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Demo Scenes

Demo Scenes: Baby Driver

Baby Driver

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The Edgar Wright heist flick provides demo fodder both aggressive and subdued

by John Sciacca
updated November 2, 2023

Chapter 13, 1:08:44–1:12:42

Using R-rated content for demo material is a slippery slope since it can easily be off-putting to many viewers and obviously isn’t suitable for families. And the most demo-worthy scenes from R-rated films usually contain gratuitous violence, profanity-laced dialogue, and nudity that can quickly turn your demo from engaging to a turnoff. But these two scenes from Baby Driver are terrific exceptions you can show to any audience without fear of offending.

“The Bellbottoms Bank Job”

This scene checks off nearly every box for “What makes a great demo?” It’s literally the opening of the film so you not only don’t spoil anything for people who haven’t seen it before, you’ll likely hook them to want to see more. It’s a complete story in itself, with a clear beginning, middle, and finale. And, it’s action-packed, with some of the best driving you’ll see on screen, with a fantastic accompanying audio track.

One of the brilliant and innovative things about Baby Driver is how director Edgar Wright used music to propel and choreograph each scene. This opening plays loud and proud from the overhead speakers, with vocals that swirl around the room, and features a sub-heavy bass line that drives the tempo.

Notice how Jon Hamm’s shotgun blasts fire in time with the music. A potent and well-calibrated sub will have you feeling the Suburu’s engine revs in your chest as Baby pushes the WRX to its limits. As he drifts around the city, you’ll clearly hear tires squealing and protesting the physics-defying maneuvers, with the audio tracking every siren, horn honk, and car that whizzes by. While video isn’t the focus of this demo, notice the stoplight colors, with vibrant yellows and reds that push the color-space boundaries.

Opening Credits/“Harlem Shuffle”

This scene couldn’t be easier to find since it begins right after the previous demo ends. While the first scene is all about excitement and bombast, this one is just Baby walking to grab some coffee before heading to meet his crew. Notice how amazingly the audio tracks the off-camera action. You’ll hear an infant cry far off camera left and then see a mother with a stroller pass by. Throughout, the audio swirls relative to Baby’s perspective and position, with the sounds of traffic, conversations, and jack hammers announcing their arrival long before they appear on screen and long after they’re no longer in view.

Also notice how the audio changes when Baby walks into the coffeeshop. When he pulls out an earbud to hear the barista, the music volume drops and the sounds of the coffeeshop fill the room, with the music taking over as he replaces the earbud. This entire scene displays how a terrific audio mix along with properly placed speakers can transform a media room into an entirely different environment.

Both scenes show off the strengths of Dolby Atmos object placement and tracking capabilities—so make sure you have the HDR or UHD version of the film so you can enjoy the Atmos audio.

Probably the most experienced writer on custom installation in the industry, John Sciacca is co-owner of Custom Theater & Audio in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, & is known for his writing for such publications as Residential Systems and Sound & Vision. Follow him on Twitter at @SciaccaTweets and at johnsciacca.com.

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Demo Scenes: The Wizard of Oz

Demo Scenes: The Wizard of Oz

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The subtle use of HDR helps restore the original charm of this beloved classic

by Dennis Burger
updated November 2, 2023

Chapter 13, 1:08:44–1:12:42

I keep making the claim in my reviews and elsewhere on Cineluxe that older movies—those shot on 35mm or larger film stock—are the ones that stand to benefit most from the latest Ultra HD and HDR home video standards. And I’ve yet to see a better example of this than the 4K/HDR release of The Wizard of Oz.

Granted, this 80-year-old classic isn’t perfectly consistent from beginning to end in its visual presentation. It’s a little soft in places and a little too grainy in others. But the new restoration simply reveals a level of depth and detail in the image that most people have never seen.

