Royal Service Cinema First in the Netherlands to Use Sony Digital Cinema 4K

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Sun, 11/13/2011 - 19:00 -- Nick Dager

Sony Digital Cinema has announced that the Royal Service Cinema in Echt is the first independent cinema in the Netherlands to be fully equipped with its 4K technology. The newly refurbished cinema in Limburg has installed Sony 4K cinema projectors in all of its four auditoriums. 
 
 “The choice of the Royal Service Cinema in Echt to install our 4K technology into its revamped cinema is an absolute milestone for Sony and illustrates the wide acceptance of the Sony Digital Cinema 4K solution. We expect to see more and more fully 4K cinemas in the Netherlands in the very near future” says Tore Mortensen digital cinema solutions account manager at Sony. “Furthermore the boom in 4K projection is being matched by a boom in 4K releases with an increasing number of 4K films being released as 4K rapidly gains momentum in the distribution community. As a result of the growing number of 4K cinema projectors in the Netherlands these films can now be viewed in their optimal manner.” 
Bas Haldermans the owner of the Royal Service Cinema in Echt says With our newly renovated cinema we are able to offer our valued customers the ultimate digital cinema experience. Most other digital cinema projectors are only 2K but Sony 4K is dramatically different with four times the pixel count delivering better picture clarity resolution and quality for a more compelling and entertaining cinema experience. This means our cinemagoers get a level of detail that they’ve never experienced before greatly enhancing their enjoyment of a fast action-packed film or a big scale epic adventure. In addition to this our customers can now order drinks in the theatres purchase tickets from our new computerized payment system and have drinks in the refurbished lounge bar after the movie.” ,2891
Schneider Now Shipping Platinum IRND Filters,2011-11-14,Schneider Optics has announced that its range of absorptive Platinum IRND filters designed to fulfill the demanding requirements of today’s digital cinematography cameras is now shipping. Cinematographers have found that many of today’s high-definition cameras have a high sensitivity to light just beyond the visible range. This can be beneficial in extending the color gamut of digital cameras to closely approach that of traditional film. However light in the IR spectrum can also cause unwanted false color shifts and prevent the camera’s imagers from capturing true black tones. To solve this problem Schneider’s new Platinum Series IRND filters limit the light striking the camera’s CCD or CMOS imager to the visible spectrum. By calculating the optimum cutoff frequency measured in nanometers and precisely controlling the manufacturing process Schneider has been able to produce a near-infrared cut filter that lets users of high definition cameras get the most out of their camera gear. This means the benefit of an extended color gamut without the worry of unwanted false colors. Eliminating the near-infrared light leakage lets the camera maintain true color rendition in the blacks while maintaining high MTF of its lenses and camera system. Schneider Platinum Series IRND filters are free of off-axis color shift regardless of the focal length and can be stacked without introducing reflections. They can also be used as a standard ND filter with all HD video and film cameras. Several prominent filmmakers have commented on the results. According to Bill Bennett ASC “I find them to be quite effective in cutting the IR component of the light while at the same time remaining very neutral with little color shift.” After shooting seven seasons of Desperate Housewives on film Lowell Peterson ASC switched to digital with the Alexa. His only issue was outdoors but he explains “Schneider came through for us with some of the first sets of their great new Platinum IRNDs and all our color matching problems disappeared. Schneider offers these filters in all standard video and cine sizes including: 4x4 4x5.65 5x5 5.65x5.65 6.6x6.6 sizes plus rounds in 138mm 4.5-inch and Series 9. Each filter is available in 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2 1.5 and 1.8 stop densities. Schneider Optics www.schneideroptics.com ,2892
