Movie lovers know what a treasure Harrisburg’s Midtown Cinema is.
Screening independent and art-house films since 2001, the intimate theater on Reily Street offers patrons a unique viewing experience that cannot be duplicated in larger venues.
For patrons with a hearing or vision impairment, however, even this smaller, up-close space can be a challenge for taking in a show. But now, thanks to new technology acquired by the Midtown Cinema earlier this year, these moviegoers can enjoy the same theatrical experience as other guests, with comfort and ease.
Assistive and accessibility devices acquired through California-based QSC help to bring the movies to life for patrons with hearing or visual challenges.
Stuart Landon, director of community engagement for Midtown Cinema, said that even though the technology has been available for only a couple of months, patrons are catching on and coming in more to take advantage of it.
“We had been doing a lot of research into this technology,” Landon said. “And as a member of the Arthouse Convergence, a national group of arthouses, we have been following what our sister theaters are doing and acquired the technology.”
Open caption programs on Mondays have been standard offerings at Midtown Cinema for many years. Not unlike subtitles, open captions appear on the movie screen where they are visible to the entire audience. Although the open captions did attract a select crowd, the one-day-a-week offering was limited.
Through the acquisition from QSC, the cinema now has six assistive and accessibility devices. Moviegoers simply need to provide their ID for a deposit to use the device for any movie they plan to see.
Closed-caption devices receive and display captions via infrared energy. Infrared comes from the booth and then transmits to the device. The receiver is attached to an angled flex arm, which is adjustable to accommodate a person’s height, with a base and built-in cup holder that fits into the theater seat arm. Guests can select up to four caption languages delivered with the movie.
Two-channel headphones also are available with either HI (hearing impaired) or VI-N (visually impaired narrative) audio options. Headphones with the visually impaired narrative are comparable to listening to the screenplay, Landon said. Not every film comes with all the narratives, but more and more films are adding this feature.
The captions and subtitles can be open or closed. And with the captioning devices, those with hearing or visual impairment are at an advantage.
“What’s also neat about it is, when you use the closed captioning, you will get information sooner than patrons who aren’t using it,” Landon said. “They have the inside scoop, almost like holding a script.”
Guests who are unfamiliar with the technology simply need to ask for assistance from one of the cinema’s staff, which is trained in use of the technology.
Landon said that Midtown Cinema has reached out to members of the hearing-impaired community to let them know about the devices and hopes more and more people will take advantage of them. Each evening, two devices per screening room will be available.
“Over the holidays and during Oscar buzz season, I hope more people will take advantage of it.” Landon said. “I hope more people will feel at home at the movies.”
Midtown Cinema is located at 250 Reily St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.midtowncinema.com.
