Failure of Death Note Screenings

Dotti55 · Post by **Dotti55** » Mon May 25, 2009 12:14 pm

First - why was DN2 scheduled during the Masquerade? How ridiculous was that? A late night screening would have made it more available to people who wanted to see it with a fun crowd instead of during the masquerade. secondly, when the first one was being shown, they stopped it and changed the language from the dub to the sub. And when some of us complained we were told to go watch My Little Pony or something. That was very rude, and we thought the one place we could be and not be made fun of was AB. And THEN because they spent so much time with that, we weren't able to finish the movie - they turned it off before it was over to accommodate another panel. My daughter had been so looking forward to watching the DN movies with like minded fans for months and this entire fiasco colored her entire weekend. Being made fun of by people she thought were her peers really hurt her feelings.

Robin291 · Post by **Robin291** » Mon May 25, 2009 1:46 pm

That sounds very rude, I'm pretty glad i didn't go if that was the case. I'm not big on the live action movies and to be quiet honest the only way i CAN stand watching them is dubbed{I enjoy L's english voice actors voice coupled with his actor, it makes it easy to deal with}. so i would of been rather angry about this too if i had attended.

whoever was in charge of this should of started it in one language and kept it that way.

Kusuguru Usagi · Post by **Kusuguru Usagi** » Mon May 25, 2009 4:24 pm

[quote=Dotti55]First - why was DN2 scheduled during the Masquerade? How ridiculous was that? A late night screening would have made it more available to people who wanted to see it with a fun crowd instead of during the masquerade. secondly, when the first one was being shown, they stopped it and changed the language from the dub to the sub. And when some of us complained we were told to go watch My Little Pony or something. That was very rude, and we thought the one place we could be and not be made fun of was AB. And THEN because they spent so much time with that, we weren't able to finish the movie - they turned it off before it was over to accommodate another panel. My daughter had been so looking forward to watching the DN movies with like minded fans for months and this entire fiasco colored her entire weekend. Being made fun of by people she thought were her peers really hurt her feelings.[/quote]

I'm very sorry to hear that this happened to you and your daughter, and that it spoiled the rest of the weekend for her.

I know that this is a totally different situation, but, when my boyfriend and I went to go see "Howl's Moving Castle", they started it off subbed, but then they switched it to the dubbed version because several people were having issues viewing the subtitles.

servantofreeoth · Post by **servantofreeoth** » Mon May 25, 2009 4:49 pm

I would have made a complaint....but that's just me.

I wouldn't let a punk like that give me or (if I had one, a daughter) such sass at a convention I'm paying a good amount of money to attend. }:(

I'm sorry you guys had to deal with that, since it was one of your weekend's highlights.

rvkn · Post by **rvkn** » Mon May 25, 2009 10:55 pm

Agreed. There was a big issue with the sub visibility. People complained about dubs since they are for some reason morally opposed to them. However, as soon as it was switched, you could see the same people changing seats frequently just so they could see the dialogue.

Some rooms and setups are not great for subs, and this was one of them.

sigmab3ta · Post by **sigmab3ta** » Tue May 26, 2009 1:50 pm

A few thoughts, in the hope that things start to make sense:

-If you go to an anime convention (anime being an art form that originates in Japan) and complain that things are shown in their original language (that is, Japanese), then you sir, are a moron. End of story. I agree that what the person said to you may have been rude, and was uncalled for given the circumstances (see below). I understand preferring dubs, really, it's not a bad thing; but if you show up at an anime convention and are shocked that the general consensus prefers Japanese, you have made a mistake. Do you also go to Carnaval in Brazil and complain that the music isn't really your style, and ask them to play some emo rock?

-The whole subtitle fiasco is being blown out of proportion a bit. The OP makes it sound like they showed half the movie one way and half the other. They showed maybe the first 30 seconds of the movie dubbed... we literally heard only one line in English, about enough to remind the person running the thing to raise the question about languages. Again, the overwhelming preference was subtitles, which was why the change occured.

-That said, showing video programming of any sort in the Back Bay ballroom of the Sheraton is an amateur mistake. That room simply is not tall enough to elevate the screen to an appropriate height. What actually happened during the Deathnote 1 screening was that some oblivious, 9 foot tall Bleach (I think?) cosplayer sat in the front row, approximately 6 feet from the screen. There were visibility issues with or without subtitles (I was about 5/6 rows behind him and couldn't see half the screen, forget about subtitles.)

-Speaking of amateur mistakes. I'm going to go on a tirade about the horrible, horrible planning involved with the cancellation of that showing. It was marked on the schedule as being from 6:30PM to 8:30PM. At around 7:48PM the lights came on and the person who turned them on muttered something about "another panel", it was indistinct over all the murmuring. I draw one of two conclusions:

1)They were cutting the movie short because there was another panel supposed to be in there. False. The next event scheduled for the room was the Lupin III movie, and was scheduled for 8:30PM - a full 40 minutes later. Changing DVDs does not require 40 minutes of preparation.

2)The person administrating the screening had to go to another panel. BAD PLANNING. More importantly, weren't there other staff in the room, or at least in the vicinity, who could handle the monumental task of waiting for a movie to end?