Soundelux’s Glenn T. Morgan Created the Sound for The Way,2011-11-14,Supervising sound editor/sound designer Glenn T. Morgan of Soundelux created the sound elements for Emilio Estevez’s new film The Way. Written and directed by Estevez tells the story of an American doctor named Tom (played by Estevez’s father Martin Sheen) who travels to France to recover the body of his estranged son. Rather than return home Tom decides to complete a trek begun by his son through rural France and Spain along El Camino de Santiago a legendary road originally traveled by St. James. Along the way Tom’s trek transforms into a spiritual journey that profoundly affects his sense of family friends and the challenges of life. Because the film’s story is deeply personal and intimately connected to the small villages and rugged countryside that surrounds El Camino de Santiago Morgan was challenged to craft sound that was real and richly detailed. To accomplish that task Morgan relied heavily on production sound elements. “Although the film is not a documentary it has very much of a first person feel ” he explains. “It was very important to keep it raw and real. For that reason we tried to use as much production dialogue as possible—to resist the urge to reshoot dialogue and rather pay a lot of attention to how we cut things to bring out the words.” Morgan also devoted considerable time to research in order to bring authenticity to the sound effects taking care for example to choose bird sounds from species native to particular areas depicted in the film. Foley effects were recorded in outdoor environments similar to those in the film in order to capture the proper ambience. Loop groups were also recorded in a manner contrary to standard practice. While such talent groups typically speak English Morgan employed talent who were native speakers of French Spanish Basque and other European languages. “We wanted to give it an international flair so there is absolutely no English ” he says. “When they make international versions of this film they won’t need to dub the loop group—our group will live forever.” The Way is one of three current independent films where Morgan served as Supervising Sound Editor. The others are Circumstance which recently captured the Audience Award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and Warrior a gripping family tale of finding forgiveness. Morgan counts himself lucky to have an opportunity to contribute to such quality films. Regarding The Way he said he was deeply moved by the story a feeling shared by other members of the sound team. “It’s an amazing story—so touching and well done ” he says. “It was an honor to work on this film; a true labor of love.” ,2895
MACCS International and XDC Create DCinema Hub,2011-11-14,MACCS International and XDC have created DCinema Hub a joint-venture company to provide a universal one-stop platform to enable the ordering delivery and fulfillment of digital cinema. The platform will consist of four key elements: Content store in order to facilitate the direct order of movies dispatch instructions about digital copy creation and delivery key creation Trusted Device List and relation management. Bert Huls CEO of MACCS International says DCinema Hub is a revolutionary service that we are very excited to launch together with a partner like XDC which has always been a pioneer in advanced digital cinema technology and services. DCinema Hub will create and maintain a central storage where over time a library of all available digital copies will be built up. Exhibitors will order any movie available in the library after which DCinema Hub will initiate the delivery process of the digital copy through the appropriate channel. Instructions for hard drive preparation will be sent to third-party labs while DCinema Hub will automatically process the electronic delivery via satellite (all major networks will be supported) or broadband Internet. DCinema Hub will also generate and distribute keys to unlock the digital copies. We have already received a very positive feedback from distributors since DCinema Hub will tremendously ease their operations by acting as a single point of contact and an automatic delivery platform. We are very proud to have found MACCS as a partner in this ground breaking service says Serge Plasch CEO of XDC. Today the majority of the technical issues in the cinemas are related to wrong keys generated from non accurate screen info. Therefore DCinema Hub has developed a unique push and pull technology that will automatically create and maintain a global Trusted Device List of all cinema's that want to participate. This global TDL has always been the ultimate dream of the digital cinema industry and DCinema Hub is the answer. Because of the importance for the development of Digital Cinema DCinema Hub will be open to any stakeholder in the industry including trusted third parties. DCinema Hub www.dcinemahub.com XDC www.xdcinema.com ,2896
