Review of Sony's Captioning Glasses - Part 2

In the previous blog post Review of Sony's Captioning Glasses, I tried using the Sony Captioning Glasses for the first time. Then flash forward to recently, when I watched Frozen with the glasses.

This time, I found I missed something from the first time I used them. I didn't make an effort to adjust the noserests. Thus, the way the noserests were at the time, no wonder they caused me so much pain. I managed to adjust them just far enough so I wouldn't have the same problem as before, and it worked. I went the entire movie without the glasses hurting me too much, adjusting them here and there.

Still some room for improvements as I mentioned before. One additional suggestion would be adjustable captions color and font size. I'm wondering if this sort of thing would work with Google Glass with the right adjustments and programming.

Review of Sony's Captioning Glasses

I just recently got back from watching The Dark Knight Rises with captions. In this case, it didn't use open captioning or rear window captioning (RWC). The theatre used the Sony subtitle/caption glasses. They do take a little getting used to at first. No captions will show until the beginning of the movie.

They've got their good points and their bad points. But basically, the glasses have room for improvement.

The good:
- Subtitles are easily readable with green letters
- Tapping Menu on the battery pack with + and - adjusts the captioning mode and brightness
- Subtitles show up no matter where you look

The bad:
- After wearing them, they'll feel a bit heavy and the bridge of your nose may hurt
   (in my case, it was painful due to the noserests pinching me, but didn't hurt til I took them off)
- Might cause some eye strain with some people due to the focal plane of the subtitles. Meaning, you're going to be reading subtitles close to you, then look at the movie screen.

The suggested improvements:
- the ear pieces could be made adjustable, like longer or shorter
- the eyepiece connector or middle of glasses could be made hinged to allow for those with one good eye to see more of the subtitles
- the subtitle placement could be made adjustable
- if not hinged, maybe use wraparound glasses?
- the nose rests could be made adjustable
- possible to make "clip-ons" to display subtitles on the person's own glasses?

Came across these pages/blogs mentioning it as well:

Regal Captions All Movies With Special Glasses - A Review
The future of captioned films
My Opinion on the Caption Glasses

And interestingly enough, a Quick Start Guide for the glasses. There's more like this with a little more looking around.

Update: I tried them a second time and posted about it. (Part 2)

The Avengers and Adoption

Just what is it with Hollywood and the movie industry these days that has to make stereotypical jokes? The Avengers isn't quite a comedy movie, but it does have its moments. The scene where Hulk slams Loki into the ground multiple times pretty much killed the entire theatre. I kinda expected to see people rolling down the stairs/aisles.

The subject of adoption over the years has been a serious one. Nothing funny about it. Those who were adopted were essentially given a second chance at life. Adoptees are not bad people. It's more of sociological and environmental issues that can shape a person's life.

Thor's flippant "He's adopted" comment could easily be better. Most likely a better line would have been "He's my brother, though he was adopted and his background was from those who are worse than us." Shows his love, but also his distaste for Loki's actions. Probably would have taken all of a minute to deliver that line. For those who have or haven't seen the Thor movie, that's still a good and neutral line.

We know children, in all their innocent wonder, can easily translate this into thinking that they're bad. In the Change.org petition, Marvel Comics: Marvel Comics - Apologize to Adoption Community!, Jamie made mention of children thinking just this.

One blog claims that Jamie's asking for a boycott. Not quite. If one reads the title carefully, it says "Marvel Comics: Marvel Comics - Apologize to Adoption Community!" Nowhere in the text does it have the word boycott. Just the word apologize. Big difference in definitions.

Adopted people aren't bad. They've just been given a second chance at life when the birth parents can't or won't take care of them for various reasons. My birthmom had her reason, and that one I can understand and don't blame her for putting me up for adoption.

Black Sand Review

A few weeks ago, MSSD's Malz Theatre showed Black Sand. This looks like a thriller style of movie, complete with a lot of suspense. But what made the movie move slowly in its two hour showtime were all the flashbacks. Despite that, it was fairly good. I had a hard time understanding some things due to the signing nature of some of the actors, but I managed to understand what was going on. I'll watch the DVD with subtitles.

The synopsis on the webpage:

"Four students descend upon a tropical rain forest resort in Costa Rica with the purpose of having an adventure for a vacation at an aunt's place. Beautiful waterfalls and lush green jungles are the first sign of heaven but there's also a darker side to paradise. The four are warned not to venture outside after dark. Something from the jungle is stalking the vacationers. Whatever it is, is it protecting a secret or is it something so unspeakable?"

The end was a bit of a surprise, with a few twists and turns thrown in.

I'm not going to reveal the ending if you've not seen it. I'll just say romance is in the air.

