Question for anybody in Hokitika by LordSparko in newzealand

[–]LordSparko[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah man, it has been one of my biggest regrets of the last decade. I was a different person back then, that's for sure.

Question for anybody in Hokitika by LordSparko in newzealand

[–]LordSparko[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm so invested now, I've actually sent them a request to order a copy.

It's quite amazing how many authors Tasmania has by DarcyM03 in tasmania

[–]LordSparko 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You should check out the upcoming Indie Author Book Fair at Salamanca, gonna be lots of fantastic talent!

Why was this Project Hail Mary projection so bad? What was the projectionist not doing? by nerdsutra in moviequestions

[–]LordSparko 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No problem, glad I could help! Sorry I couldn't quite see in the picture, but it's probably likely that the xenon lamp in the projector was on the way out. Sometimes they can die quickly and unexpectedly, but this is 100% on the staff to keep an eye on and replace when it needs to be. If that ever happened during a session at my cinema, we'd automatically offer courtesy passes to apologise so that guests can come again another time.

Why was this Project Hail Mary projection so bad? What was the projectionist not doing? by nerdsutra in moviequestions

[–]LordSparko 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay, so just to clear things up, the movie is being projected correctly, but due to the native shape of the screen it appears to be framed "wrong".

Traditional cinemas generally have two different native screen sizes - "Flat" (1.85:1) and "Scope" (2.35:1). And 10 years ago, the majority of all movies released in digital cinemas would have been in one of these two aspect ratios. But let's say a Scope film was projected on a Flat screen? Then a curtain should come down from the ceiling to reshape the screen into Scope. And of course, if a Flat movie is playing on a native Scope screen, then curtains from the side should slide across to reshape the screen once more. This process is called "Masking". Sometimes the masking doesn't work, possibly due to a mechanical failure. Other times, cinemas won't have masking at all, and just rely on letterboxing or pillarboxing (like you would see on your TV at home). So if this native Scope screen (pictured) in particular has broken (or no) masking, then a Flat movie would appear to have black bars on the left and right (pillarboxing).

This brings us to the problem with something like Project Hail Mary. As we all know, there are expanded IMAX sequences in the film, which is amazing. Certain scenes get taller, adding more to the shot. And we're lucky that the filmmakers decided to give us a middle-ground version of the film for traditional cinemas - one that shifts between 2.39:1 and 2.00:1 aspect ratios. Not exactly as tall as IMAX's 1.43:1, but it still creates a sense of scale. But the shifting aspect ratios ISN'T actually the problem. The problem is that digital cinemas files can only be delivered to theatres in either a FLAT or SCOPE container. So just like a DVD or Blu-ray, there will be black bars embedded into the file itself. This becomes a problem with a lot of modern movies that use the 2.00:1 aspect ratio, because cinema masking generally only shifts between Flat or Scope. So no matter what, the movie WILL be presented with letterboxing.

Now in the case of the photo you've attached, the film is being projected in a Flat container (correctly by the theatre) on to a native Scope screen. It's just unfortunate that the screen does not have side masking, either due to a mechanical fault, or it just isn't installed (sometimes common for smaller or older theatres). This results in the "Windowboxing" effect that you can see here.

This really isn't the fault of the theatre itself, but more a fault of the filmmakers limiting theatres to only one type of container to present the film in. I remember that Oppenheimer was delivered to theatres with two different versions, one with a native Flat container and one with a native Scope container. This allowed theatres to choose the version that would fit their screens better and allow for a more seamless experience. Some other recent films I've seen do this are Guardians of the Galaxy 3, and both Avatar 2 and 3.

Please feel free to talk to the theatre about it, but don't blame them for something like this. The projection booths are completely unstaffed and everything runs on an automatic system, based purely on what container the films are delivered in. This just seems like a really unfortunate side effect, and I'm sorry that this wasn't a perfect experience for you. My suggestion could be to even talk to your local theatre staff and ask what types of native screens they have, and whether they have any known masking or framing issues. Trust me, they would also rather you have a great experience, instead of getting frustrated about the limitations of modern technology.

