Life

[subbes]

Oh, I see, if it's not a game screenshot, it can't widen the page. Just for that I'll find a 5000px-wide screenshot of Skyrim.

[subbes]

HA HA I DID IT

[Orv]

Skyrim...

Whatchu sayin' Willis?

[miffy495]

Ye brokeh d pagee!

Congrats Miffy. Can I ask: What kind of checks should cinemas be doing? I'm so annoyed with my local that I want you to come and fix it.

I'm not sure what you mean by checks? If you have a competent projectionist in house, they'll peek into the theatre every 20 minutes or so (about when the reel changes happen, if you're using a platter projection system rather than a dual projector reel-to-reel setup [which would require the projectionist never leave the booth at all]) to ensure that nothing has changed, presentation-wise, when the reel change occurred. This can be anything from slight changes in sound to focus drift (the heat from the bulb causing mild expansion in the lens and requiring a slight adjustment to the focus) to a splice being out of frame and having to fix that ASAP.

If you mean more general maintenance stuff, ideally the very first show that something changes your projectionist should be aware, but parts can be tough to come by and expensive to ship, so actually fixing something (even something as noticeable as a blown speaker, I speak from experience) can take a week or so. If there is something that could really effect enjoyment of a show, I'm sure to warn people when they buy their tickets about it and remind them that we have a "if you want/need to leave in the first half hour, full refund" policy so that they know going in. Of course, as my theatre is only one screen, we only have two employees on at a time so the projectionist also runs the box office. I have the opportunity to talk to everyone on their way in. If I have something that needs my attention and I can't be there, I do my best to make sure that the lobby person will notify people as well though.

On the other hand, it's my experience that most chain theatres have ONE competent-to-good projectionist who is there during business hours to deal with print traffic and keeping the projectors running correctly, and then a few kids with the most bare-bones training they could have (they can start a movie without setting it on fire) to actually run the shows during the evenings. They would not be doing the things that I was talking about, and would likely not notice or bring it to the actual projectionist's attention if something were wrong. Unfortunately, this model is much cheaper for the chains than making sure that there's a real projectionist on duty at all times so it's far more likely to be the case. I'd wager that that is the main problem with the theatre you were talking about. The "projectionist" on duty doesn't know what they're doing, and the real projectionist probably hasn't been informed and, as they aren't there when the show is playing to see for themselves, doesn't know.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Well here's been the problem: In two separate cinemas (from the same chain), speakers have not been working. One was the front left, the other was the front left and right. It had nothing to do with the prints as the music was affected in the trailers, too.

When it first happened I told the staff on duty and one followed me into the cinema to see for themselves. Complete and total lugnut he was, he couldn't tell that the front left and right speakers weren't working (to be fair, I'm not sure most of the packed cinema could tell, either -- but they would have noticed if they'd come back on, I'm sure).

Afterwards I spoke to a manager who literally said, "Well we've got rid of all our projectionists now. You have to wonder what they did! (suddenly realising) Although, I suppose they would have spotted something like this."

He then offered me a free ticket or a free popcorn next time I was in the theater. I said to him that I was only concerned with him fixing the sound... but I have no idea if he was going to follow through.

Even though they no longer have projectionists... at all, he did say they do "screen checks". I was wondering what this entails, or if they were standard for cinemas? I can imagine that a blown speaker is pretty hard to detect from just listening to a movie soundtrack (how would you notice if the LFE had gone if you hadn't seen the film before?), so I'm hoping that they run some sort of check/calibration software/film/thing?

If they didn't offer unlimited cinema goings for $25 a month, I probably wouldn't use them... but I can't turn down such a good deal. *sigh*

[ThunderPeel2001]

Oh, I see, if it's not a game screenshot, it can't widen the page. Just for that I'll find a 5000px-wide screenshot of Skyrim.

Actually, I think wide images are bad even if they're screenshots... right? Is there some rule I don't know?

[miffy495]

Even though they no longer have projectionists... at all, he did say they do "screen checks". I was wondering what this entails, or if they were standard for cinemas? I can imagine that a blown speaker is pretty hard to detect from just listening to a movie soundtrack (how would you notice if the LFE had gone if you hadn't seen the film before?), so I'm hoping that they run some sort of check/calibration software/film/thing?

A "screen check" is probably what I described, with someone going in periodically to keep an eye on things. If you know your theatre well (which the kids they have running things obviously do not) you'd be surprised how attuned you can be to something like that. You may not pick up on it right away, or attribute the issue to being with the print rather than the speakers, but by the time you've shown more than one movie it should be obvious that something is up. Software-wise, we'd be talking about digital projection, which is not something my theatre is up to speed on (we have a $75,000 1080p digital projector, a J-30 deck, and a blu ray player. The projector is really good, but if we're going to start showing regular "digital format" shows, we'd need to spring the $16,000 or so that one of those HDD racks the big theatres show movies from have) but we do have a colour bar & tone test tape for the J-30 and an equivalent disc for the Blu Ray player. These we had specially made though, so your theatre may not have them. As for a calibration reel, there is probably a loop of film in the booth that is used when calibrating a newly installed bulb (it helps to ensure balanced light levels across the screen) but these are hardly standardized, and may or may not include any kind of tone for testing out your sound. It really depends if your film was on 35mm or a digital format, and even then there is no set way to do it. It's all down to what your projection staff (in this case unfortunately, none) take the initiative to get made and test with regularly. To give you the brief and sort of sad answer to your question; no, there is no standard that theatres use to test their equipment with. It's just down to having capable staff who take care of their shit.