Check out the pivotal scene in which Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion meet the Wizard for the first time in his gloomy and imposing throne room. If you go back to the Blu-ray release (and indeed, many previous home video efforts), the long hallway leading to this meeting looks obviously fake, hilariously flat, undeniably a matte painting. But given more dynamic range to work with, this transfer doesn’t need to boost the brightness of the entire scene to illuminate our heroes. As such, the backgrounds have a much more natural depth and more convincing shadows, so that long hallway actually seems to recede into the distance.

Fast-forward to the face-to-face meeting, specifically when the Wizard says, “I am Oz, the great and powerful! Who are you?” In the very best Blu-ray release, Dorothy’s dress when those lines are uttered is an indistinctly textured wash of blue, not the gingham we all know her to be wearing. In the 4K HDR release, the gingham is restored, and undeniably so. That’s not all, though. In previous home releases, the Tin Man simply lacks a little luster, despite the polish he just received a few scenes back. In the 4K HDR, he positively glistens, as he should.

But it’s not merely little details like this that make the new restoration work. This scene overall benefits from more nuanced dynamic range. Shadows aren’t a mass of crushed blacks—they contain detail and depth. Highlights don’t have to be overblown to be seen. The shift in brightness of the background as the Wizard’s showy flames rise from his throne are subtler, and indeed more effective for it. Overall, the atmosphere of the entire throne room and the occupants within simply seem more convincing—less a stage and more of a genuine space.

The effect overall isn’t merely about eye candy; it’s not about more pixels or more colors or deeper shadows or what have you. It’s about the subliminal effects of all those little visual improvements, which combine to draw you deeper into the illusion of this magical film, in a way we’ve never quite been able to achieve at home before now.

Dennis Burger is an avid Star Wars scholar, Tolkien fanatic, and Corvette enthusiast who somehow also manages to find time for technological passions including high-end audio, home automation, and video gaming. He lives in the armpit of Alabama with his wife Bethany and their four-legged child Bruno, a 75-pound American Staffordshire Terrier who thinks he’s a Pomeranian.

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Demo Scenes: Batman Returns

Batman Returns

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Quiet and subtle instead of action-packed and bombastic, this scene offers a nice alternative to the usual home theater demo

by Dennis Burger
June 3, 2021

Chapter 7 | 40:24–43:01

There seems to be some sort of weird consensus that a compelling AV demo scene must be action-packed, or at the very least loud. One of my favorite things about the new UHD/HDR release of Tim Burton’s Batman Returns is that it handily dispels this notion. In fact, it flips it right on its head.

Sure, the movie has its rousing battles and feats of impossible athletics, especially in the tête-à-tête throwdown between Batman and Catwoman. But the film’s most compelling sequences, at least from the perspective of audio and visual spectacle, are its quieter moments. Indeed, its weirder moments.

One of my favorites comes at the start of Chapter 7 in the Kaleidescape download or UHD Blu-ray, from 40:24 to 43:01. The Penguin—aka Oswald Cobblepot, played so spectacularly by Danny DeVito—visits the grave of the parents who abandoned him in his infancy. Plot-wise, it’s such a simple scene: The Penguin waddles through the graveyard, places a pair of black roses on the ground, waddles back to the gate, and monologues in front of the gathered press.

The way the scene is photographed, though, and especially the way it’s presented in UHD with HDR, makes it a bona fide feast for the eyes. It’s easy to forget that even in its initial theatrical release, audiences never saw Batman Returns presented this pristinely. The limitations of film prints, combined with the shortcomings of commercial projection, mean that we’ve never—until now—experienced the film with its blacks this black, nor its highlights this spectacular.

The interplay of dark and light makes each frame look like a chiaroscuro painting. Your eye can’t help but to be drawn to the finest of details—the individual hairs on the Penguin’s head, the little glint of piercing light in the middle of his coal-black eyes. Simply put, it’s a little discombobulating to see such razor sharpness and startling contrasts from a film shot in the analog era.

It’s worth comparing this scene to other nighttime shots in shows like Game of Thrones. Rather than pointing the camera into darkness and hoping you get the picture, cinematographer Stefan Czapsky used stark blue lighting, not to repel the shadows, but to give them something to work against. The laser-focused beams of illumination make the darkness look that much darker, the blacks that much blacker, the textures that much more tactile.

