|
|
This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
|
|
Author
|
Topic: "The Wrong Size Film"
|
Mike Blakesley
Film God
Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99
|
posted 10-05-2000 05:45 PM
I clipped this from the Roger Ebert "movie answer man" website. Good for a laff!-----------
Q. Recently, I saw "The Patriot" at Chicago's Water Tower Theater. When the film began, the audience noticed that the picture was off the screen. It extended about 1 foot off the top and bottom and approximately 3 feet off of each side onto the curtains and the walls. I mentioned this to the manager at the start of the film, hoping to have it corrected. I was told by her, "We know. The film they sent us was too large for our screen. There is nothing that can be done about it." I mentioned that I have been in theaters with much smaller screens than this one and not had a problem. I also noted that we shouldn't be expected to pay $8.50 for a movie when we are being denied a portion of the picture. She just shrugged it off.
---Jason Steele, Chicago A. A movie can be configured to show on any size screen. All it takes is a projectionist who knows what he's doing. The movie does not have a "size," but a format, and the projector must be adjusted to frame the film in that format. "The Patriot" was filmed in the ratio of 2.35 to 1, true wide screen, but movies in that format have been shown in every theater countless times. -------------------
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thomas Hauerslev
Master Film Handler
Posts: 451
From: Copenhagen, Denmark
Registered: Aug 2000
|
posted 10-06-2000 02:02 AM
This is simply hilarious."We know. The film they sent us was too large for our screen." It's taken right out of Terry Gilliam's splendid "Brazil". More jokes like that please. The best from Copenhagen (It's in Denmark!) Thomas
| IP: Logged
|
|
Paul Cunningham
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 146
From: Melbourne, Australia
Registered: Jun 2000
|
posted 10-06-2000 07:34 AM
He couldn't possibly have had a lens from a different sized auditorium in the machine for some reason. Maybe they'd dropped one or something. This would account for no sound track being visible.Just a thought. Good night all Paul
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Stefan Scholz
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 223
From: Schoenberg, Germany
Registered: Sep 1999
|
posted 10-08-2000 03:46 AM
I have recently been to a newly opened 9 plex. UCI had the contract, but was willing to pay the fine for not taking the finished site, and even liked to pay for rebuilding to more mall parking spaces.
Another cheap theatre operator to the finished site. First comments were awful. Soda without carbon dioxide and syrup (no taste at all), popcorn that tasted like it was several days old, and Nachos without any taste, the cheese sauce simply awful...
THAT'S an art to sell this! Your first impression is normally based on corn and soda.
We were expecting the worst for the halls, and were right.
The auditoriums just had one large picture size, 1.77:1, (probably 16:9?-to make you feel home). Every film was cropped to match theese screens.
Sound was simply awful, harsh and without bass or treble, not even SR sounded good.
We were not allowed to enter the booth, "for safety reasons"....
Equipment seemed to be Christy and KCS speakers, more we could not see.
| IP: Logged
|
|
Stefan Scholz
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 223
From: Schoenberg, Germany
Registered: Sep 1999
|
posted 10-08-2000 04:02 AM
The Mike Todd Gordon refers to was Mike Todd's "Around the world in 80 days". This film had it's first run -not only in Britain- in Europe in 30 fps 34 mm format, full frame format without soundtrack. The sound came from a seperate "Cinestage" mag dubber, which was rented at approx $1000 per month to the theatres.
The sound format was 8 channels, with 5 front channels and a split surround (L/R/Top).
You needed to have Todd-AO projectors (DP 70) to run the 30 fps, as trhis was the only brand available at the time (1958). Todd supplied the special masks for the projector, but with DP 70 no other change was neccessairy.
I do still have the original correspondence and invoices from 1958, found at my Savoy ToDD AO theatre's storage area.
Basicly the taxes on any film wider than 35 mm, and not beeing printed in Britain (or Germany) were prohibitively high.
In 1958 London's printing labs did not offer 70 mm printing or reduction printing, therefore the "Cinestage" trick had to be done, as then the film could be called "narrow gauge" with narrow duties.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
All times are Central (GMT -6:00)
|
This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
|
Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM
6.3.1.2
The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion
and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.
|
Home
Printer-friendly view of this topic