"See What I'm Saying" Review

Last Saturday afternoon, I saw Hilari Scarl's "See What I'm Saying" documentary at MSSD's Malz Theatre. Many short films by other deaf have been done, but a documentary? It was pretty nicely done. So's the introductory music video by Powder. We see Robert DeMayo going from having an apartment to homeless to having a home, shared with the homeowner. It's a common theme we see throughout the movie, that it's much more difficult for a deaf actor to get jobs in the hearing world. We see CJ Jones, Robert, and TL Forsberg try to "invite" the hearing people into their world, but very few take up the invitation. It was especially disappointing for CJ to play at a hearing black-oriented convention in the theatre. Less than 20 people showed up total for 3-4 shows.

The most heartbreaking scene was when Robert's mother was in the hospital for the final stages of cancer which spread to her brain. Despite all the attempts with and without interpreter to communicate why he has an interpreter and his attempts to communicate without, he leaves the hospital. His mom passes away without even learning sign a few weeks later, despite him giving her a book on signs some time earlier.

The best parts were watching them perform including audience reactions and interviews. The Beethoven's Nightmare guitarist with the light gray top hat was kinda like a cross between AC/DC's Angus Young (without the extreme antics) and former Guns N Roses guitarist Slash (without the long hair), including other male rockers. TL had her own style that used elements from various female rockers. You have to give her credit for going so far as to make her signing more understandable with GLAD's help.

The post-show Q&A period was interesting, though a little hard to understand in places. It was an interesting treat to see Robert come on stage with Hilari. Outside the theatre, they sold tshirts, and there was mention of the DVD coming out.

Watch this documentary if you can. It's not just ASL-focused, but also has sound and subtitles for those who don't know sign.

Update: They've got a Facebook page!

See What I'm Saying on Facebook

Funny Moment 2: Free Movie Admission

Some years ago when I was living in Illinois, I watched a lot of movies in the local theatres. At one point one of the local theatres was offering free admission just for bringing a comb.

Well, I had one of those huge novelty combs.

I couldn't resist.

When I got to the ticket counter, I pulled out my huge comb from under my pants leg. The line behind me promptly went to pieces...

I got my free movie. Good movie, it was.

Long Drives To See Subtitled Movies

When Sherlock Steve posted "Anything Screws Up Day", it reminded me of something similar that happened to me sometime around 1997.

When the subtitled movie Titanic was being shown in Cincinnati, Ohio, and I was living in Louisville, Kentucky, I made plans to go. My main mistake was not calling the theatre for when it was showing.

So, I drove two hours, arriving about 15 minutes before noon. I go in and right before I buy my ticket when I mentioned the captioned movie, the ticket lady tells me it'll be at 6pm.

Now what do I do for the next 6 hours?

So, I purchased a ticket for that 6pm showtime and did a little touring of the area, not going too far lest I get lost. An hour before showtime, I drive back into the parking lot with a sandwich and read the local newspaper. Then about 30 minutes before showtime, it started getting a bit crowded, and I went in.

It was nearly a full house with a bus from a local deaf school being there as well as a number of other deaf arriving from various locations in and around Cincinnati. After the movie 3 hours later, a lot of us started talking on the way out to our vehicles.

I didn't get home til a bit after midnight. It was worth it what with the long drive, wait, and movie time.

About a year later, I left home at 4am to drive to Detroit, MI, to be with someone to watch a captioned showing of Schindler's List.

Today, we just wait for the captioned show to come to the theatre near us, though some people from small towns may have to drive some distance.

The 'Wrong Game' Review

A couple weeks ago, I was with Jamie Berke to watch The Wrong Game at Gallaudet's Foster Auditorium. Little did we know we'd be sharing the campus with a festival and what looked to be a basketball game. The movie itself was quite good, the first time we've watched a full-length ASL/signed movie. The first thing I'd noticed was no sound. Next thing I noticed was that it had no captions/subtitles for those who don't sign well or at all. Not a problem there.

All through the movie, I noticed little elements from other movies and books here and there. It's rather difficult to list them, but suffice it to say that some major elements seem to have been taken from the SAW movie series. Namely, people being stuck in a room and having to do something in order to exit a maze or room. Even though the movie was low-budget, you know they had to fake, but otherwise their acting 'told' you what was going on. Very little blood and gore was used, with the most being in the Lion's Den when a character put his arm into one of the lion's mouths on the wall... Hardly a gush by Hollywood standards.

Other elements I'd noticed came from books I'd read over the years, a little Hitchcock here, a little Stephen King there, and a few other things here and there. Some of the props and scenes were made to look even more scary and menacing by the use of spiders and snakes. It was interesting seeing Bernard Bragg, both in one of the pre-show ads and in the movie.

Whatever questions I had through the movie were answered at the end. The signing was clear, although with the "old man" character in the attic with the blue gloves was a little hard to understand what with the dark gloves color against a dark background. The camera tricks were pretty well-done as well.

No spoilers here for those who haven't seen it. Let's just say the ending was quite interesting.

Move over, Hollywood... There's a new player in town and it's called Deaf Cinema.