by Evelyn Larson
Three enthusiastic Harry Potter fans sat rigidly in their seats, hardly daring to breathe, waiting for the Hogwarts train to leave at 1:45 p.m., bound for that wonderful, magical land of Harry Potter. All of Harry's adventures would be audio-described, thanks to Descriptive Video Service (DVS).
The music began with the introduction, but alas, no description. What to do? The answer was practically at my fingertips! Not quite a magic wand but almost as good, I pulled my cell phone from my pocket and dialed the theater number.
"Hello, we're the three blind people who are here to enjoy the Sorcerer's Stone with audio description and the description doesn't seem to be working."
"Oh," came the reply, "I'll send someone right over to correct the situation." That's exactly what happened. It was all a little matter of turning on a switch, and we were off!
Our adventure had begun a few weeks before when we learned that the Cinema 1 Theater in Clifton, New Jersey, would be showing "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" with audio description, arranged through the efforts of DVS. Our schedules made it impossible for us to see the movie during the week listed. I explained this to John, the general manager of Cinema 1, and he said to call him back when we were ready with a date and he would set it up even if it was just for the three of us to enjoy.
"You would really do that for us?" I asked.
"Certainly. We want our equipment to be used. Twenty-six blind kids were here the other day for a showing of the movie and I never heard so much screaming and laughing in my life. They really were having a ball and enjoying themselves."
We arrived at the theater about half an hour before the showing was to begin. First, we purchased three extra large sodas and a big, big bucket of popcorn. In the middle of the movie, someone came and refilled the almost empty bucket to the brim and then some. I had all I could do to keep it from spilling. What's a movie without lots of popcorn?
We had all read the first Harry Potter book. Even so, the action of the movie would have been almost impossible to follow without the help of the DVS audio description.
When the movie was over we were requested to stop at the front desk, where we learned that because of the inconvenience of not having the audio description for the first five minutes of the movie, we were given coupons for guess what -- free popcorn - - to use the next time we come to a movie!
All the Cinema 1 staff were very courteous and helpful. They did their best to make our experience enjoyable. It was a day we will never forget. We look forward to visiting Cinema 1 in Clifton, New Jersey again to see another audio-described movie and to get our free popcorn.
(Note: Cinema 1 is located near New York City at 405 Route 3 East, Clifton, New Jersey, phone (973) 614-0966.)