Seeking feedback on technical issues at the cinema

Transcript

23 September 2012

Roberta: A couple of months back I spoke with Ally Woodford at Media Access Australia about a public questionnaire around technical issues people may be experiencing at accessible cinema sessions. The questionnaire is still open for people to complete but in the meantime Ally is here to share with us some of the issues already identified. Hi Ally.

Ally: Hi Roberta, hi everyone.

Roberta: Now firstly, can you just remind us about the questionnaire's content and the need for it?

Ally: Sure. Since audio description and closed captions in cinemas really began to take off over the last two years, we've had I guess anecdotal reports around the odd hiccup in cinema delivery, so the questionnaire's looking at what might be causing issues, technical issues and whether it's around, say, description volume levels or caption dropouts. The questions themselves, they're quite specific. They're tailored, I guess, to the technical side of things as opposed to the customer service side of things.

Roberta: Now around the audio description, can you share some of the feedback that you've already received?

Ally: I guess the thing that's been most commonly reported on is the dropout of audio description numerous times throughout a movie. There's nothing concrete yet around this happening at one particular venue, which might point to a reception issue in that particular auditorium or dropouts for one particular movie, which would point to a post-production issue. But, you know, we've got a number of months to run on the questionnaire yet so we might see some more, I guess, concrete patterns developing in the future.

Roberta: Two things Ally: how long will the questionnaire be available for people to complete and where can people complete it?

Ally: We're planning on keeping the questionnaire open until the end of the year. The questionnaire, it's available online only and the easiest way to get to it is via our homepage. The questionnaire is the fourth item on our scrolling banner. Alternatively, it's on our cinema and arts page and it's the second listed under "What's Hot".

Roberta: And is there any enticement for people to enter this?

Ally: Oh yes, there is. We are offering one lucky respondent per month a new release DVD and of course that's captioned and audio described. The movies we've given out so far, we've given out Moneyball, which has got Brad Pitt in it, the Big Year which stars Owen Wilson and Steve Martin, and just last month I gave out The Avengers with Scarlet Johansson. So they're pretty good movies just for filling out a quick questionnaire.

Roberta: And it does help the system to run a lot better and maybe to identify how it can be helped to make it better.

Ally: Yeah, that's right.

Roberta: Ally, before we go, can you give us an update on the newest audio described cinema locations nationally, and you might even have a few more titles.

Ally: Sure, yeah. With the cinemas, the most recent cinemas that have started up are all outside of Victoria but still it's progress.

Roberta: Of course.

Ally: We've got locations at Tea Tree Plaza and Salisbury in Adelaide, Southlands and Carousel locations in Perth and Tweed City up on the New South Wales/Queensland border. I also know Event cinemas has opened an entirely new cinema complex up at Toombul in Brisbane and they have accessible sessions, and I do believe Village Cinemas are soon to commence accessible sessions at a number of its Tasmanian locations, which will be great because our Tassie friends have.  They've been missing out on accessible movies for a while now.

Roberta: That's really good news. I can remember when we were talking and you gave me, I think it was four or five around Australia, and now there's so many of them.

Ally: Yeah, I think we're up to over 110 screens nationally and I think around locations we're up to around 70 locations nationally. And of course, you know, it's growing all the time.

Roberta: That's fantastic news, you've certainly done a lot of work there. Any titles?

Ally: By chance, I'm actually heading off to the DVD store today, so I don't think I have anything new to report on but we'll have a chat in a couple of weeks about what's new in the DVD section.

Roberta:  That'll be really good because it is growing all the time and I think that's wonderful news. Well, if you've experienced a technical issue around captions or audio description at the movies, you can report it to Media Access Australia and also be in the running to win a latest release DVD. Visit Media Access Australia to complete the questionnaire or if you have any questions on accessible cinema you can contact Ally on (02) 9212 6242 or send an email. Thank you for all of that, Ally.

Ally: No worries.

Roberta: And you get your pencil pointed and get some more titles, and we'll talk soon. I've been speaking with Ally Woodford at Media Access Australia and Media Access Australia are supporters of this program.

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