Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Theaters Issue Tattle Device to Moviegoers

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Posted by Rick Raskin (Member # 1561) on 05-31-2007, 03:11 PM:

I bet you managers just can't wait for this...

The Tattler

Theaters Issue Tattle Device to Moviegoers
Tue May 29, 2007 10:02PM EDT

We rarely go to the release of a new movie anymore mainly because of other rude moviegoers. It's impossible to enjoy a movie in a room full of people talking on their cell phones, each other, or screaming at their children. I even witnessed a violent screaming match in one movie theater that left me fearing for everyone's safety. Not a pleasant experience.

With the growing number of people setting up their own personal movie theaters at home, and companies now looking at options to bring new releases to home theaters, movie theaters are taking action in order to retain current customers.

One movie theater is empowering preferred customers with tools that would summon security guards in the case of any disturbance or movie malfunctions. According to USA Today, Regal Entertainment Group is equipping loyal moviegoers with the new Regal Guest Response System in 114 theaters nationwide. The small remote control has four buttons to report disturbances, sound, piracy, and picture malfunctions anonymously. Pressing the button would alert a manager faster, and people don't have to worry about being confronted later by an angry customer. Sounds like a great idea to me, one that I hope they eventually implement in every seat.

Posted by Christopher Meredith (Member # 3767) on 05-31-2007, 03:47 PM:

We're using those in our theater. The vast majority of customers want nothing to do with it. Main, I think, because of everything else we're trying to hustle on them at the same time:

Would you like to sign up for <loyalty program> today?
Would you like to donate a dollar to <company charity> today?
Would you like to try a combo today?
Would you like to upsize to the 50-gallon bucket for 17 cents?
Would you like to participate in our tell-on-your-neighbor program?

It's no wonder home theaters are becoming increasingly popular. Going to a movie theater is almost as bad as wandering onto a used car lot these days. And with prices doing what they're doing, it won't be long before you could even come out cheaper actually buying a 1987 Pontiac Sunbird...

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-31-2007, 04:57 PM:

That device is old news and was mentioned on another thread several months ago. Only a few people in any given auditorium have them.

While the intent is good, I think it's amazing that theatres are stooping to letting the customers do the job that the management is supposed to be doing, i.e. keeping order in the auditoriums and monitoring the picture on the screens.

We already ask people to pick up their own trash. What's next, asking them to thread the projectors?

Posted by Christopher Crouch (Member # 3784) on 05-31-2007, 05:41 PM:

I really don't see how this could work, industry wide. Obviously, financial and practical issues would limit the number of units issued. So, you go the "preferred customers" route. This would seem to imply those who make a special effort to sign up for such a program. In turn, this would tend to attract the more difficult of movie goers, those who are looking to complain about something. Every theatre has these types and this gadget would attract them like a magnet.

As everyone here is thinking, why not examine your operations proceedures and staffing instead?

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 05-31-2007, 06:07 PM:

While I think the intent of "the tattler" device is worthwhile, I don't think it will be practical to use in many theaters.

The basic problem is is this: what's to keep viewers from just having a brain fart and walking out of the theater with the devices once the movie is finished? Do they need RFID tags in them and sensors at the door, like what is used to keep people from shoplifting DVDs? Sounds like a pain. And it would require more labor resources to give out and retrieve the devices in between shows.

Fundamentally, I think certain customers need to be told via public awareness campaigns (trailers, posters, etc.) that they don't need to act like a freaking turd in the theater. No one is impressed with the behavior. And we all HATE anyone who acts like a jerk in the auditorium. Shame the idiots into doing what should come naturally in being a grown adult or on the way to being grown up: practice good manners. Such an awareness campaign needs to be followed up with strict enforcement. Someone's cellphone rings or just lights up his part of the movie theater? Bye bye. Go directly to the parking lot and go home. No refund.

Many of the jerks who take joy in disrupting movies do so because of a general lack of enforcement.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-31-2007, 06:35 PM:

quote: Bobby Henderson
what's to keep viewers from just having a brain fart and walking out of the theater with the devices once the movie is finished?

Maybe the thing starts emitting a signal if it gets more than 200 feet from "home base," or something.

