Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Oscars Tonight In Dolby Surround®

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Posted by Terry Monohan (Member # 8285) on 02-22-2015, 11:27 AM:

Lets see how ABC does with the sound at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood tonight. The Dolby people have spent the money to put in the best surround sound in any theatre around. Hope It sounds good on our home Dolby surround units. Must be nice to hear It in person tonight in the Dolby Theatre Hollywood CA USA. Turn up the volume and lets hear all the live TV split surrounds!!!!!

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 02-22-2015, 12:13 PM:

Maybe we'll get the crystal clear sound of the rain beating down on Hollywood Boulevard outside! Ironically, given the drought, we're forecast for some. There were a few spots driving home last night and it's dark and cloudy (at home, 64 miles east from the Dolby Theatre) right now.

They've built a massive canopy type thing straddling the entire street from the Chinese across to the MouseHouse, so they're obviously taking the boy scout approach and being prepared.

Posted by Terry Lynn-Stevens (Member # 7349) on 02-22-2015, 12:32 PM:

quote: Terry Monohan
Hope It sounds good on our home Dolby surround units.

I'm sure the young hipsters will be listening to the Oscars on their Dolby Atmos enabled headphones while they Hear The Whole Picture on their 7 inch tablets [Moon]

Posted by Martin Brooks (Member # 1269) on 02-22-2015, 02:48 PM:

I hope it's a better mix than what CBS did on the Stevie Wonder special. That Stevie Wonder special audio, even though it triggered the 5.1 Dolby Digital on the receiver, had no center channel and no surround audio, at least not as broadcast by WCBS-TV.

Posted by Terry Monohan (Member # 8285) on 02-22-2015, 05:54 PM:

Looks like old cheap ABC is broadcasting the Live On The Red Carpet in MONO SOUND! The commercials are in surround stereo sound at least as of 3 45 PM PCT. How sad I called KGO Ch 7 ABC in SF and they tell me ABC is sending them a mono signal for the live red carpet. I hope It will change for the main show at 5:30 PM or the pre taped red carpet that starts 1 hour before curtain time. I was the only sound type person to complain? In this day and age in front of the Dolby Theatre I can't believe they are doing MONO with no surround for the live red carpet thing. ABC saves money by not hiring the union sound guys in Hollywood to make stereo surround happen. Wait as of 4 PM Ca time THE RED CARPET IS NOW IN STEREO SURROUND SOUND. Many people may have complained and ABC got the correct stereo feed from Hollywood. All is not lost.

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 02-22-2015, 06:30 PM:

Overdressed actors answering inane questions about their clothes... in Dolby® stereo. Hold me back.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 02-22-2015, 07:07 PM:

To be completely fair, nobody on the actual oscars telecast really talks about the clothes.

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 02-22-2015, 08:06 PM:

I'll be interested in hearing the orchestra mix tonight. Apparently this year the band will play from down the street at the Capitol Records Building - the set design this year took up the space that was previously used for the orchestra pit at the Dolby Theater. Supposedly it is one of the biggest bands yet used at an Oscar show - 65 of Hollywood's best session players for this show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZBjtg_adeM

Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 02-22-2015, 09:48 PM:

I wouldn't sit through the Oscars unless I was getting paid to do so, which has been the case for
the past I-don't-know-how-many years. Thankfully, this year I'm working at another big event
and having a better time than I'd be having if I were sitting through that over-hyped drivel.

And IMO, surround sound- - Dolby or otherwise, would only make it worse.

Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 02-22-2015, 11:58 PM:

Didn't watch this but checked a few seconds, seems that this is one thing that ABC DOESN'T put their stupid logo bug on. Wonder if that's because this is the only thing the industry people actually watch over the air live, and they don't care about the shows being ruined because they get their own copies of those?

Posted by Terry Monohan (Member # 8285) on 02-23-2015, 10:15 AM:

About the stereo sound on the red carpet seems like the local ABC station in LA KABC TV sends out a live carpet feed to any ABC station that wants to play It's a pre show red carpet from 1PM to 4PM before the regular ABC live feed. This is what I saw in SF and was in Mono sound. The set in the back part of the stage was one big video wall most of the time. Some looked a little crowded and junkie to me. Strange no one from the stage mentioned the heavy rain going on outside. The only sound problem I heard was a few people hitting the elevator mike pole. To bad someone didn't give Lady G some long sleeves to put over her tatts on her great Sound Of Music song. The clips they showed from the Fox Todd-AO 70mm film SOM looked very crisp and good color. Some of the bleacher crowd outside must have gotten soaked in the rare LA rain storm.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 02-23-2015, 12:12 PM:

With reference to the foreign film Oscar (Ida), I wonder when was the last year in which a live action feature shot and intended for projection in 1.37 and b/w won one? I'm guessing early 1950s.

As for the evening itself, agreed that Lady Gaga's tattoo was gross (and it must have taken Julie Andrews all the self-control she could muster not to say something catty about it), but I did like, immediately after the best documentary award, "And now, as an antidote to all that truth and realism in the nominated documentaries, here are some commercials!"

And Tarantino and Nolan must have been spitting bullets when Larry Hornbeck got his shout-out...

Posted by Mark Ogden (Member # 43) on 02-23-2015, 12:20 PM:

Actually, it was just three years ago with The Artist.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 02-23-2015, 01:53 PM:

quote: Leo Enticknap
agreed that Lady Gaga's tattoo was gross (and it must have taken Julie Andrews all the self-control she could muster not to say something catty about it)

There had to be some other equally-talented singer that could have done that tribute. It was just another ratings grab. Lady Gaga has a great voice but she's just so kooky, she is a huge turn-off for me. Guess it's my age showing.

Posted by Richard P. May (Member # 3598) on 02-23-2015, 06:39 PM:

My home system, which works quite well, did not have any noticeable stereo at all.
The mixing for the nominated songs was just bad! The vocals were low level, and pretty well drowned out by the orchestra.
To me, the clips from THE SOUND OF MUSIC were rather inferior picture quality, especially compared with the live transmission of the rest of the show.
Other than these comments, the rest of the program looked and sounded fine.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 02-23-2015, 06:49 PM:

Thanks Mark - I'd forgotten about The Artist.

I had hoped that Leviathan would win the foreign film Oscar. We showed the Golden Globe foreign nominations on consecutive nights over a week (of which Ida was another one), and both I and the Aero regulars were pretty much of the opinion that Leviathan towered over all of them: it was a very inventive retelling/modernization of a familiar Bible story, the acting and directing were superb and the 'scope cinematography was some of the most thought-provoking I've seen. In fact, that is one of the best 4K DCPs I've seen on that screen. The veterans' helpline film was a deserving win for documentary short (it would make a very good opener for American Sniper, if it gets a post-Oscar re-release) as was Grand Budapest Hotel for original music.