Tweet Digital projection isn't foolproof!

[silentfilm]

Apparently during this screening of Hugo the movie froze up and when the manager restarted the (digital) film, he started the pre-show ads up too! This kind of snafu is an embarrassment! It really ruins the last 5 minutes of a great film.

I've experience problems with it as well, often picture with no sound, or vice versa. Usually it's fixed quickly, but sometimes they can't find the issue and the screening has to be stopped.

I also find myself noticing pixels and jagged lines where they should be smooth from time to time, I guess it depends how the film has been encoded, but it really does cheapen the whole experience.

One of the reasons I'll no longer be frequenting the picturehouses.

[Mike Gebert]

I think on the whole it is less susceptible to problems than film, but never underestimate a dedicatedly inept projectionist.

The real issue for me is... knowing that, say, Moneyball has been ported directly from the video source to the blu-ray, why should I pay $20 to see it once among yahoos and texters when I can buy it at Target for the same price and enjoy the comfort of my own yahoos?

I'll always love film under the circumstances of, say, Cinesation over home video, but it's harder to know why I should love video under the circumstances at the Shopmor Plaza 18 on a Saturday night over it.

Yeah, the claims of the OP are something of a sampling error, a logical fallacy, in that it points to one example of a negative result as proof the system doesn't work, yet disregards all the times the system has performed flawlessly to deliver stellar picture and sound.

Nor is film perfect either. I'm sure we all have experienced dim, out-of-focus, shaky pictures, or film tears. I once attended a screening of Modern Times, only to discover two reels were flopped. And of course since the lazy bastard had spliced it onto a platter instead of doing dual system changeover, we in the audience were f*cked.

What it all comes down to is competent projectionists. Film in the hands of an idiot will look like shit, just as digital will. I've also seen film and digital handled by experts, and the results were marvels to behold!

I saw Hugo in 3D last week and was thoroughly delighted with the film. It helped that I was with friends, in an almost empty theater, on a rainy afternoon.

Rick

[silentfilm]

http://astortheatreblog.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/what-happened-last-night/

And here's another story about a digital projection problem. The Astor theater was shipped a bad KDM (encryption key), and they had a difficult time trying to get one that would work. Because each key is set for a certain time, they cannot test it ahead of time to make sure that the film can be unencrypted. This also means that the film must start about on the scheduled time, or it cannot be projected!

I already feel violated when I am subjected
to stupid commercials when I go to the movies.
Are moviegoers so jaded that they don't recognize
that commercials presented at anytime during the
theater presentation is not normal?

The OP's night at the movies could've been explained
as a tribute to Abel Gance during the climax. Chances
are great that the multiplex manager has never heard of
Abel Gance.

Film may break or fall out of focus, but I
have never seen it do anything like this.

http://astortheatreblog.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/what-happened-last-night/

And here's another story about a digital projection problem. The Astor theater was shipped a bad KDM (encryption key), and they had a difficult time trying to get one that would work. Because each key is set for a certain time, they cannot test it ahead of time to make sure that the film can be unencrypted. This also means that the film must start about on the scheduled time, or it cannot be projected!

I'm not quite sure how the Astor theatre runs, but keys for first-run digital theatres are issued for a specific booking period ( generally one week at a time ) and allow the theatre to run the feature as often as required during the period that has been booked. It certainly does not lock the theatre into starting at a specific time as long as the times fall between the agreed-upon period confirmed between the booker and the distributor. A multiplex will generally receive keys that will allow them to play the feature on any screen in the complex should the need arise to move a film to a larger auditorium if required due to sellouts. A feature opening on a Friday will generally have a key active at 12:01 a.m. (or even earlier if a midnight opening has been booked and confirmed) which should allow for testing before the first show on Friday afternoon.

I am wondering if the Astor runs a rep policy with titles changing on a daily or frequent basis- that would account for KDM's with such narrow windows if the title in question was only booked to play a single show on a specific date.

Are moviegoers so jaded that they don't recognize
that commercials presented at anytime during the
theater presentation is not normal?

It's normal in England and Europe, where theatrical ads have been common practice for decades. The only difference is, over there the advertisers usually go out of their way to try and make the ads entertaining, which is generally not the case here.

Yeah, I was under the impression there were always commercials in cinemas. How about "Let's all go to the lobby"? Why, Calvin Films here in KC got started doing commercials that were played in cinemas, among other venues.