Not to be outdone by the spectacular imagery, the new Atmos mix also positively shines in this scene. Danny Elfman’s iconic score is delivered with deep, rich, bombastic bass, and sparkling detail. And when the music falls away, the howling, haunting whirl of wind that fills the void whips and wanders from wall to wall and floor to ceiling in a way that’s downright spooky, but utterly engrossing.

Dennis Burger is an avid Star Wars scholar, Tolkien fanatic, and Corvette enthusiast who somehow also manages to find time for technological passions including high-end audio, home automation, and video gaming. He lives in the armpit of Alabama with his wife Bethany and their four-legged child Bruno, a 75-pound American Staffordshire Terrier who thinks he’s a Pomeranian.

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Demo Scenes: It (2017)

It (2017)

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The opening of this latest take on the Stephen King classic makes for a perfect home theater demo

by Dennis Burger
June 3, 2021

“The S.S. Georgie & the Sewer”

(Chapter 1, 5:06–9:11)

A great home theater demo scene should accomplish a handful of things, aside from merely looking and sounding great. It should be compelling in its own right, even if you’re not familiar with the movie from which it’s pulled. It shouldn’t spoil anything major about the story. And in terms of imagery and sound, it should engage the viewers in a way that wouldn’t be nearly as effective on a lesser AV system.

The opening chapter of It—the first of two movies to adapt Stephen King’s 1,138-page horror opus—does all that and more, especially the 4K/HDR release with Dolby Atmos sound. If you own the film on Kaleidescape, you can access the best parts of this opening sequence by navigating to the Scenes collection and picking the first option: “The S.S. Georgie & the Sewer.” If you own the film on disc or via another digital retailer like Vudu or iTunes, just press play and let the opening of the film run. You’ll have to sit through the opening credits and a few establishing shots, but it doesn’t add a lot of unnecessary length to the demo.

The real show starts at around the 5-minute mark, as little Georgie Denbrough—the younger brother of one of the movie’s main protagonists—ventures out into a storm to test his new and freshly waxed paper boat in the suburban streets of Derry, Maine.

Though the weather may be frightful, the imagery here is absolutely delightful, thanks largely to the blend of inky shadows and striking highlights caused by projectiles of rain bombarding the slick neighborhood blacktop. The visual are matched by an equally engrossing Dolby Atmos sound mix, which fills the room not only with the sound of falling rain and splashing puddles, but also the fantastical score by Benjamin Wallfisch. The music starts playfully, perhaps even innocently, but takes a turn for the sinister as little Georgie’s waxed paper boat slips away from him and rockets down the gutters toward the open maw of a storm sewer nearby.

The shadows in this storm drain are so stygian that it’s honestly a shock when the visage of Pennywise the Dancing Clown appears therein, first as a pair of creepy eyes floating in utter darkness, then as a murderous grin hovering in a stray beam of almost-but-not-quite-complete blackness. From here on out, the scene would strain the confines of creepiness even if it were just Pennywise and Georgie talking across the lip of the storm sewer. But the movie cranks the tension to even higher levels by filling the overhead channels with a haunting mix of thunder, wind chimes, and strings that sound more like they’re being tortured than played.

You don’t have to be a spooky-movie expert to know that things aren’t building toward a happy ending for little Georgie here. Heck, you don’t even have to look at the screen to know that Pennywise is up to no good. But the audiovisual experience here is just so enthralling that you won’t be able to cover your eyes (or your ears) even if you want to.

Dennis Burger is an avid Star Wars scholar, Tolkien fanatic, and Corvette enthusiast who somehow also manages to find time for technological passions including high-end audio, home automation, and video gaming. He lives in the armpit of Alabama with his wife Bethany and their four-legged child Bruno, a 75-pound American Staffordshire Terrier who thinks he’s a Pomeranian.