So as you can see, there is a monolothic lack of planning and competence being displayed here. Someone f-'ed up big time, and it ruined a LOT of people's Fridays. I know my girlfriend was really looking forward to seeing both movies, but she didn't even want to go to the second one after that catastrophe. And if anyone has ever seen Death Note they realize why that would be.

All I'm saying is heads better roll because this kind of horrid management was not an isolated incident at AB09.

Dotti55 · Post by **Dotti55** » Tue May 26, 2009 3:05 pm

First of all, I didn't expect one language or the other, we had hoped it was going to be the dubbed simply because we happen to enjoy the dub (I also enjoy the original Japanese, I love Kenichi and his total performance) Second of all, by your way of anology the entire convention should have been in Japanese. It was not the fact that it was shown in the Japanese, it was the fact that it was changed after it had started and the rudeness behind it. I have no problem, and neither does my daughter, with the original Japanese in anything. I watched the original anime series in it's original Japanese and loved every minute of it. So don't throw your high handedness at me about that. You're being ridiculous.

sigmab3ta · Post by **sigmab3ta** » Tue May 26, 2009 7:04 pm

No,

What I mean is not that everything at AB should be in Japanese. Romeo X Juliet, for example, was shown in English (and with no complaints, because that obviously should be shown in English.) My very specifically worded point is that by being surprised that the vote swung towards subs, and (worse yet) by complaining about it, you are in the wrong.

Again, all that was shown in English was the previews/ads at the start of the disc. If changing to subs after that is what upset you, then I don't know what to tell you.

rvkn · Post by **rvkn** » Tue May 26, 2009 7:48 pm

[quote=sigmab3ta]=
-If you go to an anime convention (anime being an art form that originates in Japan) and complain that things are shown in their original language (that is, Japanese), then you sir, are a moron. End of story. I agree that what the person said to you may have been rude, and was uncalled for given the circumstances (see below). I understand preferring dubs, really, it's not a bad thing; but if you show up at an anime convention and are shocked that the general consensus prefers Japanese, you have made a mistake. Do you also go to Carnaval in Brazil and complain that the music isn't really your style, and ask them to play some emo rock?
=[/quote]

You missed the whole point. People could not read the subtitles. That's the problem. I don't care if it's in Japanese or English as long as I can understand the dialogue via audio or reading.

However, when I'm 6'2" and when I have to sit high to read the subtitles, then everybody behind me can't see as well. And it pretty obvious that other people couldn't either as they bumbled around looking for the right angle until the person in the front leaned to the left.

If it was theatre or stadium style seating it would be fine. But it wasn't.

Don't let your despair to hear the Japanese language get in the way of practicality and logic.

sigmab3ta · Post by **sigmab3ta** » Tue May 26, 2009 9:29 pm

I agree that it was a poor viewing situation. That's the kind of thing that needs to be dealt with in advance... and doesn't change the fact that the majority wanted to see it in Japanese.

geekguy · Post by **geekguy** » Wed May 27, 2009 10:14 pm

Also, "Deathnote" is a very 'verbal' piece. It's difficult to "scan read" subs and follow what's going on on the screen at the same time. I can follow subs for the most part, but unless they're really badly done, I prefer dubs!

geekguy · Post by **geekguy** » Wed May 27, 2009 10:22 pm

>What I mean is not that everything at AB should be
>in Japanese. Romeo X Juliet, for example, was
>shown in English (and with no complaints, because
>that obviously should be shown in English.) My\
>very specifically worded point is that by being
>surprised that the vote swung towards subs, and
>(worse yet) by complaining about it, you are in
>the wrong.

If you want to run it in Japanese with subs, fine. Make certain your venue can handle that before you do it. DON'T start in one mode and then switch to the other and FINALLY, DON'T insult the fans who prefer dubs by saying; "If you don't like it, go watch "My Little Pony."

The whole freakin' POINT of a convention is for people who are made to feel foolish by "mundane" society to have fun with people who understand them. Not run into "sub-snobs" who try to make them feel bad about their preferences!

My daughter has seen this movie subbed and dubbed. She prefers dubbed. She also noticed that this audience was sadly less responsive than the "dubbed" audience she'd seen it with last year when it was in theaters!

Post by **MerchMaven** » Thu May 28, 2009 5:01 pm

Okay, I think this is just becoming a flame war, which is against the rules. I am sorry if you encountered any rudeness on the part of any staff member, and I will bring it to the attention of the department head involved.

There will never be an answer to the 'sub/dub' wars, and for the most part, each watcher has their preference, which may change dependant on the particular show.

That being said, we understand that there was a problem, both with the screening and the staff, and we will work to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Any further attacks on a fellow congoer or their preference will result in a warning. Thanks for your understanding!

Eilonnwy · Post by **Eilonnwy** » Thu May 28, 2009 5:04 pm

[quote=SciFiGrl47]Okay, I think this is just becoming a flame war, which is against the rules. I am sorry if you encountered any rudeness on the part of any staff member, and I will bring it to the attention of the department head involved.

There will never be an answer to the 'sub/dub' wars, and for the most part, each watcher has their preference, which may change dependant on the particular show.

That being said, we understand that there was a problem, both with the screening and the staff, and we will work to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Any further attacks on a fellow congoer or their preference will result in a warning. Thanks for your understanding![/quote]

This.

And locking.