Film: Ridley Scott's Prometheus (2012)

[krs]

Ultimately, I agree with others who found the subtle use of 3D tasteful and effective

There are clear and noticeable flaws in the technology with regard to movement in a scene. It was distracting and a constant problem for me throughout the movie. It may depend on the eyesight of the viewer. I have always had really good vision, so maybe that's why it stuck out so clearly. I also find the depth of field used in 3D too narrow. When someone in the background is speaking and it is important, I don't want them out of focus. It's gimmicky, and I have never found a film better for having used it. If an element or technique does not add to a film, I'd rather it not be there.

[Brinkman]

Ultimately, I agree with others who found the subtle use of 3D tasteful and effective

There are clear and noticeable flaws in the technology with regard to movement in a scene. It was distracting and a constant problem for me throughout the movie. It may depend on the eyesight of the viewer. I have always had really good vision, so maybe that's why it stuck out so clearly. I also find the depth of field used in 3D too narrow. When someone in the background is speaking and it is important, I don't want them out of focus. It's gimmicky, and I have never found a film better for having used it. If an element or technique does not add to a film, I'd rather it not be there.

LLooookkss lliikkee yyoouurr pprroobblleemm..







But seriously, without completely disagreeing, as far as the industry is concerned, it's a gimmick. It's not only that, it's how they curb piracy. That's the #1 incentive right there.

[:::]

this movie suuuuuuuuucked

[don.chaney]

Lazy/inexperienced projectionists pretty much sums it up

Saying that is sort of like calling an employee at the nearest Subway "lazy/inexperienced" because your sandwich was sort of a piece of shit. It's silly.

Chain movie theaters with digital projectors (which is to say most movie theaters at this point, right?) do not have "projectionists." If there is someone up there, it's a 17 year-old kid earning minimum wage who basically just presses a button and makes sure nothing is totally fucked up. I say "if" because many theaters now have projectors that just start themselves.

The person responsible for these projectors is usually the assistant manager, a 22 year-old kid earning slightly more than minimum wage. They get the drives or whatever with the zillion gig files delivered, bring them up into the booth, load them onto the computer, attach trailers, and schedule them to show-up/start at the right times. That last part is the main focus.

The projector is set-up when it's installed, the general manager (a 30 year-old person earning maybe a bit more than the 22 year-old) reads the entire manual and they'll maybe change something when it fucks up. If they're told some bullshit about the bulbs, they'll roll with it.

That's it. That's the model for movie theater chains in 2012.

These people are not lazy, they're just doing exactly what they're told to do. They're not really inexperienced either, because these aren't really jobs that most people are going to be doing for an extended period of time - most of them work part-time. The responsibilities of the people who deal with the projectors are basically on par with those of the person who sells popcorn or rips tickets. Success amounts to being able to exceed your per-cap for concession sales or up-sizing enough orders, etc. In the case of "projection", it's making sure everything starts.

They more than likely do not know or care about what looks good or even about movies for that matter and neither do most of the people going to see the movies.

[JHarn]

Lazy/inexperienced projectionists pretty much sums it up

Saying that is sort of like calling an employee at the nearest Subway "lazy/inexperienced" because your sandwich was sort of a piece of shit. It's silly.

Chain movie theaters with digital projectors (which is to say most movie theaters at this point, right?) do not have "projectionists." If there is someone up there, it's a 17 year-old kid earning minimum wage who basically just presses a button and makes sure nothing is totally fucked up. I say "if" because many theaters now have projectors that just start themselves.

The person responsible for these projectors is usually the assistant manager, a 22 year-old kid earning slightly more than minimum wage. They get the drives or whatever with the zillion gig files delivered, bring them up into the booth, load them onto the computer, attach trailers, and schedule them to show-up/start at the right times. That last part is the main focus.

The projector is set-up when it's installed, the general manager (a 30 year-old person earning maybe a bit more than the 22 year-old) reads the entire manual and they'll maybe change something when it fucks up. If they're told some bullshit about the bulbs, they'll roll with it.

That's it. That's the model for movie theater chains in 2012.

These people are not lazy, they're just doing exactly what they're told to do. They're not really inexperienced either, because these aren't really jobs that most people are going to be doing for an extended period of time - most of them work part-time. The responsibilities of the people who deal with the projectors are basically on par with those of the person who sells popcorn or rips tickets. Success amounts to being able to exceed your per-cap for concession sales or up-sizing enough orders, etc. In the case of "projection", it's making sure everything starts.

They more than likely do not know or care about what looks good or even about movies for that matter and neither do most of the people going to see the movies.

Ding ding ding.

