Theater projector issues may have been partly behind Solo lighting problems - Sensationalist Headlines

http://www.indiewire.com/2018/05/solo-star-a-wars-story-theatre-projection-problems-bradford-young-1201969989/ While much of the coverage of “Solo: A Star Wars Story” focuses on its subpar box office performance, many fans and critics have expressed disappointment with a more immediate problem: The movie is hard to see. The “Solo” Reddit thread is packed with opening-weekend moviegoers complaining the film was so dark they had trouble making out characters’ faces or details in the film’s expansive galactic settings. They weren’t alone. The visibility of “Solo” was dependent on the projection standards at individual theaters, and many of them weren’t up to par. “I was so upset with my screening of ‘Solo,'” said Boston Light & Sound co-founder Chapin Cutler. Cutler, viewed as one of the industry’s leading consultants on proper projection and theater construction, oversaw the rehabilitation and installation of over 100 70mm projectors for the “Hateful Eight” and “Dunkirk” roadshows. “The theater I went to was one of those with wonderful reclining seats where you can get food brought to you,” he said. “I went to the manager and told him I came here and spent $30 to get a fabulous presentation, and what you are showing me is dim, dark, and fuzzy.” At the heart of this controversy is a disconnect between lax projection standards and a very specific creative agenda — namely, the work of “Solo” cinematographer Bradford Young, who is known for experimenting with low-light cinematography. However, Cutler rejected the notion that Young was to blame for visibility issues at “Solo” screenings. Instead, the fault lies with the poor state of theater projection in 2018. Cutler pointed to the work of Gordon Willis (“The Godfather”), whose radical low-light cinematography in his seventies-era productions revealed how much detail can be seen in the shadows. Today, he’s one the most celebrated cinematographers in film history. According to Cutler, multiple factors result in the pervasive issue of dark projection. A dirty window in front of the projection can result in a 20 percent reduction of light. At the premium theater where he saw “Solo,” he walked to the back row and saw a double light source, which he said signaled that optics for 3D screening were still on the projector for a 2D screening of “Solo.” Cutler added that if 3D optics aren’t perfectly calibrated, they will result in the loss of a tremendous amount of light and an out-of-focus 2D image. “Leaving the 3D optics on happens more often than theaters would like us to think,” said Cutler. “Most theaters load their projectors on Thursday night and the timed projectors take care of themselves. If a theater runs 2-D screenings in the afternoon and 3-D screening at night, rarely is there someone there to make the adjustments.” Recommend reading the whole article, it's rather large.

I didn't have any issues with the lighting when I saw it (the actual movie on the other hand...) so I was wondering what the deal was when so many people were complaining about it.

Wouldn't surprise me. I didn't think it was that bad, it definitely felt a bit murky, but I didn't have any problems identifying who or what was on the screen at a given time.

the theater i saw it at seemed perfectly fine. i watched the RLM review beforehand and made sure to keep an eye out but i guess my theater knew how to play it

Seems like when you're spending $20 on a ticket they'd make sure the thing showing you the movie would be setup correctly.

From the article “I had one theater owner once tell me that a movie theater wasn’t a place to go to the movies, it was a place people came to eat and that the movie was just there to pull people past the concession stand,” said Cutler. “That happens to be, from my viewpoint, a particularly pessimistic way of looking at it, but if the theater experience is to the point you can’t understand the dialogue and the picture is so dark you can’t see what’s going on, it is going to be a perceptively ugly image and unpleasant experience. How is it going to compete with people inviting 10 friends over to watch something on their big-screen TV?”

I get why they chose the set up they did in Solo, but it was shit, frankly; the worst part of the movie. Super flat angles, action shots almost 100% at medium distance except for some ship shots, and dull as shit lighting with way WAY too much grading all over everything. There's used universe and noir and then there's beating your audience about the head and face.