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A reel deal for blind, deaf - The Boston Globe
When Whitney Meyer wants to catch the latest movie, her mother has to search for a theater equipped with Motion Picture Access, or MoPix.The service allows Whitney, 15, who is deaf, to sit back in her chair and read dialogue and explanations of a film’s sound effects through a clear plastic panel — affixed to her cupholder — that reflects rear-projected text.
For the blind and visually impaired, the same technology provides a wireless headset that allows them to listen to descriptions of dialogue and scenery.
“You want to do things with friends and to know what they are saying,’’ Whitney said through her mother, Jan Meyer.
But only 14 Massachusetts theaters have the equipment, which limits viewing options for her and many others. That’s about to change.
Following allegations of discrimination by several deaf and blind Massachusetts residents, Attorney General Martha Coakley during the summer negotiated an agreement with three of the state’s largest movie chains: Regal Entertainment Group, National Amusements, and American Multi-Cinema (AMC).
It calls for the equipment — initially developed by the Public Broadcasting Service’s Boston affiliate WGBH 20 years ago — to be installed in an additional 63 auditoriums. The agreement requires theater complexes with 10 or more auditoriums to have at least two screens outfitted with MoPix, which is comprised of a screen reader called Rear Window Captioning, and a descriptive-video service.
In recent years, the technology has evolved, making it more affordable for theaters. Theme parks and film companies have also incorporated MoPix in some attractions and products. WGBH’s Media Access Group also produces closed captioning for local newscasts and PBS programs.
MoPix made its debut in 1994 at a theater at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. In 1997, with the opening of the Bruce Willis thriller “The Jackal,’’ a General Cinema complex in Sherman Oaks, Calif., became the first commercial theater to use it. The system gained wider popularity that year when it was installed in some theaters showing director James Cameron’s blockbuster “Titanic.’’
The system works in two ways:
■For the deaf or hearing-impaired, it displays three lines of reversed captions on an LED display mounted in the rear of the theater. Moviegoers are given transparent reflective panels with flexible stems that are easily mounted on cupholders. Rear-projected captions appear superimposed on the movie screen.
For example, in a scene from the animated movie “Up,’’ Carl, the 78-year-old widower, gets out of bed. As he does, the captioning describes the sounds as “Alarm buzzing. Grunting. Joints cracking. Sighs in relief.’’
Jan Meyer said the service “not only gives you the words but it gives you the sound effects, the type of music playing, or someone coughing or crying softly. Those are elements that help [Whitney] to understand things fully.’’
■Visually impaired and blind movie goers use a wireless headset through which an infrared listening system or an in-house FM signal delivers description narration. The narrator details key visuals such as shapes, colors, settings, scene changes, costumes, and facial expressions during natural pauses in dialogue.
A description from this year’s PBS movie “The Diary of Anne Frank,’’ for instance, reads, “Sitting on the stairs, the Franks share a glance. Now in the kitchen, the family cuts plums.’’
Hundreds of movies, including new releases, have featured MoPix in one form or another. Last year alone, more than 50 DVD releases featured WGBH’s description video service. On average, WGBH staffers in Brighton and in Burbank, Calif., caption 110 movies for the deaf and hearing-impaired annually and narrate 70 films a year for blind moviegoers.
“Our goal at WGBH is to have every movie accessible to everyone at all times,’’ said Mary Watkins, director of communications and outreach at the Media Access Group in Brighton. The group’s 29 employees don’t just work on the MoPix technology for theatrical films, but also adapt PBS programs such as “Masterpiece Theatre’’ for the visually impaired, as well as newscasts for WCVB-TV (Channel 5).
WGBH has 23 employees in Burbank so they can more closely work with commercial TV networks to create closed captioning for popular shows such as CBS’s “NCIS’’ and Fox’s “The Simpsons.’’ They also collaborate with movie companies to produce narrative descriptions for their new releases, such as the upcoming November DVD release of “Toy Story 3.’’
For every theater auditorium with MoPix, the nonprofit broadcasting giant receives a $2,000 license fee up front or $500 annually. For an analog theater, the system costs about $9,550. That includes the LED display, the caption/description servers, the infrared system, wireless headsets, and reflective panels. Boston Light & Sound manufactures the reflectors, which cost about $95. For a theater equipped with digital cinema projection, the cost is $5,500. WGBH parcels out the installations to vendors.
The technology has been a steady source of funding for the broadcaster, which reinvests the funds into developing more accessible technology for consumers.
Watkins noted there is an added benefit to the attorney general’s recent negotiations with theater chains.
“It creates more awareness of the systems and the challenge that people with disabilities have with going to the movies,’’ she said, sitting in a theater at WGBH’s Brighton headquarters to demonstrate the technology. “It makes our argument to the studios to increase the number of films accessible, stronger.’’
Brian Charlson, a Watertown resident who is blind, said the video description service “means that I don’t miss any important stuff.’’ He relies on the device to watch movies at the Regal Fenway Stadium 13 theater or at the AMC Loews Boston Common 19. He described hearing the narration of scene details as “like having your uncle whispering the description of what’s going on, into your ear.’’
Charlson usually goes to the movies with a group, which includes his wife, who is also blind.
“It makes me a socially connected and culturally connected person,’’ he said.
