Photo caption: Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), left, and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), right, take on powerful Sith Lord Darth Maul (Ray Park) in a fierce lightsaber fight in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved.
The force was with NCAM when staffers worked round the clock under a cloak of secrecy to provide captions and descriptive narration for the most anticipated movie in years, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom MenaceTM. NCAM's Motion Picture Access (MoPix) team worked four days straight to be sure that an accessible version was ready for the premiere of this instant blockbuster.
MoPix brings closed captioning and descriptive narration to moviegoers who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind, or visually impaired through the use of the Rear Window® Captioning (RWC) and DVS Theatrical® systems. MoPix eliminates the need for special open-captioned or described screenings, enabling moviegoers with vision and hearing impairments to experience the thrill of the movies with their friends and families.
The captioned and described "Star Wars" saga opened at theaters in Seattle, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. The Seattle theater, the Cinerama, recently restored and equipped with accessible technologies by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, is managed by the General Cinema Corporation, an industry leader in providing captioning and description in theaters. RWC and DVS systems are currently available at nine General Cinema theaters, in Atlanta, GA; Plymouth Meeting, PA; Clifton, NJ; Wauwatosa, WI; Sherman Oaks, CA; Lombard, IL; Owings Mills, MD; and two locations in Seattle, WA.
Captions and descriptions have been provided for a number of recent movies, including Sony Pictures Entertainment's Mask of Zorro and 8mm; 20th Century Fox Film Corporation's Entrapment; and Paramount Pictures' Titanic. Several films with closed captions and descriptive narration are slated for release, such as Sony Pictures' Big Daddy (June), Random Hearts (October), and Stuart Little (December).
For more information on MoPix and upcoming films and locations, check out our Web site (http://ncam.wgbh.org/mopix). See you at the movies!
Media Access, Spring/Summer 1999:
The Phantom Menace Comes to NCAM | Accessible Digital TV | Enhanced Arthur 2000 | CD-ROMs, Useful for Everyone | MAGpie: Hot New Web Tool | Caption Center Links TV Viewers to the Web | MIT and Online Learning | From the Director | "Messages" at the Museum of Science
Priority Access: Serving NCAM Business Partners
NCAM Helps Prepare Business Partners for the Future | Millennium Partners | Collaborative Partnerships Increase Access | Equal Access: From the 1950s to the Future
Copyright © 1996 WGBH Educational Foundation
NCAM | WGBH Educational Foundation