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Demo Scenes: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

demo scenes | Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade

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The 4K HDR / Atmos releases of the Indiana Jones trilogy are so consistently excellent that they’re brimming with demo scenes—but here’s the best one

by Dennis Burger
June 24, 2021

Chapter 16, 0:00–14:12

If you’re a fan of old movies, you’ve probably figured out by now that 4K HDR can be a hit-or-miss affair for films actually shot on, you know, film. Without access to the original camera negatives, HDR remasters of these old flicks can look dodgy and inconsistent—often worse than the old HD releases. Thankfully, though, the new Indiana Jones trilogy (yes, trilogy! I said what I said) is an example of older films being brought into the modern home video era with stunning success.

All of the films have been fully restored from the original negatives, with subtle applications of computer wizardry just to clean up things like bad compositing and wires and errant reflections. And each successive film looks better than the one before it.

Here’s the thing, though: If you’re looking to pop in some archeological action-adventure as a home cinema demo scene, finding a self-contained clip within the movies isn’t easy. Once the ball starts rolling (literally and figuratively), the action just keeps cranking along until the closing credits.

But one of the most spectacular demo scenes comes right at the beginning of the third movie, The Last Crusade. It’s basically a self-contained short film with an inviting beginning, rousing climax, and rip-roaring conclusion, all within a span of 14 minutes. It’s also some of the consistently best-looking and -sounding material in the entire franchise.

The scene opens in 1912, with a young Indiana Jones (played by River Phoenix) riding through the Utah desert with his Boy Scout troop, when he stumbles upon graverobbers and manages to abscond with the precious artifact they’ve stolen. There’s a thrilling chase on a circus train. There’s a pit of snakes. There’s a lion. Then there’s a flash-forward to 1938, where a grown Indiana (Harrison Ford) is yet again trying to get his paws on the same crucifix.

You’ve seen the movie. You know how it goes. But here’s the thing: I don’t think you’ve ever seen it look (or sound) like this. Compared to the old Blu-ray release and digital HD version, this new 4K HDR remaster of The Last Crusade doesn’t look like an oversaturated cartoon. The color palette is more subdued, but also richer, more nuanced, more natural. Still, it’s punctuated by splashes of color far beyond the capabilities of Blu-ray. Indy’s scarf, the rich saturated colors of the illumination his father is studying—these hyper-color elements give the imagery the punctation it needs to look vibrant and dimensional without looking like a toddler got ahold of the Hue and Saturation knobs of your projector.

The new Atmos mix is also simply fantastic, especially in the 1938 sequences, where Indy has been captured on a vessel at sea in the midst of a raging storm. The crashing waves, the whooshing wind—all of it is given extra dimension by the new mix. It feels like you’re in the movie. Hell, it kind of feels like you’re in a theme-park ride, but that works for this franchise. The fact that they managed to add a third dimension to this aging mix without adding new sound effects is astounding. It doesn’t sound like a modern film—that would be stupid. But it does kind of sound like Atmos would have sounded like if it had been around in the 1980s. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Dennis Burger is an avid Star Wars scholar, Tolkien fanatic, and Corvette enthusiast who somehow also manages to find time for technological passions including high-end audio, home automation, and video gaming. He lives in the armpit of Alabama with his wife Bethany and their four-legged child Bruno, a 75-pound American Staffordshire Terrier who thinks he’s a Pomeranian.

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Dolby Atmos Demo Scenes

Great Dolby Atmos Demos

Dolby Atmos Demos

15 world-class demos, from over-the-top action films to sci-fi epics to concerts

by the Cineluxe staff
updated May 30, 2023

A premium entertainment system needs great content to look and sound its best, and just as we highlighted several classic films that show how fantastic 4K HDR can look, we’ve also curated a list of some of the best-sounding Dolby Atmos demos—both movies and music—that will demonstrate what your system is capable of! These selections highlight some of the best features of Dolby Atmos, from huge sounds happening over your head to placing voices and sounds all around you to sonically transforming your theater into an entirely different space. If you’re looking to wow your friends and family, this list is a great place to start.

