The Ohio Sci-Fi and Horror Marathons

Not to get into a debate about which format is better, both can be presented poorly (though 35mm does have the capability of being better, economics of doing so at the lab and exhibition side crushed it), my fear of losing any film capability is due to availability of titles. Not all films have been transferred to DCP, Blu-ray or DVD (I hope Bruce was joking about VHS).

And, there will likely still be tech issues. There have been in the past with the Blu-ray/DVD stuff, no reason to think they will stop. Plus this year we'll have to deal with the wonderful world of digital keys.

And the trailer/short situation, that's kind of a grey area. If it can be downloaded from the net, possibly legal, though we all know that nothing illegal exists on the Internet. For the vast quantity of stuff that has shown in 35mm over the years and isn't on the net, a lot of that stuff will disappear. Getting a decent transfer of that would be cost prohibitive plus no lab would be willing to transfer film that could possibly be copyrighted. It be the end of them if found out.

I can say the same thing when it comes to the poor 35mm prints that screened in years past. If its comes down to a bad 35mm print or a two or four k DCP I rather have the DCP.

Four k is about four times the current broadcast HD standard. When I went to see OZ at the Gateway Film Center on Tuesday the colors did not look washed out. Only time digital looks "washed out" if its done during post production.

If the Drexel still have their film projection equiptment then the trailers and shorts can be on film. Then the films can be on DCP's and BLU Ray's.

Or if the projector is configured incorrectly. Studio 35 was mentioned above as being dark. It isn't just dark, it is a bit red. I showed a film I made there once. It looked great on every other screen I've seen it on except for my older TV that is also dim and red, but there, it was dim and red. It looked terrible. A properly configured projector that is bright enough for the space or a decent film print would not have had those problems. That said, a good projector that is configured correctly looks great. I really like a well done digital projection. The loss of the ability to screen films that aren't economically viable to convert to digital is my biggest worry with digital.

Some of the less commercially films are shot on 16mm or they use RED camera system or any of the other raw video systems. Those raw camera systems can be used with commercial retail computers. Witch cuts down with cost. Heck having a three grand MacBook Pro would be able to handle the RED software.

A Person can correct the improper digital projector. The issue if one got a bad film print there is nothing one can do with the film projector.

Now I would like to defend of using VHS. I'm not a fan of VHS but when the pilot film of Max Headroom screened at the Marathon it was watchable. I prefer Betamax format because one can record PCM audio onto a Betamax cassette.

I've seen two films projected digitally recently, Oz at a Rave theatre in Dayton and another film, which I cannot name (small indie, nothing big), at a screening room at the mastering facility in LA. The screening room is professionally calibrated every morning. It looked fantastic, save for some source faults. Oz looked horrible... Dim and lifeless. I've been privy to the same comparisons for 35mm as well.

Point is, both 35mm and digital can look great, but a lot of older and obscure stuff may now be unobtainable. I'd rather have a beat up 35mm print than nothing at all.

I'd rather not revisit the endless debate over which format is "superior" or "inferior" because that has been done to death. Plus, there really is no reason to blather about whether the digital conversion is "right" or "wrong." Who knows if it will be "better" or "worse," but the fact of the matter is that it will without a doubt be... different.
I wouldn't have been able to make the cross country trip this year anyway, but for what it's worth if I were on the fence, the knowledge of the lineup being 100% "film free" would be a factor, and not my preference.
Also for what it's worth, if I lived in Ohio I would buy a ticket as soon as they go on sale, so there's that.

What I would miss the most is the like Gump's box-of-chocolates-you-never-know-what-you're-gonna-get smorgasbord of between movie entertainment from Bruce's collection. Here's hoping that there is a plan in place to still bring that element of surprise and discovery in some way shape or form within the new restrictions.

There's really nothing to do at this point except embrace it, but I have a suggestion to maybe spice things up to make it interesting, as long as it's economically feasible.
I've been to a couple mini-marathons at independent theaters here where the entire lineup was a "secret" showing. Now, as you know, it's not always about mystery and intrigue, but sometimes also a way to get around paying for the presentation rights.

