Cinema Technology Magazine - December 2016

The leading magazine for cinema industry professionals

December 2016 cinematechnologymagazine.com

The magic wanda Saving celluloid laser-ready?

How one Chinese firm is changing the shape of the global film industry

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Why cinema professionals and fans alike should cherish film in a digital age

Vol 29, No4 produced in partnership with

Is the cinema exhibition community willing, ready and able to switch over?

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MORE IS LESS

Over 16 years ago, QSC re-defined what a cinema booth monitor could – and should – do. Today, we’ve raised our own standard. The new DPM Series processors combine the functionality and control features you love in our DCM Series with serious DSP processing power usually found in more expensive processors. Its processing capability includes room and speaker equalization, screen channel crossovers, amp fault detection, and audio monitoring via an onboard speaker. And with Intrinsic Correction™ for QSC cinema loudspeakers, you’re assured of the best possible sound with minimal set-up time. The result is the most cost-effective processor for any 5.1 or 7.1 cinema application.

With two models to choose from (with or without HDMI in/out), the new two-rackspace DPM Digital Processor/ Monitor proves that you really CAN do more with less.

qsc.com QSC and the QSC logo are registered trademarks in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and other countries.

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THE FUTURE ISSUE

INSIDE THIS ISSUE December 2016 • Vol 29 • No 4 NEWS 008

The Editor’s pick of the latest industry happenings

Veritek celebrates 30 years and a new HQ, GDC gets the DCI stamp of approval

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Features Focus: David Hancock examines 014 Industry the influence that Wanda Dalian is

having on the film business worldwide

A round-up of new titles on world 084 cinema in the seasonal book review Skip-frame projection was a brilliant, if 088 flawed, idea as Billy Bell’s diary reveals

Focus: Asian Arthouse cinema is 018 Industry a surprising growth market; Patrick von

Events: the 2016 IBC conference The technical lowdown — what was in focus: THE future issue 056 038 new in the IBC halls this year?

M ark Trompeteler on Douglas Trumbull’s 023 pursuit of the “holy grail” — virtual reality

I s the industry laser-ready? A leading 041 panel Celebrating 70 years in the business, JBL of experts debated the issues 061

T he best 3D ever!

Has Ang Lee set the is a company synonymous with cinema 028 future direction with 120fps projection?

T echno-shopping — does your cinema 044 Sychowski tracks its ascent

A visit to the Harkness Screens factory in France proves the cinema screen is for from a simple piece of equipment

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It’s all me, me, me: John Aalbers on the personalisation of the cinema experience

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Consolidation, expansion… decision? Rich Phillips on distribution developments

sound. Jim Slater charts its history

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Screening celluloid in the digital age is a major undertaking, as Mark Trompeteler finds at the Widescreen Weekend

At the heart of its community, the 073 Phoenix in East Finchley has a noble

history as an independent cinema icon

COLUMNS 065

The reception was warm when the ECA took its conference over to Scandinavia

EDCF’s global update at IBC brings news of all the latest industry developments You’re hired! The UKCA has big plans for cinema-based apprentice schemes

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Can a silent movie possibly provide 077 an immersive experience? A special

really need HDR/WCG and Big Data?

Immersive audio developments — the big questions answered

Lord Puttnam’s keynote address gave his view on the media landscape

Putting on a performance at IBC takes some serious kit. Jim Slater takes a sneak peek behind the screens

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screening at the BFI proves it can

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The industry took time to settle on a standard for widescreen, as Grant Lobban’s history of the 1.85:1 ratio shows

And one last Thing…

This brash digital era makes celluloid 090 days seem a simpler time. Denis Kelly reflects on the transition

The BKSTS (British Kinematograph Sound and Television Society) exists to encourage, sustain, educate, train and provide a focus for all those who are creatively or technologically involved in the business of providing moving images and associated sound in any form and through any media. The society works to maintain standards and to encourage the pursuit of excellence in all aspects of moving image and associated sound technology, in the UK and throughout the world. The Society is independent of all governments and commercial organisations.

Association of Motion Picture Sound • British Film Institute • British Society of Cinematographers • British Universities Film & Video Council Cinema Exhibitors Association • Cooke Optics • CST • Focal International • SMPTE Skillset • Society of Television Lighting Directors • UK Film Council.

The Society gratefully acknowledges the support of the above Companies and Organisations. BKSTS membership enquiries should be addressed to: Roland Brown, President, BKSTS - Moving Image Society, Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Bucks SL0 0NH, UK. Email: info@bksts.com. www.bksts.com www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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WELCOME

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from the editor December 2016 • Volume 29 • No.4

Although the contents of each issue of Cinema Technology are planned months in advance, it is no surprise that in an industry as fast-moving as ours we find that the final collection of articles often differs from our original thoughts. We are proud to be a ‘bespoke’ journal, whose articles generally eschew the outpourings of the marketing departments, and we try, where possible, to work with specialists in their technical fields to generate pieces that are carefully tailored to bring our readers the in-depth technical and commercial information that helps them to stay ahead in their daily business lives, something that Cinema Technology is noted and valued for by many.

It is always interesting to see just how much interaction goes on between editor and author as an article develops, with lots of “wouldn’t it be better if….?” and “how is this for an idea…?” conversations taking place before the piece is finalised.

We have always understood the importance of good photographs and layout, and in the past couple of years CT’s graphic designer, Dean Chillmaid, has played a major part in updating the look of the magazine, not just to keep us at the forefront designwise, but, more importantly, to make sure that the technical ideas expressed are brought over more clearly — the use of ‘info-graphics’ rather than tables often enables a reader to grasp facts and figures more quickly, for example.

As the articles for each issue are brought together — we always try for an interesting mix of technical, commercial and historical ‘cinema-buff’ pieces — it is surprising how often a ‘theme’ develops.

In this issue, for example, one that is packed with technical material from the IBC Big Screen event, we also have a number of more ‘philosophical’ musings that remind us, quite rightly, that cinema is and always has been about far more than technology. The art and science of cinema are both reflected upon, and it was interesting to see that both technical and metaphysical sections fitted the theme ‘the future of cinema’ — we hope you will enjoy these pieces.

As the year comes to an end I would like to take the opportunity to thank all those who contribute to the continuing success and growth of Cinema Technology: our advertisers, many of whom have worked with us for decades, our contributors who enthusiastically provide their time and their words so freely, and our readers, whose constant feedback with comments, criticisms and occasional praise keeps us on our toes and lets us know that you care.

It is wonderful to be part of a very special industry where so many people really do care about all its aspects, from the content of films to the vital importance of showing them at their very best. Let us all look forward to an increasingly successful 2017!

Jim Slater, Managing Editor jim.slater@slaterelectronics.com

Writing in this issue…

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www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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DAVID HANCOCK

MARK TROMPETELER

JOHN AALBERS

David is research director for film and cinema at IHS Markit. In this issue, he explores the impact Wanda’s growth is having on the wider industry, page 14.

Mark has written for CT for a number of years. In this issue, he interviews film-maker Douglas Trumbull on his MagiPod immersive cinema concept, page 23.

CEO of Arts Alliance Media, John has a wealth of experience in software and services businesses. On page 32, he outlines his vision of cinema’s future direction.

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NEWS CT’s round-up of the latest industry news and events

CHRISTIE SHOWCASES 4K PROJECT AT BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL’S TEMPORARY CINEMA

Empire Leicester Square sold to Cineworld

LONDON

Consolidation in the industry continues — Cineworld has done a deal to buy five Empire Cinemas.

This includes the flagship Empire Leicester Square plus Empire cinemas in Basildon, Hemel Hempstead, Poole, and Bromley, some 54 screens in total. Four of these screens are IMAX screens, the Leicester Square site boasting the first laser IMAX in the UK. As part of the £94million deal, Empire will take over the three-screen Cineworld Haymarket, which means that Empire will still have a central London site. The Anderson family, well-known for investing in and developing the Empire chain, become shareholders in Cineworld.

Christie provided 4K projection to the BFI London Film Festival (LFF) at a unique temporary cinema, The Embankment Garden Cinema, built in celebration of the LFF’s 60th anniversary. For 11 days, using a 16x7 metre Harkness Matt Plus screen bigger than those in most London cinemas, the 12m-high, steel-framed rigid-bodied structure — the largest of its type built in the UK — seated 800 people at London’s Victoria Embankment and screened the LFF’s Official Competition and Strand Gala premières.

Not far from BFI Southbank and Leicester Square, one reason for the venture was to ensure audiences and filmmakers had the full Festival experience, in spite of a lack of large-screen auditoria in central London. The temporary cinema had tiered seating, black box lining with serge, a full box office area and bar. Christie has worked with the BFI for many years and supplied two Christie Solaria CP4230 DLPs, mounted on a 6m-high platform behind the seating, and used 6KSP lamps, which provided brilliant images on the matt white screen for optimum 2D image quality.

FOR MORE DETAILS, VISIT WWW.BFI.ORG.UK/LFF

GETD 3D CINEMA SYSTEMS AND GLASSES AT VENICE FESTIVAL

VENICE

The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest of its kind, founded in 1932 and 3D projection has become a tradition there for many years. GetD provided 5,000 of its high range GT410 active shutter glasses and related IR technology systems for all the major venues during the festival. Bernard Collard, senior VP marketing for GetD said that as a growing global 3D market supplier, GetD was honoured to showcase its product line at this prestigious event. Cine-meccanica was the trusted technical support partner at the festival.

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NEWS

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BARCO EQUIPS THE FIRST “ALL-LASER” CINEMA

BRAZIL

Cinesystem Cinemas, one of the largest cinema operators in Brazil, partnered with Barco some years ago to convert its cinemas to digital projection. Now, recognising the opportunity to further enhance the quality of its movie showings with laser projection, the exhibitor has decided to equip its entire Morumbi Town cinema in São Paulo with both Flagship Laser and Laser Phosphor projectors from Barco — and that is only the start.

Cinesystem Cinemas has always strived to bring innovative technology to the most diverse places in the country, and with 142 movie theatres throughout Brazil, the company is preparing its biggest project to date, inaugurating the most modern movie theatre in Latin America, in São Paulo. This partnership with Barco will include both laser projection and the Lobby Experience, bringing

to São Paulo, one of the greatest Latin American cities in terms of economic importance, a modern and innovative entertainment option.

Cinesystem’s audience will be able to enjoy enhanced images, while the Barco technologies enable the cinema operator to driving down both capital expenditure and operational costs to help Cinesystem accomplish improved overall business excellence on movie showings.

To date, Barco has deployed more Flagship Laser projectors across the globe than any other manufacturer, totaling more than 45 exhibitors, 22 countries and 150 auditoriums. Recent installations include: National Amusements and Santikos Entertainment (United States); Cinepolis (Mexico) Megabox (Korea); GRINN Film (Russia); Kinepolis Group (The Netherlands); CinemaCity (Lebanon); Cineplanet (Peru), and JinYi Cinemas (China).

HARMAN IMMERSIVE AUDIO FOR CITYPRIDE MULTIPLEXES

INDIA

The March 2016 issue of Cinema Technology reviewed Harman’s innovative and affordable immersive sound system, so it was interesting to hear Indian cinema chain CityPride Multiplexes has now deployed the system, which features the Lexicon QLI-32 QuantumLogic Immersion processor, JBL loudspeakers and Crown DSi power amplifiers. CityPride installed the Harman solution in its main cinema auditorium, which has a capacity of more than 500 seats. The system includes a JBL 5742 4-way high power screen array, 9320 and 9310 cinema surround speakers, SCS 12 spatially cued surround loudspeakers and 4642A subwoofers. The new Lexicon QLI-32

cinema processor is designed to deliver up to 32 channels of surround sound, providing a life-like sound experience for moviegoers.

CityPride is the first cinema in India to deploy the QLI-32, and Pushkaraj Chaphalkar, partner at CityPride Multiplexes, said that the new Harman audio solution gives a completely new dimension to the sound and delivers unmatched output, clarity and fidelity. They have received excellent reviews from the audience about the system and are thrilled to experience the vast improvement in sound quality.

Chaphalkar explained that, in the Indian market, there are several companies in the cinema audio sound segment, but some

brands are too expensive while others require a special content format. They chose the Harman immersive sound system because it gives a complete end-to-end solution, with the speakers, amplifiers, subwoofers and the QLI-32 processor all in one seamless package, giving an incredible sound experience with great value for money. The Lexicon QLI-32 ensures that the audience will get the best experience for each and every movie. CityPride has been using JBL speakers, amplifiers and subwoofers for over 20 years, so when they decided to upgrade their audio system in the new auditorium to immersive sound, Harman was their obvious choice.

FOR MORE DETAILS, VISIT WWW.HARMAN.COM

www.cinematechnologymagzine.com

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DECEMBER 2016 | CINEMA TECHNOLOGY

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STARRING

AN ARTS ALLIANCE MEDIA PRODUCTION

Bringing super powers to your screen The critics agree – Thunderstorm is the app store for cinemas that is transforming the industry. It makes it easy to find and use the software you need to attract new customers, increase revenues and boost cinema visits.

Visit www.aamthunderstorm.com to register for free today.

“A game changer in the provision of cinema software”

“Bringing innovation directly to exhibitors”

“Aims to revolutionise how exhibitors engage and interact with customers”

IHS Technology

Digital Cinema Report

Cinema Technology

@ArtsAllianceM

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hello@artsalliancemedia.com

ArtsAllianceMedia

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NEWS 11

DCI STAMP OF APPROVAL FOR GDC TECHNOLOGY

CTC PROJECTION AWARDS 2016

GDC Technology Limited, has announced that its next-generation, SX-4000 standalone integrated media block (IMB) has completed the full range of tests necessary to receive compliance from the Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI).

The test was completed by the Research Institute for Digital Media and Content (DMC) at Keio University in Japan, one of three entities licensed by Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC to perform the Compliance Test Plan (CTP) tests.

The SX-4000 IMB was approved by DCI after successfully passing the DCI Compliance Test Plan Version 1.2. This IMB was validated to FIPS 140-2 under the latest requirements from National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

The GDC SX-4000 Standalone IMB® was introduced at CinemaCon 2016 and received the Digital Cinema Report Catalyst Award. When combined with the GDC XSP-1000

The Annual Projectionists’ Christmas Party on 12 December will see the announcement of this year’s BKSTS awards for the Cinema Team of the Year, the Frank Littlejohns Award and the Alan McCann Award.

Cinema Processor (GDC Immersive Sound Solution), this latest GDC Technology bundle enables a highquality audio experience at a price point that allows exhibitors to install immersive sound affordably in auditoriums of any size. The GDC SX4000 standalone IMB® is designed with a built-in decoder for real-time rendering of DTS:X™ immersive sound in full 16-channels and two additional channels to support narrative audio and motion data.

FOR MORE DETAILS, VISIT WWW.GDC-TECH.COM

NEW 4K RGB LASER PROJECTOR FROM NEC

New sites for Veritek as company turns 30

ENGLAND

Veritek, the service and support engineering business, has celebrated its 30th anniversary, and the 5th anniversary of its entry to the digital cinema business. Veritek provides a pan-European NOC, as well as on-site engineers to deliver preventative maintenance, installs, upgrades and breakdown support. The company has contracts with Sony, Barco and Christie and employs around 290 staff with 120 full-time employed engineers in the UK and 80 throughout Europe.

To mark its anniversary, Veritek has launched a new extensive, multi-lingual website, veritekglobal.com, that spans all of its European operations. In addition, Veritek’s HQ has moved to a purpose-built site (above) overlooking the South Downs, allowing all the company’s facilities to be made available from one UK site.

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Described as ‘affordable and groundbreaking’, NEC’s new NC3540LS is a 4K (4096 x 2160 pixel) RGB laser projector with a small head which can be positioned independently from the light source, fed via a fibre optic tube from an external solid state laser source which is claimed to have up to 30,000 hours of expected life. The laser light source is claimed to result in a significantly lower total cost of ownership. www.necdisplay.com

embers of the Cinema M Technology Committee suggest a range of candidates each year for the Cinema Team of the Year Award. Short-listed cinemas have been visited, and a decision made at the CTC November meeting.

T he Frank Littlejohns Award recognises outstanding work in the Art and Craft of Cinema Projection. For 2016, the CTC decided it should go to a technical person well known in our business for ensuring that films are shown at their very best.

T he Alan McCann Award for ‘consistent and passionate dedication to improving the cinemagoing experience’ will be awarded to someone who, for years, has focused on ensuring cinemagoers get the best experience, yet whose efforts, though understood by peers, have not generally been recognised by the public.

The party will be held at Dolby House, 4-6 Soho Square, W1D 3PZ on 12 December from 12-4.00pm. Invitations will shortly be sent out. If you are interested in attending, please e-mail: jim.slater@ slaterelectronics.com.

THE NEXT CINEMA TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE PRESENTATION COURSE The next Cinema Technology Committee Presentation Course will be held in the Atmos auditorium at Odeon Milton Keynes on 28 February 2017.

The courses aim to help operators make the cinema experience better for audiences, focusing on elements such as lighting and background sound.

Contact jim.slater@slaterelectronics.com to register your interest.

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NEWS

HARKNESS REALITY CAPTURE SUCCESS

NORWAY

BKSTS CINEMA TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE Richard Huhndorf (Chairman), Max Bell, Mike Bradbury, Chris Connett, Laurence Claydon, Michael Denner, Tom Dodgson, Rachael Eldrett, Keith Fawcett, Fred Fullerton, Graham Hughes, Denis Kelly, Peter Knight, Graham Lodge, Adam MacDonald Andre Mort, Richard Mitchell, Mark Nice, David Norris, Ngozi Okali, Kevin Phelan, Rich Phillips, Julian Pinn, David Pope, Toni Purvis, Paul Schofield, Jim Slater, Russell Smith, Simon Tandy, Chris Tostevin, Paul Willmott, and Demir Yavuz.

CINEMA TECHNOLOGY ISSN 0955-2251 - is published quarterly

by Motion Picture Solutions Limited on behalf of the BKSTS.

The print edition is mailed to members of the BKSTS and is distributed to virtually every cinema in the UK and many more in Europe and worldwide.

Printed in the UK by The Magazine Printing Company using only paper from FSC/PEFC suppliers. www.magprint.co.uk Cinema Technology Magazine online is an interactive version of the print edition allowing free access and updated news links to the latest in the cinema industry. www.cinematechnologymagazine.com Views expressed in Cinema Technology are not necessarily the views of the Society.

EDITORIAL MANAGING EDITOR: JIM SLATER 17 Winterslow Road, Porton, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP4 0LW, UK T: +44 (0) 1980 610544 E: Jim.Slater@SlaterElectronics.com ADVERTISING AND PRODUCTION: BOB CAVANAGH Caixa Postal 2011, Vale da Telha, 8670-156 Aljezur, Portugal T: +351 282 997 050 M: +351 962 415 172 E: bobcavanagh@sapo.pt ART DIRECTOR: DEAN CHILLMAID W: www.spacehopperdesign.co.uk E: dean@spacehopperdesign.co.uk

SUBSCRIPTIONS Cinema Technology is mailed free to BKSTS Members. For subscription details — www.cinematechnologymagazine.com or e-mail ct@motionpicturesolutions.com

CINEMA TECHNOLOGY | DECEMBER 2016

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Harkness’s new ‘Reality Capture’ solution proved invaluable recently at one of Norway’s leading cinemas. The Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund is considered “The Nordic Cannes”, and most of the films are screened at the five-screen Edda Kino. Prior to this year’s festival, Videvox, the leading cinema integrator in the region, was tasked with undertaking a major refurbishment of Screen 1 including the installation of Dolby Atmos.

The installer needed accurate information about the dimensions of the auditorium, but the site’s age meant there were few CAD drawings available. They also needed information about the void above the suspended ceiling to ensure correct placement for Atmos overhead speakers.

The Harkness Reality Capture 3D digital surveying solution proved ideal. High-definition intelligent capture techniques provided a massive data set which was used to create a virtual photo-realistic 3D environment from which accurate auditorium measurements could be obtained to within 2mm.

This data gave Videvox the information required to ensure the installers completed the project quickly.

The Reality Capture solution has been used by other leading exhibitors such as Odeon, Nordisk Film and Cinemark. www.harkness-screens.com

Consolidation as Ymagis acquire DSAT Ymagis Group, the European specialist in digital technologies for the cinema industry, has acquired Eutelsat’s 50.2% stake in DSAT Cinema, exercising an option in their 2015 agreement to strengthen their joint business initiatives and offer a common global solution by combining their content delivery networks. Ymagis Group is now the sole shareholder.

Ymagis Group CEO and chairman Jean Mizrahi said he was delighted to have completed the acquisition of DSAT Cinema, an important step in Ymagis’ consolidation strategy, and that the integration of the various delivery platforms makes Ymagis the leader in digital content delivery within Europe, with more than 3,300 connected cinemas to its network.

FOR MORE DETAILS, VISIT WWW.YMAGIS.COM

NEW DIGITAL PROCESSOR/MONITORS FROM QSC QSC launched its new DPM Series of digital signal processors/monitors at ShowEast. The DPM is a powerful audio signal processing solution for digital cinema audio systems, and provides all signal processing and monitoring functions for in a single integrated system. Designed to be used with QSC’s Digital Cinema Amplifiers (DCA) and featuring advanced Intrinsic Correction™ settings for QSC’s speakers, the DPM optimises loudspeaker and amplifier performance while simplifying system wiring and configuration. The DPM is configurable for passive or bi-amp

operation for 5.1 or 7.1 systems. Two models are available: DPM 100 and DPM 100H (with HDMI in/out and Dolby Digital Plus™, Dolby® Surround 7.1, and DTS-HD® decoding) for non-sync and alternative content sources. www.qsc.com

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NEW STANDARDS, TRADITIONAL VALUES Exceptional image and colour quality meet the latest in digital cinema technology to deliver new revenue-generating opportunities for theatre and cinema events. Further, these advanced solutions are backed by NEC, the trusted leader in Digital Cinema Technology.

3D Movies, Animations, Sports Events, Concerts, News Items or Live Feeds can all be played at superb Digital Cinema quality and content can be alternated during the day to match the optimum revenue generating times and differing audience sectors. www.digital-cinema-nec.com

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14 INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

waving the With confident ambition, the Dalian Wanda Group is on the march in the cinema industry. David Hancocok examines its strategy

I

f you are in the film industry, the chances are you have heard of Dalian Wanda Group. You should have. From nowhere, Wanda is building up a formidable presence in the film and cinema sectors with a stated ambition of being the foremost integrated film company in the world. This is no mean feat when the US studios have ruled the roost for so long.

As a company, Dalian Wanda has been built up by Wang Jianlin, said to be the richest man in China, who is now happily taking on the established players in the global film industry. However, one of the reasons why the company is broadly welcomed is that Wanda is not threatening the status quo as Netflix could be said to.

Quite the reverse in fact, Wanda is a very traditional film company, being careful to emphasise it is seeking collaboration with other players and anxious to learn from them. It recently gave a $20m donation to the Motion Picture Academy’s film museum. The company also believes in the cinema sector — Wanda forecasts that Chinese box office will grow to $30bn a

cornerstone of its activities. The group is now structured into three main areas: commercial property, culture and finance.

The whole group posted revenues of 290bn yuan in 2015, or $44bn (more than gross global box office revenues combined). The culture side of the business was worth $7.8bn in 2015 and $4.4bn in the first half of 2016. Culture is, therefore, a growing but still minority part of the group’s activities — for the time being.

In the field of cinema exhibition, Wanda has been very active. Already, the company controls US circuit AMC and Australian group Hoyts. It is also attempting to buy US circuit Carmike and European group Odeon UCI. If the various acquisitions go through (we are waiting for Carmike shareholders to decide on the proposed acquisition and clearance for the Odeon UCI deal from competition authorities), Wanda will control just over 13,000 screens worldwide. This is double its nearest rival, but only 8.4% of the global screen count even if it is a larger proportion of global box office (Wanda estimates 15%) as these are mostly modern multiplex screens from

“WANDA BELIEVES IN CINEMA. THE COMPANY FORECASTS THAT CHINESE BOX OFFICE WILL GROW TO $30BN A YEAR IN 10 YEARS” year within 10 years, with between 140,000 and 150,000 cinema screens in the country. To put this in context, there are currently 157,000 movie screens worldwide including China. The future of cinema is healthy according to Wanda, although China will be the global leader. The situation of China and the rest of the world will be somewhat akin to the one in which the US was two decades ago.

Dalian Wanda began life in 1988 as a commercial property developer, including the all-important shopping mall, still a

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dominant exhibitors. Wanda’s target is to control 20% of global box office by 2020, and they seem well on course to do that.

Within China, Wanda directly controls more than 2,100 screens, but has a wider presence through its movie ticketing and marketing presence.

ambition beyond exhibition Wanda is building a wide-ranging entertainment empire. Outside of cinema exhibition, the group has built the largest production studios in the world, owns

Legendary Entertainment, acquired Propaganda Gem, a US entertainment marketing company, as well as several China-based movie-related companies: Shimao Cinemas, Chinese movie ticketing portal Mtime, Hoolai Games (games distribution) and Movie Media Cultural Communication, an analytics company. It also owns Infront, a sports marketing company, which itself took a controlling stake in Omnigon, a sports and media consultancy for apps and social media.

All these companies are aimed at making Wanda a leading force in marketing and promotion of movies. An indicator of the success of this integrated strategy will be the release of Legendary’s $150m co-produced project The Great Wall (with Matt Damon) later this year in China and next year in the US. Wanda’s goal is to become a global player in the film industry. Legendary, while not a distributor, has a global presence through its films at the box office. However, the US studios, the only real global film players, have a near-oligopoly on that position through the distribution of globally attractive films — and Wanda cannot become a global player without that kind of a presence. Currently, it is building a more trans-Pacific presence, rather than a global one, notwithstanding the circuits acquired in Europe and Australia. Given that the US and China are the two largest box office markets, by some distance, this is still not to be dismissed.

So, Wanda is not only focusing on cinema exhibition. Wanda’s recent movie financing deal with Sony drew a lot of attention but this is not the first deal involving a Chinese group and Hollywood financing, far from it. Wanda itself has been involved in the financing of the Paramount franchises Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Transformers. However, the Sony deal is a more wide-ranging one than has been the norm up to now, which has tended to focus

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INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

15

magic: wanda on individual titles and passive investment.

Wanda wants to learn more about the content business and to that end is willing to go further. It is fairly evident that the missing link in all of Wanda’s recent deals is a global distribution presence, as possessed by a Hollywood studio. It isn’t necessarily a given that Wanda will go down that route, but Jianlin has stated several times that he is looking to acquire a studio.

In fact, Wanda has direct or indirect links with a number of studios already, either via direct investment (it was until recently in talks with Paramount about a minority stake) or its investment in Legendary Entertainment (which has financing and distribution deals in place with Universal and Warner Bros). Adding Sony underlines that Wanda is not looking to shut out partners at present and is happy to embed itself into the content development and production side of the business. This may end up as a complex web of interlinking deals, and could conceivably lead to contradictory situations, but there is also a scenario which would see Wanda operating in content production and cinema exhibition, leaving global distribution to the existing specialists in the studio system. In fact, self-distribution is also an option. With a large enough global cinema circuit under its control, bringing together the leading circuits in each continent, the company would have the clout and reach to operate such a distribution-free system, if regulators allowed it.

taking hollywood to china The group’s production goals are wideranging and highly ambitious but are not

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limited to the immediate interests of the group. Wanda has stated that it aims to bring Hollywood technology and expertise to China through its various deals, as well as through its own production and post-production location. This would benefit China as a whole. Qingdao Movie Metropolis (QMM) is a massive investment to build a multi-faceted location, but which primarily revolves around the world’s largest production lot of 30 sound stages.

