Post by Capo on Mar 5, 2008 14:48:19 GMT
In the town where I go to uni, we got a newly renovated arthouse open again in September after a three-year refurbishment period. I'll cut to the chase: I've been to three films in short succession now, all in the same theatre (they have three, this is the biggest by far), where the print has cut off or blacked out or whatever. These have been: the exploding derrick scene (!!!!) in There Will Be Blood; the phone call conversation (!!!!) towards the end of Paris, Texas the other night, and the end credits got cut short after about thirty seconds of La vie en rose yesterday. I rarely stay until the credits are over, but I always stay for at least a minute or two until I gather my thoughts and come "out" of the film.
Not only this, but where Paris, Texas was concerned the print actually melted - you could see it just evaporating on screen. As a result, when they resumed, it had cut about a minute out. Of all the scenes, too.
Question: though I am in every right to complain, should I? I hate it when people complain about things for nothing, but when you consider the one responsibility of a cinema to its audience (to, at the very least, make the print viewable in one sitting)...
I complained about the grubbiest of all grubby prints of Jaws before the Christmas break and got a complimentary ticket out of it. And I'm the sort of guy who likes to e-mail people (arthouse cinemas, tutors at uni, etc.) with both positive and negative feedback.
Anyway, an exchange of e-mails has gone back and forth these past few days, and I thought I'd share them here. Hopefully, as with me, you'll notice and lament the lack of enthusiasm on the cinema's part - it takes a secondary role to bullshit PR professionalism.
Me:
Cinema:
Me:
Cinema:
As for that emboldened bit in that last reply, do you think it's an attempt at smiley-less humour, or a hint that I'm annoying him? Either way, it unsettles me.
Not only this, but where Paris, Texas was concerned the print actually melted - you could see it just evaporating on screen. As a result, when they resumed, it had cut about a minute out. Of all the scenes, too.
Question: though I am in every right to complain, should I? I hate it when people complain about things for nothing, but when you consider the one responsibility of a cinema to its audience (to, at the very least, make the print viewable in one sitting)...
I complained about the grubbiest of all grubby prints of Jaws before the Christmas break and got a complimentary ticket out of it. And I'm the sort of guy who likes to e-mail people (arthouse cinemas, tutors at uni, etc.) with both positive and negative feedback.
Anyway, an exchange of e-mails has gone back and forth these past few days, and I thought I'd share them here. Hopefully, as with me, you'll notice and lament the lack of enthusiasm on the cinema's part - it takes a secondary role to bullshit PR professionalism.
Me:
Hi,
I'm wondering if you guys are open to requests? Specifically, are you planning on getting any of the Zhang Ke Jia prints that showed at the BFI last month? It'd be a good follow-up to the Wim Wenders season, I think. Also, if we may extend to specific films: Days of Heaven would surely draw crowds in.
What happened to the Paris, Texas print last night? There were ten of us sitting there in disbelief; some of us had seen it before, and even the others knew it was quite an important scene (understatement of the year!). Missed a minute or so out too, I think, when it resumed (unavoidable if the print had melted).
I'm currently President of the Film Society at UEA, and plan on extended my run to the next academic year, too; was wondering if there was any chance of some sort of collaboration between us and Cinema City - group discounts, private screenings, etc.? Since January we've been seeing about two films a week (as a group, some of us see more alone), which can add up - especially when we stop for drinks after! I've been trying to get a weekly/fortnightly film night going, but copyright laws aren't the friendliest towards group screenings like that.
Just some thoughts; I look forward to hearing from you.
Best,
Michael
Cinema:
Hello,
We will be holding introduced screenings by Lecturers at the UEA and these are films that we have jointly programmed with them so I would suggest that your best course of action would be to discuss the choice of film with your lecturers. These are advertised in our new programme which you can collect from the cinema or download as of the 7th March.
I apologise about Paris, Texas but these old prints can be a real nightmare and we have no idea of knowing what condition they will turn up in unfortunately even though we had checked the print there still appears to be something wrong with the joins which we have forwarded to the other cinemas but a little too late for us to change. There are very few copies in the country and we do our best to present it the way it was meant but this was one of those rare occasions when the print got the better of us.
Regarding price, we are the cheapest in the city for students though there are plans for us to have a half price day for students making it even cheaper though they have not been fully approved as yet but look out for the advertising when it happens. You can however receive a group discount for every 10 tickets you purchase the 11th goes free.
I hope that this has helped,
Jack Thompson
Cinema Manager
Me:
Fair enough,
Thanks for your reply. Caught up with La vie en rose today, and again the print cut off during the credits. Not as important a moment as the Paris, Texas cut-out (or the exploding derrick scene in There Will Be Blood, which I didn't complain about because it was a free members' screening), but still, it's the sort of film you'd like to sit there for a few minutes after contemplating (and I generally stay for credits anyway, but I'm silly like that). Pattern: all of these problems have happened in screen 1; LOL.
Anyway, I was just curious; I don't know much about that technical side, and am quite interested.
Re: those UEA screenings, a digital presentation of Manhattan would be good (though all students will miss it, it's been scheduled for the Easter break), but nothing beats good old print (except when said print is faulty!). As for Goldfinger and The Spiral Staircase: they're the sort of films UEA loves to put on its undergraduate degree year after year. World Cinema, meanwhile, is woefully subdued. (Imagine my surprise when I thought Alphaville was part of the UEA thing! Godard NEVER gets mentioned ANYWHERE here on campus.)
Oh well. I'll tell my Film Soc lot to come along in multiples of eleven from now on.
Thanks,
Michael
Cinema:
Hello,
I knew nothing about the credits for La Vie, the way the system works is on automation so we have cue’s created and clearly the projectionist has badly timed this so I will have a word. There will be blood was because of engineering works on our projector and Paris, Texas I explained. I must say that you have been really unfortunate with these prints and it’s a tad embarrassing that you have been to all of these so next time you come in you can have a complimentary pass on us as way of an apology though if it happens again I will start to see a pattern with you being in the screen and it breaking down.
Let me know when you are next coming in and I will book a ticket for you.
All the best,
Jack Thompson
As for that emboldened bit in that last reply, do you think it's an attempt at smiley-less humour, or a hint that I'm annoying him? Either way, it unsettles me.