Odeon UCI Signs with Arts Alliance Media,2011-11-30, The Odeon and UCI Cinemas Group has announced that it has signed Arts Alliance Media to be its theatre management system supplier across Germany Austria and Italy. AAM will supply all sites with a TMS and a library management server to manage all equipment and content across each cinema. The deal covers 65 sites and 661 screens across the three countries. The TMS/LMS rollout is an integral part of the digital deployment arrangements announced back in 2010 whereby Odeon UCI is using private financing and direct digital deals with all six major Hollywood studios to fund the rollout via digital deployment associates limited. Under DDAL contracts Odeon UCI has already installed digital in 475 screens in the three markets and will complete the full rollout by mid-2012. Fiona Deans chief operating officer of Arts Alliance Media says “Being selected by Odeon to power their European digital cinemas is a great vote of confidence in our software and we’re delighted that we can increase our worldwide footprint with this deal.” Howard Kiedaisch CEO of AAM says “Working with Odeon UCI the largest and arguably the most respected cinema chain in Europe is very exciting for all of us at AAM. Odeon UCI really sees the true potential that digital cinema can bring.” Rupert Gavin CEO of Odeon & UCI Cinemas says “We like the flexibility and ease-of-use of AAM’s digital cinema software offering.  It enhances our operations across three different countries and enables us to fully realize the benefits of digital – the ease of moving content effortlessly building playlists and seeing at a glance what’s playing on which screens.” ,2903
Alternative Content Market to Grow 150 Percent by 2015 ,2011-11-30, Consumers worldwide spent $162 million in 2010 attending non-film events in cinemas according to a new report from analysts Dodona Research. A single market the United States accounted for more than half of this $88 million. The report also says that the business of showing events like opera sports and rock concerts in cinemas figured almost as an afterthought in the business plans of integrators – the firms which were set up to finance and execute the introduction of digital projection technology in cinemas in place of 35mm projectors the internationally accepted standard since 1909. To their core business of financing installing and maintaining digital projectors and delivering digital copies of films to them these firms often added ancillary businesses in screen advertising and distributing so-called alternative content. Dodona regards a string of deals undertaken by one of these companies Cinedigm as marking a decisive shift away from this model towards greater specialization and focus on the different needs of these disparate activities. Cinedigm sold its screen advertising business to Screenvision its film delivery business to Technicolor while it and Technicolor pooled their alternative content activities all in early 2011. Pointing to the currently small scale of the industry and the tendency of alternative content distributors to get involved in different types of product often on an ad hoc basis Dodona argues that more focus and structure is exactly what this market needs if it is to fulfill its potential. The biggest success story so far has perhaps surprisingly been opera thanks to the commitment and energy with which New York's Metropolitan Opera and its distributor BY Experience have approached the market. Worried by its aging audience the Met saw that distributing operas to cinemas could be the key to broadening its audience for the future. In the current 2011-2012 season it is distributing 11 operas to 1 600 cinemas in 54 countries in live and encore performances which will be seen by more than three million people. With little money available for marketing compared to feature films and generally significantly higher ticket prices alternative content relies heavily on creating a sense of event. Live performances – previously impossible using 35mm technology – have proved a key element in this. As the benefits of live performances have been recognized and more and more cinemas been equipped with satellite dishes the share of live events in the United States has climbed from a quarter in 2007 to more than half in 2010. While a huge range of content types have been shown three main streams stand out as having established themselves particularly quickly: opera and its cultural cousins ballet and theatre; sports; and popular music concerts. In the longer term it is likely that the broader needs of rights owners will be important factors in the development of the market. For cultural institutions which already sell out their performances and where there may be political