[Nd-talk] FW: article from INFORUM

[Milton Ota]

Sent: Monday, April 08, 2013 5:06 PM
Subject: FW: article from INFORUM

 

Were you guys aware of this?  I think it must be fairly new.
 

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Fargo movie theaters offer features for hard-of-hearing, visually impaired
<http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/395722/> 
Sam Benshoof - 04/07/2013

        
FARGO - John Neiss used to go to the movies even when he couldn't tell what
was going on in them. The Fargo man, who is deaf, was used to seeing movies
with closed captioning in Rochester, N.Y., where he attended the National
Technical Institute for the Deaf in the mid-2000s. But when Neiss moved back
to Fargo in 2009, local movie theaters didn't have such options. Closed
captioning wasn't available. Regardless, because he still wanted the movie
theater experience and didn't want to wait for movies to come out on DVD,
Neiss went anyway. Not surprisingly, he was often frustrated and confused by
not knowing what was going on. "I was only able to decrypt actions and body
languages without understanding the real plot behind it," he said last week
through an interpreter, adding that it could be a "nightmare" to try and
figure out what was going on. That all changed in the fall of 2011, when
Marcus Theatres - which owns the West Acres Cinema and Century 10 Cinema in
Fargo - transitioned to digital cinema technology. Included in that
transition were two features designed to offer a more accessible movie-going
experience: CaptiView closed captioning for the hard-of-hearing, and Fidelio
descriptive narration for the visually impaired. For Neiss and many others
in the Fargo-Moorhead area who previously weren't able to attend movies, the
experience suddenly became much more convenient. Small devices, big impact
Both the closed captioning and descriptive narration technologies are
transmitted by small, wireless devices available at the movie theaters' box
office for no charge. The closed captioning is meant to be placed in the
moviegoer's cupholder, and has a small, bendable arm that connects the
transmitting device to an easy-to-read screen. The screen, which has a
protective shield so as not to disturb other moviegoers, displays a film's
closed-captioning track in LED text. The descriptive narration, meanwhile,
is a similar device connected to a pair of headphones, which moviegoers wear
during the movie. An audio track of what's happening in the film is
transmitted through the headphones, explains Carlo Petrick, communications
manager for Marcus Theatres. "The movie is described to the viewer as they
are watching it," Petrick says. "They're hearing a description of what's
going on on the screen, rather than seeing it." The descriptive narration
track is produced by the studio that releases the film, Petrick says, so
whether a person attends a movie at Marcus Theatres or another chain, they'd
hear the same audio description. Petrick describes both technologies as an
ongoing effort by Marcus Theatres to make the movie-going experience more
accessible for everyone. "Marcus has been one of the leaders in the
exhibition industry in putting in this kind of technology and making movies
more accessible for people who are deaf and hard-of-hearing and also
visually impaired," Petrick says. At West Acres Cinema, General Manager Rick
Solarski says most, but not quite all, movies have the closed-captioning or
descriptive-narration available. Even though the features have been
available for a while now, theater staff has needed the time to make sure
everything works smoothly. 3-D movies, for example, occasionally create
problems for the closed captioning, Solarski says. "We're working on trying
to get the bugs out," he says. Information about whether a specific movie
has closed captioning or descriptive narration can be found on the Century
10 or West Acres cinemas' websites. The Fargo Theatre downtown, meanwhile,
doesn't offer such features, but is in the middle of a capital campaign to
raise funds to convert to digital cinema. The campaign currently sits at
nearly $180,000, with a goal of $200,000, according to Emily Beck, the
theater's executive director. When the theater makes the switch to digital,
it will also be able to offer closed captioning and descriptive narration,
Beck says. "I think our audiences will be glad when we're able to offer
those things," she adds. Enhanced quality of life Neiss, who was the first
person to use the closed captioning technology at West Acres Cinema, says
the technology has made a huge difference for him. "Wow, I was impressed,"
he says. "With that technology, it helps me to enjoy the movie more." Since
the introduction of the closed captioning, Neiss has started going to movies
more often. "It helps me to understand everything that's happening in the
movie, and to finally enjoy the ending without questions," he says. Because
of that accessibility and convenience, Solarski says an increased effort is
being made to let people in the community know about the availability of the
closed captioning and descriptive narration. "We've made some announcements
to some of the support groups in the area that have previously expressed
interest, and gotten the word out that way," he says. Mark Kueffler,
president of the North Dakota Association of the Blind, says he and others
in the local blind community hadn't heard of the descriptive narration until
just recently. Kueffler, of West Fargo, says that he's emailed other
visually-impaired people in the area to let them know about it. "I'm glad
that (Marcus Theatres), locally, have foreseen that there was a need there,
and followed through with it," Kueffler says. When asked whether he thought
the local blind and visually-impaired community would take advantage of the
descriptive narration and go see movies now, Kueffler answered, "For those
that enjoy movies, why wouldn't they?" Neiss also applauds Marcus Theatres
for making the features available in Fargo. "The technology enhances the
quality of my life as a deaf person," he says. "It's improved my life. It's
made it better. And it really means a lot to me." 

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Readers can reach Forum reporter Sam Benshoof at (701) 241-5535 

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