I think what we've got here is a case of false nostalgia for something that NEVER existed.

There were never any commercials/ads shown at theatres I attended in the 60s/70s/80s in the Chicago area save the concession promos and the occasional charity appeal (Variety Club?) where they actually had the ushers hand around a collection plate.

I don't remember any commercials in theaters when I was younger. It was a shock when they began.

Rick

I think have always been some kind of advertisements at theaters, just not the same kind we saw on tv until recently (last 10-15 years or so). Walt Disney got his start making animated commercials for local Kansas City movie theaters.

[silentfilm]

During the silent era, there were definitely glass slides that were local advertisements. There have been filmed commercials for Coca-Cola at least since the 1980s, and I'm not counting those "visit the concession stand" promos.

The difference today is that we get the "First Look" infomercials that run 20 minutes before the trailers even start.

Digital projection is not anymore foolproof than 35mm and if anyone thought it would be, then they are not thinking logical. What more than likely happened is that they had a Marriage Tamper Error which means the server stopped communicating with the projector. Digital projection is nothing more than two big computers. The one good thing is that it will take about five minutes to repair and if the manager/projectionist knew what they were doing he could have started it back at the point where it froze. Of course you are going to have one of these errors on a Friday Night at the 7:30 show.

35mm problems: The film slipping off the platter, show over, refunds given out. The bulb burned out, 30 minute wait to fix it. Igniter bulb burns out - 4 minutes to fix. Incorrectly building up print wrong, show over & refunds given out, Intermittent gear goes out, show over for the day and maybe the next day, refunds given out. Platter does not take up and film continues to unspool on floor, next show cancelled. Then there is threading up the film incorrectly and causing a major scratch that will stay with the film as long as it plays. All of those problems can cause your evening to be ruined and with Digital projectors things will happen also.

As for as advertising is concerned, Screenvision was the first company to make agreements to supply national advertising to the screens and they started that in 1983. Before that there were smaller regional companies that went out and sold stagnate picture ads on 35mm to Mom & Pop stores in towns from the 50's forward. Mom and Pop sure liked to see themselves up on the big screen advertising their Auto Body Shop. They first started in drive-ins during intermission then moved to indoor theatres and were run before the trailers. Slides were also started by Screenvision in the early 90's and by 1994 theatres being built did not have screen drapes installed. The funny thing with screen ads, I can remember when they were not there, but for the life of me, it seems that they have always been there.

[Christopher Jacobs]

Although there are occasional glitches, over the past five years the digital theatrical presentations I've seen have had fewer problems than the 35mm theatrical presentations, although many of the 35mm screenings provide a better-looking image when they're in focus. There are inevitable equipment failures now and then, but the biggest problem with film and a major reason encouraging the switch to digital has been the training of qualified operators. When 35mm film is properly handled on equipment that is reasonably well-maintained, everything is fine. But most theatres, especially chains, refuse to invest in separate employees to specialize in projection and are reluctant to give proper training to those who run the projectors or even those who set up the film (because that training takes time that costs money). I don't think I've seen more than one out of ten 35mm movies start in-frame on the screen (and the average should be one out of four by probability odds of four sprocket-holes per frame height, but the film should never start out of frame if the projectionist really understands how projectors work and there are visible frame lines on the leader). It's also more likely for 35mm today to be out of focus, possibly due to the stronger machine vibrations and lenses not properly tightened, and of course nobody bothering to check the screen unless somebody complains. Digital projection appears to give them the ideal "set it and forget it" situation, but it also means that any major problems usually require a screen to shut down until out-of-town technicians can be contacted to remedy.

As far as commercials in movie theatres, I remember seeing commercials in the mid-1960s for A&W Root Beer, Shakey's Pizza, and occasional local businesses, sometimes with a voiceover encouraging audience members to stop by after the show. A few were the same or slightly extended from commercials seen on TV (60-second spots instead of 30-second spots). They were usually only at certain theatres, however, and other theatres would never run commercials (except perhaps for their own vending stands, using the Coke and Sprite ads designed specifically for theatres, which also ran at the theatres that showed other commercials). The drive-in always had ads, especially for the concessions stand. By the 1970s there were cigarette and liquor commercials at one chain's theatres, things you could no longer see on TV. It wasn't until the late 1980s that the Kodak carousel slide shows filled blank screens before the first previews and filmed screenads. Now, of course, it's all just one more set of digital files, although some theatres have custom DVDs with locally-made ads that run before the DCP or 35mm program begins.

