Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference in OC and CC in the movies? I notice you do not list any CC movies, only OC.
My Girlfriend is deaf and we have gone to your OC films. Another theatre closer to us now has CC.
We haven't checked on it but wondered why you dont list them. We really appreciate the Friday E-Mailings. Thanks and please respond. Matt And YolondiaThis is a good questions that most people - both with and without hearing don't understand. OC and CC have become interchangeable even though the difference -- at least in a movie theatre -- is radical.
Open means that everything is right on the screen and seen by the whole audience. No equipment or special seats required by the patron. The dialogue is beneath the speaker so you know who is speaking and helps identify characters' names.
Closed means the captioned are encoded and require equipment installed to decode it aka Rear Window\MoPix. You need to get a reflector from the box office - Captioned are view through the reflector at the seat. It helps to find a strategically placed seat (this is trial and error depending upon the auditorium, its size, stadium seating or not), etc.
All captions are 98% verbatim and include audio prompts that can be "heard" but not seen (ringing telephones, gunshots, radios broadcasts, music lyrics, etc). In the case of open, they may include hints like off screen dialogue in italics in the upper right hand corner of the screen.
Most people use the term CC because of television captioning which is now 100% all new programming starting in 2006. Older reruns, etc. have more time to add captions (there are millions of hours of television that have been broadcast since the 1940's.
Thanks for your support and interest in InSight Cinema. Don't forget to check out our live captioned events listing for theatre, opera and other captioned or text based entertainment.
Why aren't all films available in open captioned?
Why does it take so long for open captioned films to get to my city?
Why isn't there an open captioned theatre closer to me?
Why don't open captioned films coincide with wide releases?InSight Cinema typically is granted between 12 and 20 prints of a film we are allowed to caption. We try to circulate those prints to the nearly 300 theatres that are participating in the open captioned program.
As you can imagine, there are some cities that don't get to see the film for many weeks. It normally takes a little more than a week to get from city to city, as the print must return to the depot before it is shipped to the next location.
There are many factors that go into deciding where the films will play, as well as which films will get captioned, but every engagement must get the OK from both the theatres and the studios. The number of people that attend the showings has a lot to do with where we are able to play. We want to get open captioned films to as many people as possible.
We are currently in the process of working with companies developing new technologies that will bring more captioned films to patrons all around the country. Look to our website for updates and developments concerning these technologies.
In the meantime, the best way to get open captioned prints to your local theatre is to get together with other patrons, possibly through groups like your local chapter of SHHH (Self Help for the Hard of Hearing), and let the theatre know you are willing to support the program, and attend in large numbers. The theatres can then get in touch with us. Meanwhile, we will continue to work to bring open captioned films everywhere.
Previously Asked FAQS:
How can I get my favorite film captioned?
All InSight Cinema are first run (meaning brand new) releases that are currently playing in theatres around the country. We certainly would like to know what your favorite films are. Based on the numbers of cities requesting, we can sometimes go back to a film and arrange to have it captioned, even if it's already opened.
Can you provide some more general information about InSight Cinema?
InSight Cinema is continuing the mission begun by Tripod Captioned Films. Nanci Linke-Ellis continues her advocacy and outreach efforts as a new 501c3 organization.
How are current films selected?
Basically, we attend screenings of the films about a month before they open and decide whether or not it has a wide enough appeal to our audiences. Also, we are in daily contact with studio executives regarding the projected success of a forthcoming film. We then ask the theatre film buyers for their opinion. Only "wide release" and projected top box office films are chosen at this time. We want to draw the widest possible group in order to develop and expand the movie-going experience for deaf and hard of hearing audiences.
How are InSight Cinema's Engagements determined?
Obviously, the longer a theatre is willing to play a film, the higher priority they are for getting the print. The top 50 cities get every film. In order to keep transportation costs down, these prints are "bicycled" to the nearest city. This is why we can't always ensure weekend dates: we don't know until the studios tell us where or when they have booked a film.
Some theatre circuits in major cities have more films they must play than screens -- this means we can only get one or two weekdays or one or two shows.
Do you caption older movies that are on video but were never captioned?
No. Once a film comes out on video, it means it is removed from first run distribution by the studios. If it's a re-issue (like "Saving Private Ryan," which returned in Feb. 1999), we are then able to book it again.
Is there something we can do to help increase demand and therefore availability for captioned films in our area?
The power of the audience is in attendance and letting your local theatres know how much you love going to Open Captioned Film presentations and want to see more. This is about consumer demand.
How can people who don't have web access, but do have email sign up for notifications of upcoming movies?
It's easy! Email with your name, email address and the state for which you would like to receive information. Notifications are weekly.
Why are the words in white, sometimes they are so hard to read?
The process by which captions (or subtitles) are applied to a motion picture print is by use of a laser, which engraves the text onto each individual frame of the film, burning away the emulsion layer of the film, allowing white light from the projector to pass through the film and project white captions on the screen. Addition of a drop shadow or gray or black box surrounding the titles would require a very costly optical process.
Why aren't all the words to the music open captioned?
According to Dave Margolis, production manager of Cinetyp, the subtitling company that creates the captions that appear on the films you see:
"We do make every effort to include in the captions all the dialogue in a movie, as well as significant sound effects and song lyrics. There are instances, however, in which song lyrics that may be audible on the sound track are what is referred to as "incidental music," that may not be distinct or particularly relevant to the action on screen at the time.
Placing captions containing song lyrics on screen over action scenes may detract from the important action or visual comedy that is taking place. In these cases, an editorial decision is made whether or not to caption song lyrics.
Also, frequently, songs that play over the closing credits of amovie may not be captioned if the captions would "double print", or print over, the credits themselves."
The process by which captions (or subtitles) are applied to a motion picture print is by use of a laser, which engraves the text onto each individual frame of the film, burning away the emulsion layer of the film, allowing white light from the projector to pass through the film and project white captions on the screen. Addition of a drop shadow or gray or black box surrounding the titles would require a very costly optical process.
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InSight Cinema in a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to bringing the Big Screen Movie-Going Experience to Deaf and Hard of Hearing Audiences across the U.S.