Cineworld 2D showings - image too dark?

Dublindude69

Is it just me or has cineworld become to dark recently? Every time I see a movie their it's really dark and if the movie is set at night it's really hard to see whats going on. I've been to a few recently and they have all had this same problem. Is something going on? I'm beginning to feel like I'd be better off waiting until it hits DVD and I can just turn up the brightness.

jaykhunter

are you watching 3D films? Because they have reduced brightness. Have to say, i was there a few days ago and didn't notice. Actually i think i was in #16 or 19 and the image was particularly sharp.

e_e

If I was to hazard a guess I'd say they were projecting ordinary movies through a 3D lens. The same thing happened when Bobby or Peter Farrelly went to a screening of Hall Pass in some cinema, and when they went to complain they were told nothing could be done because there are no projectionists left. :rolleyes:

If it happens again you should definitely complain.

Dublindude69

It was when I went to see The Thing, I could tell by the trailers because they where to dark then the movie came on and most of it was set at night and I couldn't really tell what was happening.

Giruilla

You should read this article by Roger Ebert:

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2011/05/the_dying_of_the_light.html

"Many theater managers have made a practice of leaving the 3D lenses on the projectors when playing a 2D film." The result is explained by an anonymous projectionist: "For 3D showings a special lens is installed in front of a Sony digital projector that rapidly alternates the two polarized images needed for the 3D effect to work. When you're running a 2D film, that polarization device has to be taken out of the image path. If they're not doing that, it's crazy, because you've got a big polarizer that absorbs 50 percent of the light.''

If I ever have this in the cinema I'm complaining straight away!

Galvasean

Wow, that's just plain lazy.

Sad Professor

Cineworld made all their projectionists redundant a while ago, so problems like this are to be expected. Make sure you complain or they won't do anything about it.

Giruilla

Sad Professor wrote: »

Cineworld made all their projectionists redundant a while ago, so problems like this are to be expected. Make sure you complain or they won't do anything about it.

How does that work? entire new staff??

Voodu Child

Giruilla wrote: »

How does that work? entire new staff??

They just put managers in charge of the projection duties afaik. With digital cinema they just have the movies on a server and can run the whole thing from a computer or even an iPhone app in some setups.

But obviously when something goes wrong they havent a clue what to do and they would have less expertise than a dedicated projectionist.

There's also the problem in 3D films where they are supposed to turn the brightness up to compensate for the polarising filters, but they leave it low to save the bulb life.

Giruilla

Voodu Child wrote: »

They just put managers in charge of the projection duties afaik. With digital cinema they just have the movies on a server and can run the whole thing from a computer or even an iPhone app in some setups.

But obviously when something goes wrong they havent a clue what to do and they would have less expertise than a dedicated projectionist.

There's also the problem in 3D films where they are supposed to turn the brightness up to compensate for the polarising filters, but they leave it low to save the bulb life.

If thats the case it sounds likely indeed that the 3D lens are being left on!

Galvasean

haven't noticed it myself but I will certainly keep an eye open in future!

(another reason to dislike 3D cinema...)

Giruilla

Galvasean wrote: »

(another reason to dislike 3D cinema...)

Still yet to find a reason to like it! Can see Prometheus having major problems with this 3D malarky by being too dark..

Faith+1

But what will they do when they want to show vintage films .i.e 35mm?

That_Guy

Read the thread title and thought to myself, "It's a cinema, it's supposed to be dark"

:pac:

Haven't had this occur to me yet but I'll be sure to take note if it does happen.

Can a mod please fix the thread title pwetty pwease?

Sad Professor

Deleted User wrote: »

Can a mod please fix the thread title pwetty pwease?

Better now?

Antar Bolaeisk

Faith+1 wrote: »

But what will they do when they want to show vintage films .i.e 35mm?

They get a copy of it on DVD and run it through the projector (note: I don't know if all or even any of the digital projectors even have this feature but I'd be surprised if they didn't have some form of external input).

jaykhunter

Cineworld made all their projectionists redundant a while ago [...] They just put managers in charge of the projection duties afaik [...] they leave it low to save the bulb life.

Man, that puts me right off going to the cinema. I understand cutting costs but not at the expense of the consumer/"cinema experience"....which is one of the only two reasons to see a movie in the cinema...I'll be sure to look out for dark screenings in the future

Renn

In fairness guys, Cineworld is like the McDonald's of cinema so none of this comes as a surprise really.

johnny_ultimate

I was talking to someone who ran a film festival recently, and it was interesting to hear that 35mm and traditional projector setups are actually a major consideration when choosing a cinema these days. The Screen still have a traditional projectors as well as digital ones, which is nice.

Renn

Are you sure The Screen still have them? I was told it was all digital now in there, must find a new source of information.

johnny_ultimate

Yep, definitely. Not sure how many newer releases are actually shown in traditional formats, but the facilities are still there! Not thick enough walls to add to the experience too

But since an physical copy of a film costs much, much more to manufacture (crazy amounts - think it could be up to 10 times more), non-digital is certainly a luxury these days.