Actually, I think wide images are bad even if they're screenshots... right? Is there some rule I don't know?

Not that I know of. Any time that photos stretch the forum out horizontally for me it irritates, whether they're from a game or not.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Akh! That's very depressing. Their "screen checks" aren't going to reveal anything if their staff can't tell something is wrong, even when it's right in their face.

Hard to believe sound is so neglected. A simple reel that displayed, "front left" and played sound through the front left speaker, then, "front right" and played sound through the front right speaker, etc. sounds like it should be standard issue.

I've seen the time and effort that goes into perfecting the sound in movies... only to now discover that it's apparently being utterly destroyed by chains that can't even tell two of their five channels isn't working. Very depressing indeed!

"Films are 50 percent visual and 50 percent sound. Sometimes sound even overplays the visual." - David Lynch

[miffy495]

Keep in mind, my experiences are in Canada, and the depressing stories I've heard are from the Cineplex chain, so who knows what it's like for a smaller UK chain of theatres. I have no reason to suspect that it's better, but also would be unjustified in making any statements about them.

EDIT: Also, to be clear, our test reel does happen to have a tone track on it, so there is a constant sound coming at even levels from all 5 channels when it is used. If something sounds off, we calibrate for that. Last theatre I worked at just had picture though, no sound, so I have no idea what most places would be equipped with.

[ThunderPeel2001]

You mean six channels, right?

[Wrestlevania]

So now that the 'bargo is up, I can tell you that my theatre, on top of everything else, was named best theatre in Calgary for 2011 by Fast Forward magazine (a local arts & entertainment mag). This may not mean much to those outside the city, but it's a huge fucking deal if you live here. I represented the theatre at their party last night, and it was bloody surreal. Among the experiences I never expected to have in my life (let alone before I'm 25), talking with the mayor over cocktails at a gala party was probably one of the top 3. [...] The rest of the party was sort of a bummer, as I spent so much time fielding questions about what's going to happen now that my boss was leaving (this is also the reason he wanted me to go rather than him, as I'm going to be representing the theatre to our clients once he leaves and he thought I should make the connections).