Pinewood was involved in the planning and design of the site. The delayed complex is costing a reported $8.2bn, and includes hotels, four indoor theme parks (another area in which Wanda is taking on the established players), residential areas, schools and a 30-screen cinema. There are a number of major companies already signed up to produce films there, including

Lionsgate, Legendary Entertainment, and Arclight Films. The aim is to attract at least five films a year with budgets in excess of $100m, as well a number of smaller (Chinese) films. The Qingdao region will subsidise up to 40 per cent of production costs via rebates for producers. The fund will be worth a total of $750m over a five year period, or $150m a year in subsidies to productions, applying to a wide range of applicable expenditure including postproduction. This is a generous system and highlights how seriously they are taking this ambitious project.

An interesting case study into how Wanda’s integrated strategy will work came with the release of Warcraft in China. The video game-based title had been several years in gestation, with Legendary Entertainment (backed by a deal with

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INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

Wanda Cultural Group revenues (yuan m)

with China housing up to 150,000 screens.

This would be close to the screen density of the US, and significantly higher than most Asian countries. In parallel, by 2026 Chinese box office revenues would stand at $30bn. Wanda will be a leading circuit in China, and the largest cinema group in the world, it will run a major production studio, attracting high-budget international productions, as well as being a big budget producer and therefore significant driver of

short-term slowdown, future growth

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what comes through is that every revenuegenerating point in the distribution process is controlled by Wanda.

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The Chinese cinema market is a fast-moving sector, more so than anywhere else in the world. The slowdown in Chinese economic growth and resulting slowdown in consumer spending is a short-term issue that is affecting cinema, but the longer term

“IT’S SOME TIME SINCE WE HAVE SEEN THIS SCALE OF AMBITION. WANDA SEEMS TO HAVE PICKED ITS TIME AND STRATEGY WELL”

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Universal) putting in place a series of financial, strategic and brand partnerships in order to unlock its value fully. According to data from GF securities, China accounts for at least 10 percent of the 100 million fans of the World of Warcraft game, but the final box office shows that it played far wider than this. In the end, Warcraft had the largest five-day opening in China ($156m) for a foreign film, leaving it third-placed so far in 2016 with a gross of $220.8m (or over 50% of the film’s international gross). The overall production budget was a reported $160m. In comparison, the title made only $44.2m in the US, currently standing at 52nd in the yearly box office ranking.

Wanda was a key partner, and ended up acquiring Legendary after a smaller stake had been originally mooted. The film opened in China (in the same week as its US release) on 67% of the country’s screens (inlcuding Wanda’s), at a time when overseas titles were also vying for screen space before the summer ‘blackout’ on non-domestic films. The merchandising was undertaken by Mtime, which had recently been acquired by Wanda, and Wanda played a large role in the promotional strategy (in-foyer activities and promotions such as themed seat covers in the auditorium). The whole strategy was also underpinned by analytics, much used in China if not yet elsewhere, and an area in which Wanda has also acquired a company.

Wanda also distributes films in China, and

and underlying outlook remains stronger.

This short-term slowdown may even be an opportunity for a greater sense of realism to return to Chinese cinema from investors, government and circuits. Bubbles burst and such a scenario would be in no-one’s best interests globally. A period of less stellar and more sustainable growth is overdue.

In recent comments, and despite a weaker performance at the Chinese box office for the first time in a number of years, Wang Jianlin has re-iterated his belief in the underlying strength of the sector. Jianlin predicts a mature market within a decade,

global box office, a significant film marketer and talent agency, cinema analytics company and merchandiser of film-related toys and products. All in all, it is some time since we have seen this scale of ambition by a single company in the film business and Wanda seems to have picked its time and strategy well. It doesn’t aim to be disruptive but does aim to overturn an era of studio domination, while not harming them either.

That would be an impressive trick.

David Hancock is Research Director, Film and Cinema at IHS Markit and the President of European Digital Cinema Forum (EDCF)

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hina has been through a major cinema shakeup in the second half of 2016 . The dramatic slowdown of box office growth from June onwards rattled cinema operators, distributors and Chinese government officials (see pages 14-17). In response, a loosening of the 34-films-peryear import quota restriction is an effort to boost the fortunes of cinemas, which struggle to attract audience with a poor slate of films (domestic and Hollywood) and an end to subsidised mobile phone e-tickets.

Yet arguably the single most interesting news out of China this year is the establishment of the National Arthouse Film Alliance — a virtual theatrical circuit of around 100 screens for the distribution and screening of imported and Chinese arthouse films. A public-private initiative led by the Beijing-based China Film Archives (CFA), it creates a third channel for imported films, previously either subject to the quota for revenue-sharing (Hollywood studios typically get 25% of box office collections) or sold on flat-fee terms, as with the Oscar-winner The Revenant.

This new circuit brings together exhibitors such as Wanda Cinemas, Lumiere Pavilions, Qujiang Film and Television and regional circuits in Jiangsu, Chongqing and Hubei provinces, as well as distributor Huaxia Film and Jia Zhangke’s Fabula Entertainment and Weying Technology, which operates a major online ticketing platform. The aim is to grow from the current 100 screens across 31 cities to 500, with more exhibitors coming onboard.

While films will still be imported on revenue-sharing or flat-fee basis, it is expected to open up the Chinese market to more quality and prestige films — though these will still be subject to censorship and selection of what is deemed suitable. This could see work by the likes of Woody Allen, Pedro Almodovar and Ken Loach shown officially. Previously, such films were only available in ‘private cinema’, which rarely reimbursed copyright owners properly.

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Typical box office collections studios take on Hollywood films in China

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20 ASIAN ARTHOUSE CINEMA FOllowing the Indian Example This method of trying to broaden film selections by ‘four walling’ and branding screens in existing multiplexes has been tried in Asia before, when the dawn of digital projection seemed to free up distribution from the cost of importing or creating local 35mm prints.

Satellite channel NDTV partnered multiplexes such as PVR, Inox and Sterling to create NDTV Lumière in 2008. The idea was to make quality ‘world cinema’ available via its own 24-hour satellite channel, on DVD (with Excel Home Videos) and also cinema.

Partner multiplexes thus screened prestige titles from film festivals such as The Orphanage, The Class and Caramel.

Dhruvank Vaidya, business head of NDTV Lumière, predicted that world cinema would command 25%-30% share of overall movie genres in India within 3-5 years. Despite some hits, the venture folded within a year and the NDTV Lumière channel was sold to Turner Broadcasting in 2009, though still netting NDTV $67million.

Only PVR, which both produces, distributes and exhibits film, has continued a nominal involvement with world cinema through its Director’s Cut, which screens selected films to subscribing members in some of its VIP cinemas, thus bypassing

$67

Amount in millions that the abortive Indian NDTV Lumière world cinema operation was sold for in 2009

censorship restrictions by making these ‘closed’ events.

China could thus succeed where the Indian venture failed, given that its domestic films’ stranglehold on domestic box office is more to do with government control than domestic preference. But it remains to be seen if arthouse films can find a broad enough niche market there.

Where four-walling has shown some success is in South Korea, where operators such as CGV and Megabox have tried to create themed strands in its multiplex operations. Megabox in particular has pushed its ‘Megabox Film Society’ for contemporary world cinema and ‘Classic Society’ for retro and classic films, as well as showing event cinema opera and theatre performances. It even has a Cine Art Culture complex space that operates the ‘Cinema Paradiso’, which focuses on film production from developing countries. However, the box office impact remains nominal and these are primarily prestige projects for the multiplexes to stand out and differentiate themselves from domestic competitors.

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Digital Millennial’s Cinemas If virtual circuits struggle in Asia,there is still a new breed of independent cinemas prepared to tackle the challenge. These are new cinemas created by entrepreneurs new to the film business. Digital from day one, they are launched with the help of crowdfunding and, driven by social media marketing, target Millennials.

They create a space as much about hanging out in the adjoining coffee bar as watching a title from Cannes. Two such cinemas are Bangkok’s The Screening Room, opened this year, and Singapore’s The Projector, opened last year. These are as likely to host an Israeli-themed festival, a retrospective of a local filmmaker, a night of cult films like “Back to the Future”, or classics such as the original “Godzilla”.

Digital technology enables them to screen a wider variety of film than was possible with 35mm or 16mm, which traditionally hamstrung local film societies with shipping costs. These places realise the importance of cinema as a social space — not just a bar to hang out in after a film, but also as an online community for hipsters into magazines such as Monocle or Kinfolk. These are cinemas made to be showcased in Wallpaper magazine, with a Twitter hashtag ready before they open.

INSIDE THE BANGKOK The Bangkok Screening Room is a 50-seat cinema in the creative building on Saladaeng Soi 1, billing itself as the first alternative screening room to support independent films, pave the way for emerging local film-makers and a platform to promote cultural content.

Equipped with a Sony 4K projector and professional surround sound, it prides itself on its gourmet candy bar and cutting-edge design aesthetic.

Founded by three friends with a passion for films, the venue takes over from occasional screenings at Apex’s Lido and House RCA or nostalgia flicks at bar-cum-private-cinema The FrieseGreene Club (www.fgc.in.th ­­— surely the www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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the Rival Approaches

“DIGITAL FROM DAY ONE, THE NEW BREED OF INDEPENDENT CINEMAS TARGET MILLENIALS”

SCREENING ROOM only venue in the world to honour this film pioneer), to serve a mix of global and local, new and old films. It launched in August with a daring double bill of Cannes winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives and North Korean comedy (!) Comrade Kim Goes Flying.

The three friends previously organised the “Open Reel Rooftop Festival” for international classics, as well as the Wonderfruit Festival pop-up cinema. This experience inspired them to create a permanent venue. The venture got off the ground through a crowdfunding campaign and uses social media to curate an audience. www.bkksr.com

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What lessons can be learned from the rival approaches of the China/India digital ‘four wall’ multiplex arthousing to the Indiegogo crowdfunded rebels of Bangkok and Singapore? The first is that digital is an enabler but not a solution in itself. The ‘Build it and they will come’ mantra has not worked, primarily because the role of distributor in the digital age (creating audience demand, rather than the logistical shipping of film cans) is doubly difficult in Asia. In markets like Korea and India, a strong domestic film culture together with Hollywood films leaves little space for arthouse cinema. In places like Vietnam and Malaysia, a mix of Hollywood, local films, Thai ghost films, Chinese martial arts films and Bollywood leaves little space for world cinema.

Secondly, arthouse films in Asia have almost exclusively been the domain of various local festivals, from large ones like Busan and Hong Kong to smaller ones in Taiwan and Myanmar. Film societies, museums and cinematheques run by public culture institutes support local nonmainstream film and film-makers, as well as preserving local cinematic heritage. In addition pop-up events or cultural festivals feature films as one of their strands. Yet these are not what could be considered a permanent arthouse circuit such as Yorck in Germany or Picturehouse in the UK. The main exception in Asia is Japan, with a long tradition of independent and arthouse cinema showing a variety of local and global independent films, as well as retrospectives and heritage screenings.

While Japan was the world’s second largest film market, until China overtook it last year, it also has the distinction of the highest ticket prices in the world. There is little that the arthouse ecosystem of Japan has to offer Asia in terms of learnings. The same could be argued for Australia and New Zealand, which have greater similarities to Canada or UK, than their neighbours in Asia-Pacific’s cinemas.

The prospect for arthouse circuits to flourish in Asia, whether actual or four-walled multiplex ones, is thus dim even in the post-digital age. The ubiquity of content on all platforms, legal and illegal, is not translating to more choice on the big screens in major cities in Asia. This is not to write off efforts, such as in China, which offer potential for British and European film-makers to find new audiences. For now, it is savvy Digital 2.0 independent cinemas that lead the way in Asia, with gourmet wasabi popcorn, craft beers and film titles from Sundance you would otherwise never see on a big screen.

THE PROJECTOR, SINGAPORE Founded by sisters Sharon and Karen Tan and their cousin Michelle Goh, with a background in architecture, urban planning and repurposing existing spaces, The Projector occupies the balcony section, now divided into two screens, of the former Golden Theatre in Golden Mile Tower, which was Singapore’s largest cinema when it opened in 1973 (the separately owned and run lower section of the cinema is dedicated to Bollywood films).

It was funded by an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to create a permanent arthouse presence in Singapore, where multiplexes traditionally play Hollywood, Chinese and Indian films, with only the occasional arthouse title.

“The Projector was something quite lacking in the cultural landscape in Singapore,” Goh said in a recent interview. “And many people are glad that we exist.”

[That includes the author of this article.]

The Projector calls itself “an independent cinema and creative platform that brings together a great selection of films, one-of-akind events, versatile space and delectable fare at its Golden Bar, which serves popcorn, coffee, draft beer and a food menu with items such as salted-egg yolk fries.

In the cinema you can take a seat or sink into a beanbag to enjoy a Wes Anderson film or Jafar Panahi’s Berlin winner Taxi Tehran, the cinema’s biggest success to date. But the cinema is equally likely to screen the latest Star Wars film, with the added twist of throwing a themed fancy dress party afterwards, or hosting Halloween marathons of Evil Dead and Ghostbusters.

The cinema recently expanded, not by adding to its two existing screens (called The Green Room and Red Rum — in honour of Kubrick’s The Shining), but by launching an outdoor bar in the garage next to the fifth-floor cinema. This truly is a cinema for the Instagram generation — and a successful one at that. www.theprojector.sg

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In part two of Mark Trompeteler’s interview with Douglas Trumbull, the pair continue discussion on the pursuit of the Holy Grail of cinema technology: cinematic virtual reality

THE U F TURE ISSUE

t h e n f w o o u d r g th w n i k a all e r B

Mark Trompeteler (MT): So many people are obsessed with pixels and resolution, going for the maximum K, HDR and colour gamut — I am still wondering about all the parameters you are using to break down “the fourth wall” of the screen? You are placing an emphasis on the shutter and frame rate where others are not. When, as humans we look at the world, there is no shutter interruption or frame rate to our viewing of it is there? It is almost as if, philosophically and technically, you are reducing these things to the minimum to give us the most uninterrupted kind of image capture possible.

Douglas Trumbull (DT): Shutter, and frame rate — you’re right. People don’t think about it.

Before 3D and with my experimenting with a digital form of Showscan, it came to my attention that digital projectors can www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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operate at almost any frame rate you want. Then I realised that with digital cameras and a 360-degree shutter, or should I say 359-degrees, there has to be a little bit of time to download the frame and then go into the next frame. I am trying to use that camera almost as if it was shutterless. That understanding gave me the idea that if you could shoot high frame rate contiguous shutterless photography, then you could take any two adjacent frames and merge them together and store the blur that needs to be bigger at a lower frame rate.

There is a direct proportion between the amount of blur and frame rate. If you were to lower the frame rate, the blur has to increase. That is an inverse proportion.

By having a 360-degree shutter, you can blend any number of frames together, restoring the blur that is appropriate for the frame rate.

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24 PREMIUM SMALL FORMATS

Restoring the blur is a simple exercise ­ it does not require any computer — processing or interpolation or anything. So that becomes elegantly simple.

When we were doing tests, we were shooting at 120fps and the performers were doing a dance. Since I was looking for motion and blur I had the guys dressed in outfits with focus charts on them — it gave us a way of analysing the motion and the blur. That’s when I realised that you can change the frame rate on any pixel or any object dynamically through a scene. For example, if there turns out to be some scary things for audiences where you really might want to show it at 24fps (because that is the texture that they are used to) that is fine, but some part of the frame can be at a higher frame rate — the football, or the explosion, or the fist slamming into the face. If it needs to be faster so that you can see the action, you can dynamically change it.

MT: So, during the movie and within portions of a shot, you can change the frame rate?

DT: Yes you can. I applied for a patent and was granted it, so that is controllable territory now. When I tried the other experiment which was 3D, I recognised the way it was going to be projected 99% of the time was with a single projector. I know that there are two projector solutions out there, like IMAX theatres or where you have a big screen. However, the desirable way is with one projector — no-one wants to use two projectors when they can get by with one.

Let’s say that most of the business is going to be single projector — alternatinge left eye, right eye, left eye, right eye — we said why don’t we just shoot it that way so that we have what I call perfect temporal continuity. That is when I realised what actually had gone wrong with Peter Jackson’s 48fps production — and what is wrong with 3D at 24fps. The frames are being multiple flashed. The motion is actually starting and stopping hundreds of times per second. It is not contiguous.

As soon as you make things smooth you get smooth motion. You can get 120 frames for the price of 60, or 144 frames for the price of 72, because the projector is actually doing 144. That is when I realised we can do high frame rate within the confines of a standard DCP spec. That is what I demonstrated last year in my film UFOTOG — a standard 2K 3D DCP running at 120 fps. It has perfect temporal continuity between switching the left eye and right eye. It is a little dark — but that is the name of the game right now — there are 20,000 or more theatres out there, that are a little dark and some are a lot dark.

We do everything at 14 or 15 fL because it is so easy to achieve with a standard projector and a torus screen off the shelf. All CINEMA TECHNOLOGY | DECEMBER 2016

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Top and right, the MAGI Pod provides for a highly immersive communal virtual reality experience; above, the highly reflective curved torus screen — a concept that envelopes the audience

these things came to me as just ideas since I had been thinking about them for years. I did the Showscan thing — it was so simple and elegant because it was so easy to do.

The MAGI Process MT: So the 3D 4K 120 fps process you have developed you call MAGI, pronounced MAG – eye.

DT: Yes - close to the pronunciation of the word eye. I am doing all this because I think I have, in a way, kind of discovered that “Holy Grail”. We were fearful that it might look worse than 48 fps and look even more like television. This turned out not to be true. It was a revelation that by doing this 120fps alternating frame thing — giving 60 per eye — it did not look like television. It had no objectionable artefacts, it has no strobing, no judder, no blur and no flicker.

I thought this was really good — I applied for a patent and we recently were granted that patent, so now control this territory. I hope this will all come in handy, but my objective is no more than getting back to making movies.

I got this horrible reputation because I consciously chose to stop directing, it was my choice and I took full responsibility for it — but I do not have a reputation as a director anymore. People do not think of me, I am not on anybody’s list.

I have been doing this investment of my time and effort to get the medium back on track. I want to direct in this medium.

When you direct in this medium and you make a movie like this, you are creating a new form of entertainment. It is like virtual reality. It is not conventional story telling. It is not conventional cinematic language.

One of the components of the creative aspects — and the business aspects — of it is that if you take this big 3D 120fps 4K wide field of view thing and put it on a 3D TV or a laptop, it is not a good experience. Twelve inch high people do not look good — it is part of the equation of why 3D television has failed. It’s a natural, obvious thing that anybody could have anticipated. When you miniaturise 3D, it doesn’t look powerful.

With regard to the business side, if a studio invests in a movie using this process, the further away they go from conventional storytelling, the less useful it is going to be in the secondary market. That is a problem.

It is so easy to change the primary market because there are tens of thousands of movie theatres that are already equipped with series two electronics that will go to 120fps. It is already there. There is not the problem of asking people to install new projectors. It is much easier now to get the entire movie industry to drag itself up by the boot straps and get it to adopt 120fps as the new standard. www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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A LIFE IN FILM Douglas Trumbull worked on the classic 70mm film 2001: A Space Odyssey. He contributed significantly in the area of visual effects and made a memorable contribution in development of the slit-scan photography process used in the “stargate” sequence. He went on to contribute effects to The Andromeda Strain, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and, in 1981, Blade Runner. Trumbull developed his patented Showscan process, a high-speed 70mm movie process, shooting and projecting at 60fps that provided an unprecedented visual clarity in movies. He directed the classic cult film Silent Running and the film Brainstorm. Redirecting his career away from Hollywood, he concentrated on developing technology for movie production and the exhibition industry on theme-park rides such as the “Back to the Future Ride” at Universal Studios. An Academy Award nominee on five occasions, he has received the American Society of Cinematographer’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

MT: You make the point well. There would be a quick, significant increase in the differential between the stay-at-home viewing experience and this upgraded cinematic virtual reality experience.

DT: The beauty of it is that it is also downwards compatible. A 24fps version can easily be made for anyone who wants it on their smartphone, but you will not get the profound immersive experience unless you go to the cinema to see it.

Cinema, MAGI & Now MT: Playing devil’s advocate here, how do you prevent such a process becoming considered simply as a novelty or gaining the status of a fairground or theme park ride process by virtue of the possibility of it concentrating on visceral or experiential short subjects? One of the noticeable effects of the digitisation of cinema has been the ascendancy of fantasy, action and spectacle films at the box office where the vfx and action may be subjugating the expression of a theme and story. How do you encourage the creative and narrative development of such a process as MAGI into that new art form you are hoping for?

DT: There is some truth contained within your question, but remember that IMAX through its entire cinematic history, was www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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such a powerful cinematic and immersive experience that no-one ever wanted more than 40 minutes of it. That became the standard of the IMAX world and it became an anomaly to take 35mm movies and print them up to IMAX, call that IMAX, and then ask the audience to watch for two hours. To some, it becomes a physiologically stressful experience. I do not like a 24fps movie enlarged that much. The juddering the blurring and the strobing are all objectionable — that is a problem.

On the content side it is interesting to

Film-makers will do whatever they want and studios will do whatever they want.

No-one can control that. Things will drift towards more shorter high-impact content and a more rapid turnover at the box office.

Look at the audience and their demographic — their attention span is short.

MT: One of the original promises of IMAX was their saying that one day there would be feature films made in the IMAX process — but that never materialised. Do you forsee the production of feature films in the MAGI

“IT IS EASIER NOW TO GET THE MOVIE INDUSTRY TO DRAG ITSELF UP

BY THE BOOT STRAPS AND ADOPT 120FPS AS A NEW STANDARD” note that the six or seven major studios are all making these big tentpole franchises, the Batman and Superman kind of thing, because they are all-action spectacles. Yes, they have changed the balance between story and special effects because that is what the audience wants. So I am not going to be derisive about it. I am derisive about the fact that it looks so terrible. The audience will vote with their pockets as to the kind of content they want.

Once we have solved some of these problems, nature will take its course.

process or do you think it is initially all about short length content?

DT: Yes — IMAX tried to keep that promise going for as long as they could. As regards MAGI this is how we see it: the penetration of this process into the mainstream cinema business may take a significant amount of time because there is such lethargy about any future trajectories — it currently isn’t going anywhere, doesn’t seem to want to go anywhere. I put out as much press as I can about what we are doing. Nobody from the DECEMBER 2016 | CINEMA TECHNOLOGY

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MagiPod cinema: schematic

As the schematic, left, and the image, above, show, the MAGI pod deliberately steers away from the concept of big audience numbers, instead serving up a premium cinema experience with a small footprint

studios calls me up. But in what we call the location-based cinema business, we know it is commercially adapted to short form high impact entertainment. The interesting economic fact about it is that people will pay eight dollars for four minutes and 12 dollars for two hours. Profit-wise the potential is huge, it is spectacular if you can get sufficient theatres. I have no aversion to short form — I have done theme park rides.

The ideal length is this inverse proportion between intensity and time.

That’s why when I saw Gravity, for instance, I just thought it was great that movie was 90 minutes long. That is what made me feel uncomfortable when Interstellar was twice as long — I didn’t need that length.

“WANT A STORY? WATCH TV. IF YOU WANT AN EXPERIENCE, THAT’S CINEMA. TV IS ON 24 HOURS A DAY — IT HAS ALL THE STORIES YOU WANT” There is another component to entertainment. If you want a story, watch television. If you want an experience, that is cinema. TV is on 24 hours a day, it has 500 channels, it has all the stories you want about every conceivable subject matter, so there is no shortfall of stories. I am not against stories. If you want to tell a story, tell a story — romance, comedy, thriller, mystery. If you want spectacular immersiveness, this kind of virtual experiential thing — that is cinema.

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now dragging out are basically storyless action pieces. People like it and that is what is supporting the industry to the tunes of billions and billions of dollars — so go with it. But if you can make that experience so profoundly improved, in terms of comfort, in terms of excitement, and physiological stimulation which is using high frame rates, audiences will be building in cinemas, rather than declining. You can’t do anything about the third world and China — what is going to happen there is going to happen and you can’t do anything about it.

Looking Forward MT: Yes, there is so much evidence that television has now become the accepted medium for story-telling type content, films that where once the province of medium budget studio films.

DT: Major directors and actors are turning to television for storytelling because that is where that action is. That’s fine and you can see some really interesting stuff in pay-forview where it is not constrained by broadcasting restrictions on such issues as profanity and sex and so on. It has become a mature art form and I know people like George Lucas say that as a result of that they think cinema is in terminal decline.

One of the things my wife Julia and I decided about this MAGI concept is that we could talk about it for the next 20 years or we could actually do it. So we built a stage, we shot a test movie, and its not test shots of a pretty face and some flowers. It is a real dramatic story. So even though it is not big, it is an expression of a short test film, in the convention of the story-telling dramatic cinematic format. But it is more immersive and embraces the audience as a participant.

You can say we did it in our backyard and that it is a home movie taken to the extreme and we are very proud of it. But it was also the point that I knew I would never get back on the track of directing unless I

directed something. So I wrote it, directed it and financed it myself and I hope it will be a stepping stone to be taken seriously again.

Also to be taken seriously as one of the very few filmmakers who understands exactly where to go with this medium aesthetically, in that kind of 2001-immersiveness way, which has not been replicated in 50 years — no one understands it.

CONCLUSION At the end of the interview I realised how good it had been spending some time with Douglas and Julia Trumbull discussing views on cinema and the pursuit of cinematic virtual reality. They were generous with their time and the information they shared. Douglas did share the fact that Ang Lee had spent time at his studios looking at what he and his team had achieved.

Readers may recall that the June 2015 issue of CT featured a short report that Ang Lee’s latest film Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk was to be shot in 3D, at 4K resolution and 120 fps. In the report, Julian Pinn confirmed that the film was to be shot at 120fps per eye, not the 60fps per eye that some had suggested. For release to many projectors, the 120fps per eye master would require downwards conversion.

It is understood that Ang Lee was heavily influenced by Doug’s work on MAGI. The day when both a short, and a feature, produced at 120fps, by two significant filmmakers striving for a better virtual experience, has arrived.

Learn more about the work of Trumbull Studios at www.douglastrumbull.com With grateful thanks to Douglas and Julia Trumbull, and the National Media Museum Press Office.

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120 FPS PROJECTION

A still from Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk and right, Ang Lee and Julian Pinn in conversation

the really A t the recent IBC conference, you could tell that Julian Pinn’s interview with film director Ang Lee was to be something special — the audience, including the press, was asked to surrender all phones, cameras and recording devices before being ushered into the auditorium. The reason for all this security was that we were privileged to be shown clips from Lee’s major project, the highly anticipated film Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, released last month by Sony.

failed actor / world-class director?

Taiwan-born Ang Lee, now one of the world’s most revered film directors, turned out to be the most modest of interviewees, whilst obviously demanding the highest standards of himself and all he works with. He explained how he had wanted to become an actor, but that hadn’t worked out so he turned to directing — and speculated that perhaps all directors are actually failed actors. He described his life in film as being a continuous learning process, saying his whole career has been like being in film school. He has learned much by trying and seeing what works in practice. His creative work on Life of Pi had taught him a great deal about film-making in 3D, and it was strobing effects he noticed when making

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this movie that led him to think about and learn more about higher frame rates. He had seen results of shooting and displaying at 48fps and 60fps, some exciting, others less successful, but as one who always reacts to new possibilities, once he learned it might technically be possible to shoot and display at 120fps, he was determined to try these technologies on his next movie, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.

A different way of film-making Some studio types were initially hard to convince. Storage and processing requirements of 120fps at 4K wildly exceed anything done before for a major movie, but Sony’s technical team was as keen as Ang Lee to try the effects of this ground-breaking technology. It was realised that 120fps and 4K were multiples of all the other numbers used in cinema, so it would be possible to distribute the finished movie at the standard 24fps as well as at higher frame rates. Ang understood the limitation that most cinemas could only show 60fps 2K 3D at best, and initially started filming at 60fps, but once he found that there was the possibility of projecting at 120fps this opened up a new ‘strobe-free’ vision of 3D. Once

shooting started at 120fps 4K, it was immediately noticeable how different the pictures were and how clear everything was.

