Movie Theater Captioning: Technology and Advocacy
For decades, movie theaters have been inaccessible to hard of hearing and deaf people. Yet, today, thanks to developments in captioning technology and relentless advocacy efforts, Americans with hearing loss are starting to be able to participate at last in this deep-rooted cultural activity.
Movie captioning can be either open or closed. In the most general sense, open captioning is a permanent textual display while closed captioning can be turned on and off or restricted for personal use.
Closed Captioning
DTS-Cinema Subtitling System
Most Americans are familiar with the concept of closed captioning through television.
While closed captioning in movie theaters uses different technology, it retains the distinguishing principle of all closed captioning -- the ability to turn the captions on and off.
DTS-CSS requires a CD-ROM disc separate from both sound and film recordings to store captioning information. When synchronized with the film progression, a separate projector displays white captions on the movie screen. With any DTS sound system, a built in laser reads the time code of the audio CD and synchronizes it automatically with the film being displayed. The same principle applies to captions.
The DTS-CSS system can also play description narration for blind and visually impaired individuals. Descriptive narration tracks are delivered to the theater on the same CD-ROM discs as captions and loaded into the DTS-CSS player. The narration is received through headsets via infra-red or FM transmission and cannot be heard by other moviegoers.
There are 139 DTS-CSS systems in operation in the United States.
For more information on DTS-CSS Exhibitors/theater staff should contact:
Susie Beiersdorf, Cinema Sales Manager
818 705 3525
sbeiersdorf@dtsonline.com
Consumers should contact:
Michelle Maddalena, Director of Cinema Services
818 706 3525
mmaddalena@dtsonline.com
Providers:
http://www.dtsonline.com/cinema/dtsaccess/
Advantages:
DTS-CSS provides an economical and flexible captioning alternative. DTS-CSS is easy to use and compatible with the theaters regular film print, allowing for more frequent screenings at more popular show-times.
Disadvantages:
The white captions display can sometimes fade into a white background, yet most technicians have pre-formatted the projection to appear always on a dark background.
Some viewers experience difficulty following a DTS-CSS system because the location of the display is constantly changing. If two people are carrying on a conversation on screen, DTS-CSS often displays multiple caption lines, one for each speaker, and each at a different side of the screen.
Rear-Window Captioning
The patented Rear Window® Captioning system was designed by Boston Public Broadcaster WHGB and displays reversed captions on a light-emitting diode (LED) text display screen. A Plexiglas device that looks like a rear-view mirror fits into a viewer's cup holder and reflects words from a display board in the back of the theater so that they appear superimposed on the movie screen. The reflective panels are portable and adjustable, enabling the caption user to sit anywhere in the theater. 'rear-window' reflectors are available at the theater's customer service desk.
DVD Theatrical® is a companion system to Rear Window® Captioning which makes movies accessible to patrons who are blind or visually impaired. Together, these systems are referred to as Motion Picture, or MoPix®.
There are 235 MoPix® systems in operation in the United States.
For more information on Rear Window® Captioning and DVS Theatrical systems go to:
http://ncam.wgbh.org/mopix/
Contact for consumers or theater chains:
Mary Watkins, Media Access Group at WGBH
mary_watkins@wgbh.org
617 300 3700
Providers:
Rear Window® Captioning and similar services can be found online at:
http://main.wgbh.org/wgbh/pages/mag/services/captioning/
Advantages:
Rear Window® Captioning provides a functional and personal source of textual reinforcement without requiring costly equipment or disrupting other viewers' experience.
Disadvantages:
It can be difficult to follow simultaneously the dialogue provided through Rear-Window captioning and the images and action on the screen. Some hard of hearing and deaf people who would rather not draw attention to their hearing loss dislike the visible nature of Rear Window® Captioning.
Open Captioning
Open captioning in movie theaters is defined as a permanent text display of dialogue and relevant sounds burned onto the film. It is projected just like other images and cannot be removed.
For more information, contact:
Nanci Linke-Ellis, Executive Director
301-452-87078
Nanci.linkeellis@insightcinema.org
Michelle Heinz, Outreach Coordinator
301-452-8707
Michelle.heinz@insightcinema.org
Providers:
http://www.insightcinema.org/
InSight Cinema is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing the big screen moving-going experience to the 30 million hard of hearing and deaf and English-as-a-second-language (ESL) audiences in the United States. It has created a 3-way partnership with the major studios and all major exhibitors. An offshoot of Tripod Captioned Films, this 10 year-old outreach program serves as a liaison between the DHH community and major studios by increasing efforts to distribute open captioned prints to mainstream theaters. Currently there are150 dedicated theater programs in place.
Advantages:
Open captioning constitutes immediate, fail safe access to textual reinforcement. For hard of hearing and deaf people, that is a substantial guarantee.
Disadvantages:
Open captioning has been criticized by filmmaking studios as distracting or disruptive to hearing individuals. Though, over time and with almost daily exposure to captioning and text crawls on TV programs, American public has proven accepting and often appreciative of captioned programming.
Meanwhile, since burning captions onto film is a labor intensive and time consuming process, open-captioned screenings aren’t available for viewing until three or four months after the initial release. Even when offered, open captioned screenings are rarely held during primetime hours.
The Future of Captioning
Disney Launches Personal Captioning Device for Theme Park:
In 2003, Disney introduced a handheld captioning device to be used in tours and on select rides in their theme park. When visitors were unable to follow guide commentary, Disney looked in vain for “off the counter” solutions. Finding none, Disney developed its own wireless captioning device, similar in shape in weight to a personal digital assistant (PDA), that displays recorded captions corresponding to the visitor’s location in the park. Disney offers the feature in 20 activities and plans on installing it in 10 more in the near future. Disney is also committed to introducing the handheld captioning technology to venues outside of the theme park, including movie theaters and public transportation operators.