pressure to make their cultural products more widely available broadening distribution through cinemas is a no-brainer. The music industry however has yet to figure out exactly where cinemas might figure in its post Napster marketing landscape; while sports can pose problems such as the preferred audience behaviour of fans of some sports and scheduling. Successful non-consumer areas include business meeting and presentations. With big screens to show – and large foyers to allow interaction with – new products cinemas can be particularly suited to launches; and in the United States worship services. No fewer than three million Americans attended worship services in NCM Fathom-affiliated cinemas in 2010. Business and worship events generated $28 million in revenue for US cinemas in 2010. Dodona forecasts that the alternative content market as a whole will reach a value of $400 million by 2015 150 percent more than 2010's figure. Although these figures exclude ancillary sales notably from DVDs of events which as in the movie business provide an additional revenue stream the analysts note that realistically the market remains tiny. According to report author Melissa Keeping The final shape of this industry won't become clear until it passes the billion-dollar mark but on the plus side that's almost certainly coming before the decade is out. Alternative Content is available from www.dodona.co.uk ,2904
Barco Completes First U.S. Auro-3D Installations ,2011-11-30, Barco has successfully completed the first Auro-3D installations in the United States at commercial theatres for some the world's largest movie exhibitors including Cinemark (Dallas) Regal Entertainment Group (Los Angeles) and AMC Entertainment (Miami). “We're ecstatic about the creative opportunities made possible by Auro-3D as we continually strive to provide our customers with the ultimate cinema experience ” says Damian Wardle vice president of worldwide theatre technology and presentation at Cinemark. “Auro-3D's unique capabilities launch the audience right into the center of the motion picture experience.”  “The Auro-3D system installed at Edwards Calabasas Stadium 6 delivers an incredibly realistic cinema experience ” says Rob Del Moro chief purchasing officer for Regal Entertainment Group. “The combination of ultra-bright high-resolution projection with 3D audio has the potential ability to deliver a true-to-life reproduction of the drama on-screen. As we continue to evaluate this technology on performance and cost we are intrigued by its possibilities.”  “AMC Entertainment has historically been a first adopter of competitive new audio technologies that enhance the cinema experience ” says Dan Huerta vice president technology of AMC Entertainment. “We were honored to be able to provide this new experience to audiences for the first time at ShowEast 2011.”  “We're committed to continually elevating the cinema experience by providing groundbreaking technologies that allow our exhibition partners to flourish in an ever-growing competitive entertainment market ” says Brian Claypool senior director strategic business development at Barco. “Auro-3D provides a whole new dimension to the movie-going experience reproducing the most realistic spatially accurate sounds all around and above patrons to enhance the realism and immersive qualities of the story.” ,2905
Winners of the 25th Braunschweig International Film Festival Named

,2011-11-30, The Spanish comedy What are Bears for? (Para qué sirve un oso) won the Heinrich the audience award of Braunschweig's 25th International Film Festival. The award ceremony took place last month in Braunschweig's State Theater’s Great Hall. The prize money of 10 000 Euro was equally divided between director Tom Fernández and a German distributor. The festival’s main sponsor Volkswagen Financial Services donated the prize money.

 The short film music prize The Leo went to the Dutch film The Origin of Creature by Floris Kyaak (Regie) und Lennert Busch (Musik). The computer animation was selected by a jury with director Verena S. Freytag music journalist Uwe Golz film composer Dieter Schleip and Carsten Spicher the head of the German competition as well as the archive of the short film festival in Oberhausen. The purse of 2 000 Euro was provided by the company BEL NET.

For the fifth time the French-German Youth Award KINEMA was selected by a jury of five young people from both countries. Under the supervision of director Gordrian Maugg (Zeppelin!)  the young jurors chose the French production Ne nous soumets pas à la tentation by director Cheyenne Carron. Carron won a 35mm-single print copy with German subtitles for further festival use.