With so much detail available, actors couldn’t use make-up — it looked false — it was like re-inventing the wheel.

Ang had to rethink the movie-making process.Actors’ movements seemed different. They looked as though they were acting, rather than being realistic.

The whole process of working on Billy Lynn proved totally involving for the performers, who had been asked to find subtler ways of acting.

Ang Lee explained that though he isn’t technical, he believes that shooting at 120fps picks up nuances that have never before been captured on film, and he repeatedly said that he felt ‘humbled’ by what he was continuing to learn.

When Julian Pinn suggested that shooting this material “had constituted a moment in cinematic history”, Ang noted that he had been just a guinea pig, saying “let’s try it and see what happens.” Julian asked if it had been necessary to light the movie differently.

Ang said that they had to learn as they went along. He didn’t pretend to know everything — “This was just one movie, and I don’t have all the answers”.

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At I with BC, A n exp a 120 g Lee s lain F s, it PS scr et the a ud was een the ing. A itoriu best m 3D s Jim S ablaz he’s e l seen ater !

THE U F TURE ISSUE

big picture He showed some examples including one scene containing rifle shooting. The 120fps capture process showed clearly that there was no recoil from the rifles since they were firing blank cartridges, not something that had ever shown up as a problem at standard frame rates. He told us that he really wanted to shoot with real bullets… The audience then saw a substantial clip from the film shown at 4K 120 frames per second in Dolby 3D from the only projectors in the world that can currently show 120fps — also claimed to be the brightest projector on the market — the Christie Mirage 4KLH. The 28fL images (after the losses in the filter glasses) were accompanied by Dolby Atmos sound.

Having seen more ‘new’ things during my career in cinema than I have had hot dinners, I generally begin most screenings with an air of cynicism, so was astonished to be completely ‘blown away’ by this clip. Without doubt these were the best 3D cinema images I have ever seen — sharp, clear, with enormous depth of field when appropriate. Yes, in many ways it was like looking out of a

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window onto a very bright outdoor scene. The images were undoubtedly ‘stereoscopic’, though, with various image planes distinguishable as your eye moved from front to back of the 3D ‘stage’, so I would quibble about their realism and argue that the effect is superb, but not truly realistic.

Interestingly, we were shown other 120fps clips in 2D ­— I thought that these were the best and most realistic cinema images that I have seen. They were actually like looking through a window onto real-life where your eye-brain combination understands that you are watching a three-dimensional image, without the pseudo-3D effects of stereoscopy. It is an effect I have also noticed when watching 8K TV displays from NHK. Perhaps the more detail your brain is given, the better the visual image it can construct.

Back to reality...

Having experienced the magnificent images — and the content we saw made me really want to see the finished product in a cinema — Julian Pinn asked Ang Lee more detailed questions about making the film, and asked if he had experienced any limitations with the process. Ang came back straight away with “Yes — I want to try 240fps!”

They discussed the effects of contrast and frame rate and resolution on the movie-making process, and Ang pointed out several instances where he

had arranged for deliberate de-focussing of parts of the image to achieve special effects, but said that in general he would actually like even more depth of focus in many 3D shots. This would help eliminate the different image planes that are sometimes noticeable. Saying that he will be sticking with the current 120fps for a while, he said that he would like smaller cameras with bigger image sensors. Current models lose 3.5 f-stops when shooting at 120fps. There is lots to learn about various factors, from the lighting to how actors perform on set.

Words of wisdom Ang Lee had told us that he was experienced in the arts and science of movie making, but not the business.

Julian asked “who is the master and who is the slave when considering the art and the technology?” Ang Lee said he feels like the slave when making a movie: “My artistic side tells me what I want, but I have to listen to the technologies also. Making a movie is the art of compromise and I find that I have to negotiate with reality.”

One audience member asked whether the art of storytelling and narrative is getting lost with increasing use of new technologies in filmmaking. Ang Lee agreed this can sometimes happen to a degree, but never entirely. “If you think about it, life itself doesn’t make sense, and storytelling brings wisdom to life.

We will always be telling stories…”

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FEATURE 120 FPS PROJECTION NAME

Realising an Auteur’s Vision:

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ng Lee’s keynote address at the IBC conference in September was followed with what was described as ‘a technical deep-dive session’ where Julian Pinn had invited key members of the Billy Lynn crew to join the director in examining details behind the production and delivery of a 120 fps 4K 3D movie, something that pushed the boundaries of cinema technology. The audience listened intently as Tim Squyres (Editor), Ben Gervais (Technology Supervisor), and Scot Barbour (Head of Production Technology at Sony Pictures Entertainment) gave their demonstrations .

Ben said that they had had to think hard on what was available before deciding to settle on 120fps as the source medium, while Tim said that he had had to use ‘beta’ software, since that was all that was available, and he had cut the movie in 3D at 60fps. Scot noted that the process had been a challenge from beginning to end, but that they never forgot that it was all about the story — the technologies had to serve the creative intent of the narrative. It had been a

A technical deep-dive into Ang Lee’s ‘Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk’ examined the movie-making details change the shutter angle and shape from frame to frame if need be, giving enormous flexibility in production effects. “All movies should be made that way,” said Tim, ‘It gives you the flexibility to store the data and then you can extract whatever effect you want from the edits.”

The team had found that 120fps shooting provided far more ‘intimacy’ when looking at close ups of faces — you could literally see into someone’s eyes. They had experimented with, and found they liked, longer cuts. We were shown some clips using what was described as an out-of-focus reaction shot — the ‘two shot’ deliberately had the speaker out of focus so that you could concentrate on the reaction of the listener, an interesting artistic technique.

Ang Lee’s team found using mixed frame rates could be difficult and they were still adjusting to the higher frame rates. Scot reminded us that Sony isn’t thinking of stopping making movies at the traditional 24fps. Higher frame rates provide the opportunity to create a new cinematic reality, and the hope is that more filmmakers will embrace the possibilities.

Scot felt the physiological problems some

“THE TEAM FOUND 120FPS SHOOTING PROVIDES FAR MORE INTIMACY — YOU COULD LITERALLY SEE INTO SOMEONE’S EYES” huge learning process. When they saw test footage they realised the 24fps showings presented completely different images from the 120fps showings, even though they had originated from 120fps material.

Shifting shutters During the IBC screening, we were shown 24fps footage with a 216 degree shutter and then with a ‘blended’ software shutter, and the sometimes subtle differences were highlighted. They then showed 120fps 2D — described as a release format, since current projectors could display these images — and the pictures looked very acceptable, better than the 3D seen earlier as far as I was concerned. The key point was that filmmakers now have the ability to

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find with existing 3D systems are solved by the use of 120fps. There is no doubt that the technology influences and affects the art, and the art spirals around the technologies.

Tim said that Ang Lee is showing the way forward, and that the rest of the team are his experimenters. The industry needs others, artists and technicians to join the action. Ang said that we are effectively still babies at using these new technological ideas. He used the Chinese expression “we need to cast a brick to attract jade” which caused some head scratching, but effectively meant he was just tossing an idea out there, awaiting reactions. Scot was keen to remind us that most people are likely to see Billy Lynn’s Long Half Time Walk at 24fps, but he was adamant that the movie is

A technical masterpiece, but few audiences will get to see Billy Lynn in its true 120FPS glory

special and will provide something not seen before, even at 24fps.

The audience reacts Questions and comments from the audience suggested that some found the clips ultra-realistic, even ‘visceral’ and, due to that, the subject matter was powerfully uncomfortable. There were arguments about why The Hobbit at 48fps had been considered by some to have a ‘video’ look, but Ang felt this unfair and said audiences need to give these new ‘looks’ time to get accustomed to. As far as he was concerned, increased frame rates give the opportunity for a new realism, and that is the guidance he gives to those he works with. In answer to another question about how SFX creators will have to change to work with 120fps, Ben felt that there wouldn’t be problems — he felt 120fps and 4K provided a valuable ‘sweet spot’ that would enhance creativity.

By the end of this fascinating session, I felt we had learned as much about new artistic techniques as we had technology, showing how art and science really do go hand-in-hand when making movies.

Jim Slater

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CINEMA IN THE CONNECTED WORLD

of Arts O E C , s lber John Aa edia, gazes into M on Alliance o give his view re t the futu logy will shape no how tech of tomorrow. ma the cine

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he first ever cinema, the Nickelodeon, opened its doors in Pittsburgh on 19th June, 1905. Back then, its founders moved 96 seats into an empty store to create the first ever movie theatre. Fast forward 111 years, and the cinema we know and love today is a far cry from that Nickelodeon.

We’ve seen everything from red velvet curtains, to the introduction of food, to drive-ins — and cinema is still changing.

Today, the cinema faces one of its biggest challenges. Year on year, stats show that young people are snubbing the box office in favour of online viewing and streaming, watching movies on their smartphones, tablets and laptops. Both legal and illegal communities are continuing to grow in popularity, as many fall into the ‘sofa trap’ and prefer watching a film at home rather than going out to the cinema. And this

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change has not gone unnoticed. There have been rumbles of condemnation from some directors, who argue that their movies weren’t designed to be watched on an iPhone. It’s not only some of the world’s most influential directors protesting about the move away from the cinema, exhibitors on a global scale are singing from the same hymn sheet. In the new connected world, retaining and attracting regular customers, and appealing to an increasingly diverse audience, are ever-present challenges. So what does the cinema of the future need to do to entice consumers off their sofas and into the auditorium?

Christopher Nolan warned the cinema industry of its future in 2015 by stating “Forget film. If that experience isn’t valued, people will stop going.” If the cinema wants to remain relevant for years to come, it needs to embrace new technology that will keep the customer experience up to date and

stand a fighting chance of surviving what is arguably the toughest climate the industry has faced.

the first technological revolution While the first technological revolution in cinema transformed the way films were projected, that was just the tip of the digital iceberg. Technology is once again going to drive a huge wave of change in the new connected age. Today’s consumers are inundated with choice in every aspect of their lives and as such expect the same from the cinema. Highly customised, personalised and immersive content experiences are now seen as the norm — and there is no reason why the cinema shouldn’t be offering the same kind of content experience.

But if the truth be told, most exhibitors are massively unprepared for this change in mindset. From the box office to the foyer www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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experiences can be involved in one conversation. The cinema of the future therefore needs to embrace consumers’ new love of sharing. When visitors first walk into the cinema, they should be able to see screens of cinemagoers’ tweets, selfies and hashtags, which shows them enjoying the cinema in all its glory. For cinemas, this means using technology that bolsters your social media strategy, allowing you to share your visitors’ Twitter and Instagram experiences throughout the lobby.

When visiting the cinema of the future, each and every cinemagoer will also be able to enjoy a personalised experience.

Whether that is getting a free tub of popcorn on their birthday, remembering their favourite glass of wine to have before the movie, even down to knowing when a consumer last visited — cinemas will know enough about every visitor to make the experience individual to them. This can be done through data analytics technology that will allow exhibitors to share customer profiles with staff in real-time, allowing them to engage personally with customers and deliver targeted hospitality and treatment, as well as better understand customers’ behaviour and needs. By improving the customer experience through the use of data, exhibitors will be able to improve customer loyalty and contribute to their bottom line.

embracing the second screen

and to the big screen itself, using technology across the entire cinema can maximise occupancy, enhance the customer experience, encourage spending and bring the cinema back to life.

So if we take a step into the cinema of the future, what do we see? The cinema always has, and always will be, an experience that is shared. Those who visit the cinema see it as an opportunity to venture out with friends or family, and to experience something more than they would by just being at home. Embracing the feel-good factor that comes with going to the cinema is therefore an absolute must for exhibitors.

But in the new connected world, sharing your experience goes beyond the parameters of your friends and family — the explosion of social media sites means we can share our fun experiences with almost anybody. And the use of hashtags ensures that those enjoying the same or similar www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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And what will the future cinema experience be like when visitors actually make it to the screen? Evolving technologies will offer viewers second screen experiences inside the auditorium, using the pre-show as an opportunity to interact with the big screen via their smartphone. This could include sending in personalised greetings that appear on the big screen, like a happy birthday message, or even a marriage proposal! Viewers will also be able to receive adverts or exclusive content and take part in quizzes during the pre-show on their phones. During the pre-show adverts, exhibitors will be able to send promotional vouchers to encourage viewers to make a snack purchase before the film begins, link advertising campaigns, as well as sending polls about the trailers they’re watching or calendar reminders for upcoming releases.

Second screen experiences will allow exhibitors to offer far more targeted promotions directly to their consumers, driving further revenues to both advertisers and the exhibitors themselves.

THE U F TURE ISSUE

Cinema has come a long way since the first Nickelodeon opened in Pittsburgh back in 1905

taking the experience outside the cinema Technology will not only transform the cinema experience from the moment visitors arrive, it will begin far earlier.

Consumers’ first interaction with the cinema will be via technology, perhaps when they get a personalised email recommendation for new releases based on previous viewing history; when they check the cinema’s social media feed to see what special events are on; or when they purchase their movie ticket. For the cinema of the future, almost all tickets will be purchased online or via an app. This will not only enable the exhibitor to capture more data about customers, but will act as a portal to engage with them, sharing relevant content and information on their showing right in the palm of their hands.

While the cinema of the future may seem to be distant, in reality, many of technologies that will transform the cinema experience are already taking shape. Before long, tomorrow’s cinema will be today’s and the notion of a new cinema experience will be less space age sorcery and more the norm.

In the future, cinemagoers could be visiting the cinema not only to watch the latest blockbuster, but to watch the latest content they themselves have created — adding yet more personalisation and revenue options for exhibitors. An open mind and willingness to trial emerging technologies will be fundamental to the cinema of tomorrow — a far cry from the Nickelodeon of 100 years ago.

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A T A D G

FEATURE DATA RESEARCH NAME

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D N I A M E

Y R T S U

oks o l r e Slat m i e, J cinema u s s i last ies into e h t d ht in a of stu g i l t spo his are a t a D fines t g i B the that de m o n fr esearch o g n wi oing r o l l o g F at on

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or over 20 years I have been involved in various ways with European and international research projects relating to the use of electronics and data in different industries. The general pattern is that a group of universities from different countries gets together with industrial research partners to apply for funding from bodies such as the European Commission to enable them to carry out bigger research projects than one outfit could cope with, the funders’ hope being that synergies will be generated that make the investment profitable. The European Media programme was an early example, an initiative that ran from 2007-2013 with a budget of €755 million supporting projects and activities relating to the development and distribution of thousands of films and training activities.

From 2009, several of our Cinema Technology media professionals and companies took part in the EC 2020 3D Media project which looked at what the cinema might look like in 2020. The teams researched, developed and demonstrated novel forms of compelling entertainment experiences based on new technologies for the capture, production, networked distribution and display of 3D sound and images — and immersive audio-visual content was a major part of what they predicted. The project had a notable

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success in creating 3D audio technology and the company immSound, later absorbed into Dolby Atmos, and several other products reached the market based on technologies developed.

Another EC project, IP-RACINE, created a ‘scene to screen’ chain for European Digital Cinema, using experience from projects on 3DTV, advanced displays, intelligent media technologies and metadata-enabled media workflows. Introduction of the term ‘metadata’ (data about data) was fairly late to the cinema industry, and was initially intended for technical purposes, but in recent years we have learned of the importance of different types of data to understanding what our industry is doing.

With everything from individual film frames through the whole production, distribution and exhibition process to ticketing and seating and customerinteractions being controlled and monitored by computers, vast amounts of data are generated and stored. The term big-data is used to describe such large volumes of data, whether structured and unstructured, and the key thing for our industry to learn is how to make the best possible use of this data, rather than becoming overwhelmed by trying to deal with it. It’s not the amount of data that is critical, but what we do with it, and it is rapidly becoming apparent that there could be huge benefits if we could

determine the optimum ways of using the information to be gleaned from such data in every area of our business.

The recent CineEurope conference discussed big data at length, and although some applications such as the use of feedback from customers to recommend appropriate upcoming movies seem no-brainers, there is still a general confusion in the cinema business about big-data and its uses. There is a need for a ‘global overview’ of what might be possible and what the wider implications of access to and use of such data are likely to be.

Odeon’s Innovation Labs project includes this topic amongst many others.

A world-wide interest Looking worldwide, other researchers have begun to examine the business in detail. Since the end of 2012, a team of researchers at Deakin and RMIT universities in Australia has been gathering global film business data to determine and measure the critical factors affecting film industry performance in a period of transition. The project, called Kinomatics, also provided an opportunity to assess the usefulness of metadatadriven research for fields such as cinema studies. It began as an offshoot of an Australian Research Council-funded project examining the contemporary business of cinema distribution and exhibition in Australia, but, since cinema www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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has always been a global enterprise, the project took on a more global perspective to account for cinema’s international networks. Kinomatics derives from “kinematics”, the study of the geometry of motion, and “kino”, cinema. The researchers think of it as the study of the industrial geometry of motion pictures, different from the typical approach to university-based cinema research, moving from a focus on measuring the value and meaning of films to recognising instead the significance of cultural flows and transactions. Rather than trying to understand which aspects of which particular movies might explain how they had performed in cinemas — Was it the depressing script? Was it the inadequate budget? — they took a more systemic overview. This required different sources of evidence to answer our questions. (What is the impact of environmental conditions on film diffusion? What are the spatial and

temporal dimensions of cinema circulation?). Rather than the content of the films, these researchers were interested in the metadata that describes cinema’s social, institutional and commercial transactions.

The Kinomatics dataset that forms the basis for this research is a collection of more than 250 million ‘showtime’ records, capturing information about all film screenings in 48 countries over a 30-month period (2012-2015). Kinomatics adopts many of the techniques that have been developed in recent years within the Digital Humanities. These include the use of visualisation techniques and data analysis approaches based around the making and mining of horizontal relationships between data (rather than the vertical relationships favoured by archivists, for example).

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with big-data is challenging. The data is almost collecting itself and is growing in size and complexity all the time. We need to decide just what is important, and this is likely to be different for different parts of the industry. At the production end it might be possible to use data to help writers to know what kinds of scripts are likely to sell movies (but haven’t they already discovered that by bitter experience?). Could scripts and screenplays be analysed by computer to select sure-fire winners? It really comes down to whether or not you believe that audience reactions can be predicted because of what you know about their previous behaviours. Netflix certainly believes this, and it will be fascinating to see how the cinema exhibition business makes use of big-data to increase its customer numbers and customer satisfaction in the coming years.

A

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DATA RESEARCH

Challenges ahead...

So it is perhaps not surprising that the cinema industry is finding that working

“CINEMA DATA IS ALMOST COLLECTING ITSELF AND IS GROWING ALL THE TIME. WE NEED TO DECIDE JUST WHAT IS IMPORTANT.”

AND THE CONCLUSIONS?

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As one of the first “big cultural data” projects of its kind, Kinomatics has been a huge learning curve for the research team. I was interested in three initial conclusions:

It’s not how big your data is, it’s what you do with it that counts. Big Data doesn’t necessarily refer to the size of the data, but it does mean that the size of the data is one of the problems that needs to be resolved. Kinomatics data just keeps growing. Through further integrating different types of data (demographic data, social media data, technical infrastructure data, economic and financial data and climatic data, for example) they have been able to explore the value of an “expanded” approach to cultural data, rather than simply focusing on the idea of one “big dataset”.

best approach to it. This iterative and exploratory approach differs from conventional academic methodologies. Many people wrongly believe that working with data simply involves proposing a query and an answer appearing on screen.

Working with big data involves careful consideration, multiple iterations, experimentations and interpretations. It’s a process of constant decisionmaking. The researchers suggest that, in a sense, big data studies are always in beta, and that the bigger the team, the more considered the approach can be.

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3

Big Cinema Data requires a “big” range of expertise.

The collaborative team has a wide range of skillsets but could always do with more.

Big data studies involve accumulating the evidence base before developing the

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Ref: Arrowsmith, Colin; Verhoeven, Deb, & Davidson, Alwyn and Coate, Bronwyn (2014).

‘Kinomatics: A global study into Cinema Data’, Proceedings of the Geospatial Science Research 3 Symposium (GSR_3), December 1 2014, School of Mathematical and Geospatial Science, RMIT University, Melbourne.

Big Data does not always lead to Big Breakthroughs. There is sometimes scepticism against big data, but such scepticism is important. No matter how large the dataset, it is never comprehensive

and it is never unbiased. The researchers were able to make assertions about specifically defined research problems that account for the type of data and the way it has been gathered. For example, part of their interest in the factors concerned with the diffusion of film across cinemas around the globe is to better understand the factors that drive diffusion and diversity in domestic film markets. They have explored this by looking at a range of case studies such as the spread of High Frame Rate technologies via the release of The Hobbit movies; the volume of transactions between cinema nations expressed in the form of small networks of people; the relationship between the flow of remittances (the money sent home by migrants) and the movement of Indian films around the globe; and engaging everyday

cinemagoers with the dataset through the CinemaCities Ranking index which ranks the world’s top cities for film fans.

This Australian research shows that working with big data requires a changed mindset – they need to be able to work at scale and be comfortable answering questions with probabilities rather than definitive conclusions. One interesting philosophical point that arose was what the study of this data is actually doing to the researchers, rather than just what they can do with the data!

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OUR PRODUCTS TM TM

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IBC 2016

EVENT FOCUS

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ANOTHER SUCCESS FOR IBC & THE BIG SCREEN formats, frame rates, and colour gamuts, but they always succeed in doing a brilliant job. In the evenings, IBC audiences were fortunate to see two popular movie screenings, both using Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos, The Jungle Book in 3D courtesy of the Walt Disney Company and The Revenant kindly provided by 20th Century Fox.

The industry's rapid pace of change was fully on display at this year's superb IBC conference

Coming soon — A BIG anniversary

A long-standing venue for IBC, 2017's conference at the Amsterdam RAI will be the 50th in its history

the global future of advertising. Standards are vital to the commercial development of new technologies, and an IP Interoperability Zone was set up, demonstrating technical progress in that area, with the VRT-EBU LiveIP studio being used to produce and distribute the IBC TV channel constantly in operation during this year’s show.

Cinema — The IBC Big Screen

owever you measure it, IBC 2016 was a great success.

The exhibition featured over 1,800 exhibitors, including 249 companies with a stand at IBC for the first time, a fascinating indicator of how fast the industries in which we are involved are changing. Attendance for IBC 2016 was 55,796 over the six days of the conference and exhibition, with people from more than 160 countries. No fewer than 435 speakers took part in more than 100 sessions.

H

Transformation is the theme

The overall theme of the event this year was "Transformation", and there was certainly much of that in evidence, with major sessions on everything from online IP broadcasting to www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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IBC really is all-encompassing. In recent years, it has also become one of the most influential events in digital cinema worldwide, thanks to its ability to bring together the world’s best cinema technology people to demonstrate developments in cinema pictures and sound to the highest standards as well as to attract speakers to top-level debates. This year saw the Cinema Technology Committee’s Julian Pinn interview top film director Mr Ang Lee (left), with an astounding demonstration clip from his latest movie, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. Projected at 120 frames per second per eye in 4K 3D, using Christie’s 6P laser projection and Dolby Atmos, it brought a completely new realism to cinema. [For more, see The really big picture, page 28] As well as Ang Lee’s keynote presentation, the IBC Big Screen auditorium was also used for many technical and commercial talks and demonstrations showing the future of the cinema industry. It really does keep the highly skilled projection team on its toes being asked to show clips in a whole range of different

Next year’s IBC will be its 50th anniversary. The first was held in 1967, in the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London. Needing more space, it went to the Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane (my first experience of IBC), then to the Wembley Conference Centre, before becoming established in Brighton. IBC subsequently became an independent body, owned by six partners IABM, IEEE, IET, RTS, SCTE and SMPTE, ensuring that the event is run by the industry for the industry. IBC moved to the Amsterdam RAI in 1992, and has evolved to meet the industry's changing needs. IBC 2017 is from 14-19 September.

Jim Slater

IN FOCUS… Cinema Technology’s special IBC focus will bring you up to date with the important issues issues under discussion at this year's conference, including: The technical stuff — what was new in the IBC halls this year? p38 Is the industry laser ready — the experts debate the issues p41 Techno-shopping — do you need HDR/WCG/Big Data and ROI? p44 Immersive audio developments — the big questions answered, p46 Creative Keynote – The future according to Lord Puttnam, p49 The kit behind the screens at the IBC conference, p50

DECEMBER 2016 | CINEMA TECHNOLOGY

11/11/2016 11:15

IBC BIG SCREEN 2016

the technical lowdown With so much going on in multiple conference streams it just isn’t possible to cover everything, but we tried…

J

ulian Pinn, executive producer of the IBC Big Screen, brought together a remarkable collection of speakers covering a vast range of cinema-related topics, in many ways reflecting his own interests and experience in the whole area of movie-making and cinema exhibition. It was notable how well the various panels that he chaired and the discussions he led were carefully steered so that those involved covered not only the technologies around which the conference was focussed, but also the commercial practicalities to be considered before the technologies can be part of the regular cinema business.

Emotion Control

The first Big Screen Experience of 2016 had the formidable title ‘Advancing the Art and Science of Motion Capture Towards the Continuous Control of Facial Performance of Actual Live Action Footage’. Derek Bradley, research scientist from Disney Research and

Matt Rank, virtual production supervisor from Industrial Light and Magic talked about how animation has become ever more life-like and photo-realistic, and the way in which motion capture has actually moved on to become ‘emotion capture’ by faithfully capturing the performance artists’ facial nuances, not just limb and body movements.

Disney Research in Zurich is developing systems to offer filmmakers continuous control of facial performance in live action motion pictures. This session looked at both the technology behind and the practical applications of the Medusa Performance Capture system, consisting of a mobile rig of cameras and lights coupled with proprietary software that can reconstruct actors’ faces in full motion, and the FaceDirector software which can continuously blend between multiple facial performances of an actor.

Light Field Cameras — Magic?

Peter Ludé from RealD chaired an excellent session “Light Field Cameras: Technology that is indistinguishable from magic?” As

The principle of the Lytro microlens array

The first light field capture systems were developed using multi-camera arrays at Stanford University. The massive array of lenses has now been miniaturised so that an array of microlenses sits above a semiconductor light sensor array.

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optical lens array of microlenses array of image sensors

Julian Pinn, executive producer of the IBC Big Screen, oversaw a comprehensive technical agenda

was explained in the September 2016 issue of Cinema Technology, Light Field imaging is a method of capturing and reproducing light rays as they pass through a plane — every point in space travelling in every direction.

Siegfried Fößel, of German research house Fraunhofer, provided a complete overview of light field technology from capture to display. He explained how light field imaging captures all the rays of light within a scene, providing a rich amount of light field data, and that every pixel has colour properties, directional properties, and exact coordinates in space. This technology allows images to be re-focused, re-framed and viewed from any angle — similar to a hologram. He told of the difficulties that researchers had encountered in developing the technology into something of practical use and explained how recent advancements in nano-engineered materials, extraordinary digital processing power and cheap storage have started to make light field cameras possible for cinema applications.

Jon Karafin of Lytro, a total enthusiast for this technology, brought us up to date with their developments in light field imaging, concentrating on the new Light Field Cinema system that he described as the ultimate creative tool, allowing infinite creative choices in post-production, including control over focus, perspective, aperture and shutter angle.

We were shown that the system can actually create shots that would be impossible using conventional cinematography. A video clip of coloured balls circulating on a pool table and rolling into the pocket was memorable.

Jon revealed details of the newly developed Lytro Cinema Camera — and everything about it is big! This first version is about 7ft long and www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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IBC BIG SCREEN 2016

39

INSIDE THE LYTRO CINEMA CAMERA

16

The Lytro cinema camera can produce an impressive 16 stops of dynamic range.

500 Capturing the detail inside the camera is a huge 500mm-wide image sensor The Lytro cinema camera can collect rich data on light in a scene, but it's still currently 7ft long!

weighs several hundred pounds. Jon said that they accept the need to reduce the physical size, and said although they now understand what needs to be done and how they might go about it, he felt that a hand-held cine-camera system was still several years away.

