, it's 3 1/2 months old and already it's becoming a dump.

For the 6:20 PM show of Spy Game the auditorium was not cleaned between shows (I found a McDonald's cup in one of the cup holders). All the trailers had vertical scratches. Every reel of the feature had vertical scratches -- some of them green scratches. It was like watching a movie through a picket fence. I had a steep climb up and then down stairs to get to my seat. Not to mention the leisurely service at the box office and concession stand (fortunately I arrived early). The only good thing was the SDDS sound mix.

This Loews megaplex is in the far end of a busy outlet mall off the New Jersey Turnpike -- with no signs telling people where the theater is. Because of the bad presentation and bad location this will be my first and only visit to that theater.

As a final insult, I tried to use the comment card on the Loews website to let Loews know about the bad presentation. There's a required pull-down menu for you to indicate the theater city. Which city is not listed? Elizabeth NJ.