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Author Topic: E.T. (TCM/Fathom SO DARK YOU CANNOT SEE THE CHARACTERS' FACES 2012 reissue) Geoff Jones Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 579 From: Broomfield, CO, USA Registered: Feb 2006 posted 10-03-2012 10:43 PM                        AMC Orchard, Westminster, CO. 7pm. Auditorium 12 I had to leave during the opening credits to tell them to turn the lights off. It didn't help much. Not worth anyone's time or money. I think I'll stay home and watch TV.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-03-2012 10:53 PM                     Do you think it was because of a crappy transfer or because of under gunned and/or poorly maintained equipment? While I hope it is the latter, I am worried that it might be, at least in part, due to the former. You're right. I work at a theater and I hardly ever watch movies anymore. Poorly lit screens with crappy contrast and bad color, not to mention the sterile, synthetic look of a digital picture, really keep me from even wanting to look at a movie much less sit through a 2-hour crapfest that's less entertaining than watching paint dry. Being a "movie guy," it pains me to think that movies as we know them are pretty much dead or dying.  |  IP: Logged Jonathan Goeldner Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1360 From: Washington, District of Columbia Registered: Jun 2008 posted 10-03-2012 10:54 PM                     what? you didn't watch the presidential debate?? glad I didn't fork out my money to see this - glad tomorrow's 'Lawrence of Arabia' is an actual DCP and not a satellite feed (sad that the Fathom event lived up to it's name)  |  IP: Logged Geoff Jones Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 579 From: Broomfield, CO, USA Registered: Feb 2006 posted 10-03-2012 11:01 PM                        quote: Randy Stankey Do you think it was because of a crappy transfer or because of under gunned and/or poorly maintained equipment? I honestly don't know. I could see horizontal lines scrolling up the screen at times. Like you get with a bad TV signal. I couldn't see any jagged edges or pixelation, like I have seen before with digital. But the image was soft and fuzzy. Contrast was horrible. I tried to complain to someone in the lobby afterwards. She just said "It's not us, it's TCM." Oh, and there was a constant splash of light on the left side of the screen from the hallway.  |  IP: Logged Jonathan Goeldner Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1360 From: Washington, District of Columbia Registered: Jun 2008 posted 10-03-2012 11:05 PM                     the 'splash of light' on the screen though IS the theater's fault - they can't be blaming TCM for that! - not sure why TCM would be at fault either - I'd be pointing the finger at Fathom. question, did Sony's Hot Ticket go belly up or something? I'm surprised that 'Lawrence' isn't being presented via Sony themselves and not through Fathom - the few titles I saw through Hot Tix; 'Rent' and 'Cirque Du Soleil' were incredible and put Fathom screenings to shame.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-04-2012 12:54 AM                     We used to do the Met with Fathom. Their quality wasn't the best but you still shouldn't see lines in the picture. We switched to By-Experience for the Met because it was cheaper and the quality is better. Comparing the two, the differences were mostly because of the bitrate. Fathom did it with standard Dish Network equipment with, probably, 100 other channels crammed into the same transponder space. By-Experience has its own slot on its own satellite. (AMC-9, IIRC.) With that aside, I can't remember seeing a lot of difference in contrast or color/brightness. Remember, this would be the exact same signal, coming out of the same truck but being sent via two different satellites. Thus, I can't imagine that, even if Fathom's quality is the way I remember, it would be the cause for what you saw. You didn't mention whether you know what kind of projector they present their show on. Considering that it was mentioned that Fathom is presenting "Lawrence of Arabia" as well, I can't say for sure, but I have doubts that the film to video transfer was bad. I'm not saying that the transfer was definitely good but I have a hard time thinking that Sony (owner of "Lawrence") or Speilberg (owner of "E.T.") would let those films be shown with such a bad transfer. Maybe not perfect but it couldn't have been as bad as you say it was, solely because of a bad transfer. How about we say it was a poorly maintained, under gunned projector that exacerbated a fair-to-middling transfer of the movie? Your report of the interference line in the picture bugs me. That shouldn't have happened and I never remember Fathom or By-Experience doing that. I'm betting it was due to a fault in the local equipment. Bottom line: I'll hazard a guess and say that the fault lies 80/10/10. 80% with the theater. 10% with Fathom. 10% with the transfer.  |  IP: Logged Edward Havens Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 614 From: Los Angeles, CA Registered: Mar 2008 posted 10-04-2012 01:05 AM                     I'd have to say it was 100% the theatre. Our shows today looked fantastic. But then, we just changed the bulb in that projector last week.  |  IP: Logged Dennis Benjamin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1445 From: Denton, MD Registered: Feb 2002 posted 10-04-2012 12:04 PM                        You just said "that projector" - this leads me to a question: Are the Fathom Events being projected from a different projector than the regular features?  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 10-04-2012 01:00 PM                     Ive seen when locations that still have film, uses their 3k lumen HD units to broadcast these Fathom Event showings.  |  IP: Logged Edward Havens Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 614 From: Los Angeles, CA Registered: Mar 2008 posted 10-04-2012 02:52 PM                     Dennis, please don't overanalyze this.  |  IP: Logged Jonathan Goeldner Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1360 From: Washington, District of Columbia Registered: Jun 2008 posted 10-04-2012 05:07 PM                     quote: Dennis Benjamin Are the Fathom Events being projected from a different projector than the regular features? thankfully the Fathom Event presentation of 'Lawrence of Arabia' at AMC Mazza used it's new Sony 4K projector on it's largest screen - and it was Amazing[!!!]  |  IP: Logged Chase Pickett Expert Film Handler Posts: 142 From: Irving, Texas, USA Registered: Nov 2010 posted 10-04-2012 08:10 PM                     I know the Orchard uses Sony 4K's and I may be incorrect here, but the last time I was working for AMC and was in Denver, they had all SRX 220s. That's what the theater was built with anyways but I did hear they might be switching to 320s. That might explain why the picture was so dark. As for the light on the screen, it is from the lights on the stairs going down to the lower seats closer to the screen. They are bright as hell, and pointed directly at the screen. Then add a silver screen on top of that, and viola! It was an issue we had at Flatirons, and I bitched my way to no longer working for the company because of it.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-08-2012 12:05 AM                        What the heck is "Fathom" and "TCM" doing with E.T.? Isn't that a Universal picture? I wouldn't think they'd sign away the rights to some other company...or am I missing some piece of the puzzle?  |  IP: Logged Joseph L. Kleiman Master Film Handler Posts: 380 From: Sacramento, CA Registered: Apr 2005 posted 10-08-2012 12:42 AM                     TCM = event sponsorship; Fathom = licensing for d-cinema distribution as promotional event for blu-ray release.  |  IP: Logged Jonathan Goeldner Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1360 From: Washington, District of Columbia Registered: Jun 2008 posted 10-08-2012 05:00 PM                     both Fathom and TCM are also doing for a couple of Hitchcock Universal titles as well.  |  IP: Logged

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