 The festival's main prize the European Actor's Award worth 10 000 Euro was awarded to the French actress Isabelle Huppert for her outstanding performances and contribution to European film culture. ,2907
Cinedeck Sony Announce Rebate Program,2011-11-30, Cinedeck has teamed up with Sony to launch a rebate promotion on Sony XDCam EX and F3 cameras when purchased with a Cinedeck EX recorder. The rebate amounts are: PMW-EX1R          $500 PMW-EX3            $600 PMW-320 – all packages    $600 PMW-350 – all packages    $600 PMW-F3 K/L         $900 The rebate program ends on December 31st 2011. Further details and terms and conditions are available at www.sony.com/XDCAMEXunleashed. Cinedeck www.cinedeck.com ,2908
Cineworks Opens Satellite Operation at Millenium Studios,2011-11-30, Louisiana-based Cineworks has opened a satellite operation at Millennium Studios to support film production there and around the Shreveport-Bossier City area. When fully operational the new location will employ three to five people full-time new jobs added to the company’s roster of 15 experienced technical experts. The new operation consists of digital dailies suites with fiber upload capabilities able to work with most of the digital cameras and workflows currently on the market and provides North Louisiana area productions faster access to Cineworks personnel and capabilities. The Shreveport satellite location is the next phase of a deliberately planned multi-market expansion in Louisiana that will enable us to give film productions on-the-ground access to the highest levels of technology and technical expertise. Louisiana is seeing more than 100 productions a year all looking to maximize their budgets says Cineworks LA president and CEO Vinny Hogan. Now we’re one step closer to the productions which helps simplify their process and gives them state-of-the-art services right here in the state. It’s an additional level of depth to Louisiana’s overall production industry and that is very attractive to anyone looking to film here. The new location also provides easy proximity to the company’s fully equipped state-of-the-art film lab in New Orleans the only one in the state and one of only a handful in the nation. Christopher Stelly executive director of Louisiana Entertainment the state’s entertainment economic development office says It’s a testimony to the vibrancy and growth of Louisiana’s entertainment industry and particularly the film production sector that a company that opened three years ago is now expanding statewide. It’s a great asset to our industry to have a film lab of this caliber here and to have industry members like Vinny Hogan and Tony Maiorana making this kind of investment in and commitment to Louisiana. We’re excited to have them in Shreveport and in our facility says Millennium Studios’ president Diego Martinez. It’s another step toward the right mix of vendors in the area to assist Shreveport-based productions and to continue moving the industry forward in Louisiana. By year’s end Cineworks which first opened its doors in Louisiana in 2008 expects to open an additional satellite operation in New Orleans bringing the company’s total number of locations statewide to four. Cineworks’ presence brings Shreveport-Bossier up to another level in terms of production capabilities says Arlena Acree director of film media and entertainment for the City of Shreveport. Cineworks has already established themselves as a member of our community and committed to being part of the industry here. They’re a tremendous asset. ,2909
Deluxe Bluepod and Cinema Scene Announce Marketing Deal,2011-11-30, Deluxe Media Management and Retails Sales a subsidiary of Deluxe Entertainment Services Group a strategic alliance with Bluepod Media North America and Cinema Scene Marketing have announced a deal to offer location based marketing services at theatres in the U.S. The Bluepod Media interface puts users of handheld devices such as smart phones feature phones and gaming systems in control with simple content navigation allowing swift access to desired content and a branded experience. Users can engage directly with advertisers via Bluetooth and WiFi entirely for free. Content opportunities range from videos and wallpapers to apps calendar reminders and more. Campaigns will integrate with Cinema Scene's TrailerVision digital signage network. TrailerVision messaging will encourage moviegoers to browse Bluepod Media content on their mobile devices. Deluxe is delighted to be collaborating with Bluepod Media and Cinema Scene on the Location Based Marketing platform says Michael Alvarez president of Deluxe Media Management. By continually evolving our marketing services we are able to help our clients find new ways to speak to consumers. Bluepod Media is thrilled to be working with Deluxe and Cinema Scene in bringing a whole new cinema mobile experience into the theatre lobby. We look forward to rolling out the mobile proposition over the coming months says Tom Shrager co-founder Bluepod Media North America. “With our TrailerVision network. Location Based Marketing lends itself well to the cinema space and is a great benefit to our clients and exhibition partners says Joe Ross managing principal Cinema Scene Marketing. “With Deluxe as a leading provider of advertising and marketing distribution services to the entertainment industry Bluepod Media's location based mobile expertise and Cinema Scene's deep-rooted relationships with theatrical exhibitors Deluxe Bluepod and Cinema Scene can deliver consumer engagement of the highest quality for advertisers in theatres. Cinema Scene www.cinemascenemarketing.com Deluxe Entertainment Group www.bydeluxe.com