Duct tape, anyone?
Growing up I remember many theater episodes where the movie was interrupted because the film had broken and had to be spliced. Occasionally you could actually see the burned hole in the film projected on the screen. The audience would boo and hiss and eventually the film would start up again.
I just presumed those days were in the long past and today’s movies had progressed from those big reels in cans to a digital format. But apparently not so.
We sat in the Ballston Regal Cinema tonight (all 6 of us) and after the pre-movie program we waited and waited and waited for the feature film to start. Someone left the theater to find a technician. The guy finally showed up and preceded to repair the reel of film so the movie could start.
It’s interesting that there has been so much progress in the world or audio-video, but at least some theaters still seem to be stuck in the 1950’s.
(The above photo was taken with my husband’s iPhone. The technician looked a little surprised as the flash went off!)
posted by Barbara at 10:39 PM
4 Comments:
I suppose it is somehow refreshing to know that some things are still relatively simple to repair. How was the film?
E -- My husband works so hard to try to find movies he thinks I will like. My criteria are difficult: no violence or at least no blood and a happy ending. That's hard to do in anything but a PG-13 movie these days. We saw "Win, Win", which although it met those criteria had some bad ethical lessons and failed to leave a lasting impression.
My real overriding criterion for a movie is one that makes you think and doesn't provide all the answers.
I wouldn't have guessed that they still used actual movie reels.
Until very recently I used to go to the movies a lot so I guess I've seen more incidents of films breaking than most people do.
I also wonder why movie theaters don't just pop in a DVD these days. Maybe there's an aspect of sound or visual quality that doesn't transfer as well to the big screen?
I know that there are people who can actually hear the difference between analog and digital. Maybe visually the difference is there whether you notice it or not. I have no idea!
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