On that note Vito, when I started in this business 19 years ago, they were saying the same thing about digital…..3 or 4 years….It wil NOT be as soon as people think.
First off, Tom from dolby did a great job with the sound. The main issue they were having was that left and right channels seemed to overpower the dialouge at times. After all their tinkering, they ended up at the original levels.As far as 35MM filling the screen goes, I must totally disagree. With a 75MM lens in the machine, we filled the screen fine. It was the same picture size for 35MM and digital. Like I said, the light level was about 8fl with the 5k lamp. That reading was from the booth so I know it was a bit more from down there. Light readings from the booth with one digital projector with a 6k lamp was about 7fl so we did pretty well with the 35MM. I don’t know why at least the 3rd mezz was not opened for seating.
I agree Vito. Unfortunately, when the new equipment was put in around 1999, it was mainly installed for the 70MM 3D. The 7K lamps would have definitely looked good. The main problem is the fact that they neglected to improve the exhaust. Since then, the exhaust system there has gotten worse. Getting management to fix these problems is difficult to say the least. The main reason it took so long for the tech run, besides setting up all the digital equipment, is because they had audio issues during the tech. They could not agree on left and right levels. In the end, they went back to the original seetings that the Dolby tech set. We did switch back and forth from digital to film during the tech many times. While the digital was brighter, remember that it took 2 machine with 12k output to get it that bright. Yes the digital was in the first mezz. As Peter eluded to, the movie was not good. There were some laughs but not an overwhelming response. Long live film.
Hey Vito. The “Sex” screening was shown in Digital. There were 2 Christie projectors converged. We also had a 35MM back up running a minute behind. The tech run in the morning took over 7 hours to complete. Light readings were not great with one digital projector We were getting 7FL with one 6K lamp. With the 2 converged, we got around 12. The 35mm readings werent too bad considering we had a 5K lamp with a few hours on it. We got a bit over 8FL. The screening ran fine. We never had to switch over to film (too bad). They filled the orchestra. All the mezzanines were kept closed.
This is what happens when you have kids and managers running things. This started a long time ago when theaters started getting rid of qualified projectionists. Don’t worry, D-Cinema is just around the corner…HA!!!!!!
Listen. There will never be a resolution to this issue. It has always been a problem. My problem is the following. If you’re going to use it as a way for people to find it, it won’t work that way. For instance, if you are at the old Floral theater in Floral Park and want to go to the Bellrose there is a problem. People will go west on Jericho Tnpke, pass Little neck parkway into Bellrose. You are then going to tell me that it turns into Floral Park again. Not a good solution.
Stating the facts is not encouraging people to stop going. This has been an ongoing issue with the big chain theaters. They just don’t care about the customers.
Well, the curtain used at the beginning of the wooden soldier scene is actually one of the scrims that we used to project “Marshmallow Moon” in years past. The tour bus was a pain in the ass. The whole front fell off during one show. There were many other mechanical problems during other shows which prevented it from coming out on stage. One time during a turn, it stopped and the Rockettes had to dance around it. During breaks I would here them talking about “another problem with the bus” over the box. It was funny at times. I am hoping also that some of the other projection will return next year. I am pretty sure the 3-D is safe. And as far as filling Bob’s shoes, they are pretty big to fill but I will do my best.
Luis, I’m glad you liked the 3-D. Don’t expect to see the tour bus again next year though. There were problems after problems with it the whole time. I too think it is worth the money seeing. I probably saw it over 200 times this year and I would take my kids to see it. I do miss some of the scenes from previous years though.
To expand a bit on Bob’s statements, I have found out some more info on the situation. After snooping around a bit, I found out that about every fifth Rockette or so has a mic. So some of their singing is live and some on tape. It’s just not practical to mic every one of them. Also, I don’t think there are as many dancers and singers out there as you think that can do what they do.
Never heard a comment like that before. I have gotten nothing but great reviews about the show. Bob is right. It’s hard to dance and sing at the same time without losing your breath. As far as I know, all of the Rockettes audio is taped now. I personally don’t have a problem with that. I think a lot of the audience knows that they are lip syncing it.
The orchestra does have a solo for about 30 seconds. Santa in the sleigh is right before he flies off to open the 3D scene. Speaking of the Christmas show, I can’t believe the amount of mistakes being made this year on stage. It seems like everyday there is something else. Not to mention the problems with the sets. LOL.
Maybe you should check out a side to side comparison between film and video….sorry…I mean digital. If you are telling me that the digital looks better, then you are a moron. Of course there are many advantages to digital over film but as far as the look is concerned, most people choose film. As far as the economy goes, blame our awesome government. BTW, where is all the digital projection that you are talking about. Sorry, I can’t really talk now anyway. I need to finish this install that I am working on now. All 35MM, no video. Seems like people are still installing 35MM. Nobody seems interested in anything else. I wonder why?