Great Atmos Demos

Across the Universe

Across the Universe is set in Vietnam-era USA and uses the music of the Beatles to explore the tensions and culture clashes of that period. “Let It Be” flashes between the violence of the 1967 Detroit riots and the war in Southeast Asia. Two characters are killed in the violence and we see their respective funerals in the aftermath. The song, sung by a gospel choir, is hauntingly plaintive. (Maybe it’s only because I grew up with these scenes of violence on the evening news but I cannot see this scene without choking up a bit—even though I have watched it dozens of times.)   —Jon Herron

Baby Driver

The “Bellbottoms Bank Job” scene is an absolute grand slam, checking off nearly every box for “What makes a great demo?” It’s literally the opening of the film, and it’s action packed, with some of the best driving you’ll see on screen, with a fantastic accompanying audio track. The music in the opening plays loud and proud from the overhead speakers, with vocals that swirl around the room, and features a sub-heavy bass line that drives the tempo. A potent and well-calibrated sub will have you feeling the Subaru’s engine revs in your chest as Baby pushes the WRX to its limits. You’ll clearly hear tires squealing, with the audio tracking every siren, horn honk, and car that whizzes by.    John Sciacca

Dune (2021)

The Dolby Atmos soundtrack for Villeneuve’s Dune is less a sound mix than it is a completely immersive sound experience. Woe be to those who attempt to enjoy the film through a soundbar or basic home theater speaker setup. There’s so much going on here—even before the film itself begins—that you need the expanded channel count of Atmos to appreciate the way the sound effects, dialogue, and Hans Zimmer’s best score to date combine to create a 21st-century opera. When the film turns to pure audiovisual experience, as it often does, the audio mixing works in conjunction with the spectacular Dolby Vision imagery to tiptoe right up to the edge of sensory overload without feeling even slightly abusive. That’s an impressive trick in itself.    —Dennis Burger

The mixers take every opportunity to have ships and objects flying or rumbling past overhead. Right from the start, probe droids launched from the Destroyer whiz across your ceiling, not to mention all the flyovers from tie-fighters, snow speeders, mynocks, and more. Ghost Obi-Wan and the Emperor’s voice boom from overhead and all around as appropriate. Beyond the big action scenes, we get a ton of ambience and atmospheric sounds in nearly every scene. Outside on Hoth, the blizzard whips wind and snow around the room. On Dagobah, we’re immersed in jungle sounds, with creature noises and leaves rustling, and a brief rainstorm that showers the room. Bass is deep and powerful, whether it’s explosions or the mighty foot stomps of the AT-AT walkers. Perhaps most important, dialogue is always clear and properly placed, not always in the center channel but tracking characters as they move off screen.    —J.S.

Great Atmos Demos

Ender’s Game

“Dragons vs. Salamanders & Leopards” is a zero-G training exercise in a space station. Think of it as a Space Age “capture the flag” game. As you might imagine, thanks to the zero-G aspect of this scene, there are things happening in pretty much all directions, to the point where (in a good system) it can even seem a bit disorienting. There is no blood or gore—if someone is “shot.” their suits just lock up so they can’t move until the game has finished. Good, family-friendly action.    —J.H.

Great Atmos Demos

Gravity

The film opens with a big swell of music and what sounds like rocket engines firing before cutting to total silence as we orbit the earth. As George Clooney slowly circles the shuttle in his rocket pack, Ed Harris’s voice from NASA control is mixed aggressively up to the ceiling speakers, giving a real “in your helmet” sense to the audio. Gravity does an amazing job of taking advantage of the four discreet overhead speakers, which are frequently used independently to bounce, swirl, and shift the audio environment around the space of ceiling. The most intense demos happen near the end of Ch. 4 and into Ch. 5. As Stone enters the ISS, all sound focuses on her lack of oxygen and her breathing sounds, with the sub channel beating out a steady thump-thump heartbeat pulse. As she is moving around weightlessly inside the space station, there are little clanging and debris sounds inside the cluttered cabin, and when the fire breaks out, alarms blare through the overhead speakers punctuated with tense music until she hits her head and all audio ceases.    —J.S.