When Whitney Meyer wants to catch the latest movie, her mother has to search for a theater equipped with Motion Picture Access, or MoPix.The service allows Whitney, 15, who is deaf, to sit back in her chair and read dialogue and explanations of a film’s sound effects through a clear plastic panel — affixed to her cupholder — that reflects rear-projected text.
For the blind and visually impaired, the same technology provides a wireless headset that allows them to listen to descriptions of dialogue and scenery.
“You want to do things with friends and to know what they are saying,’’ Whitney said through her mother, Jan Meyer.
But only 14 Massachusetts theaters have the equipment, which limits viewing options for her and many others. That’s about to change.
Following allegations of discrimination by several deaf and blind Massachusetts residents, Attorney General Martha Coakley during the summer negotiated an agreement with three of the state’s largest movie chains: Regal Entertainment Group, National Amusements, and American Multi-Cinema (AMC).
It calls for the equipment — initially developed by the Public Broadcasting Service’s Boston affiliate WGBH 20 years ago — to be installed in an additional 63 auditoriums. The agreement requires theater complexes with 10 or more auditoriums to have at least two screens outfitted with MoPix, which is comprised of a screen reader called Rear Window Captioning, and a descriptive-video service.
In recent years, the technology has evolved, making it more affordable for theaters. Theme parks and film companies have also incorporated MoPix in some attractions and products. WGBH’s Media Access Group also produces closed captioning for local newscasts and PBS programs.
MoPix made its debut in 1994 at a theater at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. In 1997, with the opening of the Bruce Willis thriller “The Jackal,’’ a General Cinema complex in Sherman Oaks, Calif., became the first commercial theater to use it. The system gained wider popularity that year when it was installed in some theaters showing director James Cameron’s blockbuster “Titanic.’’
The system works in two ways:
■For the deaf or hearing-impaired, it displays three lines of reversed captions on an LED display mounted in the rear of the theater. Moviegoers are given transparent reflective panels with flexible stems that are easily mounted on cupholders. Rear-projected captions appear superimposed on the movie screen.
For example, in a scene from the animated movie “Up,’’ Carl, the 78-year-old widower, gets out of bed. As he does, the captioning describes the sounds as “Alarm buzzing. Grunting. Joints cracking. Sighs in relief.’’
Jan Meyer said the service “not only gives you the words but it gives you the sound effects, the type of music playing, or someone coughing or crying softly. Those are elements that help [Whitney] to understand things fully.’’
■Visually impaired and blind movie goers use a wireless headset through which an infrared listening system or an in-house FM signal delivers description narration. The narrator details key visuals such as shapes, colors, settings, scene changes, costumes, and facial expressions during natural pauses in dialogue.
A description from this year’s PBS movie “The Diary of Anne Frank,’’ for instance, reads, “Sitting on the stairs, the Franks share a glance. Now in the kitchen, the family cuts plums.’’
Hundreds of movies, including new releases, have featured MoPix in one form or another. Last year alone, more than 50 DVD releases featured WGBH’s description video service. On average, WGBH staffers in Brighton and in Burbank, Calif., caption 110 movies for the deaf and hearing-impaired annually and narrate 70 films a year for blind moviegoers.
“Our goal at WGBH is to have every movie accessible to everyone at all times,’’ said Mary Watkins, director of communications and outreach at the Media Access Group in Brighton. The group’s 29 employees don’t just work on the MoPix technology for theatrical films, but also adapt PBS programs such as “Masterpiece Theatre’’ for the visually impaired, as well as newscasts for WCVB-TV (Channel 5).
WGBH has 23 employees in Burbank so they can more closely work with commercial TV networks to create closed captioning for popular shows such as CBS’s “NCIS’’ and Fox’s “The Simpsons.’’ They also collaborate with movie companies to produce narrative descriptions for their new releases, such as the upcoming November DVD release of “Toy Story 3.’’
For every theater auditorium with MoPix, the nonprofit broadcasting giant receives a $2,000 license fee up front or $500 annually. For an analog theater, the system costs about $9,550. That includes the LED display, the caption/description servers, the infrared system, wireless headsets, and reflective panels. Boston Light & Sound manufactures the reflectors, which cost about $95. For a theater equipped with digital cinema projection, the cost is $5,500. WGBH parcels out the installations to vendors.
The technology has been a steady source of funding for the broadcaster, which reinvests the funds into developing more accessible technology for consumers.
Watkins noted there is an added benefit to the attorney general’s recent negotiations with theater chains.
“It creates more awareness of the systems and the challenge that people with disabilities have with going to the movies,’’ she said, sitting in a theater at WGBH’s Brighton headquarters to demonstrate the technology. “It makes our argument to the studios to increase the number of films accessible, stronger.’’
Brian Charlson, a Watertown resident who is blind, said the video description service “means that I don’t miss any important stuff.’’ He relies on the device to watch movies at the Regal Fenway Stadium 13 theater or at the AMC Loews Boston Common 19. He described hearing the narration of scene details as “like having your uncle whispering the description of what’s going on, into your ear.’’
Charlson usually goes to the movies with a group, which includes his wife, who is also blind.
“It makes me a socially connected and culturally connected person,’’ he said.