Right, thats why in the 20 years that I have been in this business, I have heard the same thing about how “just a few years down the road…..”. What a joke. Just because its “fresh and new” doesnt mean its better. It will NEVER be as good as film. Like I said, it WILL happen, but not because it is a better product.
I’m sorry but digital cinema has not surpassed film in quality and whoever thinks it has is crazy. I too know Roger. I had worked for him for years. I am still installing equipment, all 35MM. For the last 10 years I have been hearing over and over that digital is just around the corner. Today, I am hearing the same thing. Eventually it will happen, for no other reason than it will save money. It will never be as good as film. I laugh when I go into theaters in NYC and see the digital projector pushed into the corner because they dont use it. It’s too expensive and there are still and always will be too many problems with it. Thats just a fact. If not, why isnt it widespread here. Film will always be number one to me and a lot of people. It will be a sad day when its gone.
Okay, just my two cents here. I myself like the Simplex projectors for many different reasons. First, I just never seem to have to many service calls on them. They just don’t breakdown. I too like the oil bath. The best part about that is you never have to change the oil because it all leaks out anyway…lol…But seriously, I have had to repair way to many Century heads compared to Simplex heads. As far as booth responsibilities today at RCMH and other theaters are concerned, it depends on many things. As a service tech, I do all the oil changes, repairs that can’t be done by the regular operators, and general preventive maintenance. In a lot of the regular theaters, I do more than that because the operators don’t really care that much about it or they feel that they don’t need to do it because their hours are being cut. I am talking mainly about theaters outside of Manhattan.
I only do the service work there on the equipment for the Christmas show. I think CTS does the service for any other film showings. Thats just how they do it now. They consider the Christmas show separate from any of the other events, as far as the booth is concerned. As far as being one of the projectionists there for the Christmas show, there are a lot of adjustments to make with the film. Remember, the sound for all the films that we run do not come from our soundheads. The sound comes from tape run from the sound room. We are synced with them through encoder motors on the soundhead. So there is constant changing of the length of leader we use at the beginning of each film. We start the 3-D projectors about 20 seconds before the music starts. We don’t actually hit the screen for another 7-10 minutes.
On that note Vito, when I started in this business 19 years ago, they were saying the same thing about digital…..3 or 4 years….It wil NOT be as soon as people think.
First off, Tom from dolby did a great job with the sound. The main issue they were having was that left and right channels seemed to overpower the dialouge at times. After all their tinkering, they ended up at the original levels.As far as 35MM filling the screen goes, I must totally disagree. With a 75MM lens in the machine, we filled the screen fine. It was the same picture size for 35MM and digital. Like I said, the light level was about 8fl with the 5k lamp. That reading was from the booth so I know it was a bit more from down there. Light readings from the booth with one digital projector with a 6k lamp was about 7fl so we did pretty well with the 35MM. I don’t know why at least the 3rd mezz was not opened for seating.
I agree Vito. Unfortunately, when the new equipment was put in around 1999, it was mainly installed for the 70MM 3D. The 7K lamps would have definitely looked good. The main problem is the fact that they neglected to improve the exhaust. Since then, the exhaust system there has gotten worse. Getting management to fix these problems is difficult to say the least. The main reason it took so long for the tech run, besides setting up all the digital equipment, is because they had audio issues during the tech. They could not agree on left and right levels. In the end, they went back to the original seetings that the Dolby tech set. We did switch back and forth from digital to film during the tech many times. While the digital was brighter, remember that it took 2 machine with 12k output to get it that bright. Yes the digital was in the first mezz. As Peter eluded to, the movie was not good. There were some laughs but not an overwhelming response. Long live film.
Hey Vito. The “Sex” screening was shown in Digital. There were 2 Christie projectors converged. We also had a 35MM back up running a minute behind. The tech run in the morning took over 7 hours to complete. Light readings were not great with one digital projector We were getting 7FL with one 6K lamp. With the 2 converged, we got around 12. The 35mm readings werent too bad considering we had a 5K lamp with a few hours on it. We got a bit over 8FL. The screening ran fine. We never had to switch over to film (too bad). They filled the orchestra. All the mezzanines were kept closed.
This is what happens when you have kids and managers running things. This started a long time ago when theaters started getting rid of qualified projectionists. Don’t worry, D-Cinema is just around the corner…HA!!!!!!
Listen. There will never be a resolution to this issue. It has always been a problem. My problem is the following. If you’re going to use it as a way for people to find it, it won’t work that way. For instance, if you are at the old Floral theater in Floral Park and want to go to the Bellrose there is a problem. People will go west on Jericho Tnpke, pass Little neck parkway into Bellrose. You are then going to tell me that it turns into Floral Park again. Not a good solution.
The theater was quaded in 1998.
That’s funny because it is definitely NOT Floral Park.