Posted by Joel N. Weber II (Member # 3530) on 05-31-2007, 09:18 PM:

The problem with the remotes growing legs could be resolved by instead installing buttons in the seats, much in the same way airplane seats have call buttons.

However, the other thing I wonder about is whether the buttons communicate enough information. When I've projected at a single-screen venue where other projectionists are likely to be in the audience (and likely to wander to the booth to complain when something is wrong), the bug reports are typically a lot more specific than the ``there is something wrong with the projection'' that can be communicated by this remote. Focus that's slightly off can be hard to see from the booth, depending on who is projecting and how good their eyesight is. I have found that I can pretty reliably improve the focus from the booth if it is a bit off, but it's sometimes hard for me to judge whether it's off by enough to justify disturbing the focus for a second. I have sometimes seen slight framing errors that are only visible in parts of a reel; if I were to push a button saying something was wrong with the projection, it's possible that by the time a multiplex projectionist got to that screen, the movie might have reached a part of the reel that didn't have that problem.

Posted by Cameron Glendinning (Member # 3516) on 05-31-2007, 11:47 PM:

Years ago, they hired ushers to do that job. I remember that when I started 23 years ago, My job was to sit inside the theatre for the entire film! I saw A Room with a View and Hanna and her Sisters over 140 times each!!!!! I only ever had to throw out one group of kids the entire time.

Posted by Damien Taylor (Member # 4255) on 06-01-2007, 01:33 AM:

Where do I sign up!

Posted by Scott Jentsch (Member # 1681) on 06-01-2007, 11:07 AM:

I agree that monitoring the auditoriums is the job of the theater staff. I attended a showing of Spider-Man 3 at the Marcus Majestic recently, and I noticed an usher come in at least once to check on things.

I think doing this forces the staff to take ownership of the presentation. How much time does it take, 30-40 seconds? I can't imagine any employee not having 30-40 seconds of time to do this. Even in a 20-screen theater, that's a total of 15-20 minutes of investment per round of shows.

As with many things, there is a gap between the ideal and the reality. If I were a theater manager, I would be offended by the fact that these devices were deemed necessary in my theater. If nothing else, I would make damn sure that there was never a legitimate reason for the customers to have to use them.

It must be working for Regal, though. Why else would they expand from 13 to 114 locations?

Posted by Christopher Meredith (Member # 3767) on 06-02-2007, 07:15 PM:

It should be noted that the primary purpose of these devices is not to have the customers police the auditoriums, it is for marketing purposes. When these devices were expanded recently, the training department provided numerous statistics gathered from surveying the participants in the test markets. Every single bit of data was related to the customer's perception of the theater with the devices. There was nothing at all related to increase or decrease of presentation problems or unruly customers.

In other words, Regal thinks that having these devices in the theater will make customers prefer that theater over a competing theater which does not have the devices. Remember, the primary goal of a corporate theater chain is "butts in seats." If they did not think this product would aid that goal, they would not do it.

Posted by Thomas Pitt (Member # 4322) on 06-03-2007, 03:16 PM:

Of course, you'll always have unruly people who just press the buttons randomly all the way through the movie, to annoy the staff. Can each button press be traced to a specific remote? Also, the best way to prevent the remotes being stolen would be to hard-wire them to each seat.

Having said that though, these devices sure would have helped when I've seen errors with the picture and sound! For example, when I saw Bridge to Terabithia, the film handler had spliced the movie onto the trailer reel... in MID-frame! Since it was a flat film, the picture went out of frame and you could only see the bottom quarter of the image on the screen!

Sure would have saved me having to go out and find a member of staff, who then called up projection, and it took a while to re-frame!

Posted by Caleb Johnstone-Cowan (Member # 3710) on 06-03-2007, 05:51 PM:

We try and check screens every 30 minutes and definitely during the ad/trailer reel when the lights are up so that the audience (and mystery shopper!) can see that we're checking. If screens weren't checked staff would get disciplined.

I feel that at least for weekends and some evenings busy cinemas need assigned seating and ushers so that people feel they have got their moneys worth and so that shows go trouble-free.