Meyer Sound Transforms Friedrichstadtpalast into World-Class Cinema for Berlinale Film Festival 2009
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Friedrichstadtpalast, Germany's historic revue theatre, took the spotlight as one of the two new venues in this year's Berlinale, one of the world's largest international film festivals. With 1,750-seats used for the screenings, the Palast was also the biggest among the cinemas and played an important role for the festival's record ticket sales reaching 274,112. Deployed behind a perforated screen, Meyer Sound's M'elodie line array loudspeaker system provided an extraordinary sound experience for the critical film industry audiences at Friedrichstadtpalast, despite the theatre's wide dimensions, which are atypical for movie exhibitions. Most cinemas are designed in a box shape to provide an ideal environment for surround sound. Friedrichstadtpalast's size and width called for special audio treatments from Dr.-Ing Reiner Chemnitius, renowned audio consultant, and made the positive feedback on the event noteworthy. "The hall is exceptionally wide, which is not optimal for cinema sound," explains Chemnitius. "Achieving the proper imaging across such a large seating area called for a highly focused system, as well as fairly complex processing." The impressive headroom in M'elodie enabled a successful behind-screen deployment. However, due to the high-frequency energy loss in such an application, significant equalization in the Meyer Sound Galileo loudspeaker management system was necessary. In addition, a wall was specially constructed to prevent energy content from disappearing into the stage. Using primarily Meyer Sound loudspeakers owned by Friedrichstadtpalast's with additional equipment support from Berlin-based Werner Audio GmbH, a customized 5.1 surround system was configured, comprising left, center and, right arrays of eight M'elodie line array loudspeakers and two USW-1P subwoofers each. Additional LFE channel low-frequency reinforcement came from two stacks of three 700-HP subwoofers, in cardioid formation. Surround coverage was provided by 12 UPJ-1P VariO loudspeakers along the rear, as well as left and right rear groups of six UPJunior VariO loudspeakers. Twenty MM-4XP self-powered loudspeakers delivered under-balcony coverage, and provided fill and reinforcing the surround imaging for the upper seating levels. "The compact MM-4XP systems are remarkable in achieving the near-field imaging required, particularly in the upper seating areas," says Chemnitius. Berlinale successfully showcased the versatility of the M'elodie system, proving that it is not only an ideal system for Friedrichstadtpalast's Vegas-style productions, but it also delivers incredible benefits to the multipurpose venue. "Particularly the film industry experts, who tend to be extremely discerning in their evaluation of both sound quality and imaging, have been very impressed by the Meyer Sound system," says Chemnitius. "The M'elodie provides a high degree of flexibility to meet the theatre's wide range of production events." Berlinale 2009 attracted 15,575 accredited guests and 3,983 journalists to 1,238 movie screenings of 383 films, many of which were world or European premieres. During the festival, the associated film trade fair entitled European Film Market and Berlinale Talent Campus's workshops are among the events that make Berlinale one of the most important film industry gatherings year after year. The 60th Berlinale will be held February 11-21, 2010. In addition to Berlinale 2009, other top-caliber film industry events and venues have chosen Meyer Sound systems for the rich and immersive sound quality. The company's new Cinema Experience line of products, featuring the Acheron loudspeaker, have been installed in the Bay Area's Skywalker Sound, ImageMovers Digital, and American Zoetrope, as well as USC School of Cinematic Arts and the Digital Cinema Auditorium at University of California, San Diego. Meyer Sound systems have also been used in other movie industry events, including the MPSE Sound Show presentation of "The Dark Knight" in October and the 2009 Golden Reel Awards. Click here to read more about Meyer Sound's Cinema Experience series. July, 2009 |
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