The image sensor is an incredible 500mm wide and the camera generates 755 RAW megapixels at up to 300 frames per second and data rates of 300Gbytes per second! The camera can produce 16 stops of dynamic range and has a wide colour gamut. Effective f-stops of 0.3 or less were mentioned, so getting the depth of field you need should be easy. The system provides many options to manipulate moving images and you can adjust shutter angles and depth of field and produce all manner of motion-blur effects.

Executive director of studio production at Lytro, Jeff Barnes, who has a distinguished history in the VFX field, then talked us through a seven-minute short film, Life, the first film made with the new system, directed by Oscar-winning production designer Robert Stromberg. The short movie is a WWII-set drama that follows a man’s life as he finds love and then goes to war. It was interesting to see and compare the many different shots, especially as we were told that half had been shot on a conventional Arri Alexa and half on the Lytro camera. Lytro Cinema with its unique combination of special effects and cinematography is certainly going to provide a whole new way of making movies.

Jim Slater www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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LOOKING AT HIGHER FRAME RATES “Separating the look from the frame rate” was the title of a session from Bob Kisor of RK Entertainment Technology Consulting and Tony Davis, senior scientist at RealD. They advocated use of different frame rates as a new creative tool, and began with a useful tutorial session, explaining the differences between judder (acquisition aliasing) which occurs in camera, and strobing (reconstruction aliasing) which happens in the projector.

Blurry motion occurs in frame storage and transmission and can be cured by higher frame rates and increased system bandwidth. The differences were explained through a series of low frame rate video clips clearly showing the effects of ‘judder and strobing’ (the normal situation with film), ‘judder only', ‘strobing only’ and ‘no strobing or judder’.

It was pointed out that a normal shutter effectively subjects the image to a ‘square wave’, which introduces lots of temporal distortion. We were asked to consider what the effects of using an actual ‘soft shutter’ (such as a liquid crystal shutter in front of the camera) might be. We were shown several examples. However, rather than using an actual soft shutter, it was suggested a new way of controlling the shutter function, to get the motion effects desired, would be to acquire a high-enough frame rate using a 360-degree shutter on the camera, so that none of the motion was lost. A soft shutter could then be synthesised in post-production as an alternative solution to reducing the effects of judder. We were shown the theoretical effects of using such a synthesised soft shutter on content as if shot at 120, 192 and 480 fps. It was shown that 120 fps was a good-enough minimum that could achieve sufficient temporal resolution for such synthetic shuttering in post to mimic actual soft shuttering during production. With at least 120 fps, a variety of weighted-average functions of such HFR frames would produce suitable output frame-rates not only to achieve the ‘look’ that you want but also to optimise that ‘look’ for a variety of output frame-rates including non-integer factors from the original, such as reducing from 120 fps to say 25 fps (4.8:1) or from 120 fps to 23.976 fps (5.00501:1).

It was shown that judder can be substantially reduced by acquiring at high frame rate and down-sampling using a synthetic shutter, and that a wide range of artistic options can be obtained by selection of appropriate shutter timing and shape — effectively showing how HFR technology can help post-production to modify creative intent. If desired, this soft-shutter technology can enable the ‘look’ to be modified on a ‘per shot’ basis, or even within a shot.

It was an educational session — even the most experienced cinema ‘techies’ have a great deal to learn about the capabilities these new technologies can provide.

DECEMBER 2016 | CINEMA TECHNOLOGY

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14/11/2016 16:26

IBC BIG SCREEN 2016

are we LASER-READY? Out with the old? Industry experts agree cinema projection is on the cusp of change

avid Monk, CEO of the European Digital Cinema Forum, chaired an interesting ‘Critical Update’ session during the IBC conference which brought together some of the world’s most knowledgeable experts on the issue of lasers in cinema projection.

Noting that laser-based cinema projectors are starting to appear in cinemas around the world in increasing numbers, he asked the panel of experts for their thoughts on whether the technologies are really ready for a major rollout, ready to replace the xenon projectors that are still the mainstay of cinema projection around the world, a position they have enjoyed for decades. As a welcome reminder of how far laser projection has come in a short time, he introduced a clip from Disney Pixar’s Inside Out (left) with the words "You are now going to watch a clip from the greatest projector on the planet that has been set up by one of the best technical teams in the world. The pictures are using 2020 colour space and at 32 foot Lamberts". The audience was meant to be astounded, and it was. The sharp colours covered a spectrum never seen in cinema before, and gave an excellent taster of what laser projection can provide and served as a great introduction to the debate that was to follow.

D

32fl

At IBC, Disney's Inside Out was shown at no less than 32fL to illustrate the potential of laser projection.

www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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50%

addressing the critical questions

The panel agreed laser phosphor units last for 30k hrs before a 50% drop in brightness.

David asked the panel to consider a series of key questions, but asked each one to talk briefly about a particular aspect of laser projection before tackling those questions: lA re there unresolved health and safety issues involved with laser projection? lD oes the regular cinemagoer actually notice a difference? lA re laser projectors cost-effective and making money for exhibitors? lW ill the latest laser phosphor projectors deliver value for smaller screens? lA re lasers delivering brightness that is reenergising 3D viewers? lA re laser projectors able to deliver the whole experience of resolution, frame rate, colours and contrast, with extended dynamic range?

At David’s request Bill Beck, the Laser Guy, now working with Barco, explained how RGB laser projection works, followed by Mark Kendall from NEC who described how bluelaser phosphor projectors operate. Don Shaw, DECEMBER 2016 | CINEMA TECHNOLOGY

11/11/2016 12:07

IBC BIG SCREEN 2016 from Christie, explained how RGB laser projection creates 3D and the advantages that 6P 3D can provide. Dave Schnuelle of Dolby talked about how the tiny point of light from a laser source can provide increased contrast and enable Higher Dynamic Range.

Walter Burgess from Power Technology described how its ‘laser light farm’ technology works, explaining potential advantages of using a centralised light source. He said that the system has been accepted by LIPA to be as safe as a xenon lamp in operation. Mark Clowes from Sony explained that the company doesn’t yet have a laser cinema projector on sale (it has many other types of laser projector), but has shown prototypes, understands how to build a 4K version, and will be bringing products to market once it is convinced that the costs of ownership balance the technical advantages.

a unified view

There was a high degree of unanimity amongst the panel over the key questions: l All accepted that the health and safety issues that had proved so difficult to persuade the regulatory authorities about had been resolved, and that the light from a laser projector is no more dangerous than that from a high-power xenon lamp. l Various surveys of cinemagoers had shown customers do notice an improvement in picture quality — but opinion varied as to whether people would pay more to watch laser projection. lT here are currently differences in the cost-effectiveness of the different types of laser projectors, with many laser-phospor machines being sold on promises that the total cost of ownership will be much less than for xenon over a period of a few years. The RGB laser projector manufacturers were keen to say that, as well as providing much brighter pictures than standard projectors, their machines too can be cost-effective because of savings in electrical power and the costs of expensive replacement lamps. l All agreed that RGB laser projectors are providing the brighter images that are needed to ‘reboot’ public interest in 3D, and that seeing movies like Avatar and Hobbit in 3D at 14fL had been a totally different and much-improved experience. l All the panel agreed that the industry will need laser projectors in order to be able to deliver the whole experience of resolution, frame rate, colours and contrast, with extended dynamic range, and they were confident that the technology will be able to satisfy all these demands.

So, is laser ready for the big time?

With the exception of Mark from Sony, who CINEMA TECHNOLOGY | DECEMBER 2016

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FIELDING QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

The members of the panel (above) enjoyed a lively session on lasers which gave rise to a number of questions from the floor, which extended the debate.

Practicality of retrofits was questioned, and whether these might be used to increase light output of an existing projector and whether Sony 4K projectors can be retrofitted. Projector manufacturers were generally against the idea, stressing that it would nullify warranties and could lead to safety issues. There was no way that a third-party solution could sensibly lead to increased light output. Walter Burgess said that they had modified existing projectors without problems, effectively extending their lifetimes, and that although it might be possible to user a laser source to increase the light output of a projector, Power Technology would not recommend this as it could lead to other parts being over-stressed. He saw no problem in retrofitting Sony 4K projectors.

Questions were asked about how manufacturers justified predicted lifetimes for laser projectors, and ‘what does a cinema do after that is exceeded?’ It was explained how the lifetimes of all the laser projection systems are temperature dependent, and that lifetimes can be extended by running the lasers in cooler conditions or at lower than maximum power, and there was general agreement that a laser phosphor unit would last 30,000 hours before the brightness fell by 50%. The answer to the ‘what then?’ question turned out to be quite simple — buy another laser phosphor module!

There was a suggestion that large active screens (LED / OLED) might be ready to replace projectors by the time cinema owners are ready to replace xenon projectors with laser models, but the general consensus was that although active screens are increasing in resolution and could do the job in some cinemas, costs of active screens are orders of magnitude higher than projection in order to provide the same size of image.

There was general agreement that any large scale rollout of laser projectors would not be funded by the studios or distributors — ­ no VPF2.0! said that they won’t be a launching a laser projector until they are convinced everything about the system is right (he even compared the current arrangements as ‘paying for all the lamps you are going to use during the projector’s lifetime on day one’), everyone on the panel was positive about laser projection being ready to take over in projection rooms.

Dave Schnuelle said it can provide superior image quality, better contrast, wider colour gamut. He felt that reported problems of speckle and white points and metamerism were overblown.

CT's Jim Slater, reflecting on recent tests where he had met cinematographers who claimed that laser projection didn’t present

their work in the way that they had intended, asked for Dave’s reactions to the view of the technical manager of one of the UK’s biggest cinema chains that he wouldn’t recommend a wholesale change to laser until every aspect of the images was better than xenon. Dave dismissed these arguments, saying their work with ASC members had shown they were generally delighted with the results. Don Shaw said he felt imminent developments in RGB lasers would make them the choice in the future, and Mark Clowes too said that better laser systems would come, and that anyone seriously considering investing for the future should be looking at 4K. www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

11/11/2016 12:07

Creating Extraordinary

See the light.

Amazing 4K picture quality.

Without the laser price tag.

You might be thinking about laser projection for your cinema. But can you afford to take the chance on a still-new technology with a very high price tag?

The long-lasting HPM multi-lamp array in all our R500 Series projectors cut maintenance costs and energy bills.

So while your audience is enjoying stunning 4K images with high brightness and industry-leading 8,000:1 contrast ratio, you’ll be enjoying big savings with every screening. www.pro.sony.eu/dcinema

Š 2016 Sony Corporation. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Features and specifications are subject to change without notice. Sony and Sony Digital Cinema 4K and their respective logos are registered trademarks of Sony.

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14/11/2016 16:27

IBC BIG SCREEN 2016

Technology shopping:

do you need HDR/WCG/Big Data and ROI? New technologies were under the microscope at IBC — how valuable are they really?

10x

Big Data Data analytics is used widely in most industries, though cinema has been slow to adapt to the benefits

30%

Current year-onyear growth of Premium cinema

T

According to Movio, data-driven marketing can multiply ticket sales tenfold

4

At IBC, four of the major studios — Disney's Pixar, 20th Century Fox, Sony, and Warner Bros — gave their take on the creative impact of HDR and WCG.

he final day of the IBC conference provided an opportunity for catching up on key technologies currently on everybody’s shopping list. High dynamic range (HDR) and wide colour gamut (WCG) are being recognised as some of the greatest new creative tools for directors, and there is no doubt from anyone who has seen pictures like those from a Dolby Cinema set-up that this is how movies should be watched. Increased detail and range of brightness and colours enable storytellers to engage more closely with their audiences. IBC brought together a panel of the leading proponents and users of HDR and WCG to examine their future in the creative landscape, including Dominic Glynn from Pixar; Arjun Ramamurthy, 20th Century Fox; Bill Baggelaar, Sony Pictures Entertainment; Curt Behlmer, Dolby; and Michael Zink of Warner Brothers .

The clamour for data

Big Data is a topic of great relevance to the cinema industry, so the session moderated

by David Hancock entitled Transforming the Big Screen with Big Data was well attended.

The panel included David Hancock from IHS, Sarah Lewthwaite, Movio; Jolyon Spurling, Showtime Analytics and Steffen Schier from CinemaxX. CINEMA TECHNOLOGY | DECEMBER 2016

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l David opened with an explanation of big

data and data analytics, referencing his recent article in Cinema Technology. l Steffen provided food for thought with his idea that cinemas should ‘schedule for profits’ rather than to maximise attendance or box office receipts, and he provided great examples of how this technique has worked in practice. l Jolyon, whose family has run cinemas in Ireland, bemoaned the fact that data analytics is currently used in almost every industry except cinema, and told how his company, Showtime Analytics, is helping exhibitors to use data they already have — from bookings to post-show analysis — to maximise the impact on their business.

His example of one cinema owner asking

1 The winning choice to maximise ROI was Laser Phosphor projection.

‘Should I buy new seats or new projectors, with a capital budget of £2m?’ begged the answer ‘Use your data’. In this case, data showed there would be no advantage to the business of spending money on either! l Sarah told how Movio works with Hollywood studios to use audience data to help them decide which movies to make.

She explained how they know who watches what, and how data driven marketing campaigns have been proven to multiply ticket sales by 10 and increase gross box office by 35%. Her message was clear: ‘Use data and everyone wins!’ l Matthew explained the conundrum of how you can use data science to predict your audience when everyone else has all the data, and showed how it can be used to tell

STRICTLY COME DIGITAL… A new panel format at IBC — based on the well-known TV series Strictly Come Dancing, saw the panellists (judges!) provided with large score cards. They were invited to vote, from 1 to 10, for technologies and new cinema applications they felt would provide the best ROI, ranging from laser projection through motion seating to immersive sound and virtual reality, 12 in all.

AND THE WINNERS WERE… Unsurprisingly the judges had different opinions, but the session was fun and also arrived at some fascinating answers. The top choice to maximise ROI

www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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a distributor when it will be most profitable to release a film.

This session showed how data-centric strategies are challenging conventional business models and how different parts of the film industry are using data to influence each stage of the movie life-cycle. There was agreement that the industry needs to be more reliant on fact-based decisions.

Maximising your returns

Maximising Return on Investment (ROI) is of increasing importance to all in the cinema business, so the session entitled ‘Cinema Investment 2.0: Where’s the ROI?‘ proved of great interest. With the switch from analogue to digital complete, cinemas are looking to next generation of technologies, ranging from HDR to motion seating. But how can they calculate whether investment in these will bring in new revenues? David Hancock and Patrick von Sychowski, of Celluloid Junkie, assembled a panel that included Domien De Witte from Barco, Jerry Murdoch of Cinema Next, and Roland Jones of Vue International.

David'scompendium of facts and figures made the point that the reasons for cinemagoing have become more complex, with ‘the experience’ as the core of a range of factors including content, venue, technology and social interactions.

All involve investment in technology, so we need to be able to justify the return.

Domien explained Barco's use of focus groups, involving exhibitors and customers, and surveys and carries out a benchmark analysis against what happens in other industries. This research has established that the best ways to improve ROI are to invest in Premium Cinema, where customers are happy to pay for a better experience, and to increase operational efficiencies by lowering costs. Premium cinema is showing a 30% year-on-year growth. Making the best use of new technologies can reduce costs and increase efficiencies, and his message was ‘superoperators gain efficiencies - don’t wait to invest, or you will lose out!'

turned out to be Laser Phosphor projectors. In second place, jointly, were HDR, Improved Seating and Bar Food, with RGB laser projection in at number three. Surprisingly for such a hi-tech set of judges, the least popular option to provide ROI was Virtual Reality, with HFR and Motion Seating only slightly ahead.

This proved an entertaining and thought-provoking end to the technical sessions, and was followed in the evening by a superb showing of the IBC Big Screen Experience Monday Night Movie: The Revenant in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos — the perfect way to round off the conference that each year aims to cover the salient topics of the art, the science, and the business of the motion-picture industry from content creation to exhibition.

www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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11/11/2016 15:04

IBC BIG SCREEN 2016

IMMERSIVE AUDIO Sound systems, standards and workloads: all were up for discussion at IBC

A

t a time when cinema owners are being offered at least three competitive immersive sound systems, a session on the subject at IBC proved to be a rare chance to bring together the protagonists of the various technical solutions and put them on the spot, getting them to answer all manner of questions. David Monk, CEO of the European Digital Cinema Forum, chaired this second ‘Critical Update’.

Immersive sound has become popular in cinema, with getting on for 2,000 installations and hundreds of movie titles mastered. Dolby Atmos leads the way, with Barco Auro 3D / Auro MAX and DTS:X/MDA also creating great interest, each with pros and cons.

Cinema owners would ideally like to install one system in the knowledge that whichever they chose it could, if needed, play back content created in any other.

At the creative end of the cinema chain, it would also be ideal for the sound mixers to create a single immersive sound mix that would play back on any of the competing systems whilst still maintaining the creative intent of the sound designer. At the present time, both aspirations seem something of an unrealistic pipe-dream.

The understandable call for standardisation led to SMPTE Technology Committee 25CSS, considering a common standardised method for delivering immersive audio to cinemas, but the various panel members made it clear that it is only the ‘bitstream’ that is being standardised and this might not satisfy the needs of all the stakeholders. The goal is to develop an interoperative audio-creation workflow and an open-format, object-based playback standard for immersive audio, enabling a single DCP to be used to render to whatever playback format has been installed in the cinema CINEMA TECHNOLOGY | DECEMBER 2016

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Sound judgement: the expert panel at IBC

the barriers to adoption

The session brought together members of each stakeholder group, content creation, technical suppliers,studios and exhibitors.

Each speaker was first asked about the key elements affecting the take up of immersive sound. Brian Claypool of Barco said any such system must be well-calibrated to get the best effects. The need is for a single inventory which will work with 5.1, and he expected that from next year there would be a single object-based bitstream.

Julian Pinn, as technology advisor to the International Union of Cinemas (UNIC), said it is necessary to work to approved standards throughout the chain to ensure that sound played back in cinemas at reference level is excellent. Dean Bullock of Dolby said that

“A RENDERER IS UNLIKELY TO DO AS GOOD A JOB AS WE DO…” CHRIS BURDON, WARNER BROS. everything is effectively ‘standardised’ for users of the Atmos system and the CP850 processor can cope with up to 64 individual channels. Fadi Malak of DTS talked about the Multi-Dimensional Audio (MDA) format, an uncompressed PCM sound format being developed by DTS, which is the distribution format for DTS:X. Object-based immersive surround formats enable a variable number of sound objects in three-dimensional space

The Iosono system: great audio, plenty of speakers

to be addressed individually, with metadata identifying where each is. MDA has no requirement for a specific speaker layout, so can be deployed in any existing system. The MDA renderer optimises the signals for each environment — ‘trust the renderer’, he said!

Julian Pinn said that exhibitors need to be assured that standards will apply throughout the cinema chain and those don’t currently exist.

Dave Monk explained that exhibitors are confused about SMPTE standardisation work. They don’t realise that standardising the bitstream doesn’t mean they will be able to reproduce the original creative intent of the movie-maker on whatever immersive sound system they have chosen. Several people thought it would sound ‘all right’ on different systems and it was generally agreed that no amount of standardisation should remove the right and responsibility of an exhibitor to select the system that they want. Chris Burdon, re-recording mixer at Warner Bros. www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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IMMERSIVE AUDIO

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5.1

Do you need an immersive system?

The panel was divided — some said a good 5.1 mix can offer an experience to beat poorly rendered immersive versions.

De Lane Lea felt some of the aims of the standardisation work to be unrealistic. Even with full creative control, he often needs to remix from Atmos to provide an optimum mix for 5.1 or 7.1. so had doubts about a one-mix proposal, saying ‘A renderer is unlikely to do as good a job as we do!’

Walt Disney Studios' Chris Witham noted that they made over 450 DCP versions of Star Wars, involving hours of QC for each version.

It is important that immersive sound systems don’t increase this workload massively.

A common deliverable that guarantees consistent reproduction in cinemas would be great, but it is more important to retain the artistic intent of the sound creators.

Audience questions

C J Flynn asked if immersive sound systems would be restricted to PLF cinemas, or would

THE SALES PITCH SUMMARY The chairman invited each of the three immersive system proponents to sum up in one sentence the key advantage of their system and why a customer should choose it.

BRIAN CLAYPOOL: Barco Auro is compelling, engaging, impressive.

DEAN BULLOCK: It's Dolby! It exists, your room will sound perfect and you have engineering support.

FADI MALAK: DTS:X provides the maximum choice. It brings the director’s artistic intent to the cinema, and can be translated to the home.

www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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they become mainstream? Dean Bullock replied that Dolby Atmos had started out on the PLF route, but was now getting to a situation where chains are installing Atmos in all auditoria on some sites. Costs of installation had come down by half from the first installations and Dolby certainly doesn’t expect Atmos to be restricted to PLF sites.

Brian Claypool said that Barco regarded immersive sound as a premium offering, while Fadi Malak said that he hoped that once the SMPTE standard is completed, there are likely to be more mainstream audio companies offering immersive sound systems.

There were interesting discussions as to what immersive audio means, with Chris Burdon saying that some 5.1 mixes can provide a truly immersive experience, and Julian Pinn saying that a well designed 5.1 mix can beat a poorly rendered immersive version. Oliver Pasch suggested that much of the improvement audiences noticed when going to an immersive auditorium was down to the fact that they had replaced aged audio systems.

One audience member felt cinemas would only truly experience immersive sound if they adopted wavefield synthesis systems as developed by Iosono, in which all audience members can be in the ‘sweet spot’. Brian Claypool noted that Barco had taken over Iosono, so was in a good position to understand its advantages, but felt the number of speakers required around a cinema would continue to make it impracticable. Another question was about the practicability of using ‘Soundbar’ techniques to provide immersive sound. The Holoplot system was mentioned in which an audio wall creates three-dimensional acoustic spaces out of a two-dimensional sound source, firing off sounds with reflections, directing the sound and controlling it like light. Some agreed such systems can provide impressive acoustic effects, but there was a general feeling that it wasn't suited to cinema dialogue.

DECEMBER 2016 | CINEMA TECHNOLOGY

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14/11/2016 16:28

IBC BIG SCREEN 2016

CREATIVE KEYNOTE

the future according to Lord Puttnam A wide-ranging interview with the filmmaker covered many topics. Jim Slater reports

L

ord Puttnam CBE has for many years been an Honorary Fellow of the BKSTS, so it was particularly interesting to hear him deliver the Creative Keynote address at the IBC Conference 2016, with its theme of transformation in the digital era. Interviewed (more accurately, gently coaxed to reveal his thoughts) by journalist Ray Snoddy, he covered a range of topics, technical, artistic, and business-related. He began by telling how, after an early career in advertising, he moved to film-making, saying that sometimes everything comes together just right. He showed a 2min 18sec clip from his 1986 film The Mission, which he described as the most perfect example of this rare happening.

we need more than just technology

Lord Puttnam explained that he loves technology, but has a test to determine how worthwhile it is, something particularly relevant as we are bringing more and more immersive technologies into cinema. The Puttnam test is: Does it have the capacity to make you feel more? Can it make you cry?

No stranger to IBC, Lord Puttnam had browsed around the stands and was especially impressed by the demonstrations and exhibits in IBC’s Future Zone. He said that the technology on display is definitely getting better and better, but that broadcasters aren’t always using it to best effect. He quoted an apt line from 1958 attributed to journalist Ed Murrow, who warned that unless television was used to teach, illuminate and inspire "it is merely wires and lights in a box". He felt that the broadcast media is perhaps getting worse at helping us to understand what is going on around us. We have got better at providing images, but worse at talking to each other. As an example, he had been unhappy with how

“AFTER 30 YEARS OF FILM-MAKING, LORD PUTTNAM BECAME FRUSTRATED WITH MANY OF ITS PROCESSES” www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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Lord Puttnam CBE puts his views across at IBC

UK broadcasters covered debates on whether Britain should leave the EU. He felt that broadcasters followed too closely ‘impartiality’ rules, the requirement for ‘balance’ making a nonsense of some of the arguments and risking losing the trust of the public. Lord Puttnam stressed that he wanted public broadcasters to explain more, and said that once we realise the nature of the challenges we need to understand the message is as important as the medium.

Politics and education

After 30 years of film-making, Lord Puttnam became frustrated with some of its processes — in particular he disliked the fact that more and more the decisions on whether to make a film depended on "Who is going to be in it?" rather than the content. He moved into politics, to pursue interests in education and the environment. Among many other aspects, he worked on the Communications Bill and chaired the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Draft Climate Change Bill. He joined the world of education, and was for 10 years chairman of the National Film and Television School, and founded Skillset, which trains young people to become members of the film and television industries. He said that he was particularly proud of having founded the National Teaching Awards, against the wishes of teaching unions, and became its first chairman. The awards were instigated to restore pride in the profession and to celebrate excellence and best practice. He was also pleased to have used his time as chair of TES Global Advisory Board to increase its web

presence and persuade teachers worldwide to communicate online.

The interview covered his views on a wide range of topics, including everything from the growth of social media, the need for a small charge on every email to reduce its use, to the possible effects of the UK’s Brexit and was scathing about plans to privatise Channel Four. He mentioned that in business he was critical of much UK management and a culture that creates barriers for creative enterprises.

The UK is great at start-ups but doesn’t go on to create global businesses, due to factors from a lack of training and expectations, to problems getting financial backing.

Climate Change and back to film-making

Lord Puttnam explained his obsession with climate change, which poses a huge barrier to a fulfilling future, and which he sees as not just an environmental problem but a human rights issue. In 2007, he chaired the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Draft Climate Change Bill, from which emerged the first Climate Change Act. To get his message across, he has returned to film-making, with Arctic 30, a film about the Greenpeace activists who scaled a Russian oil platform in an attempt to ‘Save the Arctic’. Their protest was met with force as Putin’s commandos seized their ship. David Puttnam is not simply interested in the film’s dramatic appeal, but is passionate about finding an answer to the developing crisis of climate change, which he believes to be the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced. He believes strongly in film's ability to change society. Lord Puttnam’s Creative Keynote provided its audience with so many topics to think (and argue!) about listening to this true creative really stimulated the audience, who carried on the discussions long after the talk was over.

10

years as chairman of the National Film & Television School for Lord Puttnam

DECEMBER 2016 | CINEMA TECHNOLOGY

11/11/2016 10:55

IBC BIG SCREEN 2016

THE IN-HOUSE SET UP

The kit in the auditorium at IBC this year was a tour de force. Jim Slater explains

T

he IBC’s Big Screen Auditorium really did showcase cutting-edge technology and engineering excellence during the IBC 2016 Conference. IBC's technical team pulled out all the stops to provide pictures and sound as they've never been experienced before.

The equipment in the Big Screen auditorium this year was the most complex installation ever, featuring HDR and HFR 4K 3D laser projection and immersive audio.

Home to the IBC Big Screen Experience, the auditorium is a key component of the IBC Conference where more than 300 speakers shared insights on issues at the heart of the entertainment, media and technology sector.

Julian Pinn, executive producer, IBC Big Screen Experience, said that IBC is hugely appreciative of its long-term supporters who each year provide cutting-edge technology and engineering excellence to transform the RAI Theatre into a highly advanced cinema presentation auditorium and conference theatre.