You could of course consider movie trailers as a form of commercials.

[silentfilm]

You could of course consider movie trailers as a form of commercials.

I don't consider them annoying commercials as long as they appeal to the same audience that is there to see the film. For instance, a violent trailer before a kiddie film won't get me excited, but a sci-fi trailer before a sci-fi movie is part of the show. I can't tell you how many times that I've left a theater saying, "There's two hours of my life that I'll never get back -- but at least they showed some good previews!' And remember, trailers can clue to to films that you wouldn't like too, not just films that you would want to see.

My fellow 16mm collector David Hitt has a lot of movie theater advertisements from the 1960s. I remember some are British. They advertise liquor, magazines, restaurants, soft drinks, etc. Of course when he includes them with his show, they are fascinating relics of a time gone by, not annoying commercials.

I agree, there is a huge difference between ads and trailers, even today. You notice that there are never ads in the middle of the trailers, they do the ads up front first and THEN the trailers and THEN the movie. The key is timing, when to hit the theater.

I don't consider trailers and concession stand
ads offensive. Commercials for Honda cars and
other unrelated products I do. I wouldn't feel
offended if those advertisers underwrite my
night at the movies like they do for broadcast
television. Why should I have to pay to watch
their ads?

You can call me crazy, but personally I think no great system to watch or project films has surfaced yet.

Ok, I never saw a nitrate film projection or technicolor IB print. Acetate projection looks fadded, like low color saturation intensite of a simple slide home projection device.
ButI can say that no TV it's good enough, and 16:9 LCD TV looks horrible, distorted, and even LED TV looks somewhat faded, like a low power bulb in terms of light intensity.

In other words, no system ever created (Need to check nitrate projection) please me very well.

And about Blu Ray... Please... Most just kills most editions detail due compression artefacts or heavy grain reduction... NOT TRUE HD!!!!!!!!!!!!! And only 256 gray levels !!!!!!! And color channel have 50% of resolution of monochromatic channel!!!

Some bits from a Chicago Tribune article from February 1992:
None then would have dreamed that TV one day would go to the movies and pay to have its wares advertised on the big screen. Yet here we are, sitting in movie theaters, watching CBS hawking "Murphy Brown," King World thumping the drum for its new "Candid Camera," Fox pushing "The Simpsons" and "Arsenio Hall," and the Family Channel trumpeting the "wholesome entertainment" of "Roots" and "The Waltons."

The projection of ads upon the silver screen is not without controversy. But with ticket sales unchanged at slightly more than $1 billion a year since the 1960s, and with popcorn just about as high at the concession stand as the market will bear, theaters are hungry for additional revenue.

As with TV, many theater chains see advertising as a golden source and are willing to risk a measure of public displeasure to use it.

Howard Lichtman, executive vice president of marketing and communications for Toronto-based Cineplex Odeon, a theater chain that accepts TV-style commercials, said what his company is doing has been done for decades in other parts of the world.

"Today, around the world, everywhere except North America, you go into a theater and you'll see at least 20 minutes of commercials," he said. "I'm not suggesting we're planning to have, or should have, 20 minutes of commercials-we restrict it to three per feature-but there's nothing new under the sun when it comes to screen advertising."

Not everyone is so sanguine on the subject. There has been some negative audience reaction and, as a result, Disney and Warner Bros. have banned the use of TV-style commercials in theaters showing their features. Some theater chains shun the practice entirely.

"We never have accepted advertising and we never will," said Susan Frane, spokeswoman for New Jersey-based Loews theaters. "We consider it a detriment to the motion-picture experience."

Tino Balio, professor of film in the department of communication arts at the University of Wisconsin, may represent the feelings of many viewers. "I'm absolutely disgusted by this practice," Balio said. "I hate it. One of the reasons I go to a motion picture is to watch it under totally different circumstances from the television set. Whenever I see this, my impulse is to throw my shoe at the screen."

Douglas Gomery, professor of mass media at the University of Maryland, said there has been a selective audience backlash, but not one big enough to end the practice.

"They've done surveys and there is a backlash in select areas," such as college towns, he said. "But in suburban mall theaters, there tends not to be. The malls cater to the 15- to 30-year-olds who grew up with television and don't know a world without television and its advertisements.

"I think it's less offensive to them. I'm 45 and I can remember a world without TV ads, but when you start talking to 25-year-olds, that's the only world they know."