In March of this year, the Academy of Arts and Motion Picture Sciences (AMPAS) presented an award to loan Allen and Robin Bransburv of Dolby Labs, and Mark Harrah of Walt Disney Co for their work as creators - concept, design and implementation - of the Trailer Audio Standards Association’s (TASA) Trailer Loudness Standard.

With due respect to the award and achievements of the above recipients, AMPS editors would like to draw member’s attention to the work done in Britain by the Motion Picture Loudness Committee (MPLC) on the same subject, and the Committee ‘s achievement in having it‘s findings incorporated into a British Standard.

The following is a report by Graham Hartstone, Chairman of the MPLC.

MOTION PICTURE 

LOUDNESS COMMITTEE

Following adverse press articles about the excessive sound levels in cinemas, the MPLC (Motion Picture Loudness Committee) was formed under the chairmanship of Graham Hartstone in November 1998. 

The committee consisted initially of representatives from Dolby Laboratories, DTS and Sony Cinema Products Corporation. Other committee members were drawn from the major distribution companies, cinema exhibitors (CEA), cinema advertisers (CAA), cinema installers, the British Standards Institute, (BSi), various rerecording mixers from the AMPS membership, and the all-important optical transfer supervisors. 

Our aim, under the combined wing of AMPS and BKSTS, was to establish some control over excessive soundtrack levels as a form of industry self-regulation, before it became a serious health and safety problem. 

From the early meetings it became clear that other organisations were pursuing the same goal. TASA (Trailer Audio Standards Association) in the USA, CAA (Cinema Advertisers Association) in the UK, and more globally SAWA (Screen Advertisers World Association) were all proposing to use a Dolby model 737 LEQ(m) to monitor levels. This meter measures average peak levels over the timescale of the programme, in other words, the annoyance factor. It does not prohibit loud sounds from being used in a mix, but they must be compensated by periods of lower modulation in order to register an acceptable average level. 

These LEQ(m) limitations are now widely accepted in many countries, most of the mixing facilities have the LEQ(m) meter to monitor levels, and a further check is made at the optical transfer facilities. Currently the maximum levels of 86 dB LEQ(m) for trailers and 82 dB LEQ(m) are adhered to. 

Further reductions are being sought, MPLC successfully incorporated these levels into a British Standard (BS 5550-7.4.2:2000) and an ISO equivalent is being drafted. 

The human ear has a built-in protection device. When subjected to continuous high levels it begins to self-attenuate, especially the high frequencies. Fortunately it slowly returns to normal during a following quieter period, although too much continuous high level exposure may cause permanent hearing damage. This phenomenon is well known to rerecording mixers. In future, the ‘overtures’ to feature film presentations (trailers and commercials) can be played at the standard fader setting without causing offence. This means that feature mixers will not have to compensate during the mix for the virtual certainty that their tracks will be turned down in the cinema. Let us make full but not excessive use of the more than adequate available dynamic range. 

As chairman of the MPLC, I would like to thank all the members of the committee for their time and contributions so far in achieving the British Standard, with special thanks to John Croft FBKS, for being an excellent secretary to the committee.

GRAHAM V HARTSTONE FAMPS FBKS 

Head Of Post Production, Pinewood Studios

OMISSIONS & CORRECTIONS

THE EDITORS APOLOGISE

Unfortunately the following names in the End Credits 2000 columns, printed in the last Newsletter, were spelt incorrectly : Ann Boorman, Carmen Dillon, and Hedy Lamarr.

Sadly, the names of Marc Davis and Bernard Wicki, who both died in January 2000, were missed from the listings.

Marc Davis was the great animator who, working for Disney, created many cartoon characters including Bambi, Thumper, Tinkerbell, and the evil Cruella de Vil. He was also responsible for devising installations at Disney theme parks. He was 86.

Bernhard Wicki, actor/director, born in Austria in 1919 of Hungarian-Swiss parents, did much to restore the prestige of the German Film industry, in 1959 he directed The Bridge, a story of Bavarian schoolboys defending a small bridge against American attack. The film won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar. The excellent German segments in Darryl Zanuck’s The Longest Day movie were directed by Wicki. He also directed two American movies, The Visit (1964) and The Saboteur (1965) and acted in a number of Italian and American films.