Pictures l For

the first time, the auditorium featured a pair of Dolby Vision High Dynamic Range 6P laser-illuminated 4K projectors capable

5 Nearly 1km The length of the loudspeaker cabling installed

CINEMA TECHNOLOGY | DECEMBER 2016

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of 31 fL (108 nits) in 2D and 14 fL (48 nits) in 3D with an unrivalled projected contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1 and able to support all of today’s DCI frame rates. The projectors were fitted in to the large booth at the back of the auditorium fed with light via fibre optic cables from racks of laser lighting units mounted outside. l The auditorium also featured a pair of Christie Mirage D4KLH60 High Frame Rate 6P laser-illuminated 4K projectors for the first time, capable of an unrivalled projected specification of 4096 x 2160, 120 fps, 3D. With no room for more in the booth, these magnificent beasts were installed on the balcony, together with racks containing nine laser modules for each projector in order to achieve 28 fL (96 nits) in Dolby 3D — approximately five times brighter than a standard cinema setup. For the 10th year, Christie was Technical Partner of IBC and, as well as providing projection for the RAI Auditorium Big Screen, Christie Velvet Merit Series LED panels with 1.9mm pixel pitch were in a tiled array in the foyer and a unique clock in the main lobby powered by four Christie Boxer 4K30 projectors and Christie Pandoras Box Quad Servers. l Another first was the use of the 7th Sense Design Delta Media Server, capable

Number of film projectors

128 The number of mixing console channels

of playing content at 120 fps, 4K, 3D as demanded by Ang Lee, who showed preview clips of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk as part of his keynote presentation. l To complete the picture-perfect images, Harkness Screens provided a 17.00m wide x 6.69m high Matt Plus screen featuring its 4K Digital Perforation Pattern with its reduced moiré fringing and improved sound transmission.

Sound l The

audio setup this year used Dolby Atmos immersive audio, powered by QSC, and designed and built in a collaboration between Dolby, QSC and Terry Nelson of IBC’s Technical Resources. l The QSC stage system had an L-C-R configuration but used a double centre channel array for greater headroom. l The LFE channel also featured huge headroom, comprising two line arrays of four twin 18” cabinets each. The arrays also used ‘delay shading’ to electronically steer the LF into the audience, for a more controlled response. l The time-aligned surround channels were augmented for Dolby Atmos with overhead speaker arrays, extra ‘wide channels’ to provide for a smooth continuation from the screen to the room, and bassmanagement to two additional rear twin 18” subwoofer systems. www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

11/11/2016 11:24

IBC TECH SET-UP

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The Dolby Vision projectors in situ

l The

Surround 5.1 and 7.1 sources came from a selection of Dolby CP750 and Dolby DMA8+ processors patched into a Cadac CDC8 digital console to allow for fast selection of sources and total control. The Dolby Atmos signal was controlled by the Dolby CP850 processor and routed via AES-67 to the Q-SYS digital network system and DSP technology with a Core 500i central controller and DPA networked amplifiers located as close to the loudspeakers as possible.

Quite a set-up in the gallery — the pair of Christie Mirage D4KLH60 High Frame Rate 6P laserilluminated 4K projectors are shown on the right.

The Dolby Vision projectors can be seen through the projection room portholes and the projector on the left in the gallery was used for presentations.

The stacked Mirage projectors are the only ones in the world currently capable of displaying the 4096 x 2160, 120 fps, 3D images that are needed to show Ang Lee’s latest wonder of the world. The Mirages were fed with laser light from racks mounted nearby in the gallery.

Inset above, twin racks of laser light units with cooling equipment. Light is fed from the laser units to projectors via armoured fibre optic cables.

46 The number of surround loudspeakers

51.4kw into 8 ohms

The power of the audio amplification

6 days It took six engineers just six days to achieve this extraordinary installation

£x,000,000...

The value of the equipment installed ran well into the millions!

And never forget the sound… The audio set-up featured no fewer than 128 mixing channels at IBC 2016

www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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DECEMBER 2016 | CINEMA TECHNOLOGY

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14/11/2016 16:18

The Exhibition Industry:

THE U F TURE ISSUE

consolidation, Expansion…

Just How do you choose?

IN ORDER TO SURVIVE IN THE world of cinema exhibition, cinema owners and operators have had to learn to be hardheaded business people with sufficient knowledge of current and upcoming technologies to make the decisions upon which the success of their business depends. Knowing whose information to trust has always been a skill that separates the winners from the losers. The industry has long been fortunate to have a small number of trusted integrators — companies who not only sell, install and maintain equipment, but who also have an in-depth knowledge of the business and a reputation for providing honest, unbiased advice.

In the early days of digital, decisions were restricted to the make and specification of equipment you needed and could afford, but a glance through recent issues of Cinema Technology illustrates that change is afoot. Takeovers and amalgamations, both technical and business, have taken place,

T

he transition from celluloid to digital technology was catalysed across the globe by the Virtual Print Fee financial model, writes Rich Phillips.

Even though not all territories or individual cinemas adopted the model, it is clear that without the financial stimulus and technical standardisation that VPF deals brought, the industry would look very different now. Digital presentation would have permeated into cinemas, but without standards the benefits would be more questionable, and the experience inferior.

And celluloid film would still prevail, with its inherent restrictions, impeding modernisation of the cinema industry to meet the demands of today’s digital citizens.

www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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with the result that a handful of growing companies now offer a much wider range of “one-stop shop” services to operators.

They don’t all do the same things, though there are areas of overlap, and it must be confusing for the cinema owners being targeted by the big guns of the exhibition services industry.

Rich Phillips — who wrote the renowned ‘Dummies guide to the SMPTE DCP’ piece last year — has unrivalled experience of the factors that make modern cinemas work successfully.

Cinema Technology asked him to take an overview of the various services and facilities currently being offered to cinema operators, and to summarise what capabilities each offers, so that readers can begin to make up their own minds about what services would be most appropriate to their circumstances.

Rich works for Arts Alliance Media, but we have worked together to ensure that the information and opinions he provides below remains impartial and objective.

VPF deployment is now over, even if the contracts and resultant obligations for exhibitors, distributors, technology providers and integrators are not.

Meeting the demand for VPF deals Larger exhibitors, or smaller ones that were able to club together to form large coalitions were able to strike VPF deals directly with distributors, and in other cases equipment manufacturers stepped in as facilitators, eyeing the opportunity for controlling equipment sales, but in the main part VPF deployments and their consequent administration were managed through third-party entities. In Europe, XDC grew out of what had earlier been a hardware manufacturing business offering cinema

playback servers. Ymagis was formed specifically to exploit opportunities that the VPF model provided, and my employer, Arts Alliance Media, realised that the experience gained in rolling out the pioneering lottery-funded Digital Screen Network could be put to good use doing the same within the VPF model.

Deployment kept us all busy for a few years, but that phase is done. Conversion, at least under VPF models, is now complete.

Ongoing administration of VPF contracts is not trivial, but processes are now wellestablished. Opportunities that the VPF model brought were transitory and a means to an end rather than an end in themselves.

Some of the industry consolidation seen now is evidence of how these companies are DECEMBER 2016 | CINEMA TECHNOLOGY

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THE CHANGING EXHIBITION INDUSTRY

re-organising to support the next phases of the digital transformation. Notably XDC, which later became Dcinex, joined forces with Ymagis. No longer in competition for VPF customers, it made sense to consolidate, seeking efficiency through scale, refocussing on service and support and absorbing a number of smaller cinema service companies (with whom they had partnered during VPF rollout). The whole entity recently re-branded as Cinema Next.

Digital transition provided opportunities for other parties not directly involved in VPF deployment. Content processing and distribution, clearly different from celluloid, required new approaches from incumbent service providers such as Technicolor and Deluxe, but also gave opportunities for new providers such as MPS and Eikon. Film logistics providers such as Gofilex adapted to digital with electronic delivery solutions replacing vans. New entrants such as Smartjog, Arqiva, Eutelsat and Globecast, eying opportunities for large file transfer, launched their own DCP delivery networks.

With all these providers, consolidation was inevitable and Ymagis led the charge.

Variously Smartjog, Arqiva’s DCP satellite network, DSAT and others have been acquired under the Ymagis umbrella and are being rationalised. Deluxe abandoned its own attempts at building a broadband cinema delivery network in Europe, and after combining its digital cinema operations with Technicolor’s, opted to partner with Unique Digital instead, which had built its own successful broadband based delivery solution in Norway and was extending it elsewhere across Europe.

Consolidation 2.0 But it’s far from over. We expect to see further consolidation and change and in particular expect to see a move towards more of a “pull” or “on-demand” model, where content assets required for playback are automatically retrieved through standard broadband internet according to exhibitor requirements, rather than requiring managed “push” delivery logistics and privately managed networks.

Recently we have seen the introduction of platforms offering exhibitors the ability to browse and book content, with content delivery logistics handled automatically upon booking. These platforms include MPS’s OnCinema and GoFilex’s Cinio platform. Whilst focussed initially on independent and repertory content rather than mainstream first release, these platforms are demonstrating what is possible, presenting wider content choice to exhibitors and ultimately to customers.

Particularly interesting are platforms which extend that choice directly to consumers. Tugg in the US and Ourscreen in the UK provide a library of content; CINEMA TECHNOLOGY | DECEMBER 2016

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participating exhibitors supply bookable space on their screens, and consumer-led demand does the rest. Screenings with sufficient motivated customers make the event worthwhile for exhibitor and content owner alike. Exhibition is characterised by a significant quantity of unused off-peak capacity. Any system that uses that capacity represents additional revenue.

This is not the only area where technology and data are optimising programming and increasing revenue.

Cinema Intelligence offers analytics tools to predict box office, and optimise bookings and scheduling based on data. Other data-driven platforms such as Movio and Showtime Analytics seek to understand customer preferences in order to drive programming and direct marketing.

Although providing the spark of ignition for digital conversion, VPF deals brought their own restrictions. While the burden of cost of the transition was largely moved from the exhibitors to the distributors (who stood to gain most from the distribution cost savings), the system ensured that all content providers — whether mainstream, independent or alternative — shared the cost. Fair in principle, it acted as a brake on

Conversations from Events Tag, and user-generated content such as CineCardz.

The number of innovations looking to exploit the cinema arena is growing. Some are start-ups, specifically targeting cinema niches. Others are from existing technology providers who have products in other markets which show promise in ours.

Opportunities for greater customer engagement, increased revenue, and increased relevance of cinema are endless, yet potentially overwhelming for exhibitors adjusting to the transition from celluloid.

And it is hard for the technology providers themselves. While many ideas show promise, the available exhibition market is small yet geographically diverse. Reaching and engaging with that market as a small start-up is challenging. These were the drivers behind Thunderstorm, AAM’s own platform. Fundamentally a marketplace that draws together innovative software applications into one place, it simplifies access to these new products for exhibitors.

Think of it as the app-store for cinema. It provides a secure portal for exhibitors to manage and monitor their applications, and offers low-risk opportunity for exhibitors to try out new ideas without high up-front

“ALTHOUGH PROVIDING THE SPARK OF IGNITION FOR DIGITAL CONVERSION, VPF DEALS BROUGHT THEIR OWN RESTRICTIONS” disruption. Smaller content providers pay similar fees to larger incumbents. Moreover, the terms of VPF agreements themselves naturally favour the primary investors of the transition, and have the effect of imposing limitations on content scheduling and booking patterns. So, while software and a data-driven approach to content selection and programming is showing promise, the full impact is unlikely to be felt until after VPF contracts have completed.

innovation in the cinema space Software is playing a pivotal role in other areas. Screen advertising, previously restrained by physical limitations of film, can now be dynamically altered show by show, adjusting to audience demographics or even the weather. As screen advertising companies have embraced the possibilities through campaign management systems such as Unique’s Advertising Accord and AAM’s AdFuser, so they are seeing benefits and increased revenues. The same principles apply to trailer programming and lobby digital signage, both areas with potential for improvement. There is more: interactive pre-show from the likes iPlateia and TimePlay, dynamic ticket pricing tools such as those by SmartPricer, social media engagement applications like Cinema

investment and ongoing commitments.For technology providers it offers a way for them to reach a wide customer base and will provide common APIs and interfaces with the platform, including to the underlying data analytics, billing engine and reporting tools — as well as, for the applications that require it, a single integration point into AAM’s Screenwriter theatre management system customer base. Initial applications available include CineCardz’ personalised on-screen greeting messages, Incode’s digital signage platform for cinema, Smart Pricer’s airline style ticket pricing engine, Cheerfy’s WiFi enabled CRM, iPlateia’s second screen advertising, and Cinema Conversations’ social media engagement platform. New products ranging from utilities for automated KDM management to mobile second screen customer engagement apps will be added in coming months, all managed within one web-based portal.

Software is becoming ever more important. Just as it has in other markets such as music, television and print, the transition from analogue has provided the key to unlock transformation of the industry through disruption, data analytics and consumer engagement. By embracing these changes, the cinema industry will not only survive, but will thrive. www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

11/11/2016 10:07

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14/11/2016 16:21

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SCREEN TECHNOLOGY

Shining a light on screen manufacturing

FROM START TO FINISH, THE MAKING OF THE BIG SCREEN Receiving The first stage of the process is reception of the screen material in its most basic PVC form. PVC sheeting is sourced from just two suppliers in 2.3m widths which must, consequently, be accurately seam welded to create wide dimensions demanded for projection applications. Manufactured to Harkness’s specifications, at 3mm thickness, the factory generally receives a fresh batch of PVC from its suppliers each month. “We know several of our competitors buy their plastic on the spot market as they can get it cheaper,” explained Tony Dilley, the company’s vice president of sales for EMEA and LATAM, “but we consistently use just two suppliers — one in Europe and one in the US and the batch is made to our specific formulation .” Every batch is split to ensure its quality is consistent. Quality is paramount — about 20-35% of the perforated surface material won’t meet the standard and will be scrapped, with all scrap readily recycled, but not as a cinema screen.

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www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

11/11/2016 14:56

SCREEN TECHNOLOGY

As Alastair Balmain discovered on an illuminating trip to the Harkness facility in France, a cinema screen is more than just a sheet of plastic. This critical element of the auditorium deserves your attention.

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M

ontargis, in the Loiret department 70 miles south of Paris, played a pivotal role in the 100 Years War — undefeated by an English besieging army, in recognition of the town’s valour, King Charles VIII declared the town officially tax-free in 1490. That handy advantage for local businesses has sadly long gone, but the beautiful network of medieval canals and bridges that run through Montargis’s attractive centre remains. Steeped in history it may be, but the town is a forward-looking place and is home to a number of leading industrial technology firms — including Harkness Screens.

“STEEPED IN HISTORY IT MAY BE, BUT MONTARGIS IS A FORWARD-LOOKING PLACE AND HOME TO A NUMBER OF LEADING TECHNOLOGY FIRMS” Tucked away in a neatly landscaped industrial estate on the edge of town, some of the cinema industry’s most advanced screen technology is developed and manufactured.

a wealth of experience Hosting a recent Cinema Technology Committee trip to their French facility, manager Patrice Turban explained the Harkness factory’s origins. Established as Demospec, which Harkness acquired in 2000, its roots were in cinema decoration, with the shift to screen production

Preparation Harkness doesn’t just produce screens for cinemas — event screens, for example for fashion shows and museum installations are also produced, mostly unperforated, and often to far bigger dimensions. The maximum for a cinema screen is 14m x 34m, but an event screen can be up to 150m in length. Arranging all that material requires space and preparation of the screen takes place on an enormous cutting table that dominates the factory floor.

It can take up to six people to handle the screens — the picture, left, illustrates the team at work on a 40m non-perforated event screen. Cinema screens conform to 2.39 or 1.85 aspect ratio, and are perfectly rectangular, but event screens can be any dimension.

Every screen is bespoke by its nature. “Now, many cinemas are a feature of shopping malls,” explained Tony, “you are allocated space by the developer. It’s up to you as a cinema operator to say how many screens you want there. Fire exits and so on have a bearing on final screen size, so no two installations are identical.”

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Perforation Cinema screens, naturally, require holes to allow audio transmission and the perforation room is kept at a constant 10 degrees to ensure the PVC within is more rigid, allowing for holes to be punched cleanly. The room is equipped with a recently installed hole cutter that can handle 2.3m wide rolls. The previous maximum width was 1.4m, meaning more seaming work and slower production times.

Set for standard perf, 1,500 pins perforate the PVC at a speed of 180 cycles per minute. “We verify all our patterns before production,” explained Tony, “so with the new digital perforation pattern we’ve introduced for 4K projection, various audio companies and leading educational establishments gave us feedback prior to production.

They assisted us in creating the pattern we’ve adopted as a global standard which helps reduce moiré patterns by using smaller holes and a less disruptive pattern whilst still maintaining audio quality.”

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SCREEN TECHNOLOGY

occurring after WWII. The factory now employs 28 staff, 16 in the office, with two manufacturing shifts of 6-8 staff every day. Many are long-standing employees from the Demospec days — they naturally moved when Harkness transferred operations from a smaller factory to this new facility in 2011. “We are an experienced team and that helps us to have very short production times here,” said Patrice, “We’re able to send a screen in 24 hours if the order requires it, and we prioritise our working patterns according to the demand.”

the art and science of screen-making Harkness manufacturers both cinema and event screens in France, and this factory also acts as a research centre for the company. Industrial processes are always fascinating — it is a privilege to see the way in which raw materials are transformed into high-spec products and the screen manufacturing process is no exception.

Those who were lucky enough to see behind the scenes first-hand came away with a new-found respect for the big sheet of plastic at the front of the auditorium.

INSIDE THE ‘MATT CAVE’ After seeing the manufacturing process (outlined on the pages before and below), we were ushered into a dark, cavernous space, with only a bright white screen at the front illustrating a multitude of markings taped to the floor that reference typical auditorium dimensions. This is the “Matt Cave”, so named as it is the playground of Matt Jahans, Harkness’s international technical services manager.

“In this space we can put in a big screen, up to 12m in width, and on our rig we can tilt it, curve it, and prove how theatre geometry impacts screens,” explains Matt, “We use this area to demonstrate to technical partners, projector manufacturers and so on variations in such things as 3D light loss.”

The demo set-up on the screen frame at the front featured a Clarus 1.7 screen — Harkness’s current 4th generation premium screen technology. In this instance, it had been curved on the left and left flat on the right. Standing on the centre line in front of it, it was clear

to see how much brighter it was on the curved left. A light reading on a Qalif spectrometer proved the point with a centre reading of 29fL and 7.6fL on the extreme right, with a more impressive 14fL generated on less than a 5-degree curve on the left (shown, below right).

“Demos likes this helps us to get across the concept of edge uniformity,” said Matt, “but we also talk to our customers about top to bottom uniformity. Reflected incident light readings from the centre of the projector lens should hit the centre of the auditorium, so we can recommend tilting the screen frame to achieve this — but it’s quite a subjective thing. You have to look at this from a paying customer’s point of view. Your light reading may be superb, but the screen itself may not look so good. You have to make a judgement since your customers don’t necessarily know why they are having a good or bad cinema experience — but they will know what they can see.”

To demonstrate how different products reflect the light differently, Matt wheeled a Spectral 2.4 screen in front of the Clarus 1.7 (shown, right). Immediately

Above, Patrice Turban, manager at Harkness’ French factory; right, seaming screen material

FROM START TO FINISH, THE MAKING OF THE BIG SCREEN Seaming After all-important holes have been punched, next comes heat welding of the seams to create a suitably sized sheet of material.

This must be skilfully done to ensure they are imperceptible in the finished article. Any minor misalignment of the PVC can be easily discerned. If the holes are too close, the viewer’s eyes perceive a dark line, too wide and you notice a white line. If there is a defect in the seam, it will be cut out and a new one made, but as Patrice explained: “Accurately rolling the sheets for joining is a skilled process, it’s training every day for our staff’s fingers — in the evening, our workers play the piano really well!” Heat welding of the material is achieved at a temperature between 130-140 degree c, using a quick radio-frequency heating method. The surfaces to be joined are placed in a high-frequency electromagnetic field and the dielectric heating effect gives minimal resistance, ensuring the welded seam doesn’t get “picked up” by the machine and misaligned as it passes through.

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Coating In its Montargis factory, Harkness coats its screens laterally with them laid out flat under tension on a rig.

Screens up to 34m wide can be coated at any one time. Painted on the vertical plane, it’s possible to coat a much wider screen, but it also becomes harder to manage the heat differentials at the top and bottom of the factory space. The sprayers in the coating room have both X and Y axis mobility, as well as Z axis adjustment to ensure the correct distance is maintained from spray nozzle to screen during the coating process.

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SCREEN TECHNOLOGY

the hotspot on the screen became more apparent at different positions in the “auditorium”. “The Spectral 2.4 is a good screen,” said Matt, “but it’s not our next generation product. Having the ability to roll one in front of the other is a good way for us to demonstrate our screens and coating concepts. The Spectral’s aluminium paint flakes, for example, if viewed under a microscope, look more like a cornflake whereas a Clarus flake looks like what we call a silver dollar — much flatter and smoother. We always try to show our products’ performance from the worst seat in the house. With a good product, you don’t mind doing that!”

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AN INFORMED VIEW

Harkness is eager to give customers an informed view in the buying process, and its leading 3D design simulation tool, the Digital Screen Modeller app is a prime example of this. Designed to model any screen and projector set-up, it gives accurate predictions of such variables as screen brightness and lamp output, as well as giving a simulation of visual hotspots for any auditorium set-up. Essentially it is a digital “Matt Cave” and Richard Mitchell, Harkness’s vice presiden of global marketing, replicated the exact setup seen there inside the app, selecting the auditorium size and equipment to match.

Impressively, the app’s predicted light levels for accurately matched those seen earlier on the Qalif spectrometer (left). With a high degree of confidence, the app can illustrate the best seats in the house — a blue seat icon on the app showing where greater than 50% of the peak light is reflected, a red seat showing less than 50%. The effect of a curve in the screen can also be simulated — introducing a curve of about 3 degrees showed how the hotspot becomes more elliptical. Similarly, the lamp life tool gives a modelled simulation of lamp output and predicted screen brightness. For example in the modelled version, the original DCI fL was 40+ fL. By the end of the lamp’s life, the app predicted it to be down to 25fL.

Top, projected light reflecting on a Clarus 1.7 and Spectral 2.4 (front); above the Qalif spectrometer

Unsurprisingly, the app has proved popular: “Several of our clients now ask us to model all the screens they plan to install to ensure they’re making the best return from their investment,” said Richard, “So far we’ve probably consulted on about 500 screens using our know-how, expertise and tools such as this app. It’s our duty as a company to tell the story of the light on the screen, to educate the industry and to ensure that the movie-goer has the best possible viewing experience. It’s been part of our company ethos since 1929 and it’s a defining part of our business today.”

Previously, at Borehamwood, we used to apply the coating through a vertical treatment, using solvent-based paints,” explained Tony, “Now Harkness global factories are all shifting to lateral spraying using water-based paints. Adhering paint that doesn’t want to dry onto a PVC surface is a difficult process — the two aren’t noted for their compatibility, so we go through a lot of R&D here in France and in the UK, and roll out these learnings to our other facilities.”

Paint for all Harkness screens comes from one supplier which allows the company to keep a close eye on production standards — and quality control at this stage is vital. A stray silver flake on the screen’s surface now, once rolled for shipping, will gel into the surface and get squashed in. The result is a black spot the size of a thumbnail. Similarly, if a stray shard of plastic from the manually punched eyelets gets onto the screen, you can end up with a fingernail-shaped clipping on the screen. Understandably, the team keeps a close eye on the screen’s surface as paint is applied.

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Drying & Packing Once the coating is finished, the screen must dry before being packed. This means that packing the screen for transit is typically the first job of the day for the next shift of workers.

With a drying time of 1-2 hours for white screens, and overnight for aluminium-painted silver screens, once dry, rolled and crated, the screen is ready for shipping and, eventually, installation. One important point Tony noted was that screens should not, ideally, be left rolled in shipping crates for longer than 1 month, in order to avoid the screen becoming misshaped. Delays in construction occasionally mean that it can be three months or even six months before installation is completed. “In those cases,” says Tony, “The outcome depends on how the screen is treated during storage. It should always be turned through 90 degrees every so often and never just dumped in a corner somewhere — and it should never be left to stand on the vertical while rolled.”

DECEMBER 2016 | CINEMA TECHNOLOGY

11/11/2016 14:56

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THE HISTORY OF AUDIO

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JBL: 70 years of precision cinema sound

There aren’t many initials that immediately strike a chord with cinema sound people…

DTS and THS are the obvious ones perhaps, but others have always been up there too.

Now in its 70th year in cinema, Jim Slater uncovers the facts behind the letters JBL

I

t turns out that the person who was later to adopt the name James B. Lansing, which gave rise to the famous JBL initials, was actually born James Martini in Illinois, USA in 1902, the ninth child of a mining family who moved around the country.

When Martini was 25 years old, for some obscure reason, he officially changed his name from to Lansing, with the ‘B’ standing for Bullough — the name of a family with whom he had lived for some time as a youth.

The early days Martini had been interested in technical things from a young age, and there are records of his having built electrical equipment and a radio transmitter when he was 12. He later became an auto mechanic www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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and learned the specialist machining skills that enabled him to make his own precision parts. He also worked for a while as a ship’s telegraph operator and was working as an engineer at a radio station in 1925.

Whilst working for a car-parts company, he started experimenting with building radios and loudspeakers in his spare time, and in 1926 set up his own company, Lansing Manufacturing Company, based in Salt Lake City. The company built

“JAMES LANSING SPENT EVERY SPARE HOUR PERFECTING THE DESIGN OF HIS LOUDSPEAKERS”

loudspeakers for radio sets and young James did all the product development, with family members and friends building the speakers, which sold well and gained a good reputation. It is reported that James was dedicated to the high quality of his designs, and spent every spare hour trying to perfect the design and fabrication of his loudspeakers, sometimes sleeping at the factory overnight.

With business partner Ken Decker the company moved to Los Angeles to take advantage of a much larger market, and Lansing Manufacturing was established in California in 1927 and expanded quickly. In the early 1930s as cinema sound became the established norm, studios were on the lookout for better quality sound systems. In 1934 Douglas Shearer, of MGM, headed a DECEMBER 2016 | CINEMA TECHNOLOGY

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THE HISTORY OF AUDIO

“JBL HAS HAD A PROUD HISTORY OF DEVELOPING TOP-CLASS SPEAKERS FOR THE WHOLE FIELD OF AUDI0, INCLUDING SPECIALLY DESIGNED STUDIO SPEAKERS AS WELL AS CINEMA SYSTEMS”

State of the art in 2016 — the JBL High power four-way ScreenArray® design for maximum output, and minimum distortion. This 1400 watt midrange features four 8in Differential Drive® transducers, a large-format 4in neodymium-damped titanium diaphragm, high frequency compression driver with a 1600 watt low-frequency section with two 18in SVG low frequency drivers.

team which designed a two-way system using a high-frequency horn and a separate low-frequency enclosure. Lansing designed various loudspeaker components for the Shearer-MGM system, including the diaphragms and voice coils, and the company became a major supplier to the cinema business, its reputation being enhanced in 1936 when the ShearerLansing system was awarded a citation by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for its technical excellence.

Surviving hard times The late 1930s and early 40s were difficult times for the cinema business, and Lansing, along with other companies, was not CINEMA TECHNOLOGY | DECEMBER 2016

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immune to financial troubles at the time.

These were magnified when Ken Decker, who had been the financial and business brains behind the company, was killed in an air crash. At that time, the huge Western Electric company had to dispose of its cinema servicing branch, so a group of its engineers decided to set up their own service company, Altec (All Technical). The enterprise did reasonably well and, seeing the advantages of having its own manufacturing capability, bought the financially strapped Lansing in 1941.

The Altec Lansing company could now supply and service the cinema business, and the financial investment allowed James Lansing to create new loudspeaker designs, including a co-axial design, the Model 604 Duplex 15” (38cm) loudspeaker and the A4 ‘Voice of the Theatre’ system, co-designed with John Hilliard, which was to prove enormously successful as the ‘reference’ theatre speaker in cinemas for 40 years.

Moving on: JBL born in 1946 In 1946, Lansing fell out with the Altec Lansing company management and set up on his own as Lansing Sound Inc. which changed to James B. Lansing Sound Incorporated after legal arguments from Altec Lansing. Lansing then developed a range of hi-precision new loudspeaker designs using the latest magnets and four-inch (100mm) voice coils with narrow

gaps. The designs were well received but the company continued to experience financial problems, and in 1949 it seems that the stresses led to James’s early death.