So...
as long as you are forced to show DVDs, why not take this opportunity to make a few of the films in the lineup "secret?" That way, you can literally show anything you want, including the first of the most famous and popular science fiction film franchise in history, which just happens to have an unofficial day of celebration associated with it, that just happens to fall on the same date as the Marathon...

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Aliens? Us?
Is this one of your Earth "jokes?"

I fully embrace this idea.

It won't be just DVD's It will be HD as well.

HD. DCP. DCR. VHS. With all those formats, it should be an excellent marathon May 4. What titles are showing?

Digital will open up event for more titles.

Sadly, Bruce's trailer reels will have to take a back seat - who wants to volunteer to transfer the thousands of hours of celluloid to Digital? Sure, there are trailer comps on DVD, but, it ain't the same.

But, folks thinking that the move to Digital as some sort of projection panacea doesn't have much experience in theaters. DVD and Blu Ray players can balk at a poorly formatted disc (especially if it's burned privately). Plus, DVDs have to boot up, menus have to be traversed, and, if you aren't just playing the disc from the start, the projectionist has to locate the correct chapter or menu stop etc.. DCPs have to have the correct digital key in order to work (in Boston, a couple of films at the Festival didn't, and shows had to be cancelled). I've been to movie theaters where the Digital projector failed on the weekend, and there was nobody they could call to fix the issue until Monday. Show cancelled - here's some free popcorn. Most of the time, a professional film projectionist is able to fix all but the most catastrophic projector issues themselves - digital, not so much. Film projectors were pretty straightforward mechanical items with 100 years of tried and true technology. Your hard-drive fails, and you can't just flick a few levers & adjust the gate. And, don't forget, with a multiple of digital formats makes the projectionist a juggler in the booth as they have to jump from one to another.

This isn't to say that all or any of these issues will happen in May at the Marathon. But, those who naively thought that a film breaking or jamming or a bad reel change was some quaint 20th Century relic that will now magically be solved by Digital, need to take heed.

Is it still a Science Fiction FILM Marathon if FILM isn't shown?

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Long Live the Orson Welles Cinemas

I keep looking at the main website and the word film isn't in the tile. The tile is Ohio 24hr Science Fiction Marathon. The word film doesn't appear.

I look at the official website. There is the page label films. But the in the header the word film is absent.

That being said that LA keeps forgetting that celluoid is on its way out. Major theater chains are digital. Last time I check that Arena Grand and the Grandview are sill using 35mm. Gateway Film Center is all digital. More theaters are switching to digital then the manufacturing of celluiod be only for archival purpose only. Making those mechanical film projectors close to being obsolete. Fuji is winding down production of motion picture film stock. It wouldn't surprise me Kodak follow suit. http://deadline.com/2012/09/fuji-discon ... -products/

If the drexel still have 35mm equiptment then use said equiptment for the trailers and shorts. According to Bruce and the Drexel website it is all digital projection no film.

Technology always advances. My old D Theater Digital VHS is stitting in a plastic box with a copy of Terminator 2, Alien Diector's Cut, X Men and X2. With six blank DVHS cassettes. One used. And a promotional copy of House of the Devil on VHS when I order the DVD from Amazon. I pack everything up when BLU Ray becomes the standard.

When a picticular media format goes obsolete then it is time to embrace the new format and forget the
old. I like film. It serves it purpose. Now Digital Cenemia is here time to embrace it.

Working in the industry, I can hardly "forget" that digital has taken over -- kind of hard to ignore when you see a Digital camera on set. But, film is not completely gone (the equipment still functions and available) , making it even sadder that awesome collections like Bruce's are being kicked to the curb. I fully appreciate the situation the industry is in. I was simply addressing posts here and elsewhere where folks think that all projection problems have now magically been "solved" by going Digital. Not true at all.

