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Lights on in Odeon Cinema

  • 10-10-2024 02:02PM
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 28,716 ✭✭✭✭


    I have an Odeon annual multipass I got on special offer in January.

    Been to Stillorgan, Blanchardstown, Naas and Point Square.

    Venues are underwhelming but the worst of all is Point Square

    Went to see The Outrun last night at 1800 in screen 6 as trailers were on 10 spotlights were on pretty bright.

    When film started thy stayed on and I went out to staff member and complained and he came back with me and said they were emergency lights as they did not have stairwell and ground lighting.

    I said it's not good enough and a cinema is supposed to be dark.

    To make it worse every Odeon I have been to has a bright green Emergency Exit light over the doors, beside the screen and it casts a massive green hue onto bottom corner of each screen.

    I contacted them via X/Twitter and in fairness they responded and said it was requirement by law on health and safety grounds.

    I'm calling bullshit on that as other cinemas will be dark without issues. I replied and asked what regulation they are referring to and no response yet. I'm guessing I'm dealing with a UK person and she'll probably come back with a UK rule.

    Photos below are not exaggerated apart from flare from lights that a camera picks up but the cinema was this bright and you could clearly see every other cinema goers face and colour of clothing.

    Just simply not on in my opinion as you go to a cinema to see and hear the movie in best possible way and bright ceiling and emergency exit lights just ruin the experience.

    Please tell me I'm not alone here?

    Post edited by murpho999 on


Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,207 ✭✭✭SteM


    The spotlights would annoy me alright, their excuse for them doesn't make sense to me. I've had similar problems with the exit lights in The Square but they're a legal requirement. No point in having an emergency exit sign if no one can see it in the dark.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,049 ✭✭✭0ph0rce0


    Gas that.

    I was in Stillorgan a few weeks back and it was so dark before the movie you couldn't see in front of you. We sat there for 40 mins because someone forgot to start the movie. Then there was a problem with the projector.

    It was weird. Sitting there not even able to see your hands 😂

    But Stillorgan used to do this. Lights on all the time. Was a nightmare. Seems to be luck of the draw these days.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,584 ✭✭✭✭salmocab


    can’t comment on most of this, emergency exit lights over exit doors are a requirement. As for emergency lighting in the room that only needs to come on in the event of power outage. In most places of business there would be minimum lux levels not sure how that would be worked out for a movie theatre but there must be guidelines somewhere for it.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 40 howdydoo83


    No such issues in the blanch one. I've an unlimited card and never noticed.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 749 ✭✭✭Fuascailteoir


    The emergency light above the exit door is fair enough but in some cinema screens it seems to be 1000 watt



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,411 ✭✭✭Tefral


    The requirement for the illuminated exit sign is from IS 3217. It is a requirement that all Emergency signs need to have 5 Lux on them in emergency mode.


    It is possible to have a non lit sign and then have an emergency light shining on it of 5 lux if the power goes out also which is why you may have seen some cinemas with it not lit during normal operation



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 28,716 ✭✭✭✭murpho999


    Of course they need to have emergency exit lighting but it should be different, with lower brightness or even blocked on the screen side so it doesn’t reflect on the screen. The green hue it throws on to to screen is unreal.

    Post edited by murpho999 on


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 27,352 CMod ✭✭✭✭spurious


    I have noticed at times that they didn't turn all the lights off in Coolock, leaving more than just emergency lights. Quite distracting.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,486 ✭✭✭✭AMKC
    Ms


    Should hace requested your money back. Never had the problem you describe. I did notice the last time I was in the point though that the screen was a lot darker and harder to see compared to the Vue screens.

    Live long and Prosper

    Peace and long life.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,155 ✭✭✭ronano


    Often they'll unintentionally leave the lights on, the control box is usually at the door as you come in. You can click button takes 30 secs to dim



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,637 ✭✭✭KildareP


    I doubt it's even done manually anymore - most modern cinemas are completely automated, the projectors all power up and down automatically, the films start and stop automatically, and all the lighting and controls are triggered by the playout server. You might get someone up into the projection booth maybe once a week to load content deliveries but that's it. The days of projectionists loading the film reels for each show, starting them off, checking the focus and framing are well gone.

    I stopped going to Vue because their technical standards were awful when they went digital, they'd show 2D films with the 3D lens still attached which dims the picture fairly significantly. At one stage one of their screens surround sound channels were mapped incorrectly for weeks, the dialog would all come from the left rear speakers rather than from the centre of the screen. I don't think they even bother masking the screens correctly anymore when switching between wide and ultrawide formats.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 28,716 ✭✭✭✭murpho999


    Not so sure about automation. Went to see Oppenheimer last summer in Cineworld's pretend "IMAX" screen and lights were on fully wen movie started and someone went out and either complained or switched them off manually.

    It does seem very hard to find a cinema that gets things right.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 28,716 ✭✭✭✭murpho999


    Not really a refund situation as I said I have multipass.

