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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Author
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Topic: Worst Digital Projection EVER!
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Frank Angel
Film God
Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 11-15-2011 12:13 AM
Just when I was getting to think that it was a given that if I went into a theatre that had digital projection, I would be pretty much guaranteed a top draw presentation.
I have seen dozens of digital presentations over the past few years and thought, if this is our future sans film, the majority of people in smaller markets all over the country who have had to suffer terrible film presentation as we all have documented on these pages, digital will be a significant improvement.
Then today I saw J. EDGAR HOOVER at The Grand Theatre at Brannon Crossing in Nicholasville KY. If anyone knows what chain, if any, owns this cinema, please inform because nowhere on the ticket or anywhere in the physical plant is there any indication that it is a chain operation.
If the snipe that was run before the feature didn't say it was "A Digital Presentation," I would have sworn I was watching really bad film. First off the image was soft from start to finish -- was it a bad 2K transfer, NO. The MPAA green tag on the trailer, which always is so razor sharp it hurts, was soft and that near-out-of-focus condition continued throughout the film.
But it gets worse; the brightness was so dark, it looked like a xenon bulb about to give up the ghost -- something you expect in badly run film operations.
And on top of that, this super dark picture was projected onto a high gain silver screen which had an unusually center bright spot with fall-off so severe that any objects that were placed on either end of the scope screen were literally in the dark. Even the set lights looked like they weren't on; faces practically disappeared in dull darkness.
I'll give it this -- the sound was impressive -- Dolby Surround EX -- barely used to any significent extent, but it was clear and robust with good separation. That said, it certainly didn't make up for the awful picture.
Yes I complained -- but the Customer Service youngster seemed not concerned about the technical failing but focused on me being unhappy -- he gave me two comps. I didn't voice my complaint because I decided to see the whole film regardless of the bad picture, and was not there to get comps but to alert them to the problem. He seemed only I eager to "make me happy." I have little hope this screen will be properly lit any time soon.
Thing is, remember how we have been saying that putting digital into booths that ran underlit and generally crappy substandard film presentation would find a way to do the very same thing even with spanking new digital systems? Well... It Has Begun.
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Randy Stankey
Film God
Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 11-15-2011 07:57 AM
It is always the case with anything new that people make a big fuss over it in the beginning but, after it becomes a mundane, everyday occurrence, people will stop caring.
Think about cell phones. When they were first available, they were expensive and people treated them with a certain reverence. Only the richest and (presumably) the smartest people could have them. Then, when they became cheap and plentiful, people stopped caring. We carry them in our pockets. We toss them across the car seat. People drop them, break them and do all sorts of nasty things to them.
Also, if you notice, the quality also goes down. They get cheaper to make. They are cheaper to buy. They are just another run-of-the-mill tchotchke. Nobody cares anymore.
The same thing will happen to digital movies.
Right now, digital projectors are the "new, hot toy" in movie theaters. They are expensive. They are treated like venerated objects. Only certain people, technicians and managers are allowed to touch them but, when they become mundane, nobody will give a rat's ass.
They'll sit in the booth. Nobody will touch them. They'll get dusty and dirty. They will break down. It will take a week to get a technician to come and repair them... if the technician is called at all. The theater probably won't call until the projector goes down.
It's not going to happen overnight. It will be a gradual decline. It will probably take five or ten years. Maybe more. But, in the end, I guarantee that digital movies will end up being just as shitty as people think movies on film are.
We all know that, regardless of the technology, a good movie presentation depends on people who care about their work.
In the commercial movie theater of today, nobody really gives a shit. It's only a matter of time before digital movies turn to shit, too.
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 11-15-2011 01:04 PM
The sad thing is customer service and a good "out of home" movie viewing experience is the only thing that differentiates what people can see in the home versus the theater.
I know about all the subtle differences between a Motion JPEG2000 based DCP and a dual layer Blu-ray disc with MPEG-4 AVC video. Nevertheless, both look very similar. There's not much visual difference between a 2K d-cinema image versus that of a 1080p Blu-ray image. The point is commercial movie theaters have very little clear technical advantage over home theater anymore.
quote: Randy Stankey
It's not going to happen overnight. It will be a gradual decline. It will probably take five or ten years. Maybe more. But, in the end, I guarantee that digital movies will end up being just as shitty as people think movies on film are.
That decline could eventually happen, provided if there is a commercial movie theater industry or movie industry at all in existence in another decade.
In the vain of trying to "find new revenue streams" and other short term vision nonsense the global media companies who own the movie industry are trying very hard to ruin both the commercial theater industry and home video industry at once. These bean counters think they'll do better if they have everyone streaming movies to their portable devices YouTube style. The idea is getting that movie revenue as fast as possible by delivering it to the viewer as fast as possible. They don't realize not everyone wants to watch movies that way. Not everyone wants to watch some badly compressed "HD" version of a movie stream into their game console or Apple® iPhone™. They're attacking the slower, yet vastly superior, delivery methods by over-reaching at "new media" via the Internet.
Here's a funny thing: that whole convenience thing cuts both ways. Yeah, I can download and watch the movie any time. That also means I can choose to put off watching the movie until any time later. And then I forget about watching the damned movie at all!
I've lost track of how many shows I've recorded onto my satellite receiver's DVR only to delete them later, un-watched.
When I have to make a conscious effort to watch the clock and then drive to a movie theater to see a certain show on that theater's schedule, that movie is actually going to get 100% of my undivided attention.
If I rent something on Blu-ray, I might have my notebook computer open on the coffee table while the movie is playing. If my girlfriend is watching the movie with me the notebook will be shut, but then we might start getting frisky with each other and get distracted from the movie that way. If the movie is playing on HBO, I'll likely be multi-tasking watching the movie while farting around on the computer. Basically, the more and more convenient the movie watching becomes the less of a shit I end up caring about it.
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