DOHA, Qatar – In its inaugural year, the Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF) made its mark with a large screening venue and Dolby 5.1 surround sound system – one of the largest ever assembled.
On a grassy expanse next to the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar's capital, 104 Meyer Sound loudspeakers complemented a 24-by-10 meter screen, supporting screenings and a performance of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra for 5,000 guests.
The audio systems for all four of DTFF's temporary venues were designed and specified by Michael Rome of Boston Light and Sound. For Rome, the scope of the principal outdoor venue presented a sizable challenge.
"Dolby has a specification for how a system should respond in any venue," said Rome. "It's the same response we would expect in a screening room, a movie theater, or on a scoring stage. It's the SMPTE "X curve" specification of 85 dB, plus or minus two dB, front to back and side to side-something not easily achieved in a large open space."
To fulfill this requirement, Rome specified a system comprising front LCR arrays each with eight MILO line array loudspeakers backed by two flown 700-HP subwoofers.
Eight surround towers were erected on the perimeter, each carrying three MILO and three smaller M'elodie line array loudspeakers for near-field coverage.
Eight UPJ-1P VariO loudspeakers provided front fill, while a Galileo loudspeaker management system with two Galileo 616 processors supplied signal matrixing and processing.
All Meyer Sound equipment was supplied by TechoPro LLC of Dubai, under a subcontract from the primary AV supplier for the festival, Creative Communication Group (CCG) of Qatar.
Tuning the system to meet Dolby's specification was the primary responsibility of Boston Light and Sound's Charlie Greenough and Canada-based Dolby sound consultant Matt Kunau.
According to Greenough, the power and linearity of the Meyer Sound arrays were key to delivering performance that, he states, met or exceeded all expectations. "The surrounds impressed me the most, with plus or minus two dB front to back, and the three dB points penetrating to the opposite sides."
Known for its ability to anchor the main system for touring bands like Metallica, the MILO met a different set of requirements in this cinema application.
"The system gave us excellent dialog clarity throughout the seating area," said Rome. "It did exactly what it was tuned to do, which is what you want in cinema sound. You're not looking for the subjective, overwhelming power of a rock concert, but rather a precise match to a specification."
The outdoor system was used for three evenings of the festival, including the Middle East premiere of director Mira Nair's "Amelia" on opening night.
The response of both the audience and festival organizers, according to Greenough, was gratifying. "I received word from the DTFF executive producers and the director of "Amelia," and they thought the outdoor screening was fantastic," he said.
Rigging and tuning the audio system proved a considerable challenge that required close coordination of a large team. Jalal K. Dudin, managing partner of CCG, supervised the role of his firm, with Philip Venter serving as CCG's lead technician for the event.
TechnoPro owner Nabil Bourgeili and head technician Hadi Nassar worked with Meyer Sound contract consultant David "dB Dave" Dennison on configuration specifics and alignment with the SIM 3 audio analyzer.
The Doha Tribeca Film Festival is a partnership formed between the Qatar Museum Authority and New York's Tribeca Film Festival. Although following the New York festival's lead in many respects, including a dedication to promoting emerging filmmakers, the DTFF maintains its own regional identity by highlighting the work of filmmakers from the Arab world.
Representing the Qatar Museum Authority in the DTFF partnership are the Chair, Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, QMA CEO Abdulla Al Najjar and DTFF Executive Director Amanda Palmer.
New York's Tribeca is represented by the festival founders: producer Jane Rosenthal, entrepreneur Craig Hatkoff, and actor Robert De Niro, who was on hand to present awards at the close of the event. Other prominent industry figures participating in the first DTFF included actor Ben Kingsley and director Martin Scorsese.
For more information, please visit www.meyersound.com .