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Long Live the Orson Welles Cinemas

I will not be attending this year regardless of the film vs. digital debate due to my upcoming wedding. But I also live 6 hours away and can say that I probably wouldn't attend anyway since there will be no film projection. If I lived in Columbus I'd buy a ticket and stay for however long I felt like, just to support the event but I now longer feel that it's worth the time, money and energy to sit through 24 hours of basically the same or worse picture quality that I'd have watching blu-rays at home. Bruce's trailers and shorts will be sorely missed if there's no celluloid projection. I just saw half of a marathon where half the titles ended up being dvd projection and they all looked terrible next to the lushness of 35mm film. And we can argue all day and night about digital vs. film quality (like I'm sure willcail will do) but it doesn't change the fact that film being projected on a screen gives us something we can't get anywhere else except an honest to goodness movie theater and that is special. I recently saw a 4k DCP of Lawrence of Arabia that looked beautiful and another time I saw a dvd projection of In the Mouth of Madness that looked terrible. I've seen the most stunning 35mm prints and I've seen prints that looked like someone buried it in the backyard for a decade and then threw it in the shower to clean it off before projecting. If the choice is the shower print or the 4K Lawrence of Arabia then I'll take the 4k. But if the choice is the shower print or a standard def dvd (or even HD blu-ray) projection then I'm going to take the shower print every darn time-because I don't have a 35mm print of that movie on my shelf.

There's been this same debate in music going on for decades. I used to always wonder what was up with vinyl collectors when by most standards, and certainly to the layman, digital music is "cleaner". But then a friend said something that stuck with me. He said that when you have to physically put the needle on the record and then flip the record over for side 2, that besides the ethereal "warmth" of the sound of vinyl, it also forces you to make the conscious decision to listen closer. I think the same thing of film. Watching a bunch of blu-rays with 200 marathon friends might be fun and the movies are still the same, but it just means less-it's disposable. I'd support the marathon and pay for a seat if I lived there, but I don't see the value in driving 6 hours each way, spending $40 and losing sleep to watch the same dvds I have on my shelf (or even dvds I don't have already). And LA Connection is right about digital projection issues still happening all the time. One common thing I see now, is that the digital projection is so bright that besides washing out the shadows and darkness, it really makes the dirt on the actual white screen pop out so much more. Before I'd only notice that if there was a stain on the screen, but now it's like an entire layer of dust coats every movie I see.

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"I came here to chew bubble gum and kick a**. I'm all out of bubble gum."

I'll refer everyone back to this thread for a recap of this year's video-heavy CWRU Marathon. Granted, the Drexel's digital projector is likely a step up from the one in Cleveland. But like it or not, Blu-Ray and DVD are still very limited formats that aren't designed to be blown up that big.

As I've said several times in the past, well-made DCPs (like the 4K LAWRENCE OF ARABIA that Jim refers to) can be great. But as of right now, their numbers are limited. And they're almost non-existent for many of the off-beat and obscure titles that we've screened over the years (try finding even a good 2K DCP of THE APPLE...or GALAXY OF TERROR...or EARTH VS. THE SPIDER...). In five years, these problems might be solved. But there's no guarantee.

As a person who does hardware tech for a living I'm finding that most compaints about Digital projector systems can be sum up as user errors. Majority of tech issues are from user error. The hardware is fine it is the users that are the problem.

Now most proper Digital Projector systems are not some off the shelf VGA with RCA A/V support. These uses Serial Digital Interface witch delivers an uncompress video signal at 1485 Gigibits per second. While an HDMI cable delivers an video signal of 10.2 Gigibits per second. Both BLU Ray and SDI HD both can deliver uncompress PCM audio.

There are some DVD players and BLU Ray players that does support SDI.

When I went to see Rock of Ages (Hey don't sincker my mother have MS. My Stepfather is around ten years older. Two diffrent eras when it comes to music. ) We went to Marcus in Pickerington Ohio. The digital projection using TI DPL looks great. Bright colors. This was my first non 3D digital projection.

Now I can say that IMAX trumps both 35mm and DCP.

I can help bruce transfer his trailers and shorts on film. My price is for one SFmarathon ticket. Undocumented workers get paid more.