The company treasurer William Thomas took over the company and drove it forward with new products, maintaining its reputation for equipment built to the highest standards. After a further legal wrangle with Altec Lansing, the decision was made to brand the products JBL, although the company’s trading name remained the same.

Continuous motion Since then JBL has had a proud and continuing history of developing top-class speakers for the whole field of audio — professional audio including specially designed studio speakers and home systems as well as cinema systems. The company has always been proud of its technological developments, and it is interesting to look back at a few of these.

The development of the JBL acoustical lens technology in 1954 has been described as the first real innovation in highfrequency sound reproduction since the early 1930s. Bell Laboratories had done the original research, but JBL turned it into a practical product, originally designed for stereophonic audio systems in cinemas. The same year also saw the introduction of the Model 375 compression driver, the first 4” www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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THE HISTORY OF AUDIO

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SET FOR THE FUTURE Cinema systems have always been a priority for JBL Professional, and in 1982 the Model 4675 power-flat cinema system was introduced, the first system to be approved by THX®. As far back as 2000, JBL offered its ScreenArray® three-way cinema systems with Screen Spreading Compensation. The company pioneered the development of line array systems and has developed constant curvature and constant beamwidth systems for special applications, with a dual-diaphragm compression driver for their VTX line array. It is unique in still designing and building its own loudspeaker drive units.

Above left, the anechoic testing chamber in JBL’s office, designed to absorb sound refections; above centre, the company’s founder, James B. Lansing; above right, staff at work in the early days

(100mm) diaphragm commercially available, and a year later in 1955, the Model 075, the first ultra-high-frequency ring-radiator transducer.

Fast forward A key point in the life of the company came in 1969 when Sidney Harman acquired JBL, bringing in much-needed investment and ushering in a period of accelerated international growth in all audio areas.

Since then, we have seen JBL consumer loudspeakers sold in the hundreds of thousands, the development of a wide range of studio loudspeakers — including four-way designs — and JBL likes to boast that its speakers are used at some of the largest music festivals in the worl.

New technologies developed by JBL over the years include its ‘Diamond’ surround technology to control high-frequency resonances in diaphragms, the development

of the Symmetrical Field Geometry (SFG) magnet structure, and Bi-Radial® ConstantCoverage horns. The company was also a pioneer in the use of Titanium highfrequency diaphragms.

REcognising success It is always good to see technological innovations recognised, and, in 2002, JBL Engineers received Scientific and Technical Awards from the Motion Picture Academy.

In 2005, JBL was awarded a Technical Grammy® by National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

The 1st October 2016 was JBL’s official 70th birthday — few big companies last that long and JBL claims to be the oldest existing US audio company, with its speakers in use in more than half of all cinemas worldwide.

With such a proud heritage the company still thrives by concentrating on the technology of the sound system and by constantly introducing technological innovations. Long may it continue!

The JBL 2395 — a slant-plate acoustic lens for use above 800Hz. The horizontal pattern of 140 degrees is determined by the shape of the plates. The lens is backed up by a 300mm (12in) elliptical exponential horn. The 45degree vertical pattern is controlled by the shape of this horn.

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The wide-ranging JBL cinema speaker line up for 2016/2017 includes 4-Way High Power ScreenArray loudspeakers. Two new systems feature a 150 Watt, 4in titanium diaphragm high-frequency compression driver on JBL’s patented Optimized Aperture waveguide with Screen Spreading Compensation™. The 5742 features a quad mid-range array of four 8in Differential Drive® cone midrange drivers providing 1400 Watts of coverage, coupled with a dual 18in SVG™ Super Vented Gap low-frequency section, providing 1600 Watts of high power output. There is also a 5732 dualmid-range version using a dual 15in, 1200 Watt, low-frequency section.

Surround speakers are becoming more important in the era of immersive sound. The JBL 9300 Series surround loudspeakers provide smooth coverage and excellent power handling, with positioning capabilities that simplify system design and installation. They feature new transducer technologies and waveguide designs that enable pattern control guided by Wave Shaping Vanes. These distribute acoustic energy in proportion to the room, providing a wave front that is sculpted to the room’s geometry. Both models provide uniform, asymmetric 60-degree vertical coverage and 110-degree horizontal coverage.

The 9300 Series loudspeakers feature three separate horizontal mounting planes at 15-degree angles for specific positioning to improve coverage. They are built around a high-power, longthrow 250mm (10 inch) low-frequency driver for smooth extended bass response. The high-frequency section uses a 25mm (1 inch) composite diaphragm compression driver with high output capability. The 9300 model offers 250W power handling; the 9310 model is 350W.

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EVENT CINEMA ASSOCIATION

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PURE SCANDI DRAMA

The ECA’s inaugural conference in Sweden was both a dramatic success and first for the industry

Melissa Cogavin managing director Cosy, kitsch, concentrated: the Bio Rio was the ideal venue for the ECA Scandinavian Conference

ON 14 OCTOBER, THE ECA and our Swedish partners, FHP, hosted a one-day conference in Stockholm. Taking place at the brilliantly kitsch and utterly authentic Bio Rio cinema south of the city overlooking the water, it is a feast of coloured neon, red velvet, handblown glass lampshades and 1970s wooden panelling.

The single screen, 180-seater cinema was the ideal place to exchange views on all manner of topics concerning Event Cinema; this is the first time an event has been hosted in Scandinavia dedicated purely to this topic and the diverse audience clearly illustrated the level of interest across the region. There were delegates from 10 European territories, including Svalbard in the Arctic Circle, home to our newest, most northerly and arguably the ECA’s coldest, member to date, Longyearbyen Kulturhus!

The day was packed with discussion and featured speakers from all over the Nordic region. I urged delegates to make the most of the intimate setting and fire anonymous questions at the speakers via a web-based interactive tool called Sendsteps, freeing up nervous delegates and encouraging lively debate and on-the-spot voting — so it was immediately clear who was in the audience.

Reaching the local market

Topics included Reaching Scandinavian Audiences and The Scandinavian Market/ Local Content. Well moderated by Patrick Von Sychowski and Isabelle Fauchet, the panels were fascinating; it was a treat to hear about arias sung to welcome audiences by a Finnish exhibitor who also works part-time as a mezzo soprano. Youri Bredewold of Dolby couldn’t stress enough the importance of the customer journey in retaining your audience and growing your cinema’s reputation in the community.

We heard about RosettaLive from Eyvind Ljungquist of Unique Digital, our platinum sponsor — and our gratitude goes to all our sponsors, Éclair, All You Need Is Live, Gofilex, Kencast and Motion Picture Solutions, who made the day possible.

David Hancock of IHS offered a brand new update on Event Cinema. Comparing France, Italy, Germany and the UK it was clear that the UK is still out in front, but that figures for 2016 were in fact 6% down on box office compared to 2015. However, 2015 saw one of the most powerful cinema slates in decades, something the ECA covered in its presentation at CineEurope in June.

Developing this argument, David added

there is little likely overlap between the Star Wars audience and the NT Live audience, but these blockbusters are such that they push other high-performing titles to 2nd place and beyond. It is the 2nd-9th titles that will likely affect revenues for Event Cinema down the line. There will be Star Wars and Avatar outings predicted every other year for the next eight years though, so where does that leave the Event Cinema business?

David argued that new content is needed to keep the experience fresh and relevant for both new and returning audiences, and that we cannot be allowed to become complacent in the wake of countless record-breakers over the past three years. David is right: the Event Cinema industry is in its 10th year and needs to be as creative and innovative as it was in its first both to retain and excite its audiences and the cinemas it supplies.

Event cinema rules, okay

The most exciting statistic the ECA heard all day was from the manager of the Bio Rio itself; Katja Uneborg modestly announced that in September, Event Cinema box office takings actually overtook conventional cinema releases in her venue for the first time. We’ve not heard of this happening before. It’s a game changer — this shows that when you get the formula right, you see results, and this is an astonishing development for an industry that quietly emerged as a consequence of digitisation.

As if to illustrate the point, we had to vacate the cinema sharply at 6pm for the sold-out, one-night-only screening of the smash hit Oasis documentary Supersonic. So we settled in at a bar opposite overlooking the river for further networking. Reflecting on a successful day in this beautiful city, we were delighted with the outcomes and look forward with some anticipation to our next event, the ECA Conference & Awards on 9 February, 2017 in London.

“THERE WERE DELEGATES FROM 10 EUROPEAN CITIES — INCLUDING SVALBARD IN THE ARCTIC CIRCLE” visit www.eventcinemassociation.org ww.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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66 EDCF

EDCF AT IBC BIG SCREEN 2016 The annual global update at the IBC conference keeps the industry up to speed on matters technological

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EVERY YEAR, THE EUROPEAN Digital Cinema Forum’s Global Update, held during the IBC conference in Amsterdam, pulls in a large crowd of people interested in all aspects of cinema. The organisers take care to include experts currently working on the latest technical topics affecting the industry and ask each to spend just a few minutes focusing on one topic.

After a couple of hours of this concentrated information dissemination, you really can feel that you are up to date with what is happening on the technical side of the business, and the drinks reception afterwards allows you to catch up with the experts ‘one to one’ as well as to discuss the state of the cinema business with colleagues from all over the world.

David Monk [1], CEO of EDCF, welcomed the audience and participants to what he accurately described as a fast-moving miscellany. David Hancock [2], President of EDCF in addition to his work for IHS, provided a sparkling market update with the latest facts and figures about everything from the global market (166,000 screens with 2,100 of them PLF and 3,000 with immersive sound) to the progress of 4D and immersive seating. He gave details of the faster than expected roll-out of laser projectors, both RGB and laser-phosphor, and regaled us with the fascinating fact that Estonia has the highest proportion of RGB laser screens in the world (8.3%). He concluded with the proposition that “Technology is one of the principal drivers

“EDCF’S DAVID MONK WELCOMED THE AUDIENCE AND PARTICIPANTS TO A FAST-MOVING MISCELLANY”

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of the economics of cinema and the cinema experience”.

John Hurst [3], CTO of Cinecert, spoke about cinema distribution and the ever more important role of the TMS (Theatre Management System). With composition playlists, content delivery networks, facility list messages and everything to do with KDMs, there is an increasing amount of data being generated in our ‘always on’ business.

This needs to be dealt with properly and to a high standard — ­ ‘cinema-class facilitated’ — if we are to use it for the benefit of the business. “The TMS is the star — it can do everything” was John’s message. John also spoke about the advantages of systems like screener.com (now closed) a crowd-sourced programming platform, suggesting that it was great for local material but more difficult for Hollywood content. He was asked whether the cinema should adopt block-chain technology to ensure the security of its many transactions, but felt that this would introduce extra overheads and that we should stick with the successful security systems that are already in place in the digital cinema industry.

Julian Pinn [4], CEO of Julian Pinn Ltd, presented innovative work that his company has been doing towards finding a solution for pre-show quality conformance. He also talked about his R&D work on ‘spatial remapping’, where it is now possible to take a central stereo sound signal and remap it to preserve the original intent faithfully, but in the standardised 5.1 cinema environment.

Tom Bert [13] from Barco promised to demystify cinema laser projection by addressing some frequently asked questions, the first being what is the correlation between laser and wide color gamuts (WCG)? He showed diagrams comparing Rec.2020 primaries with the WCG available via laser primaries, pointing out that the choice for projection is linked to luminous efficacy, economic viability of components, wavelength spread for best despeckling and color balance for DCI white.

Unless Rec.2020 spec becomes relaxed, it will remain a theoretical spec.

Next, Tom addressed the correlation between laser and HDR. He noted that HDR means brighter whites and blacker blacks, often conflicting parameters in a projector.

Brighter whites involve a combination of input power and system efficiency, and laser www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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EDCF

can help (better étendue). Blacker blacks relates to extinction. You can use a brute force approach, but Barco’s ‘light steering’ approach can improve contrast.

A series of quick fire questions followed: What is the correlation between laser and brighter 3D? Laser can enable 14fL and allow dimming to 25% for 2D, helping to prevent lamp swaps. What is meant by 30khrs lifetime of a laser light-source? RGB laser: will provide 80% of full power after 30,000 hours — ­ 40khrs in typical use. For a laser-phospor projector you can expect 30khrs before brightness down to 50%.

What is the luminous efficacy of a laser projector? An RGB laser is 50% more efficient than an equivalent xenon, and the energy used by a laser phosphor projector can be 45% lower than a xenon projector.

Tom summed up by saying “laser is more efficient at changing watts into photons”.

Automating the QA/QC process

C.J. Flynn [5] is involved with automating QA and QC in exhibition. He ranged widely, starting with the perception of movies being too loud then talking about Cinema Test Tools, which has developed the Manager’s Walk Through Series, a set of checklists and DCPs for non-technical cinema personnel who wish to be Quality Active.

Mark Stephen [6] from Unique Digital provided a good explanation of the current state of movie distribution across Europe, giving facts and figures for satellite, broadband and hard drive delivery. He compared the European sites with the DCDC satellite coverage of the screens in the USA and gave some figures for Latin America and Asia. File sizes are rising, as are the numbers of versions and formats, bringing pressure to the system. Mark felt that the satellite model is struggling and, perhaps not surprisingly, felt that the future of cinema distribution lies with broadband network delivery. He foresaw potential consolidation and felt it unlikely that new players would enter the distribution market at this stage.

Andy Maltz [7] from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave an update about work on the ACES colour management system, encouraging people to join the acescentral.com community — a site absolutely packed with useful information.

He showed examples of how images can be significantly improved with the use of the ACES system. Andy spoke about the problems of digital archiving, saying that we don’t yet have a guaranteed solution — there is not yet a real equivalent to the finished film negative that traditional archiving would use.

Toby Glover [8] from Deluxe Technicolor Digital Cinema explained about the work of the EDCF and UNIC joint task force to assist distributors, exhibitors and suppliers to www.cinematechnologymagzine.com

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manage the transition to SMPTE Standard DCPs in Europe. He explained that test material had been created especially for Europe and gave details of tests that took place in Finland, Norway and the Netherlands. The next series of tests will involve a large chain in the UK and France.

Chris Witham [9] from Disney gave lots of practical results from the tests that they had carried out with SMPTE DCPs. From 1,929 locations which were sent SMPTE DCPs to use, just 49 issues arose, with 17 places unable to ingest the material — an overall problem rate of 1.4%. Virtually every problem proved soluble by means of software updates. The numbers compared well with figures from sites using standard Interop packages, where of 990 deliveries 11 problems showed up. In answer to a question, Chris said that the 1.4% failure rate was higher than the 1% ‘legacy’ failure rate, but the problems were different, with the legacy figures including things like lost KDMs, for example. Chris was totally positive that the time has come to adopt SMPTE DCPs, and he predicted that this will become the norm within 12 months.

And now for something different

Rich Welsh [10] of Sundog Media Toolkit provided something completely different, with a sparkling and extremely fast-moving presentation. He talked of what HDR and HFR are likely to mean in terms of data and data rates, saying that although the 120fps Ang Lee material for Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk could be delivered as a DCP, the 120fps 3D version needed double the normal data rates and couldn’t sensibly be delivered as a DCP. This led him to talk about data compression and the need to improve current compression systems by a factor of more than two to make such high data rates practicably usable. Work had shown that it is possible to pre-treat content before compression, but at the best this could give perhaps a 20% improvement — good, but not good enough. He pointed out that a 120fps picture stream has lots of noise, not normally visible to the eye, but the JPEG2000 coding system sees this noise and wastes lots of bits trying to work on it, effectively making the signals harder to compress. It isn’t all negative. He explained how HDR signals, because they are subjected to transfer function curves, are actually easier to compress. It will be interesting to see results of future work to improve or replace the JPEG2000 system.

Rich pointed out how compression problems can affect movies which are sent to film festivals, etc, perhaps modified with foreign version extras, with double compression artefacts sometimes being really bad. He recommended that in such cases, where it is known that modifications will be necessary, DCDMs be sent rather than DCPs.

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13 Cédric Lejeune [11] from Eclair introduced us to its new EclairColor™ mastering technology which combines a new feature film mastering process with specific projection system technologies in cinemas. With side-by-side slides, he demonstrated how the system provides better image contrast and greater color fidelity from existing images, offering exhibitors the opportunity to enhance the quality of their screenings. EclairColor has been developed around a range of existing digital projectors so it will be possible to equip all types of cinemas to project films mastered using EclairColor technology. The success of EclairColor will be dependent on getting movie directors and DoPs to adopt the system as well as enough cinema screens modifying their kit to screen EclairColor.

Don Shaw [12] from Christie gave an excellent presentation about its Mirage projectors, which were used at IBC to show Ang Lee’s revolutionary 4K 120fps 3D images. “The world’s brightest”, they were originally developed for simulation and high-end theme park applications, and have, with small modifications, shown just how good a job they could do for the cinema industry. To gain DCI certification, to allow their use with cinema content, key features to be added would be those relating to the DCI security / anti-piracy requirements.

David Hancock summed up by noting what a wide range of different topics had been presented from some of the world’s top experts in their fields, and ended with a commercial: “If you found this interesting and enjoyable, join the EDCF!” Discussions continued afterwards over cocktails kindly provided by Unique Digital.

Information about SMPTE DCP is available on the following website www.edcf.net DECEMBER 2016 | CINEMA TECHNOLOGY

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UKCA 69 73 UKCA

TALENT-SPOTTING ALERT, NOT ALARMED

Innew today’s world, cinemas needwill to be cautious notto paranoid security risks A apprenticeship scheme bring vital — skills the front—ofabout househeightened in UK cinemas

Phil clapp chief executive, UKCA

A KEY FOCUS OF THE UK Cinema Association this year has been around skills and professional development. The cinema industry, like any other, relies on the talent FOLLOWING in the past six and capabilitiesINCIDENTS of all who work within it. monthsindividual in Paris and then Brussels, UK While companies in thethe sector Cinema Association has recently takenand the have a strong track record of attracting opportunity to revisit and to refresh retaining talent, there is always morelongthat standing advice its members on greater cinema can be done, nottoleast in ensuring security issues. consistency across the piece.

The core staff ishas to With this message in mind, to thecinema Association remain alert, but not alarmed to focus on revisited a proposal it began—developing whatin can be — done ensure that cinemas are back 2011 an to accredited apprenticeship safe, not leastcinema throughstaff. ensuring thatarelevant for frontline Despite deal of information is commitment communicated through the hard work and from members appropriate channels. at the time, that proposal, developed under Association’s actions come at a time the The Government’s ‘trailblazer’ initiative, fell when the security threat level in the UKin is at the final hurdle. But the announcement categorised as severe, which means thattoa the 2015 Budget statement of plans major incident is Apprenticeship highly likely. If that sounds introduce a new Levy gave alarming, it is perhaps worth noting that the that work renewed impetus.

UKThe haslevy, beenwhich operating at this level since will come into force in August 2014.

April 2017, will see all ‘large employers’ — Cinemas are among a range of million venues those with a payroll of more than £3 identified presenting a particular — contributeas0.5% of that amount into a pot security challenge: aredelivery places where intended to fund thethey future of all large numbers ofinpeople gather which apprenticeships England.

(Theand levy will are sometimes found in and high profile operate in Scotland, Wales Northern location(s). addition, theyformally sometimes Ireland, butInthey have yet to announce how they will use it).

In practical terms, that means that the half dozen or so largest UK operators will be between them providing around £1 million towards the fund each year – the existence of show challenging or controversial content. an accredited apprenticeship scheme for the In 2012, the Association established sector will allow them (and others in duea Security Group to discuss and to course) toWorking then access that support. share best practice around issues such as security training and awareness and cyberA scheme to develop standards fraud. Through this work, theand Association Working with its members Lifetime has established good working Training — a national trainingrelationships provider for and channels of communication with a apprenticeships — the UKCA has developed variety of contacts including such a scheme, one — which buildsthe onNational existing Counter Terrorism apprenticeships Security Office Government-accredited in (NACTSO), the body responsibleatforentry raising customer service or hospitality, or awareness level. of theItnational security threat. supervisor also contains a bespoke NACTSO also has pathway, an important advisory ‘cinema operative’ incorporating roleelements to educate the public onlevel measures that key relevant to the and likely can be taken to reduceworking the risksin and role of an apprentice themitigate sector. the effects offollows: any serious incident.

These are as l Cinema and the wider industry: setting Projectoperation Griffinintraining cinema the context of the As a result of with this relationship, a number of relationship film distribution and circuit cinema sites have acted to host production; counter-terrorism awareness training l Accessible cinema: promoting an sessions underof Project Griffin,of whereby understanding the importance opening local and NaCTSO contacts provide up thepolice experience to disabled customers; security andtechnology crime prevention training to l Cinema and presentation: frontline staff in understanding cinemas and other local providing a basic of current and emerging cinema technology and the

“CINEMAS ARE IN A RANGEIN OF VENUES IDENTIFIED “INDIVIDUAL COMPANIES OUR SECTOR HAVE A AS PRESENTING A PARTICULAR SECURITY CHALLENGES” STRONG TRACK RECORD OF OF RETAINING TALENT”

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businesses. of These were found to be hugely importance maintaining the quality of the valuable the Association would ‘big screen’ and experience; certainly to consider l Cinemaencourage marketingothers and sales: settingtheir out involvement. companies to key commercialAny drivers of cinemawishing operators; receive similar training for their employees l Audience development: generating an can register their interest at audiences http://ow.ly/ understanding of how to grow b7ET3004hs1 While each cinema company will be free to choose which overarching apprenticeship Staysuits safe, eyes wide open best its requirements, the overall aim is The Association has also been able to make a to establish a coherent cross-sector training number of resources available to is members and development pathway that fit for to supportand cinemas in ensuring that they purpose recognises the skills and have appropriate policies and procedures in knowledge specifically needed for working place.

Many are of broader in the modern cinema sector. relevance to colleagues across the film industry (and indeedchance more widely).

Your to be involved The ‘Stay Safe’ and ‘Eyes Wide Open’ With support and involvement from across training information on the wholevideos sector, provide the UKCA and Lifetime precautionary measures that can be taken to Training are currently piloting this new improve security awareness amongstto staff, approach and inviting all members be not least around what to do in the event of a part of this opportunity to upskill existing security incident; colleagues or new staff. The Association is Theelsewhere Protective Security active in the world ofImprovement training and Activity (PSIA)announced Toolkit was trialled its by skills, having in August several oftothe UK’s largest operators decision become a corecinema sponsor of the in 2013 and to be useful in (NFTS) helping National Filmfound and Television School them to improve their security on a site and in particular to support the development by the site School’s basis andnew identify in policies of MA gaps in Marketing, and procedures.

Distribution, Sales and Exhibition.

The PSIA cinemahave staffan to Clearly all toolkit cinemahelps operators assess the level of security threat to theirhas site interest in supporting the School, which andunparalleled offers advice track on what can be to help an record indone nurturing safeguard UK film talenteach both inbusiness front of andthrough behind developing a more tailored approach in the camera. But it is also important that — identifyingtheir anddiscipline reducing —vulnerability. whatever those film The vastemerging majorityfrom of measures students the School can havebe a implemented at little orof no cost. clear understanding realities of the The training resources toolkit are modern world of cinema.and Through its designed to be and applicable to involvement intransferable the new MA, and outside of a wide range of organisations and business content development, the Association is sectors, to notprovide just cinema exhibition. looking a range of opportunities The Association has recently made these – through work placements, real-life case available to all of its members, othersthat. can studies, speakers and visits – tobut achieve access themofeither directly from NaCTSO Mindful the need to ensure greater (www.gov.uk/nactso) via the UK Cinema diversity in the sector,or the UKC A will also, Association Office — info@cinemauk. as part of Head its sponsorship, award two org.uk — where information on any scholarships to further MA students to support of the in above also be sought. them theircan two-year courses, the first of which are due to begin in January 2017.

To learn more about the apprenticeship — or the operation of the Levy — or about the National Film and Television School’s MA in Marketing, Distribution, Sales and If you would like to attend UKCA events or find out more, Exhibition then contact Grainne Peat, Policy Executive at the email Annette Bradford on annette@cinemauk.org.uk Association. Email grainne.peat@cinemauk.org.uk JUNE 2016 2016 || CINEMA CINEMA TECHNOLOGY TECHNOLOGY DECEMBER

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WIDESCREEN WEEKEND 2016

Left, delegates trying out the VR experience; Below, projectionist John Cahill hard at work

Screening Celluloid

The National Media Museum’s Widescreen Weekend highlighted issues cinemas face

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he Widescreen Weekend is a unique cinema exhibition event. Cinema exhibition professionals, academics, and cinema fans fly in from all over the world, to view what has been, up to now, mostly classic widescreen and large format films of the past. Delegates also attend lectures and presentations and exchange knowledge on cinema and its exhibition. Internationally, Bradford’s National Media Museum (NMM) offers a unique exhibition facility, for both digital and analogue formats that only a national museum dedicated to the technology of the media could provide.

The programme for this year’s 20th. annual event, from 13-16 October had significant elements of the traditional Weekend content. A classic roadshow movie of the past: The Agony and the Ecstasy in 70mm; two digital Cinerama restorations and a rare showing of three strip This is Cinerama. Also featured were revival screenings of the back catalogue of widescreen cinema history, including Vertigo in 70mm; Aliens in a 70mm blow up print; On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in pristine 4K; and The Innocents in beautiful widescreen black and white. A number of interesting new elements of programming had been introduced this year.

As one who firmly believes this festival should be developing a younger, wider demographic, whilst not alienating its established more mature and loyal core audience, I realise that is easier said than

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done. It is particularly difficult given the NMM’s regional location and a climate of cost-cutting within the UK’s cultural venues.

New this year were a whole student day to sit alongside the BKSTS/NMM Student Widescreen Film of the Year Competition and a student delegate pass price for the whole weekend, as well as a Sunday family event film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. New technology and perspectives were included with demos of virtual reality available to delegates, a panel discussion on “VR and Cinema” and the screening of a related “art house” film “Notes on Blindness”.

The significance of celluloid Widescreen Weekend sits right in the middle of a number of issues about the exhibition of the back catalogue of beautiful celluloid films of the past. Independent and arthouse cinemas globally attempt to make money by exhibiting classics, alongside other films. It is a niche but culturally important exhibition activity, recently underlined with showings of The Hateful Eight, still in cinemas on 70mm celluloid a year after its release to those same cinemas.

I asked Kathryn Penny, film business manager at the NMM, and director of the Widescreen Weekend festival, about her and the Museum’s views on some of these issues, as they are reflected in the Weekend, and its development.

Mark Trompeteler ( MT ): Kathryn, how important is it to continue to programme some past film classics in your cinemas? Is

this within the remit of your ongoing programme? Or does this mainly happen only within the Widescreen Weekend ?

Kathryn Penny ( KP ): We’re proud of the wide range of projection facilities in Pictureville cinema and offer a range of classic celluloid screenings throughout the year. We recently screened the 1943 Jane Eyre and A Taste of Honey on 35mm and, in partnership with Picturehouse Cinemas, we host Vintage Sunday screenings each week.

These put classic films on the big screen where they belong. It’s important that we offer this range of films and formats year round. The remit of the Widescreen Weekend is more niche — firstly the films have to be wide gauge and also we put a huge amount of effort into sourcing rare prints that the audience will get very few opportunities to see elsewhere.

MT: How can a venue like yours attract and maintain the usual older age demographic to pay to see such classic films? Presumably some of the developments in the Weekend this year were to attract a younger, wider demographic to attend. How did that succeed? What were the problems? How vital is it to maintaining the screening of classic films at the venue?

