Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Coming out to a movie in a blizzard

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Posted by Bernie Anderson Jr (Member # 410) on 02-25-2010, 09:16 PM:

So, I'm here at my theatre in what they say could be the worst blizzard of the year. I had a partial brown out because of the winds and it tripped some of the cp650s and the automations. You wouldn't believe the attitude you get from customers because they lost sound for a minute? Maybe if you didn't come out in a blizzard? Some days I hate people.

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 02-25-2010, 10:25 PM:

If it weren't for the people this job would be great [evil]

Stay warm, drive carefully.

Posted by Elise Brandt (Member # 5552) on 02-25-2010, 11:06 PM:

Hee... in Finland this year has been record-breaking in terms of snowfall. I parked my car yesterday to get to work, climbed over a pile of snow on the side of the road and whoomp- almost waist-deep. Stood there amazed for a moment wondering if I should move or yell or what [Big Grin]

luckily it's cold enough that the snow is very fine and I got out with a minimal amount of cursing and sweating. I like to make people smile and that morning did its job. Passers-by did find my struggle hilarious, and when I got out I was laughing myself just imagining what I looked like.

It seems the worse the weather, the more people come to the movies. Well, they're used to it here... the few people who stay home because of snowstorms are balanced out by the brave ones. And understanding; everyone has had problems in the house for the storms, electricity, plumbing freezing over (right now only one tap's frozen at home) or such, and they're really understanding if something goes wrong at the theater... rarely does. We try to make it up to them, free tickets, popcorn for any waiting and such. And always tell them personally what's going on so they don't just have to sit there wondering.

Posted by Jeremy Weigel (Member # 4208) on 02-25-2010, 11:12 PM:

I feel your pain. We had a blizzard here Christmas Eve that moved in around 2pm and dumped up to 14" with drifts as high as 6ft. The winds were so high that it slowed down the roof exhaust blowers enough to cause a few lamps to trip off momentarily. Most customers were very understanding but there were as always a few that just didn't understand or didn't want to understand.

As far as losing sound during a show goes, I have all our processors, and their respective readers plugged into battery backups to prevent them from dropping out during a brown out. Typically a brown out is not enough to stop the projector and the lamp usually restrikes immediately, but the audio processors usually reboot and of course come on in non-sync mode. The battery back ups prevent this from happening.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 02-25-2010, 11:53 PM:

Oh, come on! Use the standard reply:

"Must have been some drunk idiot who ran off the road and slammed into a pole."

It works every time!

[Big Grin]

Posted by Bernie Anderson Jr (Member # 410) on 02-26-2010, 12:18 AM:

Well, you know what happens? There's always one person that starts the arguments and then, before you know it, you have the whole theatre coming at you. In the past, we would just pass them. I now ask for stubs, and another thing that frost's my ass is, people that throw out their stubs. They get so pissed when I won't pass them. Hell, BestBuy won't even allow you to return anything with out a receipt. Why should I pass you if you don't have one? Afterall, how do I know you're suppose to be in there? Speaking of that...It was funny one night in the Avatar 3d, we didn't sell any tickets. BUT there were 2 people in there. Well since its the last film out (30 mins after last show), with the magic of digital cinema, we pressed stop about 25 mins before the end. Of course they complained, but it didn't get them far. What's the lesson, don't jump theatres. Oh well.

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 02-26-2010, 10:55 PM:

Sounds like you need a break from a customer-service oriented business...

Posted by Elise Brandt (Member # 5552) on 02-27-2010, 12:24 AM:

Hey, we all need a break all right? [Big Grin]

Customer service is a field where your patience Will give way sometimes and you need to bitch about it to someone. Preferably not the customers... but people who understand the problem. People, in a whole, are a very stupid species. As individuals, some are also idiots and some are not. And we have to be nice to them all, year in and year out.

After any break the idiots will still be there. It's the bitching that helps!

Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 02-27-2010, 08:06 AM:

Went to the show at the Loew's Jersey yesterday. A fair number of people there considering the weather, but less than usual.

When we left London they described the weather in Newark as being cold, with light snow.

Unfortanately, I didn't bring a camera with me, so I've only got a few 'phone pictures.

This is the view coming out from my hotel. The theatre is the large brown building in the distance behind the fire escape and the man clearing the snow. The roads are not too bad, but the pavements (sidewalks) vary. Crossing roads can be difficult as it often involves climbing over snow that has been piled up. The snow is very wet, it's not that cold here, and I've ended up almost knee-deep in cold water several times. Drainage seems to be a problem.

This is the theatre; most of the snow is what has been piled up, the depth as it fell can be seen on the building. In England people don't then to move snow much these days; we don't often have very heavy snow; the roads are generally cleared by applying salt, and the pavements just left.

This is Hoboken terminal, the building covered in nasty green plastic is part of the present-day ferry terminal. Presumably it must use steam heating, as there was steam, under pressure, escaping from various places. The icicles are about a foot long, which seems a lot for just a couple of days, and strangely, seem to be growing out at an angle, rather than straight down.

Hoboken again.

This is Long Island City, close to the Queens Midtown Tunnel ventilation building. Again, much of the snow has been piled up by clearing efforts, but the actual depth of fallen snow does seem to be greater here.

World Trade Center, close to the temporary PATH station. Interesting contrast between steam and snow again.

Posted by Sean McKinnon (Member # 612) on 02-27-2010, 12:13 PM:

I live in Newburgh, NY here in Orange County. We have gotten 36 inches since Monday. 95% of the county including my apartment has no power. (We are staying in a hotel) and are being told we wont get power back until next week some time. There are many trees down all over the place. I have seriously never seen anything like this!