Movie Caption Lawsuits across America:
Oregon:
“In February 2000, eight deaf individuals in Oregon filed a state class action lawsuit against four movie theater chains under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act ( ADA). This filing, as modified, asked those theaters to provide access through a seat-based system such as the Rear Window® Captioning system or other forms of auxiliary aids that would provide effective communication.”
The case was dismissed in 2002.
Quoted Excerpts from:
http://demo.nad.org/site/pp.asp?c=edKRISNlEjG&b=183766
Washington, D.C.:
“In April 2000, three deaf plaintiffs brought action against two theater chains, Loews Cineplex and AMC Theatres, alleging that a lack of captioning was a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act ( ADA). In November 2001, the Court certified the matter as a Class Action and negotiations began in earnest to find a solution that met the needs of both sides of the case.
In December of 2003, recognizing that, "Rear Window(R) Captioning was an existing cost-efficient technology that would allow deaf persons to attend first run movies without fundamentally altering the nature of movies or placing an undue burden upon Defendants, a proposed settlement agreement was filed.
Judge Gladys Kessler, in approving the settlement, said, ‘The parties decided that the provision of Rear Window® Captioning would best serve the class's needs given that Rear Window® Captioning is the closed captioning system with the most available movies, positive user reviews, movie studio acceptance, and the ability to make any showing of a movie in an Rear Window® Captioning -equipped theater available to class members.’”
The settlement, which can be found at the following link, provides for the installment of Rear Window Captioning in 12 D.C. area theaters:
http://www.lawyers.com/simeoneandmiller/MovieTheaterSettlement.jsp
Quoted Excerpts from:
http://www.hearinglossweb.com/Issues/Access/Captioning/Movies/wash2.htm
New Jersey:
“In September 2004, the Attorney General’s Office and the Division on Civil Rights reached voluntary settlement agreements with four major multiplex theater chains operating in New Jersey regarding the installation of new deaf captioning technology. Under terms of the settlement agreements, American Multi Cinema (AMC), Loews Cineplex Theaters, Clearview Cinemas and National Amusements agreed to either equip their theaters with new captioning technology or, in multiplexes where the technology was already installed, to expand the number of screens offering such captioning. In each case, the four participating theater chains chose a form of closed captioning known as Rear Window® Captioning, although the Attorney General’s Office has made plain that it views either Rear Window Captioning or another approach, known as Open Caption Projection, as "reasonable" accommodations for hard of hearing and deaf, and has no preference.
March 2, 2005, Attorney General Peter C. Harvey and Division on Civil Rights Director J. Frank Vespa Papaleo announced the filing of an amended discrimination complaint against Regal Entertainment Group, one of the nation’s largest multiplex theater companies, for violating the NJ Law Against Discrimination by failing to install technology that would provide access to first run movies for hard of hearing and deaf patrons.”
Attorney General Harvey has denied requests from consumer organizations like The Coalition for Movie Captioning (CMC) to be included as participants in the lawsuit and potential settlement.
Quoted Excerpts from:
http://www.nj.gov/oag/update/wu.03.02.05.html
Texas:
A third unsuccessful lawsuit against numerous movie studios was filed in 2002 by the father of a deaf child in the U.S. District Court for the southeast district of Texas.
Movie Captioning Abroad:
United Kingdom
In the UK, one in every seven theaters (or just over 100) is equipped with digital Subtitling and audio-description equipment. For more information, see the following link:
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/archives/04/08/03/080304ukacccinema.htm
Canada:
Silver City Theatres, Coliseum Theatres, and Famous Players Theatres provide Rear Window® Captioning in approximately 30 locations in Canada. For a substantial list of rear-window captioning equipped theaters in Canada , see the following link:
http://www.ohsoez.com/Caption/rear_window_caption_canada.htm
OPPORTUNITIES FOR ADVOCACY
The Coalition for Movie Captioning (CMC) is a consortium of member organizations that support the efforts of all forms of captioning. The CMC members are the Association of Late-Deafened Adults (ALDA), the Deaf and HOH Consumer Advocacy Network, Deaf Seniors of America, the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), Self Help for Hard of Hearing People (SHHH), and Telecommunications for the Deaf, Inc. (TDI). The CMC supports all forms of captioning and is TECHNOLOGY NEUTRAL. The CMC stands by its goal of having ALL first-run movies accessible to deaf and hard of hearing consumers, all the time, and in all theaters. The CMC website is:
http://www.hearinglossweb.com/res/cap/cmc.htm
What can you as a consumer do to support these efforts? Contact the trade organizations who represent theater chains and movie studios – the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) – to let them know there is an audience of eager deaf and hard of hearing movie fans who would enjoy watching, and understanding, films on the big screen.
The contact information for these two entities is as follows:
National Association of Theater Owners (NATO)
John Fithian, President
4605 Lankershim Blvd. #340
North Hollywood, CA 91602
Phone: 818-506-1778
Fax: 818-506-4382
E-mail: nato@mindspring.com
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)
Dan Glickman, President and CEO
15503 Ventura Blvd
Encino, CA 91436
Phone: 818-995-6600
This report was researched and written by Patrick Holkins, an intern at SHHH, Inc. (Self Help for Hard of Hearing People). The SHHH website is located at: http://www.hearingloss.org
Supplemental information provided by Joan Haber, who can be reached at joan1@comcast.net