KP: We are living in the age of event cinema and this provides us with two potential audiences for WSW; those who remember roadshow films of the 50s and 60s and want to access nostalgia and those who want to see something different, something more than a standard cinema experience. www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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Left, Sir Christopher Frayling showing BKSTS student film maker, Matt Jeffrey, celluloid IMAX; below left, this year’s Widescreen Weekend event attracted a younger audience to see classics, including Ghostbusters, below

Classics in the Digital Age...

projecting celluloid film in a digital world, Mark Trompeteler examines the realities

This year, the WSW was expanded by a day. This allowed us to programme a day of events for students before opening night. A low-price student day pass was available for the first day. The programme was open to all delegates who could attend the student events or just come to opening night and attend the festival from there.

Audience feedback shows us there continues to be some resistance to the inclusion of student films in the programme, however, the Student Widescreen Film of the Year Competition is the only competition of its kind and is important in inspiring the next generation of widescreen filmmakers.

MT: At what technical/programming/ curatorial tipping points do you take the decision not to screen a celluloid print of a celluloid classic and go for a DCP file version instead?

KP: If celluloid is available in a presentable quality we will almost always choose it over a digital file. However, if no film print is available or if we can’t access the print and feel the film is right for the programme, then we will select to play from 4K DCP. MT: Are there ever any factors, culturally or curatorially that dictate you should screen a celluloid print even if it is in poor condition or badly faded, for instance with three-strip?

“IF YOU RUN ONE OF ONLY THREE CINEMAS THAT CAN SHOW A SPECIAL PRINT, YOU HAVE RESPONSIBILITY TO LET THE PUBLIC SEE” MT: With the embedding of digital exhibition, is acquiring good-quality, full-colour and clean celluloid prints of the classic films in both 35mm and 70mm getting more difficult or more expensive?

KP: Certainly. Archives are getting more and more reluctant to loan prints. The expense of shipping them is a known quantity and a significant part of the festival budget, but accessing prints is more of a challenge.

We’re looking at being able to run 70mm prints on changeovers next year as many archives will now not loan prints if they are to be plattered. www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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Should that happen and when?

KP: Absolutely. In 2012 and 2013 we showed The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm from an original three-strip print. This is over 50 years old and although it has maintained much of its glorious Technicolor, the first reels have shrunk, affecting the quality of the exhibition in the first 20 minutes. But when you have a special print and one of only three cinemas in the world that can show it, you have a responsibility to let the public see it. I’m confident the film will appear in future WSW programmes.

MT: People may still remember the press coverage about the Museum’s possible closure. Obviously it is good news that the decision was made not to close. Can you tell us about the Museum’s future strategy and plans for Widescreen Weekend?

KP: The NMM has emerged from a challenging time with a clear vision and the same stands for the Widescreen Weekend.

The decision to run the festival as a stand-alone event shows great confidence in the festival and its future. We are already planning for next year. We have to be agile though to ensure the continuation of the festival and will continue to incorporate new cinema technologies as well as celebrating the milestones of the past.

respect the past, secure the future As cinema exhibition professionals and enthusiasts, we should support and lobby for continuance of all the film festivals, and independent, arthouse and cultural venues that screen celluloid classics either on film or DCPs — BKSTS was pleased to provide some financial sponsorship for Widescreen Weekend for the second year running.

One final irony was mentioned by delegates during meal breaks and late-night chats in the hotel bar. What if cinema history repeated itself? Just a fraction of the number of films made and exhibited in the silent era survive today. Wouldn’t it be the final irony of cinema if, in 100 years’ time, only a fraction of the films made in digital formats actually survived? All because no-one backed them up on celluloid.

DECEMBER 2016 | CINEMA TECHNOLOGY

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10/08/2016 17:29

THE PHOENIX, EAST FINCHLEY

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the volunteering spirit With a place right at the heart of the community, the Phoenix in Finchley has a long and noble history of service to the film fans of North London

SHEER ENTHUSIASM Before visiting the projection room, I spoke with Aimee Akerman, head of venue operations, who enthusiastically told me the history of the Phoenix, a big element of which is the former projectionist, Peter Bayley MBE (above), well-known to many Cinema Technology readers. Peter spent a hardly-credible 50 years in the same projection box! Aimee explained how the cinema now works and the many different events put on to attract different sections of the community from mothers and toddlers through to seniors, with special screenings for people with disability. Although the Trust is run by volunteers, all the staff are paid, and the cinema pays its way — ­ but generating funds for capital investment in the building or in technical equipment can be a challenge. The Phoenix does much education work, organised by Jelena Milosavljevic, head of programming and community. As well as screenings for schools at low prices, including talks and resources for follow-up activities, they organise holiday workshops for young people, school visits, heritage tours and outreach work. They also work with film studies undergraduates, helping them to understand the economic, political and social background of community cinema and the film business.

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he autumn meeting of the UKCA London & South branch took place at the historic Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley, so I took the chance to have a look at the projection facilities and talk to some of the staff of this real community cinema.

The cinema was built in 1910, but the founding company went bankrupt before it could be opened, and it wasn’t until 1912 that it finally opened as The Picturedrome

The Phoenix auditorium, Grade II-listed for its barrel vaulted ceiling and Art Deco panels

1910 barrel-vaulted ceiling and added Art Deco panels along the walls, which can still be seen today. A pair of Kershaw Kalee II carbon arc film projectors with RCA sound heads and an RCA high-fidelity 6-valve amplifier were installed, and behind the screen were two huge RCA loudspeakers, where they remained for more than 60 years.

EVEN IN ITS EARLIEST DAYS, THE CINEMA WAS PROUD TO BE INDEPENDENT, COMPILING ITS PROGRAMME TO SUIT LOCAL TASTES with 428 seats, about twice as many as it has now. There was a café on the first floor, as there is now (I can vouch for the quality of the lunches) and the auditorium which, as the photograph above attests, is still something special, had an orchestra pit.

The name changed to The Coliseum from 1924-1936. In 1937 the building was redesigned and rebuilt and opened as The Rex in September 1938 with a modernist façade and a completely remodelled auditorium which retained the original

a minor glitch in the programme Even in those days, The Rex was proud to be an independent cinema compiling its own programmes to suit local tastes, making it different from the bigger cinema chains, and the owners were keen to keep up with all the latest cinema innovations.

In 1973 the Rex was acquired by the Granada Group. They changed from programming chosen to suit local tastes, instead providing standard big-circuit fare. Attendances dropped, there was a DECEMBER 2016 | CINEMA TECHNOLOGY

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THE PHOENIX, EAST FINCHLEY

public outcry (“Granada Wrecks the Rex” was one newspaper headline) and by 1975 the cinema had been bought by distribution company Contemporary Films and renamed The Phoenix. They ensured a wide mix of films was shown, as is still the case today.

After battles against developers wanting to build offices on the site, and great efforts from local volunteers, the Phoenix was taken over by the non-profit Phoenix Cinema Trust, which now relies on its own income and donations. In 1989, the Trust enlarged the upper foyer, moved the stairs and made a new entrance to the auditorium. In 2000, the cinema received a Grade II listing from English Heritage, which recognised the importance of the 1910 barrel-vaulted ceiling and the 1938 decorative wall panels. There was further renovation in 2010 to celebrate the cinema’s centenary.

In the projection room I spoke with Richard Crompton, technical manager, who has worked for the Phoenix since 1999, and with Nathan Cable, assistant technical manager and building manager. Richard, who has a degree in film studies, was proud to tell me of the claim that The Phoenix is Britain’s longest-operating purpose-built cinema.

He had previously worked at The Everyman, Hampstead, The Gate, The Ritzy, and the The Tricycle, so there is no doubting his love of independent cinema.

Film, digital, any source…

The bulk of the projection is done from the NEC NC2000C digital projector, a Technical manager Richard Crompton has worked in a number of leading independents

THE PHOENIX CINEMA IS PROUD OF ITS CLAIM TO BE BRITAIN’S LONGESTOPERATING PURPOSEBUILT CINEMA workhorse that just keeps going, fed from its Doremi server, but the Cinemeccanica Victoria 8 35mm film projector is used frequently for special showings, so Richard and Nathan are equally comfortable with both. I had historical memories of a Westar and a Kinoton projector in this box, but they were obviously long-gone and the Cinemeccanica had been given to them in recent years. Richard pointed out that they provide showings from a wide range of sources, from computer files to DVDs — theirs is rather like a film festival set up.

They cope with whatever format they are provided with. The Phoenix had been one of the first cinemas to have a digital projector, and it says something about the relative longevity of film and digital kit that the cinema is already on its third digital projector.

Assistant techical manager Nathan Cable on the steps of the historic Phoenix Cinema

Most of the regular film programming still comes in on hard-drive, although the Phoenix rack included MPS’s LANsat (Richard said that most of their broadband delivery uses this) and Unique servers.

Richard said that although the Unique Movie Transit equipment was originally used for delivery of ads and trailers, it was becoming increasingly used for the delivery of features. They have tried Screenfast but found that large DCPs are often very tricky to move from the Mac that the cinema uses to the cinema server because of drive format complexities.

Richard said that he doesn’t think that cinema servers are yet designed to be friendly to the demands of transfer from domestic computers.

Event cinema forms a big part of the Phoenix offering, with NTL Live and the various Opera performances being very popular with their audiences. I noticed an Icecrypt set-top box satellite receiver in use — Richard said that they use this most of the time without problem, while their LANsat satellite receiver is also used for event cinema performances.

Definitely ‘hands-on’ I asked about automation, but was told that this wouldn’t fit the Phoenix way of working — there is always a projectionist in the box, and whilst we were talking, Richard was keeping an eye on the UKCA presentations being made in the auditorium. The special skills of the projectionists are needed to cope with the wide range of programme material that the cinema shows. The projection team does all the film administration relating to deliveries etc. Picturehouse do most of the regular programming and film booking for the Phoenix, in consultation with the Phoenix management, but the cinema CINEMA TECHNOLOGY | DECEMBER 2016

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THE PHOENIX, EAST FINCHLEY

The projection room handles digital, but the Cinemeccanica Victoria 8 takes pride of place

management team generally does its own programming and booking for the many special screenings and events that are such a feature of the cinema.

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THIS PART OF LONDON VALUES ITS ‘DIFFERENCE’ FROM NEARBY SUBURBS, AND THE PATRONS OF THE PHOENIX HAVE A DIFFERENT DEMOGRAPHIC FROM THE RUN-OF-THE-MILL CINEMA

Meeting the needs of today’s customers It was great to talk with several of the staff of this real community cinema. They are all conscious of its proud history and equally so of the need to meet the needs of today’s customers. This part of North London values its ‘difference’ from nearby suburbs, and the patrons of the Phoenix have a different demographic from the run-of-the-mill cinema, with more women than men being patrons, for example. I asked about possible future expansion plans — this single screen cinema could obviously do so much more ‘community work’ if there was more than one auditorium. I was told that there is the potential for a second screen in the ‘back yard’ and that the Trust is always looking for ways to expand, but funding would have to come from outside — they received a £1 million Lottery Grant to help with the 2010 anniversary refurbishment.

Thanks to the team at the Phoenix for making this visit so worthwhile. www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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THE KEY INFORMATION

pHEONIX, East FINCHLEY SCREENS: one OPENED in: built 1910, opened 1912 Projectors: NEC NC2000C / cinemeccanica owner: The Phoenix Cinema Trust Website: www.phoenixcinema.co.uk

DECEMBER 2016 | CINEMA TECHNOLOGY

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IT TAKES something very special to bring a large audience to the BFI National Film Theatre on a hot sunny afternoon in the middle of August to watch a ‘silent’ movie, but somehow BKSTS Patron Sir Sydney Samuelson managed to create an occasion that many will remember for a long time to come.

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DECEMBER 2016 | CINEMA TECHNOLOGY

11/11/2016 15:29

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SILENT MOVIES

Quite a discovery The afternoon was introduced by BFI film curator Bryony Dixon, an expert who has researched and written on many aspects of early and silent film and co-directs the annual British Silent Film Festival. As well as programming for a variety of film festivals worldwide, she also gives papers at many academic conferences. She provided the background to how the film we were about to see — long thought extinct — had been found in seven rusty film cans in an attic in Holland. It was rescued by the EYE National Film Institute of the Netherlands, the Dutch equivalent of the BFI. EYE’s 35mm copy of A Couple of Down-And-Outs was presented at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival 2012. The EYE Film Institute then carried out a complete restoration from the tinted nitrate print in its archive. Since then the BFI Archive in Berkhamstead had it remastered from the EYE digital files, carried out some re-grading, and added English inter-titles, translated from Dutch.

Before handing over to Sir Sydney, Bryony treated us to a fascinating recently restored short silent film detailing the history of Worton Hall (Isleworth) film studios, whose ups and downs played such a large part in the life of G.B. Samuelson over many years. In 1914 Bertie had set up Samuelson Film Manufacturing Company and bought the Worton Hall estate, a country mansion, with gardens, a farm, woodland, and many buildings, to provide a wide variety of outdoor filming locations.

He converted the house and built a modern studio in the grounds. Bertie lost Worton

Hall as the film industry went through a depression after WWI. The studios later achieved fame under luminaries such as Alexander Korda and Douglas Fairbanks Jr, with many classic films produced there.

The family connection Sir Sydney added a personal ‘family’ touch, particularly appropriate because numerous members of the Samuelson family were present, telling the story of how his father G.B. Samuelson, known to all as ‘Bertie’, had gone through good and bad times in the business, achieving great recognition for his work, but spending long years unable to get work at all. Following an original idea that

action on screen. With no accompaniment the experience would have been sterile, whereas with the music the audience became fully engaged with what was happening on screen. I felt immersed in the action and the emotions expressed and couldn’t help pondering that today’s cinema technology evidently requires tens of audio channels and dozens of loudspeakers to achieve a similar response from audiences!

Not just black and white As I watched the different sequences of this restored movie, I was surprised to find that it wasn’t just in black and white, as I had expected. Long sequences were in an

“WE WERE REMINDED THAT ‘SILENT’ MOVIES WERE FAR FROM THAT AS JOHN SWEENEY PROVIDED A STEADY STREAM OF PIANO MUSIC” had come from a short story, Bertie produced and filmed this movie, under the unprepossessing title of A Couple Of Down and Outs. Walter Summers had been the writer and director and Edna Best and Captain Rex Davis MC had been the stars.

Watching the movie — and listening The BFI projection team did a brilliant job of showing the movie as it was meant to be seen, and we were immediately reminded that ‘silent’ movies were far from that as John Sweeney, one of the best silent movie pianists, used all his artistic skill to provide a steady stream of music to match the varied

age-appropriate sepia colour, whilst other sections were tinted in magenta. I asked Bryony if this was what the original cinemagoers in 1923 would have experienced. She explained to me that tinting and toning was widely used in silent film days — nearly all films were coloured in some way. The tinting is used creatively to indicate time of day or lighting conditions. Typically you would have amber and sometimes sepia to suggest sunlight or interiors with lights on, black and white for interiors with lights off, blue for night time exteriors, red for fire light, green for woodland or aquatic scenes etc. It adds mood and atmosphere. Originally tinting was produced by dyeing the film prints in chemical solution (so the colour would be on the light areas of the image).

Toning was done by chemically changing the silver salts in the emulsion to produce a colour (i.e. the dark parts of the image). In restoration the tints can be recreated in a number of ways — using the original method; a filter system called the Desmet method (used here); or digitally.

Left, John Sweeney on the piano; right, G.B.Samuelson, the director of A Couple of Down and Outs

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SILENT MOVIES

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Presentation matters This screening provided many reminders of how cinema should be done. As well as the immaculately restored images and wonderful live sound from John Sweeney at the piano, Sir Sydney and the BFI team had turned the afternoon into a very special occasion. As the audience came in, we were welcomed and ‘period-style’ on-screen graphics were shown together with a recording of Pamela Samuelson singing popular songs that her grandparents and great-grandparents had enjoyed from the 1920s and 1930s. The introductions and explanations about the history of the movie and the technology of its restoration added an extra element to this first screening of the restored version, providing information as well as enjoyment. What more could you want from a visit to the cinema?

Jim Slater

www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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A COUPLE OF DOWN & OUTS: THE STORY The film, from 1923, focuses on Daniel Creath, who, after brave service in the Royal Horse Artillery, find himselfs unable to get work after WWI. Turned away from a casual job in the docks, he sees a crowd of ex-warhorses being shipped abroad for slaughter. Upset at the callous way they are treated, he recognises one of them as ‘Jack’, a horse that used to work alongside him pulling heavy guns through the mud. Determined to rescue Jack, he jumps on and escapes, accidentally knocking over a policeman as he does, causing a hue and cry as police search the area for him. A friendly girl allows him and the horse to hide in her stable and, though her father is a policeman, knowing of Daniel’s background in the Artillery, he turns a blind eye as his daughter helps the pair to escape. There is a hint of romance, and a single kiss as Daniel leaves to go back to his original work as a groom. The film includes flashbacks to the Western Front and shows how millions of horses were shot down by German guns.

A Couple of Down and Outs makes plain the comradeship that grew between men and animals and shows the indignation as these stalwart horses were sold off and exported as human food. I couldn’t help reflecting on the similarities with Steven Spielberg’s Warhorse.

DECEMBER 2016 | CINEMA TECHNOLOGY

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THE HISTORY OF CINEMA

ALL SHAPES AND SIZES

PRESENTING A BROADER VIEW

ENJOY WIDE SCREEN, BUT DON’T LOSE YOUR HEAD! GRANT LOBBAN ON THE 1.85:1 FORMAT

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ast time, l looked at the popular 2.35:1 picture shape, now attention turns to its slimmer companion, the 1.85:1 format. The 1950s was an interesting time for projectionists, particularly those wishing to add to their showmanship and presentation skills.

To help were many ‘new’ screen processes designed to lure falling audiences back to cinemas. First up were stereoscopic movies and the chance for the picture to break free of its black masking to sit in a pool of light, varied in intensity and colour, to match the image. By 1953, 3D was in full swing and illuminated surrounds were being tried.

Spurred on by the success of triple-projector Cinerama, Fox was preparing to give trade demonstrations of its new CinemaScope, an easier way to bring a similar panoramic image into ordinary cinemas. As a taster for the bigger screens to come, Fox revived the old Magnascope idea, enlarging the picture at the climax of Niagara as its heroine was snatched from the edge of the falls.

Interest in 3D films would soon begin to wane, but fortunately for cinema owners who showed them, the mini-boom had largely paid for the often makeshift means of projecting 3D. However, its possible replacement, CinemaScope, with obligatory magnetic stereo sound, would be a larger investment, and its extra pulling-power would have to last. Even though CinemaScope was considered to be a ‘poor man’s Cinerama’, the search was still on to find simpler ways to fill a wider screen.

Looking in turn for a ‘poor man’s CinemaScope’, there had always been a far less risky and cheaper ‘bargain-basement’ way to alter the shape of the screen. As early as 1913, an article in Kinematograph Weekly suggested that, ‘if you mask the gate of your projector so that the width remains the same, but the height is decreased; the result is a better shaped picture — more artistic.

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Original triple-projector Cinerama system were too complicated for the average cinema — the search was on to find simpler widescreen methods

The portion masked off will never be missed.’ There were reports that this was put into practice, such as enhancing views in early travel films that accompanied the popular talks by explorers. Sometimes the bigger Magnascope pictures ended up with a widescreen effect, the top and bottom chopped off by architectural features like balconies and the shape of the maximum size of proscenium openings.

Whether it was going to be missed, or not, images began to be cropped in early 1953. Hollywood’s rush to steal a march on CinemaScope and give screens a new look

WHETHER IT WAS GOING TO BE MIS SED OR NOT, IMAGES BEGAN TO BE CROPPED IN 1953 meant the frame areas of many upcoming conventionally shot 4:3 films would soon go missing. The idea, of course, was to counter the effect of the projector’s masked-down gate, by also changing to a shorter focallength lens to bring back the height on the screen to at least that of the old 4:3 picture.

This was to give audiences the impression that they were seeing more at the sides and not less top and bottom. At first, there was no agreement on how much to crop, with each studio choosing a different screen ratio, ranging from around 1.66: 1 (10% off the top and bottom), to a more severe 2:1.

“Shane” gets cut down in his prime On of the first features to be subjected to the wider-screen treatment was Paramount’s classic western Shane, which opened at New York’s Radio City Music Hall on its new ‘Panoramic Screen’. To match its 1.66:1

broader image, it was shown together with a separate magnetic stereo soundtrack.

Other completed 4:3 films, also available with a dubbed-on separate track, included Julius Caesar at 1.75:1 and The War of the Worlds at 1.66:1. Combining two innovations together, The House of Wax premièred at 1.5:1, giving a slight widescreen look to its 3D. It Came From Outer Space, also hit the audience from a wider 1.85:1 screen. Favourites like The Wizard of Oz, The Greatest Show on Earth and Gone With the Wind would return on a wider screen. The fact that actors risked losing their heads, or were cut off at the chin didn’t seem to bother audiences. They were fascinated by the new shape, although there were complaints when the dancing feet of Fred Astair and Cyd Charisse were cut off in widescreen showings of The Band Wagon.

Back when projectionists stayed by their machines, the more conscientious could www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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Early control panel (left) for a cinema’s ‘Magnascope’ moveable masking, with its original 4:3 position still labelled as ‘small’. Titles (far left), previously laid out for 4:3 screens, had to be re-designed to prevent cast and crew losing their credits. For one widescreen re-issue of Gone With the Wind (far left, bottom) some scenes had a black bar printed on the bottom of the frame to encourage projectionists to favour the upper part of the cropped picture. Publicity would use GWTW to mean ‘Greater With The Wide-Screen’

help re-compose the image by keeping an eye on the racking. Providing there were no feet or other lower down subject matter vital to the plot, it was found best to lose most of the picture from the bottom of the frame. It helped that the days of non-reflex viewfinders and often undersized keystone compensating projector gates had led to a safer, looser framing than today. Some 4:3 films stood up to being cropped better than others. It was wise to audition them on a wider screen before choosing an aspect ratio.

Although no studio could claim this ‘masked-frame’ widescreen method as its own process, publicity departments had fun coming up with names. Paramount had Panoramic Screen, Columbia ‘Vistascope’ (1.85:1), Republic had ‘Vast-Vision’, alongside ‘ScenicScope’ from RKO and MGM’s ‘Variscope’ (1.75:1). Warners would be content to call it ‘Wide Screen’, and this soon became the term for this form of presentation. Although occasionally seen on promotional material, these early names didn’t find their way to the credits, which might have caused confusion, thinking they referred to a specific ratio. Universal’s contribution was ‘Wide-Vision’. It was introduced with Thunder Bay, the first film claimed to have been specially shot for www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

081_CT_DEC16_LOBBAN.indd 81

widescreen presentation. In this case all the action was in an area equivalent to 1.85:1.

Other studios followed suit with all new productions using cameras with guidelines in the viewfinder to mark the chosen aspect ratio. The whole frame was still exposed for cinemas waiting to install a wider screen and, though not willing make concessions to television, there was a large 16mm non-theatrical market to consider. Even so, the full frame’s 4:3 image did suffer, with the action pushed back and extra space above the actors’ heads. The wasted image above and below the wide screen projected area was often called losable ‘fluff’.

Before the ‘depthies’ fell out of favour, some of the last 3D films, like The Creature from the Black Lagoon and Dial M for Murder, were composed for 2:1 and 1.85:1 respectively for their mostly 2D showings. Studios would have to re-design their logo and titles layout to prevent members of cast and crew losing their credits. Hollywood’s 1953-55 transition period included a backlog of films originally shot for 4:3 screens.

Although the titles, added later, may appear suitable for cropping, the rest of the film

looks uncomfortable shown in widescreen.

DoPs had also been reluctant to change framing part way through a production.

With no fixed aspect ratio, exhibitors were left to decide the best for their theatres, usually dictated by the size and shape of the proscenium opening. Fortunately, many big city centre cinemas had large stages to accommodate the popular cine-variety type of live shows. The later decline of these and the coming of bigger, wider screens would see the end of decorative theatre-like prosceniums in the designs of new auditoriums. They became less ornate, the front wall dominated by the screen itself.

To try and guide exhibitors to the correct screen shape, reviews of domestic features in the US entertainment industry journal Daily Variety stated studios’ recommended ratio. These were soon dropped when theatre owners who couldn’t provide the exact ratio felt somehow excluded from showing the film. To allay their fears, those answering enquiries to distributors were told to say that their films could be shown at any ratio, from the old 1.37:1 up to 2:1, whether they were shot for it or not.

The wide screen storm hits Britain For the UK’s first look at the shape of things to come, it was announced that the premiere of Young Bess would be on the Empire

NEVER MIND THE FILM, LOOK AT TH E SC REEN!

Earlier illuminated surrounds were created either by an optical attachm ent on the projector, which directed some of the light spilling from the gate thro ugh a separate lens, or using a simpler ‘Syncro-Scre en’ (left). For this, a silver screen was surrounded by a frame of angled panels covered in diffused material , which picked up stray light, mostly from the edges of of the projected picture, which, like before, constantly changed in brightness and colour to match the nature of the image.

Viewers either loved or hated it, but it fell out of favo ur as it was difficult to move it to acco mmodate different picture shapes. Another ‘no masking’ idea was the ‘Floating Screen’, (right).

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THE HISTORY OF CINEMA

TWO VIEWS OF SHANE

, was often Shane (1953), like other 1.37:1 films off the cropped, here to 1.66:1, to help kick cinema’s widescreen aspirations

the intentions nal 4:3 films shows a disrespect to For many purists, cropping of origi latest Blu-ray the on extra s. This hasn’t stopped an of directors and cinematographer fied on the justi ion, vers n dow kedmas e alternativ release of Shane from offering an was done and it, saw y of the first audiences first grounds that this was the way man makers, filmr othe Like ens.

Stev rge Geo director, , but at the time with the approval of the ects subj all for en about the value of widescre he would go on to express doubts before it a, ram Cine ip 3-str in Told Ever y test Stor he eventually began filming The Grea shapes. one of the cinema’s widest picture switched to Ultra Panavision 70, still By the mid-1950s features were shot to allow for cropping, with plenty of “wasted” space

Leicester Square’s new ‘Metroscope’ 1.75:1 screen. Not wishing to be beaten, Rank, working in secret at the Odeon nearby, got in first when, days earlier, they surprised the opening-night audience for Tonight We Sing. After showing the newsreel and short on its 4:3 screen, the familiar black masking flew away to reveal a larger 1.66:1 screen complete with illuminated surround.

In the UK, we tend soon to follow Hollywood’s production and presentation methods, and by the time our own cinemas would have to order new gates, lenses and screens, it was expected that a common aspect ratio would have been chosen. It was hoped that it would be a repeat of the situation when, in 1932, the introduction of the various optical sound-on-film systems, each with different apertures, had led the Academy of Arts and Sciences to come up with a single ‘Academy’ 1.37:1 sound aperture. With no widescreen version forthcoming, it was decided to arrive at our own standard. The BKS would play its part with a survey of British cinemas which showed that almost all could accommodate a screen between 1.45:1 and 1.65:1 without having to reduce their present height.

Looking ahead to the prospect of fitting in CinemaScope’s even wider 2.55:1 picture, they found that only about 15% would be able to keep the same height. Practical tests for the trade were arranged by the Rank Organisation using a special larger screen CINEMA TECHNOLOGY | DECEMBER 2016

080_CT_DEC16_LOBBAN.indd 82

with variable masking, constructed at its Odeon cinema in Tottenham Court Road, soon to become a popular theatre for trying out new presentation methods. To judge the effect on existing films, they projected samples from current releases at various aspect ratios, and the view was that at 1.6:1, few were visually harmed. Some thought it was actually kind to The Cruel Sea, adding greater involvement with the action at sea, without the missing image spoiling the drama below deck too much. Although the BKS’s Theatre Division, forerunner of today’s BKSTS Cinema Technology Committee, was describing anything greater than 1.45:1 as widescreen, in

ENTS THE 10 COMMANDM Re-issued on 70mm

Britain’s attempt in 1956 to adopt 1.75:1 as the standard shape for non-anamorphic maskedframe projection. The top image shows the exposed and printed 1.37:1 frame. The lower image shows the area projected for 1.75:1 screens.

practice it was found that it had to be at least 1.65:1 or better 1.75:1 to appear appreciably different to the average cinemagoer. For example, a 35mm still transparency has a 1.5:1 aspect ratio, but was not generally regarded as a widescreen format.