I've no real appreciation for what's happening, Miffy, but - to my untrained eye - it sounds like maybe you've been passed the torch, rather than just left to wind up your boss's legacy..? Surely the mayor would be all for furthering the town's cultural plaudits, and supporting the theatre's on-going arts-centred programming?

~~~~

Selfish, Sporadic Micro-Dirge

I've had to quit the creative job I've loved for the past 4 years.

Having censored this post about five times now in preview, I'll merely summarise with: in the last 18 months, the company has rapidly and dogmatically changed beyond recognition from what made me join in the first place. And none of this change has been driven by those responsible for creating the colossal reputation the business has (or perhaps "had"). And when I challenged senior management about this change, I was basically brushed off with an overly-verbose "...meh".

So, time to go. Even though it means I no longer get to work with two of my best friends (who have also since decided to quit).

On a more positive note

• My particular set of skills would appear to be in high demand at the minute; yay me.
  
• I got published in a leading industry magazine this week. :tup:
  
• I've also contributed a multiple page article to a well-known UK tech enthusiast mag, which should go to print in the next few weeks. :tup:
  

[pabosher]

Can I just say:

fuck exams, and fuck not knowing exactly where you're at in terms of performance, thus knowing how well you need to perform in upcoming exams.

stupid exams.

i just want to be at uni already.

arrrgh.

[Nachimir]

Selfish, Sporadic Micro-Dirge

On a more positive note

That all sounds way more good than bad, Wrestle.

I left my last job in March because the working environment had become intensely unsatisfactory. Set up my own company to do freelance gigs and other stuff through, and really haven't looked back since.

[Roderick]

I'm going to ride the positive train here and say that change is good and this will likely turn out Ｔｏ be a stepping stone toward greater things, Wrestle. SAY HI TO BABY T FOR ME!

[miffy495]

You mean six channels, right?

Six channels if you include the sub woofer? We're an exceptionally old place (75th birthday last year and all) and are set up with front right, front left, front center, back right, and back left, as well as a sub woofer for bass. Nothing more than that, if you were expecting more?

I've no real appreciation for what's happening, Miffy, but - to my untrained eye - it sounds like maybe you've been passed the torch, rather than just left to wind up your boss's legacy..? Surely the mayor would be all for furthering the town's cultural plaudits, and supporting the theatre's on-going arts-centred programming?

Sort of? I'll be a public face for the theatre as he will no longer be there to be the principle business hours guy to deal with clients and I am the only manager who works here full time. This means that pretty much everyone will be dealing with me in order to get their shows looking right. At the same time, I'm not going to be able to take over doing any kind of programming as I'll be going back to school in the fall and starting my practicum at an elementary school as early as January, leaving no time for the 70 hour work week that programming this place is. So yes and no. Yes, I've been passed the torch as "This is the guy to talk to at the theatre, and the person who will be running whatever events you wish to have here," but no on the programming side. I'll be keeping up full time hours in the evening along with school as long as my sanity permits, but can't take any daytime hours. As the print services business is slowly being gutted and reduced to a skeleton crew, it is currently looking likely that a coworker who is a projectionist for 2 shifts a week here right now and works at a print lab on weekdays will be leaving the print services gig and taking over programming here. We'll essentially be splitting the duties of the guy who left with a smaller chunk going to me so that I can go to school, with me being the representation and full time projection, him being the behind the scenes and full time programming.

[*]I got published in a leading industry magazine this week. :tup:

[*]I've also contributed a multiple page article to a well-known UK tech enthusiast mag, which should go to print in the next few weeks. :tup:

Bummer that you had to leave your job, but these are the two bits that stood out to me. Major congrats, man!

[ThunderPeel2001]

Six channels if you include the sub woofer? We're an exceptionally old place (75th birthday last year and all) and are set up with front right, front left, front center, back right, and back left, as well as a sub woofer for bass. Nothing more than that, if you were expecting more?

You mean LFE, right? Lol. Yes, that's six channels of sound. We need to get you brushed up your technical lingo!

[miffy495]

Ah, Low Frequency. Gotcha. Yeah, after all the training I've had for actually running and maintaining the machines themselves, most of the "not-an-actual-35mm-projector" stuff I've had to learn on the fly over the last several years, meaning I can run it and fix it but don't always know the proper names. A little scary, since I know the digital stuff way better than either of the other two projectionists here and am having to train a new person in things which I've only self-taught before and have had no formal instruction with. I just like to hover and ask questions whenever my boss would call in technicians for this huge expensive thing that he is pretty scared of (he's great at the mechanical stuff, but if it isn't loud and clanky, he has no confidence running or fixing it) to the point that I've absorbed enough from them to be able to troubleshoot and fix things myself. I'm sure there will be occasions where some new problem that I haven't seen before will crop up, but the technicians like me now and I have their phone numbers, so good enough to get by. As for teaching it? I'm making up a reference sheet for the new girl now with basic procedural stuff on it and troubleshooting details where necessary, but I'm having difficulty not just doing a brain dump and saying "there, now you have as much information as I do. Let's work this out together." I've hit 3 pages for setting up channels on the projector, starting up a show, and shutting down a show. That seems like overkill given how simple it is in practice, but I'm the kind of guy who likes to overexplain.

[Ben X]

I think subbes was being sarcastic, guys (as in: you never complain if it's a screenshot stretching the page because you're such big nerds you allow that but not a cute ickle chicklet).

I also had sound problems the other day at a Cineworld, watching Win Win, I think. There was an annoying scraping sound from the speaker every time a certain type/pitch/volume of noise was made in the film. But it was just bearable enough for me not to bother missing five minutes of the film in order to try and explain it to the staff. I also have learnt to double-check for the tiny little 'S' next to certain screening times on their site, hiding amongst all the other notations and colourings - I've shown up to a 'subtitled for the deaf and hard of hearing' screening by mistake twice now and had to leave because it's too distracting. That season card is bloody good value though!

[ThunderPeel2001]

Wow, Miffy, that sounds like a typical small company. Lol. I remember I became the technical/server dude at my old graphic design company. ("In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king", leapt to mind.) There's some great resources on Dolby's site, but that's only one part of it, I guess. Must be a little worrisome that something might break that you have no idea how to fix. (Eek.)

[ThunderPeel2001]

Ooh. I need to look out for that stuff, then. I've never wandered into a subtitled screening, thankfully, but that would be really annoying if I did.

I did get what subbes was saying, my point was that it's the same to me whether it's a "hot" new screenshot or a cute chicklet... Although to play it safe, she could have gone for a Chocobo

[DanJW]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

We are in fact such massive geeks that the forum web design takes precedence even over the prettiest of screen shots.

All hail the style sheet!

[Ben X]

That post works well with your avatar.

[Wrestlevania]

That all sounds way more good than bad, Wrestle.

You're right. Just gutted I won't get to see two good friends very often now.

Didn't realise you'd changed gigs recently; sounds very exciting! Best of luck going forwards--envy people taking the plunge and becoming their own boss.

SAY HI TO BABY T FOR ME!

I will, but he ain't no baby no more. This is him last week, when he made friends with a disinterested goat:

Edited June 13, 2011 by Wrestlevania

[Scrobbs]

So YOU'RE @bamblesquatch. Mini-mystery solved!

[ThunderPeel2001]

That goat looks like he has a bad attitude.