Fast & Furious 4 skids into Estes Park this week (March 31, 2009)
Posted by Reel Mountain Theater on Tuesday, October 27, 2009
"Can you turn down the volume just a little bit!?"
"Honey, would you mind turning the sound up just a smidge?"
In the last 2 weeks, I've heard both of those requests; my answer is usually the same... and here's why.
At Reel Mountain, we're pleased to present films using Dolby sound processors, which include a standardized volume control and scale. That scale starts at zero and ends at 10. As a rule, films are engineered to be exhibited at 7 (on the scale of 0-10). Every Friday, when the film shows for the first time at our theater, whether that's at a public exhibition or staff screening, we make personal adjustments to the film specific to our auditoriums and audience. Many times you'll see the manager talking (whispering, really) on the phone during the trailers and some of the feature with someone in the booth that is adjusting the sound level- or running up and down to make adjustments themselves. That personal touch is one of the tasks we undertake to maintain a comfortable movie experience for our guests. Here's why: most of our film trailers (previews) are presented between 4 and 5, and most features are presented between 5 and 6.5. Each film is very different- today, our 3 current features are running at 5, 5.5 and 6. We rarely present the sound at the recommended level of 7, because it ends up offending many customers when run that loud. We're still trying to hit a target of 'most people' with our settings, and there will always be one or two people that want it louder or quieter... One of the exciting parts of watching a film in a theater is the body shaking feeling when the jet crashes in KNOWING and it feels like you're THERE- or in Monsters v Aliens when the monsters run around the back of the theater and you turn your head to see where the sound is coming from.... Please rest easy that we are constantly paying attention to the volume and want you to be comfortable. There are options if the settings for 'most' people don't meet your needs. Thanks to the help of Wendy Koenig at Community Hearing Center, we offer a complimentary set of headphones that allow you to adjust the volume and tone to your liking, either louder or quieter that the set volume. Our systems will also allow you to bring your own infrared style personal headsets. Wendy does offer that versatile headset in her office for home use as well (she doesn't know I'm mentioning her name here).
So, yes, we can adjust the volume, but we already adjusted it before you arrived. We do want your feedback, and we'll do our best to offer you an option to enjoy the experience without the sound being a problem.
"Honey, would you mind turning the sound up just a smidge?"
In the last 2 weeks, I've heard both of those requests; my answer is usually the same... and here's why.
At Reel Mountain, we're pleased to present films using Dolby sound processors, which include a standardized volume control and scale. That scale starts at zero and ends at 10. As a rule, films are engineered to be exhibited at 7 (on the scale of 0-10). Every Friday, when the film shows for the first time at our theater, whether that's at a public exhibition or staff screening, we make personal adjustments to the film specific to our auditoriums and audience. Many times you'll see the manager talking (whispering, really) on the phone during the trailers and some of the feature with someone in the booth that is adjusting the sound level- or running up and down to make adjustments themselves. That personal touch is one of the tasks we undertake to maintain a comfortable movie experience for our guests. Here's why: most of our film trailers (previews) are presented between 4 and 5, and most features are presented between 5 and 6.5. Each film is very different- today, our 3 current features are running at 5, 5.5 and 6. We rarely present the sound at the recommended level of 7, because it ends up offending many customers when run that loud. We're still trying to hit a target of 'most people' with our settings, and there will always be one or two people that want it louder or quieter... One of the exciting parts of watching a film in a theater is the body shaking feeling when the jet crashes in KNOWING and it feels like you're THERE- or in Monsters v Aliens when the monsters run around the back of the theater and you turn your head to see where the sound is coming from.... Please rest easy that we are constantly paying attention to the volume and want you to be comfortable. There are options if the settings for 'most' people don't meet your needs. Thanks to the help of Wendy Koenig at Community Hearing Center, we offer a complimentary set of headphones that allow you to adjust the volume and tone to your liking, either louder or quieter that the set volume. Our systems will also allow you to bring your own infrared style personal headsets. Wendy does offer that versatile headset in her office for home use as well (she doesn't know I'm mentioning her name here).
So, yes, we can adjust the volume, but we already adjusted it before you arrived. We do want your feedback, and we'll do our best to offer you an option to enjoy the experience without the sound being a problem.