You really don’t want to see them
Stating the facts is not encouraging people to stop going. This has been an ongoing issue with the big chain theaters. They just don’t care about the customers.
Dolby stereo. No digital.
Well, the curtain used at the beginning of the wooden soldier scene is actually one of the scrims that we used to project “Marshmallow Moon” in years past. The tour bus was a pain in the ass. The whole front fell off during one show. There were many other mechanical problems during other shows which prevented it from coming out on stage. One time during a turn, it stopped and the Rockettes had to dance around it. During breaks I would here them talking about “another problem with the bus” over the box. It was funny at times. I am hoping also that some of the other projection will return next year. I am pretty sure the 3-D is safe. And as far as filling Bob’s shoes, they are pretty big to fill but I will do my best.
Luis, I’m glad you liked the 3-D. Don’t expect to see the tour bus again next year though. There were problems after problems with it the whole time. I too think it is worth the money seeing. I probably saw it over 200 times this year and I would take my kids to see it. I do miss some of the scenes from previous years though.
Well attendance definitely wasn’t lacking this year. The show did very well. I would definitely spend my money and bring my kids.
You have to realize that most theaters only have a 1.85 and 2.35 plate and lens. It’s very rare that they would have to run 1.33 or 1.66
The organs are not used during the show at all. They are only used for about 5 minutes before the show.
To expand a bit on Bob’s statements, I have found out some more info on the situation. After snooping around a bit, I found out that about every fifth Rockette or so has a mic. So some of their singing is live and some on tape. It’s just not practical to mic every one of them. Also, I don’t think there are as many dancers and singers out there as you think that can do what they do.
Never heard a comment like that before. I have gotten nothing but great reviews about the show. Bob is right. It’s hard to dance and sing at the same time without losing your breath. As far as I know, all of the Rockettes audio is taped now. I personally don’t have a problem with that. I think a lot of the audience knows that they are lip syncing it.
The orchestra does have a solo for about 30 seconds. Santa in the sleigh is right before he flies off to open the 3D scene. Speaking of the Christmas show, I can’t believe the amount of mistakes being made this year on stage. It seems like everyday there is something else. Not to mention the problems with the sets. LOL.
Maybe you should check out a side to side comparison between film and video….sorry…I mean digital. If you are telling me that the digital looks better, then you are a moron. Of course there are many advantages to digital over film but as far as the look is concerned, most people choose film. As far as the economy goes, blame our awesome government. BTW, where is all the digital projection that you are talking about. Sorry, I can’t really talk now anyway. I need to finish this install that I am working on now. All 35MM, no video. Seems like people are still installing 35MM. Nobody seems interested in anything else. I wonder why?
Right, thats why in the 20 years that I have been in this business, I have heard the same thing about how “just a few years down the road…..”. What a joke. Just because its “fresh and new” doesnt mean its better. It will NEVER be as good as film. Like I said, it WILL happen, but not because it is a better product.
I know of a few but they are in the US
I’m sorry but digital cinema has not surpassed film in quality and whoever thinks it has is crazy. I too know Roger. I had worked for him for years. I am still installing equipment, all 35MM. For the last 10 years I have been hearing over and over that digital is just around the corner. Today, I am hearing the same thing. Eventually it will happen, for no other reason than it will save money. It will never be as good as film. I laugh when I go into theaters in NYC and see the digital projector pushed into the corner because they dont use it. It’s too expensive and there are still and always will be too many problems with it. Thats just a fact. If not, why isnt it widespread here. Film will always be number one to me and a lot of people. It will be a sad day when its gone.
Okay, just my two cents here. I myself like the Simplex projectors for many different reasons. First, I just never seem to have to many service calls on them. They just don’t breakdown. I too like the oil bath. The best part about that is you never have to change the oil because it all leaks out anyway…lol…But seriously, I have had to repair way to many Century heads compared to Simplex heads. As far as booth responsibilities today at RCMH and other theaters are concerned, it depends on many things. As a service tech, I do all the oil changes, repairs that can’t be done by the regular operators, and general preventive maintenance. In a lot of the regular theaters, I do more than that because the operators don’t really care that much about it or they feel that they don’t need to do it because their hours are being cut. I am talking mainly about theaters outside of Manhattan.
I only do the service work there on the equipment for the Christmas show. I think CTS does the service for any other film showings. Thats just how they do it now. They consider the Christmas show separate from any of the other events, as far as the booth is concerned. As far as being one of the projectionists there for the Christmas show, there are a lot of adjustments to make with the film. Remember, the sound for all the films that we run do not come from our soundheads. The sound comes from tape run from the sound room. We are synced with them through encoder motors on the soundhead. So there is constant changing of the length of leader we use at the beginning of each film. We start the 3-D projectors about 20 seconds before the music starts. We don’t actually hit the screen for another 7-10 minutes.