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 02-27-2010, 12:31 PM:

Sean, doesn't the Boston area get snow like this every year?

Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 02-27-2010, 04:14 PM:

Sean, where is Newburgh?

I'd say this, in the places that I've seen it, is about the same as in London last year, but it's difficult to compare due to people here moving it into piles,and those at home leaving it where it falls. That was the worst snow in London for several years, but nothing like as bad as 1963, the worst in my memory, or 1947, which was before I was born.

Buses were suspended in much of New Jersey yesterday,I'm not sure about today. Trains are not too bad, Metro-North is suspended between Suffern and Port Jervis but most other lines seem to be running with some delays and cancellations. Amtrak at Penn Station doesn't seem to be too badly affected, with just one cancellation on the board yesterday, a couple of delays, and several trains on time.

I haven't heard about the airports; hope I can get out of EWR on Monday. The worst does seem to be over now. It's a bit unusual o have it this late in the year.

Posted by Bernie Anderson Jr (Member # 410) on 02-27-2010, 05:58 PM:

I'll give you a better one. A lady came up to my security guy yesterday and asked "why there was so much snow in the parking lot?" Its lucky they even got anything done yesterday, nevermind the good job that they did.

Posted by Elise Brandt (Member # 5552) on 02-27-2010, 11:39 PM:

I've got a weird one; not to mention that the Finnish railroad system gets just as surprised every year when it snows (which results in me on friday a week ago among thousands of others standing hours on end at the station wondering if I'll ever get home to 150km away) there's been a record number of people hurt falling off rooftops.

The problem is every now and again it snows so much the roofs can't take it. There was literally three feet of snow on our roof (still is some spots) before my darling husband climbed up there and spent four hours shoveling it off before it gets warmer and the snow gets heavier and we don't have a roof anymore. People make some nice money going door to door offering to clean roofs [Big Grin]

and of course with no safety equipment. Because everything's sold out! Shovels, snowblowers, safety harnesses, everything.

I wish I coould send you guys pictures, it's seriously weird! One of our cars (a fixer-upper standing in the yard) got the best of it, it's pretty high, not a small car, and you cannot see an inch of it under the snow. None. I'm afraid of what we'll find when we dig it up or the snow melts.

I am seriously thinking of moving to a warmer part of Europe. Anyone out there with a job opening?

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 02-28-2010, 11:34 AM:

The answer is to get a Roof Rake.

http://www.roofrake.com/

I use one of these to keep the snow from freezing up on the eaves and causing ice dams which then cause melting water to come through the ceilings inside the house.

Posted by Sean McKinnon (Member # 612) on 02-28-2010, 08:21 PM:

You know I lived in Boston for 27 year until I moved to New York and I have seen my fair share of snow but I swear I have never seen a storm like this... I don't know what made it so bad, it just was!

Newburgh is in Orange County, NY about a half an hour from Poughkeepsie (sp?) on the Hudson river... Newburgh is where I-87 (The NY Thru Way) and I-84 meet.

Posted by Elise Brandt (Member # 5552) on 03-01-2010, 09:10 AM:

Randy; I saw my neighbor using one of those rakes [Big Grin]

looked pretty desperate. He only got about 1,5 metres from the edge off, the rest stuck on. I waited with the phone in hand and watched because I thought he might lodge off a good chunk and get hit by it, the guy's old...

Next year I think we'll definitely get one. It's only our fifth winter in this house and none before have been snowy enough to raise concern.

Posted by Sean McKinnon (Member # 612) on 03-02-2010, 04:44 PM:

Heard on the news this morning 8,700 people in Orange county New York are still without power. Including me!

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 03-04-2010, 12:23 AM:

My snow rake has a four-section pole. Each section is about 5 ft. long. That's about a 6 meter reach. The section of the roof that needs to have the snow removed slopes down low enough where I can access it with a stepladder. If I am careful I can remove the snow about half way up the slope.

If your roof is properly constructed you shouldn't need to get all the snow off. You only need to get the parts where snow melts and freezes at the edges. If you have tremendous amounts of snow that endanger the structure of the house due to weight that's different but the main problem is the ice that builds up along the edges of the roof and the gutters. If you don't remove the snow before it turns to ice it can build up and damage the roof shingles. If that happens, water will leak in and ruin your walls and ceilings.

Ask me how I know this...

Posted by Elise Brandt (Member # 5552) on 03-04-2010, 06:59 AM:

Ouch!! I don't need to tell you how bad that looks...

Usually it's the ice threatening the gutters that is the problem but that can be brought down with a long broom handle. This year it's definitely the weight all over that is weighing down the whole structure of the roof so everything, or as much as humanly possible, needs to come off.

Kids are happy though. I visited my mother, all of her roof snow came down in one big *thump* and what did she do with massive amounts of snow piling higher than her head? Dug corridors in it so the kids could have a labyrinth. There's one dutiful grandma, there.

Posted by Sean McKinnon (Member # 612) on 03-04-2010, 02:54 PM:

Update my power was restored yesterday!

Posted by Ian Parfrey (Member # 5122) on 03-04-2010, 03:11 PM:

Sean

More power to you [Big Grin]

Posted by Elise Brandt (Member # 5552) on 03-05-2010, 10:41 AM:

Yay Sean [Big Grin]

!!

Was a little worried for you. And the hotel bill.

Yes I worry for virtual strangers...