    They have responded and said that the lights have to be left on as their floor lighting is not working they also tried to make out that as Screen 6 is smaller that the lights might appear brighter which is not really how lights work.



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 30,344 CMod ✭✭✭✭johnny_ultimate


    The Light House or IFI. Actual projectionists on staff and floor staff double checking each screening. Exceedingly rare to have any major issues.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 28,716 ✭✭✭✭murpho999


    Thanks, I was an IFI member and loved it. Location is not so handy for me, which is the problem.

    Lighthouse is not somewhere I'd go to but I'll check it out.

    Price point of Odeon multipass is very appealing but don't think I'll renew due to poor screens , lights issue and also poor choice of movies and showtimes.



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 30,344 CMod ✭✭✭✭johnny_ultimate


    I get the appeal of the subscription model in Odeon and Cineworld, and in an ideal world it would be a very solid option. It probably still is for many! But tbh I’d rather support the cinemas that put the effort in and get a reliable experience - and the UK multiplex chains in particular just seem to do the absolute bare minimum effort. Even with the savings, not worth it IMO (not to mention the lazy programming even).



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,869 ✭✭✭Oscar_Madison
    #MEGA MAKE EUROPE GREAT AGAIN


    wow haven’t been to cinema in a long time but those bright lights (not the emergency ones) would put me off big time



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 919 ✭✭✭radiotrickster


    I've had the same in a couple of locations. Lights left on and only got turned off after I complained.

    I was in Stillorgen once though when I went out and told them the lights hadn't been turned off, and then once they were turned off someone in the audience very quickly started howling.

    It turns out a family had requested the lights not be turned off because someone was afraid of the dark, and one member of staff had agreed but not told anyone else going to that screening (or seemingly the other staff). The person sounded completely distraught, and it honestly gave me and my mates a fright because we didn't know what was going on except someone was shouting like they'd been shot.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 28,716 ✭✭✭✭murpho999


    If you were there, the emergency lights would put you off too.

    There should be nothing reflecting on the screen.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,051 ✭✭✭✭dulpit


    I was in the Omniplex in Cork the other day and the lights were left on at the start. But somebody wandered out and was fixed pretty quickly (although the movie was the new Joker, so maybe the extra lights would have helped it).

    The issue with the reflections of the emergency exit has always annoyed me. I get they need the light, but surely they could put a shade or something at the top of the light so it's not pouring onto the screen?



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 28,716 ✭✭✭✭murpho999


    Yes, I got my pass for €120 for the year in January which was a good deal and I've made use of it but as you say the quality of cinema is not great and the worst thing was choice of films and timings .

    Joker 2 getting 12 screenings in a day and the likes of The Outrun or The Substance getting one per day.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,727 ✭✭✭horse7


    Only 1 showing of The Critic at 12 o clock in Blanchardstown, looks like Charlestown gets the best times



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 536 ✭✭✭Full_Circle_81


    I remember going to see Dune (first one) in the Odeon at the Point and they left the lights on. My brother immediately went out to complain and they gave him the health and safety nonsense reason. Dune is very dark in places and leaving the lights on ruined it as a theatre experience. I haven't gone back there since but have been told they are still doing the same thing. It's absolutely unacceptable. If they are leaving the lights on because there's a lack of floor or hallway lighting, that's their problem that they need to resolve. The solution should never be to leave all the lights on in the cinema. People should avoid the cinema at the Point at all costs or at the very least send them waves of complaints so they realise how poor a service that is......

    The exit sign issue is annoying, but I'm sure there are ways for them to mitigate the reflection on the screen, if they were at all bothered......



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 918 ✭✭✭one armed dwarf


    Yeah it makes sense that the emergency lights need to be on, but you can clearly see nearly a half of the screen is changed to hulk green by its intensity there.

    Unless that part of the film is supposed to be green



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,431 ✭✭✭The White Wolf


    Odeon Coolock is my go to, and the emergency lights are annoying but the cinema is largely still the classic structure as the UCI before it, so I can forgive it.

    Those lights though around the screen are not in coolock however, that is quite odd placement. Was it possibly a special screening you went to that add to cater to certain needs.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,051 ✭✭✭✭dulpit


    Was in mahon point Omniplex the other night and I noticed that while the emergency exit door was underneath the screen, the emergency exit light was mounted to the side wall next to the door. It meant the light was visible easily, but didn't shine on the screen which was nice.

    More should do that.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,386 ✭✭✭✭expectationlost


    just this screen? they should have cancelled the showing



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 28,716 ✭✭✭✭murpho999


    No it was not a special screening and I've experienced it in Point Square before. I asked staff members on site and then Odeon helpdesk online and they both said they were "emergency lights" that were required to be on as the room did not have floor lighting. They say it's a regulation.

    I'm calling BS on it as I was in Stillorgan on Tuesday night which also does not have floor lighting and no lights were on whatsoever. I think the whole issue is down to interpretation of rules by one manager in the cinema. I'm just simply not going to back there.



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