Great Atmos Demos

John Williams in Vienna

While some might prefer one of the more familiar and dynamic cuts (of which there are many), we usually start a Trinnov demonstration with the opening piece, “The Flight to Neverland” from Hook. The track opens to the sound of the orchestra tuning and the audience eagerly anticipating the start of the concert. In Atmos, this sounds uncannily real, as does the ovation John Williams receives as he takes the podium. The soaring performance keeps the entire orchestra engaged throughout, with plenty of percussion highlights.    —J.H.

You get a taste of what you’re in for in the film’s opening seconds, with planes flying and fighting overhead and buzzing around the room. The overhead flyover is a favorite of Atmos theater owners, and this definitely delivers, with plenty of other similar sonic moments, such as helicopters swirling around, announcements from PA systems, or the blare of master caution alarms. This  dynamic Dolby Atmos mix almost constantly has something going on, including big dynamic effects and tons of ambient jungle sounds like bugs and wind rustling leaves in trees. The mix also does a great job of tracking audio objects, such as when things move left/right of center and then pass into the surrounds off camera. We get a near-videogame use of localizing threats, as you’ll hear things coming up on the characters from the surround channels. And there is a healthy amount of low-frequency effects courtesy of explosions and Kong’s roaring and stomping.    —J.S.

Midway (2019)

Midway offers a fun ride that sounds fantastic in a home theater. You might even call it a 2-hour 18-minute Dolby Atmos spectacle masquerading as a war movie. The mix plays a dynamic role in nearly every scene, and if anyone has every wondered if their height speakers are working or if Atmos can add to the immersion of a movie, just show them any of the aerial attack scenes where the audio lends a wonderful third dimension to plane flyovers. Midway will also test your subwoofer’s mettle, with deep bass present throughout. There is the constant low, steady, bassy rumble as a background reminder that you’re aboard a warship, along with other ambient mechanical sounds to place you on board. There is also the carnage of the USS Arizona breaking up after explosions and then ripping itself apart with groans, creaks, and the rumble of crumpling steel.    J.S.

Old

The Dolby Atmos mix is a big highlight here, as M. Night Shyamalan really leans into the possibilities of immersing the listener in sound and utilizing all of the speakers. Jungle sounds fill the room, with birds and wind creating a nice canopy of sound overhead and all around. You also get nice audio moments like the sounds of the hotel’s lobby Muzak pumping out of the ceiling speakers like you are walking through the hotel, or the sounds of water dripping from overhead in the cave complex, or the noise of crashing waves and surf all around. The mix really plays with the location of voices. Most films anchor about 90% to the center speaker, but here we have dialogue that literally swirls 360 degrees around the room, as a character is turning and listening to people talking, which really puts you in the moment. It will also lay bare if your speakers have any timbre-matching issues, as you’ll really notice a change in the tone and quality of the dialogue.    —J.S.

Great Atmos Demos

Ready Player One

The “First Challenge” scene is just fantastic eye and ear candy throughout. Once the race starts, the music stops and the scene is all about sound effects. Notice how the smoky exhaust from Parzival’s DeLorean wafts into the room, the smoke dissipating. The rumble as the bridge constructs itself is deep with bass, and the fireworks to begin the race explode overhead. The race is filled with cars cartwheeling overhead and around the sides of the room, racers swirling back and forth, around all sides, and overhead, with tires squealing for mercy. Explosions have tight, deep, concussive bass, letting you feel each virtual metal-on-metal crunch—and you can practically track the progress of every bouncing coin or piece of debris. When T-Rex and King Kong get in on the action, their foot stomps raise the bass concussion to the next level, with roars/growls that energize the entire room. Notice how the mechanical sounds of Art3mis’ bike dying are clearly placed in the back of the room behind the listeners, and gradually move to the foreground as she approaches the bike.    J.S.