Following all this work, The British Film Producers Association recommended the composition in the studio camera should be standardised at 1.75:1; tolerable for both 1.66:1 and 1.85:1. Again, the full Academy aperture would still be photographed, but to avoid the excessive headroom, all would use the same 1.66:1 top line. The area for titles would correspond to the possible maximum 1.85:1. This also applied to subtitles and A few of the first VistaVision films were shown using horizontal contact prints, needing special dedicated projectors (right). The idea was not pursued, their role taken by 70mm prints (left) and their more convenient dual-gauge projectors

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In the 1950s, VistaVision was promoted as ‘Motion Picture High Fidelity’. For today’s viewers ‘Motion Picture High Definition’ may be a better description.

The image below right is from an original trade pack

other inserts, including our familiar censor certificate which also had to be modified to fit new screen proportions. Most cinemas using the new ‘Magnascopic’ motorised variable masking kept their old ‘small’ 4:3 picture. This could be used for the newsreel and shorts, before, adding to the showmanship, opening out the new moveable masking in full view of the audience as the widescreen feature hit the screen.

Hollywood goes for 1.85 Back in the US, production people were finally having their say, objecting to the compromises needed to accommodate the different aspect ratios. To end the chaos, all the studios agreed that 1.85:1 should be the accepted format. As before, the whole frame was still to be exposed, but adopting a strict ‘shoot and protect’ procedure, keeping anything in view above and below acceptable for other ratios, including 1.37:1 showings. Apart from Metroscope, still being used to describe this cropped-frame widescreen method, the other early names were soon forgotten. There was one proprietary process, intended for providing this kind of print, which would be proudly announced at the start of many films.

When Fox’s anamorphic CinemaScope arrived, Paramount decided to give it a miss, not willing to accept, in their view, its far too wide and degraded stretched-out images. They would stick to their maskeddown prints, but improve the definition of their smaller projected frames by reducing them from a larger negative. This was achieved by running normal 35mm film horizontally through the camera with an 8-perforation frame. All the extra detail

BATTLE OF THE on RIVER PLATE (Ode Leicester Square)

Masked down to 1.96:1

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recorded on this double-size negative was preserved when printed down to a normal vertical 4-perf print, made on its inherently finer grain stock. Paramount suggested that its new ‘VistaVision’ could be projected at any ratio between 1.66:1 and 2:1, but recommended 1.8.5:1 as the ideal choice. Its superior image would also stand up to a greater degree of magnification for a much larger screen than normal. Unfortunately, when unveiled in 1954, VistaVision wasn’t entirely understood by critics and cinema-

STRATEGIC AIR ) COMMAND (Plaza

Masked down to 1.96:1

goers, its advantages being far less obvious than the first sight of CinemaScope’s panoramic picture. Cinemas didn’t help by being content to show it on the same size screen as their other masked-down films. A bigger picture would still need more light through its reduced height gate. Trying to find a way to explain its benefits, one early reviewer compared VistaVision to the new enthusiasm for Hi-Fi sound, describing it as ‘Motion Picture High Fidelity’, and this was soon added to the system’s logo.

Once appreciated, its higher quality image allowed directors like Alfred Hitchcock to stage more action in long-shot and made it easier to pick out detail in large-scale set-pieces. Although less spectacular than many rivals, VistaVision became one of the finer achievements of the 1950’s widescreen revolution, only dropped at the beginning of the 1960s, when much improved colour negative stocks made the difference less noticeable and no longer justified the double cost of the negative running through the camera. However, VistaVision’s large-area format would continue within studios for back and front projection, and maintaining the image quality during the multiple printing used to create special effects.

DECEMBER 2016 | CINEMA TECHNOLOGY

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BOOKS: WORLD CINEMA

Careful to remember that ‘Technology’ is in our title, nevertheless CT has always been ready to examine the wider aspects of cinema. Recently, we have carried pieces relating the wisdom of gurus such as Lord Puttnam, Douglas Trumbull and Sir Christopher Frayling, all of which take us into the philosophy of cinema, provoking us to think more on the roots of the industry.

In his selection of these books, Jim Slater explores further this philosophical side.

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084_CT_DEC16_BOOKS.indd 84

THE ROUTLEDGE COMPANION TO CINEMA & POLITICS Editors: Yannis Tzioumakis & Claire Molloy Publisher: Routledge Hardback: 528 pages ISBN: 9780415717397 Release date: 30.6.16 Price: £150.00

T

he Routledge Companion to Cinema and Politics brings together 40 essays by leading film scholars and filmmakers in order to discuss the complex relationship between cinema and politics. Organised into eight sections — Approaches to Film and Politics; Film, Activism and Opposition; Film, Propaganda, Ideology and the State; The Politics of Mobility; Political Hollywood; Alternative and Independent Film and Politics; The Politics of Cine-geographies and The Politics of Documentary — this collection covers a broad range of topics, including: third cinema, cinema after 9/11, eco-activism, human rights, independent Chinese documentary, film festivals, manifestos, film policies, film as a response to the post-2008 financial crisis, Soviet propaganda, the impact of neoliberalism on cinema, and many others.

T

he articles take a look at key debates, concepts and case studies that critique and explain the complex relationship between politics and cinema, discussing films from around the world, including examples from film history as well as contemporary cinema. It explores the relationship between politics and entertainment, examines cinema’s response to political and social transformations and questions the extent to which filmmaking, itself, is a political act.

There is so much about the interrelationship between cinema and politics globally in the books 528 pages that I was worryingly aware that reviewing it could never fully reflect the wealth of talent and expertise it contains. Packed with fascinating material, it raises discussions and arguments about cinema-related topics I’d never previously considered.

There is masses of interesting material and stories, but the book appears to

have been written by academics for other academics and it isn’t an easy read. I sat down early one morning to review it, and by lunchtime realised this is the sort of book you need to take on holiday with you in order to do it justice!

I enjoyed many of the contentious political arguments, but was a little annoyed that the academic vocabulary made some of the messages more difficult to understand. I am used to reading a range of research reports and dissertations, but having to look up words in the dictionary to try to understand their meanings in the context of the articles (dialectics, counter-hegemonic, cybertarian, semiotics…) slowed down my reading and annoyed me by revealing the depth of my own ignorance. The articles are packed with examples of films that exemplify the points being made, ranging from Birth of a Nation in 1915 to the latest blockbusters.

T

he substantial hardback has the feel of a book that you want to keep. Its blackand-white photographs are relevant, but the low-contrast images would have been reproduced more clearly if glossier paper had been used. I assumed this was to keep the price down. I really was going to recommend this book as a Christmas present to readers interested in the philosophical side of cinema, but didn’t look at the price until I had read it. Get someone else to buy it for you! www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

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BOOK REVIEWS

85

CHINESE CINEMAS: INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES

A

t a time when Chinese investment in US and European cinema chains has become newsworthy, it was fascinating to read this collection of essays, aimed primarily at film studies students, focused on changes taking place in China on the filmmaking side. It also provides insights as to what is happening in both the distribution and exhibition sectors.

Written by Felicia Chan (lecturer in Screen Studies at the University of Manchester) and Andy Willis (reader in Film Studies at the University of Salford), examines the impact the rapid expansion of Chinese filmmaking in mainland China has had on independent and popular cinemas in and outside China. The book looks at how, in the face of a constant threat from Hollywood, the industry within the People’s Republic of China has expanded rapidly since the 1990s.

Chinese production, distribution and exhibition capacities have increased exponentially, producing box-office

success domestically and abroad.

The book brings together work by a range of established scholars and newer voices to address questions about Chinese films and cinemas within the contemporary global film industries, including the impact on independent film-making in and outside China.

N

ew internal and external distribution and exhibition patterns on recent conceptions of Chinese cinemas are considered, and practical examples of how different films have fought their way to market, often via international film festivals, illustrate how this process is often far from straightforward. One interesting story relates how the PRC government has sometimes brought pressure to bear on festival organisers not to show films critical of the establishment.

A section on women’s cinema highlights the difficulties women can have making their way in the

Edited by: Felicia Chan &Andy Willis Publisher: Routledge.

Paperback: 190pp ISBN: 9781138912472 Released date: 31.5.16 Price: £26.99.

Also available: As an ebook. industry. China works hard to see that locally produced films show the country in a good light, and this book charts the effort the government has put into trying to ensure its film industry wins an Oscar. Film-makers in Hong Kong have notionally had more independence, but the book shows the constraints under which these producers must work. Ang Lee features prominently, with multiple references to his work.

This book is ideal for students and researchers interested in Chinese and Asian cinema, as well as topics such as World Cinema and Asian Studies.

INDIA’S NEW INDEPENDENT CINEMA: RISE OF THE HYBRID Edited by: Ashvin Immanuel Devasundaram.

Publisher: Routledge Hardback: 292 pages ISBN: 9781138184626 Released date: 5.7.16 Price: £68.37 on Amazon, £34.99 Kindle

I

ndia’s New Independent Cinema: Rise of the Hybrid by Ashvin Immanuel Devasundaram is claimed to be the firstever book on the rise of the new wave of independent Indian films revolutionising that country’s cinema. Contemporary scholarship on Indian cinema usually focuses asymmetrically on Bollywood, India’s dominant cultural export. In contrast, this book provides an indepth examination of the burgeoning independent sector. It locates the new ‘Indies’ as global in aesthetic and local in content. They critically engage with a diverse socio-political spectrum of ‘state of the nation’ stories; from farmer suicides, disenfranchised urban youth and migrant workers to

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monks turned animal rights agitators.

Comprehensive analyses of definitive Indie new wave films are given, including Peepli Live (2010), Dhobi Ghat (2010), and Ship of Theseus (2013).

The book explores how subversive Indies, such as polemical postmodern rap-musical Gandu (2010) transgress

conventional notions of ‘traditional Indian values’, and collide with state censorship regulations. I found the ‘Running with scissors’ chapter on censorship and regulation particularly interesting, showing how the state, under the guise of the CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification) plays a major part in fairly arbitrarily cutting and banning sections of films dealing with current or historical/political topics, religious ideas, and the portrayal of sex. It is no surprise that many independent film makers feel constrained in getting their messages across and therefore push boundaries.

The book has in-depth interviews with directors, actors, academics and members of the Indian censor board, and is essential reading for anyone seeking an insight into a current Indian film phenomenon that could chart the future of Indian cinema.

Started as doctoral research, this book is unashamedly an academic tome. There is some unhelpful use of terminology that I felt served to obscure the message, but on the whole it is very readable and can be enjoyed by the interested film-buff.

DECEMBER 2016 | CINEMA TECHNOLOGY

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86

CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS OF 2016

AUTHOR

TITLE

month

page

subject 1

subject 2

Slater, Jim

Roadshow Reborn, The

March

19

projection

cinema

Hauerslev, Thomas

70mm, Is excitement just a fad?

March

22

large format

projection

Slater, Jim

Laser Projection, matching artistic

March

27

projection

laser

Slater, Jim

Light Farming, illumination en masse

March

33

projection

laser

Slater, Jim

CinemaCon 2016. Welcome to Las Vegas

March

39

other organisations

cinema

von Sychowski, Patrick

CineAsia Debrief

March

42

other organisations

cinema

Hancock, David

Taking Cinema Experience to New Level

March

46

cinema

projection

Slater, Jim

Turkey Cinema, A Rising Star

March

50

other organisations

Slater, Jim

Barco DP2K - 6E

March

55

projection

companies

Pasch, Oliver

Sony Projector Solutions

March

57

projection

companies

Potter, Tim

Sony Projector Solutions

March

57

projection

companies

Slater, Jim

Perforation Perfection. Harkness Screen

March

61

projection

companies

Slater, Jim

Harman Immersive Audio System

March

62

sound

companies companies

Slater, Jim

Immersive Audio. DTS to drive new

March

66

sound

Trompeteler, Mark

Large Format Cinema: Widescreen Weekend March

69

large format

Trompeteler, Mark

Birthplace of UK Cinema

March

72

history

Slater, Jim

Showmanship, Art of

March

74

training

Graham, John

EDCF Global Update

March

76

other organisations

Peat, Grainne

UKCA 2016, Upbeat Start

March

77

other organisations

Slater, Jim

CTC Awards 2015

March

78

Awards

Ellis, David A

Sir Sydney Samuelson at 90

March

82

people

Cogavin, Melissa

Event Cinema Association, To New Horizons March

85

other organisations

Bell, Billy

Movie Engineer’s Diary

March

86

history

Russell, Frances

Douglas (Douggie) Slocombe OBE BSC BKS March

87

obituaries

Slater, Jim

Savoy Cinema Worksop

March

88

cinema

Linay, Tom

Wow Factor, Digital Cinema Media

March

90

cinema

projection

Slater, Jim

Lowdown on Downloads, The

June

14

home cinema

distribution

Slater, Jim

Theatrical Window

June

14

cinema

dvd

cinema

Fox, Barry

Blurred Lines

June

25

technology

home cinema

Slater, Jim

Where does this leave cinemas?

June

28

technology

home cinema

Von Sychowski, Patrick

Cinemacon 2016: Where Indusrty is Headed June

31

trade shows

technology

Von Sychowski, Patrick

Cine Europe 2016: 25th Anniversary

June

35

trade shows

technology

Hancock, David

Exhibitor’s Strong Hand, The

June

41

distribution

cinema

Slater, Jim

Distribution: Unfair to Smaller Cinemas?

June

44

distribution

cinema

Slater, Jim

Picturehouse Cinemas, A London Landmark June

48

cinema

companies

Slater, Jim

Laser Projection, so much to learn

June

53

laser projection

technology

Aalbers, John

Digital Cinema 2.0

June

57

digital

companies

Peat, Grainne

Cinema Access for all, UKCA

June

59

cinema

Slater, Jim

Saffron Screen, Ticks all the Boxes

June

61

cinema

Briggs, Darren

Parkway Beverley; New Venue

June

65

cinema

Mas, Enric

Cinerama to Digital Cinema: Zenith to Decline June

69

history

digital

Clapp, Phil

Alert, not Alarmed

June

73

cinema

other organisations

Cogavin, Melissa

Sign O’ the Times

June

74

live cinema

Branders, Guillaume

Innovate and Thrive

June

76

cinema

technology

Graham, John

D-Cinema: All Done/

June

77

digital

other organisations

Slater, Jim

Philips Light Vibes: UKCA at Genesis

June

78

displays

companies

Slater, Jim

Making Cinema Special: Plaza Stockport

June

80

cinema

Lobban, Grant

All Shapes and Sizes: A Broader View

June

83

history

standards

Bell, Billy

When Billy met “Joe”

June

88

history

projection

Lodge, Graham

Pace of Change, The

June

90

technology

cinema

CINEMA TECHNOLOGY | DECEMBER 2016

DEC 16 CT INDEX.indd 88

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CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS OF 2016

index

Editorial Index Vol 29, 2016, compiled by Denis Kelly

AUTHOR

TITLE

month

page

subject 1

subject 2

Hancock, David

Analytics for Beginners

Sept

15

systems

market research

Allen, Ioan

How Loud is a Movie?

Sept

19

sound

Trompeteler, Mark

Brave New World of Cinema, The

Sept

25

immersive

projection

von Sychowski, Patrick

Cine Europe: Best Yet

Sept

30

trade shows

other organisations

Slater, Jim

Cinema of the Future, The

Sept

32

trade shows

other organisations

Slater, Jim

Big Data: It’s All About Business

Sept

36

data management

trade shows

Slater, Jim

Cine Europe: Brisk Trade at Show

Sept

39

trade shows

Slater, Jim

ICTA: Spreading the Technology Message

Sept

42

trade shows

technology

Pinn, Julian

Blurred Lines 2.0

Sept

49

technology

home cinema

Pinn, Julian

IBC Big Scree. Be There!

Sept

55

trade shows

technology

Slater, Jim

DCP to 35mm Print. Piql Cinevator

Sept

57

technology

post production

Slater, Jim

NEC Laser: The Future is Bright

Sept

60

technology

laser projection

Slater, Jim

Real D Ultimate - a New Standard

Sept

62

screen

technology

Slater, Jim

Intensify: Intense Customer Engagement

Sept

64

promotion

advertising

Slater, Jim

Event Cinema

Sept

66

live cinema

projection

Slater, Jim

Chinese Takeoever: Odeon and UCI

Sept

70

cinema

other organisations

Trompeteler, Mark

Odeon Orpington: Modern Face of Cinema

Sept

72

cinema

other organisations

Ryder, Julie

Ensuring Warm Welcome: HearFirst

Sept

75

cinema

other organisations

Boyd, Richard

Moving on from BFI South Bank

Sept

76

people

other organisations

Clapp, Phil

Job Half Done

Sept

77

digital

distribution

Cain, Arthur

BKSTS Archive: Overdue Books

Sept

78

archive

other organisations

Bell, Billy

Through a Glass, Darkly

Sept

79

history

cinema

Monk, Dave

Standardising Simplicity

Sept

80

standards

other organisations

Ellis, David A

Charles Morris: Truly Northern Independent

Sept

82

people

cinema

Lobban, Grant

Impact of TV and Digital Cinema

Sept

84

digital

television

Trompeteler, Mark

Tuschinski: Antidote to IBC

Sept

88

cinema

Balmain, Alastair

Mighty Medium, A

Sept

90

cinema

projection

Hancock, David

Waving the Magic: Wanda

Dec

14

cinema

companies

von Sychowski, Patrick

Asian Art House Cinema, The

Dec

18

cinema

companies

Trompeteler, Mark

Breaking Down the Fourth Wall

Dec

23

projection

Slater, Jim

Really Big Picture, The

Dec

29

projection

Aalbers, John

Future of cinema, The

Dec

32

cinema

technology

Slater, Jim

Big Data and the Cinema

Dec

34

data management

research

Slater, Jim

Another success for IBC & the Big Screen

Dec

37

trade shows

technology

Slater, Jim

Technical Lowdown, The

Dec

38

trade shows

technology

Slater, Jim

Are we laser-ready?

Dec

41

trade shows

projection

Slater, Jim

Technology: do we need HDR, WGC, Data?

Dec

44

cinema

technology

Slater, Jim

Immersive Audio

Dec

46

technology

sound

Slater, Jim

Future according to Lord Puttnam, The

Dec

49

trade shows

cinema

Slater, Jim

In-house Set Up, The

Dec

50

trade shows

projection

Philips, Rich

Consolidation, Expansion: how do you choose? Dec

53

digital

distribution

Balmain, Alastair

Shining a light on screen manufacturing

Dec

56

screen

technology

Slater, Jim

JBL: 70 Years of Precision Sound

Dec

61

sound

technology

Cogavin, Melissa

Pure Scandi Drama

Dec

65

event cinema

other organisations

Slater, Jim

EDCF at the IBC Big Screen 2016

Dec

66

trade show

technology

Clapp, Phil

Talent-spotting

Dec

69

cinema

other organisations

Slater, Jim

Volunteering Spirit, The

Dec

73

cinema

Slater, Jim

How a Silent Movie Can Be Immersive

Dec

77

cinema

other organisations

Lobban, Grant

All Shapes and Sizes: A Broader View

Dec

80

history

projection

Slater, Jim

Books: World Cinema

Dec

84

book reviews

Bell, Billy

Skip-frame Skill

Dec

88

history

projection

Kelly, Denis

Touch of the “DTs”, A

Dec

90

cinema

projection

www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

DEC 16 CT INDEX.indd 89

technology

DECEMBER 2016 | CINEMA TECHNOLOGY

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88

BILLY BELL

Skip-frame skill Film stock prices drove inventiveness in the Sixties and Seventies, as Billy Bell recalls

O

ne morning during the 1970s a group of cinema enthusiasts gathered at the Odeon Marble Arch to witness a demonstration of a new system called.

“Skip Frame”. They watched as a picture with an aspect ratio of 1.85 was projected onto the screen, but could see nothing unusual about this presentation, which made them wonder just what it was that they were expected to see.

The promoters of Skip Frame explained that, with a 1.85 release print, only 7in in every 1ft of film is actual picture content, with the other 5in being wasted by the amount of frame line spacing. A 50% saving in film stock was therefore possible if release prints were distributed in Skip Frame format.

The idea behind Skip Frame was for the film labs to produce a release print with

two parts of the film on the same reel, with a soundtrack on each side of the film. A new aperture plate size (0.375 x 0.7in) would provide a 1.85 ratio, requiring a smaller focal length lens in order to maintain the same picture size. However, this money saving idea is only viable where there are changeovers between two machines. A by-product of Skip Frame is that it is also a non-rewind system. For example, if parts one and three are on the same reel and part one is on the screen, then, after the changeover, when part one runs out, part three, which is on the same reel, can be laced up immediately in readiness for the next changeover from the other machine, which would be laced with parts two and four.

Some disadvantages were discussed , including, having to move the projector sideways in order to adjust for centre line picture displacement. Also the extra care

what exactly was ‘Skip Frame’?

It was interesting to see how little the term ‘skip-frame’ meant to most of the technical experts that I spoke to about the system that Billy Bell refers to here, writes Jim Slater. Some felt that it must be a variation of the 2-perf and 3-perf systems that were used in a similar film-stock saving exercise, but these didn’t match up with some of

Billy’s details. Dion Hanson spotted the similarities with the ingenious pre-war Harper system which used a 16mm film print (right) carrying two optically reduced 35mm film reels with sound, the pictures being interlaced and upside down with respect to each other. On projection, after running the film through it was not rewound, but transferred from the take-up to the feed spool and run through the projector a second time when the second film reel with its associated soundtrack would be reproduced. The equipment was designed and made by the Miles Aircraft Company.

Technical guru Nigel Shore (left) elaborated on how the 35mm ‘skip-frame’ system that Billy Bell discusses above would have actually worked:

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needed when framing, because of two frames of the film occupying the same picture aperture. During the projection of part one of a cowboy film, a slight movement of the framing handle caused horses in part three to be seen galloping upside down and backwards. Skip Frame loses all of its advantages when used with long-playing cake stands and towers and was already well past its sell-by date at the

It is essentially a 2 perf system, but using any standard 4 perf pull-down projector. The first spool would have Reel 1 printed one way up and Reel 3 upside down, but both within a 4 perf frame.

The system does of course only work with an even number of reels. The film would be laced 2 perfs ‘out of rack’ to the norm to centre the frame in the aperture and hence

and you re-lace Reel 2 as Reel 4 again 2 perfs out of rack to run it again ‘upside down’ and so on.

The height of the 1.85 picture would be fractionally reduced, but as you have an optical soundtrack on both sides reducing the width of the frame, the 1.85 ratio would be restored. Obviously if the framing handle was moved you would be showing the

The film stock cost of a release print would obviously be halved onto the optical centre line of the projector. When Reel 1 is finished you changeover to Reel 2. You then turn over the spool and re-lace it as Reel 3 (the upside down half of Reel 1). At end of Reel 2 you changeover back to Reel 3

other half of the frame which is upside down and back to front, hence the horses going backward in Billy’s description.

The projectors would have to be moved sideways to correct for the film centreline move to account

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14/11/2016 17:49

K.G. Gucwa/Creative Commons

time of the demonstration. Skip Frame has long since been forgotten and has been consigned, like many filmic curiosities, to the dustbin of cinema history.

The Odeon Marble Arch —scene of a slightly flawed skip-frame demonstration

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Billy Bell died, aged 90, in February 2014, but left a legacy of unpublished stories which Cinema Technology magazine will be proud to publish in the coming years.

for the second optical soundtrack. I assume the ‘Skip Frame’ name comes from the fact that because the picture is contained in 2 perfs it then skips the other ‘upside down frame’ hence it is actually ‘skipping a frame’. You would need only a fractionally shorter F/L lens for the slightly reduced frame size.

It’s quite a clever idea really, utilising the whole of a 4 perf frame for 1.85 and the only adjustments needed, to shift the projector slightly to correct for the horizontal move of the centreline. Technically you should be shifting the lens to a centre film position as you would for 70mm, but that was only really possible on 70/35 projectors. It obviously also eliminates the need to rewind anything but does of course require a projectionist in residence, as was the norm then, the whole time. The film stock cost of a release print would obviously be halved but the labs would have had to do some devious ‘modifications’. If this was the late 60s then 6000’ spools were becoming the norm and in the early 70s Platters were appearing, so negating this system.

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90

AND ONE LAST THING…

A TOUCH OF THE “DTs”

This brash digital era makes celluloid days seem a simpler time. Denis Kelly reflects on the transition DENIS KELLY CTC Committee secretary

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES. Even more than most of us were towards the end of the last century, I was Analogue Man. My lifetime career with Kodak was inevitably steeped in film, from capture to display, and even beyond that virtual finishing post in archiving and restoration. It’s not the only industry that has been near enough turned on its head by the digital revolution, and not the only one that has morphed into a very different business model in the digital age.

The simple era of celluloid

It didn’t necessarily feel like it at the time, but looking back now at the film-based system that was at the heart of the motion picture business, it had a certain simplicity.

For a start there were far fewer suppliers in almost every sector of the imaging chain, as I’m sure would be self-evident by looking back at trade show programmes and even the early editions of Cinema Technology. There were more clearly defined sectors, with little blurring of the lines from production, processing, postproduction, distribution and exhibition.

Television was a challenger to the health of

cinema, but the arrival of the multiplex provided a break point in that ongoing tennis match. Or at least brought the score back to deuce.

Film quality was always improving, but it was probably the great improvement in audio, the first important application of digital technology that — added to a more generally comfortable viewing experience — attracted customers back to cinemas.

But enlarged projection booths still whirred to the unmistakable sound of film projection, and while staffing levels were on the decline, the traditional projection skills were very definitely still in demand.

The ship was on a steady course.

There’s a digital nip in the air

The first breezes that heralded the eventual storm of change were felt around the turn of the millennium at trade show technology demonstrations, though some were staged by telecoms companies, who sensed an opportunity for them to invade a different distribution industry.

Digitally projected images were being compared with those on print film. We soon heard mention of what is now known

“COSTLY TECHNICAL ADVANCES NEED TO BE UNDERPINNED BY A REALISTIC BUSINESS CASE”

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as event cinema, then called alternative content, or in more sceptical terms “other digital stuff”. Those who predicted this would be a key element of the future of cinema have been proved correct.

The tussle took place on several fronts, and importantly not just on technical grounds, for the digital model provided a major challenge to the financial business model that had been the industry norm for decades. Not that it was the most-loved business model. That period in the 2000s was one of debate, discussion and even argument, and I enjoyed being part of it, even though there were times when I know I was in danger of being labelled a Luddite.

I prefer to think that I was trying to remind enthusiasts that costly technical advances need to be underpinned by a realistic business case for investment, recognising that the average cinema-goer is indifferent to content delivery mechanisms.

Breaching the digital dam

That financial deadlock was thawed by the bold initiative of the UK Film Council digital conversion programme; I would have loved to have been part of that. What did happen was that a number of new, technically fleet-of-foot players took up the opportunity, and drove a challenging, but generally successful programme. Longrecognised as the financial key, the Virtual Print Fee agreements started to emerge, but inevitably it was a headlong rush into 3D display that proved to be the tipping point, perhaps a whole decade since early proponents had held up their revolutionary placards. One somewhat regrettable aspect of that final phase was the decimation, the near elimination, of the traditional role of the projectionist. Today, there is significant evidence that those skills, even in small measure, would be useful.

By then, I had headed for retirement pastures, though I still play a practical role in the Cinema Technology Committee. I confess to listening to some of the discussions, making as good a job as I can of taking the minutes, but scribbling down some product and technology names that are bandied about, then rushing home to Google them in haste! It feels like a much more complex, multi-faceted and fastchanging world than I recall. Yes, I do have a touch of the DTs. www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

13/11/2016 12:48

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