May 2008 - Insight Cinema Shuts Down~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 2001
The National Working Party on Captioning in Australia has announced
that open captioned films from Tripod will soon be available in
Australia. This action greatly increases movie access for Australia's
1.7 million people with hearing loss, who have had extremely limited
movie access.
Australia's three major film distributors are committed to showing
the captioned films as near to their release dates as possible. The
films will initially be screened in Australia's major cities, including
Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth. Availability will
eventually be expanded to smaller markets. Up to 50 films each year are
available from Tripod.
The availability of open captioned films is the result of a complaint
by Dr John Byrne of the Deafness Council of Western Australia. In
response the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission convened a
forum that included representatives of deaf organizations, captioning
organizations, and film distributors. After exploring various captioning
options, the forum decided on open captions (as opposed to closed
captions) because that technology requires no modifications to existing
theater equipment.
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September 2001
Editor: Last year we reported on a new captioning system from Digital
Theater Systems (DTS). Called the Cinema Subtitling System (CSS), it
projects captions directly onto the screen instead of etching them onto
the film. It is thus a closed captioning system that allows the film to
be displayed with or without captions, as opposed to an open captioning
system, in which the captions are a permanent part of the film, and
cannot be removed. Also, because the captions are entirely separate from
the film, captions in multiple languages can be provided, with the movie
theater selecting the language to be displayed. The system also provides
for audio description for people with vision loss.
Here are portions of the press release.
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The UK cinema industry has decided to trial a digital subtitle system
- the DTS-CSS Cinema Subtitling System (prototype). The trials are
scheduled to take place this summer in cinemas around the country.
The system planned for the UK is a combination disc player and
projector that projects the subtitles/captions onto the screen, and
broadcasts audio description through headphones.
Separate CD-ROM discs with subtitles/caption and audio description
information still need to be produced and supplied to cinemas with the
film. Although most major US releases nowadays include this information,
the digital system currently in use there (Rear Window) is not the same
format as the one planned for the UK
But even though the 'systems' are different, they both use the same
innovative DTS technology. The DTS-CSS projects bitmap files, unlike the
Rear Window, but these files can easily be reformatted to suit different
systems.
Film studios are beginning to produce subtitles/captions and audio
description at an early stage in the film making process, as these same
files can be used at a later date for video, DVD and TV formats.
Whilst digital technology trials are taking place in the UK,
screenings of 'open' captioned films, like the recent Hannibal film,
will be continued. More films, and more copies of them are expected.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
February 2002
Editor: Those of you who live near an AMC theater that shows
captioned films can now access the film schedule on the AMC Theater
website. Here are portions of the Tripod Captioned Film's press release
with complete instructions on how to get the information.
Oh yeah, and something about free popcorn!
Contact information for AMC Theaters and Tripod Captioned Films,
including their website information, is available in the AMC Listing and
Tripod Listing in our Resource Directory.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AMC Theaters has added Tripod Captioned Films to their website. Now
you obtain show times a full 7 days in advance for the open
captioned
showing of a popular film in your area at an AMC Theatre.
There are several ways to access the site:
1) Go directly to the AMC site: http://www.amctheatres.com
2) Go to the Tripod Captioned Films site; find the film you wish to
see: http://www.tripod.org. After you find the film go back to the
Captioned Films home page and go to theatre links. Click on "Links
to theatres" and then find AMC Theatres.weblink.
Once you get to the AMC site, choose the area in which you live in
(i.e. Los Angeles) Now choose the specific theatre where the Tripod
Captioned Films is playing (i.e. Burbank Media Center 8). Then click the
film title you know is booked at the theatre and then the day. The open
captioned Showtime will be designated by an asterisk (*).
Remember, the times will only be listed for the 7 days in advance and
they will be updated each day.