That's pretty much it right there. As a former "projectionist" who misses greatly the days of being able to deal in 35mm, this is how it's done now almost exactly as described above. Hardly anyone steps foot upstairs, unless it's to load the drives onto a gigantic server or to address some heating/cooling issue. Seriously, that's it. All the other work can be done from downstairs on a computer using the "TMS". Employees aren't even allowed to clock in as "booth/projection" anymore. Essentially chains eliminated the job of projectionist altogether.

Also, no one...including the GM...can do anything to the projectors aside from changing the bulb when it's due, adjust masking, and adjusting the z-screens if necessary. Which by the way, the z-screens are what causes most of the darkness that you all are complaining about, and even having the projector at decent luminance isn't going to help much. If anyone were to open any of the other panels on the projector, it would immediately lock up as a security measure and they would undoubtedly be reprimanded or flat out fired. If there is a problem, they have to call a number to tech support, who will page a booth tech, who will likely tell you to reboot it. A regional booth tech services the projectors, and they show up maybe once every 5 to 6 months to do general maintenance.

So if you go to a movie theater now and you see managers walking around looking lost and confused, it's likely someone who was forced out of booth and has to deal with the general public now. They aren't being lazy, they simply aren't allowed to do anything of much significance.

[Brinkman]

Lazy/inexperienced projectionists pretty much sums it up

Saying that is sort of like calling an employee at the nearest Subway "lazy/inexperienced" because your sandwich was sort of a piece of shit. It's silly.... etc.

Ding ding ding.... etc

Excellent points.

[stewie]

It was a decent movie, probably a 7/10. The opening sequences are just gorgeous. Were they really filmed in Scotland, I wonder? Looked more like Iceland or maybe Scandinavia.

Oh, and it looked perfectly three dimensional in 2D. Fuck 3D, seriously.

[stewie]

Argh, DP

[joelb]

Last 20 minutes went off the rails. Movie would have been much better without the last scene entirely. My theater laughed.

But there's about 90 minutes of outstanding movie in there.

[amelia]

I enjoyed the movie. I had a bigger problem with the whole creationist theory/engineers aspect of the story. I guess it's a theme with the humanoid robots in Scott's stories, but I actually got side tracked in my head. I expected a less pristine pre-dirty-wet-Alien future.

Overall, it was entertaining which is what I wanted, entertainment.

[Frank Decent]

I enjoyed it. I actually liked the ending. I feel like the fucking thing was just getting interesting. 'Till then, it had been entertaining, but so many of the elements of the story were just a rehash, filled with what seemed like some silly potholes, or at least logic holes. It's flawed, but entertaining movie. I got free tickets for the 3D, so we saw that. Didn't mind it, but it wasn't really utilized to any impressive degree. It felt nicely immersive at times, and at other times it was irritating and took you out of things. I hope they really do something interesting with where it left off. Something new for fucks sake?

[madmanmunt]

I expected a less pristine pre-dirty-wet-Alien future.

Is this what you are talking about?

[amelia]

I expected a less pristine pre-dirty-wet-Alien future.

Is this what you are talking about?

lol, no junk in her trunk. Yeah, I guess so. I was referring to the feeling the movie Alien had with the sound and look of water dripping and the cargo ship falling apart. But I guess it's all context. In Alien they were doing grunt work and in Prometheus they were looking for their maker. But still, I wanted the Engineers' ship to be slimy and scarier, feeling-wise.

[amelia]

crap, DP

[Boombats]

crap, DP

Well you do a DP there's bound to be a little crap

[readandburn]

No tension in the movie at all. Disappointing.

[iembalm]

Had it's moments. I liked what Fassbender was doing. I like Kate Dickie in anything, wish she'd had more to do. Visually it was great. Music was good, noticed just a couple of cues from the first Alien (which has one of the best scores ever), not overdone at all. Last twenty minutes or so felt really rushed. I wanted to see it this weekend, so I had no choice and subjected myself to 3-D, which I was able to ignore for the most part. I'll rent it and watch it again with my wife.

[gjhardwick]

My thoughts on the film...my troubled thoughts;

Why do they make such a point of showing the space jockey spaceship crashing to the surface and landing in the same position as in Alien, only to have the pilot leave the ship and die on the emergency space pod, when in Alien a chest burster has killed him in his chair on the ship?

SPOLIERS

Prometheus is set on a completely different planet to the one shown in Alien, therefore it's not the same ship. Your point about them showing the ship crash-landing in the same way is still valid though...

I saw the film in 2D last night. Visually stunning. Woeful dialog and major plot-holes made it simply 'alright' IMO...

I suspect they always intended the story in Prometheus to run so that there would be another couple of films to fill-in the gaps

[gjhardwick]

double post

[Tommy Alpha]

Music was good, noticed just a couple of cues from the first Alien (which has one of the best scores ever), not overdone at all.

Really? I'm surprised you thought this. I found the score to be one of the worst aspects of the film. I can imagine it being rejected by the producers of 'Smallville' for being too mawkish.