The new Dolby Atmos remix very rarely shows restraint. It’s big, bold, loud, and an outright violation of your subwoofers’ rights. Normally, I would hate this kind of mix, but for such a ridiculous spectacle as this movie is, it just works. I wouldn’t change a single thing about the it. If you want to hear this audaciousness at its best, cue up the battle of the bands between Scott Pilgrim’s Sex Bob-Omb and the electronica keyboard wizards the Katayanagi Twins. In the original surround mix, all you could really focus on was the sonic assault of the subwoofers. In Atmos, you can really appreciate the nuances and details that make this sound like an actual musical melee.    —D.B.

Dennis Burger is an avid Star Wars scholar, Tolkien fanatic, and Corvette enthusiast who somehow also manages to find time for technological passions including high-end audio, home automation, and video gaming. He lives in the armpit of Alabama with his wife Bethany and their four-legged child Bruno, a 75-pound American Staffordshire Terrier who thinks he’s a Pomeranian.

Jon Herron was already doing physical editing (razor blades and editing tape) on reel-to-reel tape recorders when he was 13 years old and has been involved in the home entertainment business ever since. For most of the past 30 years or so, he has worked at Madrigal Audio Labs (makers of Mark Levinson and Proceed), Wisdom Audio, and now at Trinnov Audio, where he is General Manager. He feels fortunate to have worked alongside so many amazing people along the way.

Probably the most experienced writer on custom installation in the industry, John Sciacca is co-owner of Custom Theater & Audio in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, & is known for his writing for such publications as Residential Systems and Sound & Vision. Follow him on Twitter at @SciaccaTweets and at johnsciacca.com.

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Great Demo Scenes

Great Demo Scenes

AVENGERS: ENDGAME

“Martin Mull (or maybe it was Frank Zappa?) once opined that talking about music is like dancing about architecture. Trying to convey the benefits of high dynamic range video can feel a little like that, given that most web browsers don’t support HDR by default, and still images just can’t do it justice. So those of us who champion this video innovation in written form are often reduced to hyperbolic-sounding statements that still don’t effectively get the point across. It’s brighter! It’s darker! It’s billions of colors!.”    read more

BABY DRIVER

“Using R-rated content for demo material is a slippery slope since it can easily be off-putting to many viewers and obviously isn’t suitable for families. And the most demo-worthy scenes from R-rated films usually contain gratuitous violence, profanity-laced dialogue, and nudity that can quickly turn your demo from engaging to a turnoff. But these two scenes from Baby Driver are terrific exceptions you can show to any audience without fear of offending.”    read more

BATMAN RETURNS

“There seems to be some sort of weird consensus that a compelling AV demo scene must be action-packed, or at the very least loud. One of my favorite things about the new UHD/HDR release of Tim Burton’s Batman Returns is that it handily dispels this notion. In fact, it flips it right on its head.”    read more

INDIANA JONES & THE LAST CRUSADE

“One of the most spectacular demo scenes in the Indiana Jones trilogy comes right at the beginning of the third movie, The Last Crusade. It’s basically a self-contained short film with an inviting beginning, rousing climax, and rip-roaring conclusion, all within a span of 14 minutes. It’s also some of the consistently best-looking and -sounding material in the entire franchise.”    read more

IT (2017)

“A great home theater demo scene should accomplish a handful of things, aside from merely looking and sounding great. It should be compelling in its own right, even if you’re not familiar with the movie from which it’s pulled. It shouldn’t spoil anything major about the story. And in terms of imagery and sound, it should engage the viewers in a way that wouldn’t be nearly as effective on a lesser AV system.”    read more

THE WIZARD OF OZ

“I keep making the claim in my reviews and elsewhere on Cineluxe that older movies—those shot on 35mm or larger film stock—are the ones that stand to benefit most from the latest Ultra HD and HDR home video standards. And I’ve yet to see a better example of this than the 4K HDR release of The Wizard of Oz.”    read more

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