We know that this added benefit will be of tremendous help to all of
our TCF patrons. Our sincerest "Thanks!!" to AMC for their
continued support of Tripod Captioned Films!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January 2004
You may be aware of a class action lawsuit regarding captioning in
the Washington, DC area. The suit was initiated by deaf and hard of
hearing people against two large movie theater chains. A proposed
settlement has just been reached, and it will, if approved, greatly
increase the availability of captioning in the Washington, DC area.
While the theater chains admitted no wrongdoing, they did agree to add
Rear Window captioning capabilities to several theaters and to pay
plaintiffs' attorneys' fees.
This result will hopefully encourage theaters throughout the country
to provide more captioned movies.
Here's a brief summary of the Notice of Proposed Settlement. For a
more comprehensive summary, please point your browser to http://www.lawyers.com/simeoneandmiller/MovieTheaterSettlement.jsp
The plaintiffs claim that the two movie theater chains, AMC
Entertainment, Inc. ("AMC") and Loews Cineplex Entertainment
Corporation ("Loews"), are violating the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) by failing to make movies accessible to people
with hearing loss.
The settlement calls for each chain to add Rear Window Captioning (RWC)
capabilities to one screen in each of six theaters in the Metro
Washington, DC area within 2 years after the court approves the
settlement agreement, and to install RWC capabilities for one screen in
any newly built theaters. The settlement also requires AMC and Loews to
advertise the RWC movies in both newspapers and movie websites. Finally,
the settlement calls for AMC and Loews to pay $260,000 for Plaintiffs'
attorneys' fees and expenses.
The court will provide an opportunity for people to comment on the
proposed settlement and will conduct a Fairness Hearing to determine if
the proposed settlement is fair and reasonable. The Fairness Hearing is
scheduled for April 1st, and written statements from those who oppose
part of all of the proposed settlement are due by March 12. Following
the Fairness Hearing, the court will decide whether or not to approve
the proposed settlement.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
December
2006
Impaired
not accommodated, Arizona says
Arizona
is suing one of the nation's largest theater chains, accusing it of
discrimination against those with visual and audio impairments. In a
lawsuit filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, the state Attorney
General's Office charges that AMC Entertainment Inc. is violating laws
that require places of public accommodation to ensure that people with
disabilities are not excluded. The lawsuit says AMC does not offer a
sufficient number of movie screens that provide captioning for the deaf
and descriptive audio services for the blind. Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
September 2007
Thanks to a new device developed specifically for
the Adler Planetarium, hearing-impaired patrons now can enjoy theater
programs at the museum. The PDA-type device allows for simultaneous closed
captioning and film viewing, theater manager Mark Webb said. "We needed a
system that we could update ourselves and that could handle multiple
programs," Webb said. "This system has been used before, but this is the
first time it's being used in a situation where there is more than one
show at a time," he said. The three shows now at the planetarium are
Egyptian Nights: Secrets of the Sky Gods, Black Holes: The Other Side of
Infinity and TimeSpace. Adler staffers create captions for the films and
time them so they are synchronized with the soundtrack. "It sounds more
difficult than it is," Webb said.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
December 2007
I don't know what it was about this article, but
it really set me off. It's a pretty upbeat story of a woman who wanted to
have access to movies, so she set out to raise $12,500 to donate to a
movie theater so they could install Rear Window Captioning. The vast
majority of movie theaters do NOT provide any access for people with
hearing loss. But I guess it took the actions of this woman to make me
realize just how wrong this whole situation is.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
February 2008
Every time I see a commercial for "Juno" on TV I'm
reminded that I need to wait about six more months until I see it. I was
born profoundly deaf, so if I see a movie in the theater, it's exactly
like watching a TV program on mute. Usually I wait it out and buy the film
on DVD and enjoy the captioning or subtitled feature. Current laws require
all DVDs and TV shows of a national scale to be captioned as part of the
Americans with Disabilities Act. Because of this law, physically
handicapped people have wheelchair access to all movie theaters and have
designated parking spots in lots that exceed a certain size.
Unfortunately, making the movies in theaters accessible to the deaf and
hard-of-hearing community is not as simple as providing handicapped
access.
Full Story
