Radio City Music Hall

Hey Rob I have been thinking, it just seems to me that the Music Hall goes through an awful lot of trouble to present Digital projection. Dragging those projectors down to the Mwzz and setting them up there along with the potential for problems with such things as errors with the digital keys and the “robust” encryption, and the potential for trouble if the server is opened or connections are interrupted.
It just seems to me that the risks are high for failure. I know how many problems theatres are having with theses issues from my talks with the boys I know that are still in the business. Especially with Digital 3-D.
So here we are at RCMH with a rather important premiere and they are using film as the back up. My question is if why not just run the film and avoid any problems. Just deliver the 35mm print to the booth and let he boys run it as we did for so many years problem free. They even went so far as to mount the print on a platter which then made the film presentation subject to problems with speed control card failures and of course the dreaded brain wrap.
I can’t help but think since a 35mm print was used the movie could have simply been shown in 35mm, and if the people renting the space fearded the use if reel-to-reel projectuion they could have used a MUTT which is far more reliable than a platter.
Ask yourself this, how many people in that theatre even knew the movie was being projected digitally or would have noticed the difference had it been film.
A whole lot of nonsense if you ask me, between the use of the digital and running the film on a platter it’s as if they wanted something to fail.

In my day (oh no here I go again) we ran premieres and previews in 35mm or 70mm film reel to reel, and we played pictures far more important than “Sex in the City” and we did it with very little problem. No fuss no mess.

What are your thoughts?

6200, 5988 5945…Why is there all this discussion about the seating capacity of the Music Hall? I will now set the record straight. I am here to unequivocally state that Radio City Music Hall has a seating capacity of one. That’s right. You read it here. One seat. It used to have two, but one of them was taken away a long time ago.

It was a lone seat in the Orchestra at the front of Aisle E, Row AA, Seat 413. Some might have looked at it as just another theater seat, albeit a very plush one. For me, it was the place where some of my happiest memories were created. From the summer of 1964 until 1979 it was my seat, the only one I occupied at the Hall. I’d sit there in awe of everything I’d be seeing in front of me. The sight behind me was just as awesome. Every time I turned around, Grandpa Joe would be there.

Grandpa Joe and I were the best of buddies. No matter what we were doing, every moment with him was special. But “special” is an inappropriate word to describe the days we went to Radio City. Those were transcendent days, far beyond special. I too, felt transcendent with what seemed like a ceaseless smile.

I reveled in all I could see, the city; the skyscrapers; the people and the noise. Emerging from the 50th Street station on the IRT Subway Line, there it was. The red neon lights on the marquee shining like a beacon. We’d arrive early enough to be among the first 100 people on line. Grandpa would send me across the street to Whelan’s Drug Store for a season-appropriate drink. I’d return to the line with a couple of Egg Creams (or Hot Chocolate) and watch as the 50th Street door to the Box Office would open and close. “Is it time yet, Grandpa?” “No, not yet, soon.” We would talk for a bit. My excitement grew as I watched the line grow along 50th Street, looking at all the people and seeing the windows heralding the current movie and stage show. Then the door would open, and stay open. “It’s time!”

Entering the theater, I would be amazed at how quiet it seemed. The place was so big, but never overwhelming. Everything about the Music Hall looked and sounded beautiful; the décor; the seats; the lights; the movies and the glorious music. Then, at some point, I’d hear it. That tapping sound began. One, two, three and four, one, two three and four, it gets louder and louder. “Grandpa, what’s that?” “You’ll see.” One, two three and four, one, two, three and four, I still hear it. Better than that, I still feel it…

REndres, thanks for the info.

Rob,What a fasinating post regarding the handling of Digital media. My goodness how times have changed since I retired.
I must say I was not pleased to hear thet after all this time a platter finaly made it up to the Music hall booth. Somehow I did not mind the use of a MUTT but platters are the work of the devil :)
It makes an old mans heart feel good to know that at least the main booth was used and did not sit dark through the performance.
Please tell us more when you can I appreciate your info so very much.

Digital cinema is indeed projected, but with higher resolution and color space than home format high definition. The most common means of delivery at the moment is to send a hard-drive in a lunch-box sized plastic case. Technicolor’s cases are orange, just like their film cases. The drives measure about 7" x 4.5" x 1.5", and may have a slip on extension, with a power connection to a power transformer and a USB output connection. The data on the drive is then input to a server either by USB or by slipping off the extension and plugging the drive directly into an opening in the server. The offload into the server takes about half to three-fourths of the time it takes to run the movie.

Once loaded into the server, the data shows up in a menue which shows all of the material being stored locally, and may include trailers as well as features. When the show is made up the traiilers may be dropped in ahead of the feature by moving a cursor on a computer screen and the total running time of the package is calculated automatically. The same drive may be used to program as many auditoriums as needed, and the shows complete with start/end and lighting cues may be programmed to start automatically.

Before the picture may be shown a digital key must be generated to tell the server that the dates and times of exhibition have been O.K.’d by the studio. The digital data is robustly encrypted, and doesn’t exist in analogue form until it is ready to be projected inside the projector. If the server is opened or connections are interrupted, the show is shut down. The “key” can be sent by e-mail, downloaded onto a memory stick and then loaded into the server.

Shows may swapped from one server in a multiplex to another, or stored in a show library if more storage capacity is needed. During operation all of the data about what is being shown on which screen can be displayed on a computer monitor along with the start and end times of the shows currently running. This makes digital presentation convenient since you don’t need a separate print for each screen.

Are digital “films” “projected”, sent to the screen via cable or played in a DVD machine? Will appreciate knowing how digital presentations work. Thanks in advance.

Digital I presume.
How is the presentation handled, lights curtsin etc.

Ziggy, you’re so correct, i’m so depressed I can’t go to therapy today

Last night, “Sex and the City 2” held its world premiere at the hall. A bunch of my high-school friend’s friend saw the movie and thought it was good. The movie opens tonight at 7 p.m. and at midnight at theatres everywhere.

I agree. No Rockette should be asked to do something so demeaning.

In later years during the easter show the part of the priest who lights the electric candles on the altar was portrayed by a rockette in disquise. This was in the setting where all the Rockets became nuns to help form the living cross while they all held easter lillies.

I remember going across the street for coffee& standing against wall so I could talk to the girls in line, I always made sure to ask the boss if I could do some organ work on these days thanks tinseltoes
brought back some fun memories for me

There was a brief outdoor shot of RCMH on HBO’s ‘The Pacific’ Sunday night.