Has anyone had a look inside the projection room in a ¨digital¨ cinema these days? I´ve done a bit of internet research on the state of the art in a modern cinema, but watching a projectionist at work could be interesting.

This week I have been to a couple of screenings at the Docmentary Film Festival in Newmarket (Ak), but the pictures have left something to be desired. Certainly both films were nice and sharp, maybe too sharp, but the tonal range was disappointing.

The second film ¨Mrs Carey´s Concert¨ suffered severely from crushed blacks and clipped whites, in my opinion. It looked like someone had cranked up the contrast without looking at the result on the screen. As a result the noise in some scenes (underexposed ones here and there, it was a doco) was very obvious. Also the result overall was not kind to people´s complexions - facial blemishes were much emphasised.

I had the feeling that the producer of the film would not have been pleased with the presentation in this cinema. Do  the projectionists fiddle around with the picture, do you think, or is it ¨hands off¨? I will be interested to try this film at  home if it ever comes out on a DVD.

They have some very noisy machinery too that starts up from time to time in this Event cinema complex. A bit slack, to put it mildly.