Renn

Ah ok. Yeah, maybe I'm basing that off the classic films they show in there - pretty sure all of them are digital (would have to be considering the amount of them they put on).

Think walls is one of the reasons I've only ever been in there once. Watched No Country For Old Men and could hear the entire Walk Hard film during it

johnny_ultimate

As much as It bothers me that the classic screenings are only DVD or Blu Ray, sourcing original prints for a one off screening is a costly enough business. Delighted that the IFI managed it for their Malick season, though. It's always a nice treat, but given the complications involved in getting them it will always remain that way.

Voodu Child

Renn wrote: »

Are you sure The Screen still have them? I was told it was all digital now in there, must find a new source of information.

I think when a cinema say they are gone 'all digital' they just mean they have a digital projector for each screen.

But that doesnt stop them keeping a 35mm projector in one or two screens for when they need it.

WatchWolf

Renn wrote: »

In fairness guys, Cineworld is like the McDonald's of cinema so none of this comes as a surprise really.

What do you mean?

johnny_ultimate

WatchWolf wrote: »

Renn wrote: »

In fairness guys, Cineworld is like the McDonald's of cinema so none of this comes as a surprise really.

What do you mean?

Soulless, full of workers who would rather be somewhere else, limited menu, overpriced and you feel worse coming out then you did going in.

WatchWolf

Ha ha that's actually pretty accurate.

Faith+1

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Soulless, full of workers who would rather be somewhere else, limited menu, overpriced and you feel worse coming out then you did going in.

+1 Couldn't of said it better myself :pac:

jaykhunter

a bit negative for my tastes! Anyway johnny_ultimate, where's your favourite place to watch a film? And don't say your house because i'm not allowed there lol

actually top 3 would be preferable

johnny_ultimate

In fairness to Cineworld, their screening equipment tends to be of relatively high quality. It's clean, they occasionally get films nowhere else does (Snowtown recently) and Screen 17 is probably the optimal place to see a blockbuster (maybe Savoy 1 is better). But having heard from people who've worked there, it sounds like a place of little joy. The price is my major beef with them - since I'm never guaranteed they'll ever have two films worth seeing on any given month, I'm usually hit by their frankly absurd ticket prices the few times I 'have' to go for whatever reason. There are plenty of successful cinemas around with a tenth of Cineworld's audience that charge half the price. With 17 screens, I'm still amazed they don't dedicate more room to offbeat stuff. Mostly, and to bring it back to the McDonald's comparisons, you just have to go to another Cineworld to see how devoid of character it really is. It's just a copy and paste cinema, really.

As for alternatives? The IFI for the simple reason they show better films in good quality cinemas (even Cinema 2 if it isn't full!) for extremely reasonable prices. If I can't go there, I'd go for the Screen first on the basis that it's cheaper and tends to have a better quality line-up (plus, supporting the underdog is always a nice feeling). I go to IMC Dun Laoghaire mainly because it's easier to go with friends, although they have some frankly awful screens downstairs (upstairs is mostly grand).

Sad Professor

I rarely go to Cineworld as it's a bit out of my way. I agree about the IFI offering better films, but I really really hate the seats in Cinema 1 and 2. They are enough to put me off going there if the film is on elsewhere. And Cinema 3 is horrible if it's full as you have people walking in late and standing in front of the screen. I always have to sit in the corner to avoid being disturbed.

Vue is much more convenient for me and I love the cinemas. All the screens are good and there's plenty of leg room. But christ, the selection of films is dreadful. It makes Cineworld look like an art house cinema.

johnny_ultimate

IFI 3 can be a pain if it's busy alright. I saw Take Shelter there last week and they rolled straight into the film without ads (as the IFI has been known to do), so cue latecomers arriving for around ten minutes after the start :rolleyes: Otherwise I think it's an extremely comfortable cinema to watch films in.

I was in 2 today for Hugo. I usually don't like it, but it was pretty quiet and wasn't too uncomfortable as I had room to stretch. I have been in horrifically cramped screenings in the past though. Memories of Inland Empire still make me cramp up. 1 I rarely have any issues with.

The one thing the IFI does have is very good quality equipment: the sound and visuals tend to be of excellent quality there.

DementoR

Just my 2c,i worked as a projectionist for a 6 months before our cinema went all digital and as said the reason for the darker picture is indeed the 3D lense being left infront of a 2d movie. On our digital projectors to change the lense from 2d to 3d is simply a case of sliding the 3d lense infront of the 2d lense and vise versa to go back to 2d,anyone could do it,just sounds like laziness on the part of management that they arnt doing it.

It doesnt affect 35mm movies as they are run off a different projector.

duckworth

I have noticed the darkening of the picture and its been driving me mad - particularly because everybody I went with said I was just imagining it!!

The other thing I hate about Cineworld is the low volume - because the screens are all so packed in together, they need to keep the sound down to prevent leakage.