The process for getting an open captioned film to screen is a relatively easy process:
Studio agrees to provide prints to be captioned. These formerly known as “InSight” 35 mm prints are sent to the captioning agency approved by the studio. The captioning agency creates the caption files “master”. The captions are then lased directly onto each print of the film. The studio can do as many or as few copies as it desires. It is the most cost-effective way to support the accessibility needs of deaf and hard of hearing movie-going audiences. Prints are then picked up by the shipping company and then readied for transport to theatres. These prints can go on any screen and are not dependent upon equipment in an assigned auditorium.
Once the availability of the film is announced, the movie film buyers within the respective theatre chains arrange to book engagements in any given city, theatre and auditorium. Once the initial engagement is done, the OC prints are then shipped to the next city, and are bicycled around the country. It’s the shipping company’s responsibility to make sure the print is ready for pick up and delivered to the next theatre with ample time to set up the film in a theatre.
The major problem has always been that there is a greater demand for OC prints than what the studios are actually willing to provide.
There has always been a chicken vs. egg theory. Theatres think audiences won’t come and or a patron can’t make a 10 pm screening.
Despite the hurry up and wait transition to digital, 35 mm prints are not going away. Last week alone, Sony provided for 3,000 prints of “2012” while Disney’s “A Christmas Carol” screened in 3,683 auditoriums. By contrast, “Precious” from Lionsgate only had 174 screens.
So no matter how many times a studio executive will insist that 35mm is obsolete, the numbers continue to contradict their presumption. There are approximately 37,000 screens in the U.S,. but only 8,000 have some form of digital screen in any given auditorium. Digital Cinema corsortiums made up of studios, theatres, manufacturers and other vested parties are still creating a global digital industry standard (specifications). Accessibility features like captions and video description are not mandated by the DCI groups. They are, however, included in the Society of Motion Picture Television Engineers (SMPTE) standards which are also in the process of being finalized.
Theatre chains can only show film titles are that are licensed to them and presented in the format given.
The other Open Captioning system, known as DTS-CSS, is an equipment based system whereby the captions are projected onto the film screen. They use the same disk that contain the caption\video described files as MoPix (Rear Window Captions).
Nanci Linke-Ellis, http://www.captions-west.com
