Feedback requested on something I hate doing.

One thing I hate doing is changing the phone message on the Movieline. It usually takes several tries and hence a lot of time. A while ago someone suggested putting a synopsis of each film on it but the message is already several minutes long.

It's also where I get into some interesting situations, for example next weekend we have a Bollywood film called Kambakkht Ishq, I have no idea how to pronounce that.

I once asked the IT department if there was any thing similar to a hit counter for the phone message to give me an idea how much it's used but I guess there isn't.

If anyone is curious I'd like any comments on whether the message sounds okay. There's a couple things I tend to do that I think may be annoying but maybe no one notices. I won't say what they are so I don't influence your opinion.

The phone number is 519-661-3616 then hit 1 for the movie listings.

The Volume of the movie.

This post is also in response to a previous comment placed about the volume level at Western Film being too high recently. I also received an e-mail about it today. I figure the odds are good it was the same person.

The volume level is one of those things that can never be quite right, there will always be some people who think it's too loud or too quiet. My boss is always telling me to keep the volume high.

We set the volume the first show through on Friday. Each movie is different so the volume setting varies. We also adjust it depending on how many people are in the theatre. People absorb sound so if it's busy we turn the volume up some. It also depends on the type of film. A big action film is supposed to be loud, it's how loud that's the question.

A complaint once in a while is often just a personal preference of that person which I can't do much about. However I have had a few complaints over the last few weeks about it so cumulatively that suggests we aren't doing something right.

The hard part is often the sound mix of the movies themselves. It often seems if you turn it up to a level where the dialogue can be heard then the fights, explosions or whatnot are too loud.

I know there was one night recently we did screw up on the volume. It was the late show of a film that had already played at 7pm. We had set the volume level by the first showing which was way busier than the late showing. As a result the volume was really loud for the late showing. No one said anything until the movie was over so we weren't aware of the problem.

I'll be keeping a close eye (ear?) on the situation and in general keep the volume lower. If anyone has any feedback feel free to e-mail me or let us know at the theatre.