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Author Topic: Stadium seating vs non-stadium seating Tom Petrov Five Guys Lover Posts: 1121 From: El Paso, TX Registered: Jan 2003 posted 10-12-2010 03:05 AM                    What do you prefer? I absolutely HATE stadium seating. My reasons are as follows: *screens are sometimes too large for the size of theatre *no room to stretch out legs under the seats in front *BIGGEST ISSUE...no angled seating (seats are always pointed straight and not at the center of the screen) *non stadium feels more intimate Also, most ofter the new theaters have no character. Older theaters usually have different designs and feel to the layout. Y For example when you watch MLB baseball, do the stadiums all look the same? Why does every AMC or cineplex have to feel identical? Stadium seating is a gimmick IMHO....theaters with stadium seating have been around for decades, usually they were the 2nd floor of balcony theaters...most times the new movie played in larger downstairs theater. Nobody really cared about that back then....why now? I almost always watch my movies in non-stadium seating auditoriums....I found myself a little gem today in downtown Hamilton Ontario What do others prefer?  |  IP: Logged Thomas Dieter Expert Film Handler Posts: 234 From: Yakima, WA Registered: Jun 2004 posted 10-12-2010 03:46 AM                     My personal preference is for slopped seating. I agree with Tom about the screens being to big for the auditorium, and the seat constantly facing front, and not the center. A perfect example of this, and the lack of design in the cinema structure itself would the in Yakima, WA. the recently built Majestic. From the outside it looks like a huge cinder block with a slice of sheet metal sticking out the middle of it. And inside reminds me more of a warehouse rather a cinema. This cinema replaced the old Mercy 6-Plex which was less than a quarter mile from the new location of the Majestic. The 6-Plex was beautifully built, and added onto (originally a twin, then a quad, then a 5-Plex, and finally a 6-plex). The Largest Auditorium while I worked there sat over 585 patrons when sold out and was slopped with handicap seating strategically positioned on each aisle way. I will never forget when the movie Hannible came out and the movie did nothing over the weekend, but come valentines day, (on a week day at that) sold out. All the other auditoriums was lucking to have 10 people in them.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 10-12-2010 07:04 AM                     Sloped floor theatres got a bad rap from bad architects. If properly designed, a sloped floor theatre has no visibility problems. However, in the '70s and '80s...a LOT of poorly designed theatres were constructed and there were a LOT of visibility problems. With a stadium seating theatre, it became harder for the architects to get the visibility wrong. Stadium seating also allows a shorter theatre since the pitch of the floor is greater. Shorter theatre means less real estate. You only have to pay for the risers once...the land you have to pay forever. Personally, I dislike stadium seating theatres too. They are an inherent trip hazard and, to me, offer no benefit to watching the movie. It is possible to have angled seats in a stadium seating theatre but again, it is trickier as the risers must also be on a curve or angled. I prefer "center loader" stadium theatres. Stadiums tend to be front loaders (you walk the length of the theatre, enter at the screen and then climb your way back into the stadium. A center loader puts you in the middle of the theatre and then you either go down or up. This is more ADA friendly too as wheel chairs spots tend to be in the middle of the theatre rather than in just the front row or rear.  |  IP: Logged Martin McCaffery Film God Posts: 2481 From: Montgomery, AL Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-12-2010 08:22 AM                        quote: Tom Petrov Why does every AMC or cineplex have to feel identical? The same reason every McDonald's does. I hate stadium seating also, it always gives me a literal pain in the neck. And I can assure you the little old broads hate them because they loathe climbing those stairs, not that multiplexes are going for the little old broad audience. However, I've been in one theatre that has perfect handicap seating row. It is right in the middle, seats are in pairs with lots of legroom and space on either side of the pair. I sit there as long as they're unneeded.  |  IP: Logged Christian Appelt Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 505 From: Frankfurt, Germany Registered: Dec 2001 posted 10-12-2010 09:33 AM                     I prefer well-designed sloped floor theatres because in many stadium seating theatres, you look DOWN on the screen unless you sit in front half of the auditorium. Looking UP (slightly) to a big screen is quite another thing. During a recent film festival, I watched different formats from 1.85 to 70mm in a former single film Cinerama theatre (level projection, slight screen curve, sloped seating) and was surprised how impressive the image looked from every angle, especially from the last row. But, having spent my youth in badly designed 1970s theatres or twinned older theatres with stupid seating arrangement and bad viewing angles, I can understand that the McDonald's-type multiplex stadium was perceived as a good thing when it arrived.  |  IP: Logged Demetris Thoupis Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1240 From: Aradippou, Larnaca, Cyprus Registered: Apr 2001 posted 10-12-2010 10:43 AM                     I too don't like extreme stadium seating. Sloped seating gives a cosiness to the place and I agree with the idea of looking UP to the big screen! Demetris  |  IP: Logged Jeremy Weigel Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1062 From: Edmond, OK, USA Registered: Mar 2007 posted 10-12-2010 11:04 AM                     I only like stadium if the auditorium is much wider than it is deep, otherwise it just feels like I'm sitting in a box. Cleaning stadium style is also a pain in the ass, especially when the seats are placed too close the riser making it difficult to clean behind the seats.  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 10-12-2010 11:12 AM                        It's interesting that everyone here hates stadium seating, while the general public obviously loves it. When stadium seating came to Eugene it killed a couple other "sloped" theaters and the one that remained just barely hung on. Everyone I know prefers stadium seating. That's probably because the sloped theaters had the seats too close together, no legroom. I'm pretty sure the rows of seats at the Regal 15 here are curved, not straight (screens also have a slight curve). Cinemark's seat rows are straight. Both are "center-loaded" as Steve refers to it. Cinemark actually has two entry points in most auditoriums: center, and top. Only the 2 largest at Regal have entry at the top (and an elevator).  |  IP: Logged Victor Liorentas Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 800 From: london ontario canada Registered: May 2009 posted 10-12-2010 11:27 AM                     I prefer sloped,i find the surrounds to be more effective in a sloped theater and i agree with every other post above.  |  IP: Logged Tom Petrov Five Guys Lover Posts: 1121 From: El Paso, TX Registered: Jan 2003 posted 10-12-2010 11:31 AM                    @ David. I actually find you have less legroom in a stadium seating theater. My feet can go under or to the side of the chair in front in a sloped theatre. Stadium forces you to sit straight and upright.  |  IP: Logged Mitchell Dvoskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1869 From: West Milford, NJ, USA Registered: Jan 2001 posted 10-12-2010 11:38 AM                     I prefer stadium seating. With only 2 exceptions, both old historic single screen theatres, I will not see a movie in a slopped floor theatre. I want to view on a "big" screen. I don't want someones head in my picture. All the stadium seating theatres around here have more than sufficient leg room, more than I can say for sloped floor theatres. Most of the stadium seating theatres around here have very comfortable rockers, more than I can say for sloped floor theatres. Don't care if they curved the rows, the benefits far out way the negatives.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 10-12-2010 11:46 AM                     I don't have the audio engineering expertise to prove this, but I'm certain traditional sloped floor movie theaters can deliver significantly better quality sound than a stadium seated theater. It seems like bigger and bigger cubic areas of space do a lot to harm audio quality. Certain frequencies seem to disappear and echo becomes an ever bigger concern. More powerful speaker enclosures are required, yet only IMAX seems interested in installing hardware powerful enough to do that job on any sort of consistent basis. Additionally, most IMAX theaters are pretty short in length which reduces the amount of cubic air space in that really tall room. Still, I've never heard an IMAX theater sound as good as the best traditional sloped floor theaters. Other things I don't like about stadium seated theaters: • They encourage use of fixed width screens. • Projector ports may be set at extreme downward angles. • It's easier to be distracted by mobile phone displays. • Not very wheel chair friendly; easier to trip. • Nearly all are front load, making it socially strange if you arrive late. You kind of feel like the whole audience is looking at you and grumbling, "can't you get your lazy butt to the theater on time?" Of which my internal response would be, "I would have arrived early, but my drag-ass friends piddled around up to the last minute leaving me just as irritated as you." The improved sight lines are the only real selling point for stadium seated theaters.  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 10-12-2010 11:54 AM                        Are these theaters with front-load stadium seating conversions from sloped seating, or were they originally built with stadium seating? I can only comment on what's in this area. One built in 1999, the other 2007, both stadium from day 1, both use center-load.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 10-12-2010 12:00 PM                     I'm not 100% sure, but it seems like all the new theaters in my region built originally with stadium seating are all front load. From a construction standpoint the foundation would be easier to build; not so much digging.  |  IP: Logged Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 10-12-2010 01:46 PM                     quote: Bobby Henderson Certain frequencies seem to disappear and echo becomes an ever bigger concern I don't know if I can agree with this. The first part is vague. Which frequencies seem to disappear? As for echo, it will always be a problem if surfaces aren't treated. For example, the Hitchcock dubbing stage at Universal Studios is plenty big and it is not plagued with either of these problems. I'd say the same is true for any IMAX theatre I've been to. Is size an issue? Yes. Can it be overcome? Yes.  |  IP: Logged

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