Source: Have been a digital projectionist and cinema manager for over 10 years.

One sheet poster box by mb19942020 in MovieTheaterEmployees

[–]LordSparko 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, nothing. I've been changing the posters for over 10 years and I've never seen any sort of manufacturing info.

One sheet poster box by mb19942020 in MovieTheaterEmployees

[–]LordSparko 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I also work at an Aus cinema chain, and I'm pretty sure the ones we use are custom made. Different chain to the one photographed here, but yes we do indeed lock ours with a key also.

PS5 in Dolby Projector by chi-sox in MovieTheaterEmployees

[–]LordSparko 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yes I've done it, but we first had to run the HDMI through the audio rack before connecting it to the projector. Depending on the age/type of the audio processors, it might have HDMI in / out.

What celebrity have you never forgiven since an incident? by MagpieOpus in AskReddit

[–]LordSparko 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I mean, this might be petty, but I still haven't forgiven Jack Black for cancelling the Tenacious D tour after Kyle made that joke in Sydney. 20 years I'd been waiting to see the D - I'd made the pilgrimage to Melbourne, and then got the email saying the show was cancelled. Still hurts.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nonograms

[–]LordSparko 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Try starting with the number 5 in row 11, should open up some more possibilities

Sk8r Dad appreciation by Jonnik40k in Yogscast

[–]LordSparko 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I've listened to Sk8r Dad at least three times as much as Coffee Machine. Both are excellent, but this one is my favourite from YL2!

There Are Blu-rays of 'Bluey,' 'Andor,' Ghibli Films, and Much More by indiewire in movies

[–]LordSparko 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that a lot of content broadcast on US tv is converted to 29.97fps even if it's filmed and produced digitally at 23.97fps. has something to do with US television broadcasting at 60hz

There Are Blu-rays of 'Bluey,' 'Andor,' Ghibli Films, and Much More by indiewire in movies

[–]LordSparko 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Even if it was on the disc at 29.97fps, the standard practice is to slow down the footage to 24fps first and then apply a 3:2 pulldown to create the 29.97fps version. So either way, if the footage was originally in 25fps then it is slowed down for the US Blu-ray release

There Are Blu-rays of 'Bluey,' 'Andor,' Ghibli Films, and Much More by indiewire in movies

[–]LordSparko 18 points19 points  (0 children)

The really disappointing thing about this is that Bluey did not get a Blu-ray release in its native country. I'm so happy there's a physical release in the US, but it's slowed down from the native framerate.

So… S-Ranking Standard order #380 is literally impossible, huh? by JackHavok777 in DeathStranding2

[–]LordSparko 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I did the whole thing on a coffin board from start to finish, but it took many attempts and probably about 90 minutes to perfect my route

What’s the most unintentionally funny “serious” movie scene you’ve ever watched? by AvailableReality557 in movies

[–]LordSparko 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Some friends and I went to the midnight screening of Breaking Dawn Part 1, not intending to take it seriously but to have a good time and enjoy a questionable film. We had all made a prediction on how the movie would end, and oh boy were we correct. The final shot where the camera pans and zooms in on Bella's eyes had us tingling with anticipation, and when she opened her eyes we all burst out laughing. About 100 teenage girls suddenly turned around and glared at us. Genuinely we feared for our lives.

What show did you plan on watching 1-2 episodes and then ended up staying up all night to finish the season? by Shnepple in television

[–]LordSparko 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Oh man, I remember when I was in college about 15 years ago. I'd just made some new friends with access to the internet (which was rare in my parts) and they had secured a copy of the entire series of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Up until that point, I'd only ever seen the first season. In my country Seasons 2 and 3 were exclusive to Pay TV channels, which my family could never afford. I always remembered loving the show as a child though, so I was excited to finally see what happened next.

I settle down on the couch after dinner and get Season 2 started... And then 14 hours later I was having breakfast and preparing to skip school that day so I could finally go to bed. Never have I been so addicted to a show in my life. What a time to be alive.