Mine would probably be as follows...

- Black walls and ceiling
- Curved, tiered, staggered seating with 48 inches back to back
- Curved large screen
- Stadium Seating
- Dolby Digital Surround Sound
- Digital projection
- Waterfall curtains

What would yours be? If I think of some more, I'll put them up!

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Andrew McCrea

Curved seating is ok to some degree. If curved to much it puts the customer in a position that can be unconfortable on the sides of the seating arrangement. also can effect the way a person percieves the sound
good distance is crucial to allow for patrons to pass thru rows without the sitting patron having to stand up.

I honestly do not like curves screens. Unless you are doing cinerama curved screens are not needed. I remember watching American president on a curved screen. Everytime Michael Douglas would be shooting pool his cue stick would bend out of wack do to the curved screen. Things like that are reel anoying.

I do not like stadium seating for it's bad points. You do get an unblocked view but after you witness young children falling down the steps and older people falling up the steps all that comes to mind is lawsuits and higher insurance. You also have to deal with more light in the auditorium do to all the aisle lighting and estra wall lighting needed because of all the steps. Fire marchals will shut you down in a flat second if you do not maintain this enviroment. All this light gets reflected to the screen.

I would probably have at least two digital systems. Dolby Digital and DTS. I have been using DTS since it was introduced with jurassic park. I prefer it over all the other systems because it offers full dynamic range in all directional channels.

At this time I would not use a digital projection system. Everyone thinks digital is so great but you have to remember there has to be an analog conversion somewhere in the process. That means problems will alwasy excist no mattrer what. I prefer film and when film is done right it can be as flawless as the analog process will allow.

as far as curtains I have no problem with them. When they are opperating properly and set up correctly they look nice covering the screen. Until the motor breaks with the curtain half way up.

Just give me a standard well sloped setting arangement with plenty of room a nice size standard screen with colorful soundfold good sound and a flawless film presentation and I will be happy.

...SUCKS!

Vive le FILM!

The theatre was built in a pre-existing shopping center, and ceiling height was fixed, requiring excavation to get a sloped floor. Even with that, the screen went from 10 inches below the ceiling to 30 inches from the floor and was only about 12 feet high. That screen was plain painted drywall, with the speakers sitting on the floor in front, right behind the curtain. (Try leaving a speaker sitting on the floor in today's theatres, and see how many minutes it takes before it gets stolen.)

The seating was modified continental, with a carpeted cross-aisle break just in front of the sweet spot. Late night screenings were a joy. The screen was directly in front, properly lit, with no need to tilt your neck up, and the sound for those days was as clean and crisp as you could find.

Not having the perforated screen or reflections from rigging meant that it was possible to get totally lost in the image. I still remember a travelogue short of flying through rain forest above Tahiti that was better than reality, when viewed there. I still would take the experience of seeing film in that auditorium over seeing film in 99% of all other auditoriums, classic, stadium, giant, or megaplex.

My regret was that the Norelco 35-70 projectors being used there never got a chance to show any 70mm film. I can only dream of how incredible the image would have been on that screen.

The projection angle should ideally be less than a few degrees from perpendicular to the center of the screen. All formats should have common image height, with adjustable side masking. IMHO, curtains add class sorely missing in today's theatres (while protecting the screen between shows).

IMHO, many of the good conventionally sloped "out of date" theatres killed by stadium complexes could be very competitive if new comfortable seating was installed with the ample legroom demanded by today's audiences.

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Some of the best color in theatres that I have seen are Red velvet and Gold trim. Or like the Radio City Music Hall which is resplendant in Gold. The Mayan in Denver looks like the inside of a Mayan temple with earth tones and indian masks for lighting fixtures. The Cape Playhouse has America's largest cieling mural. It is an Art Deco representation of the Heavens. I have spent hours sitting in there looking at the cieling. The Crest in LA has the famous buildings of LA on the walls complete with lights in the windows and stars on the cieling with shooting stars and two or three curtains and an organ. A theatre should be visualy interesting before the lights go down.

I do not like the curved screens because IMO they are not compatible with all movies.

Sound, I would like to have Dolby Digital and DTS, I prefer the sound of DTS over anything else.

As far as seats are concerned, I prefer high back with the most important CUP HOLDERS!

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"Blood is thicker then blondes" - From the movie, Save the last Dance.

FUNNY!!!!!

-A combination of slope seating and stadium seating, or a nice deep slope.

-Comfortable rocker seats with cupholders.

-Effective but unobtrusive aisle lighting.

-40' wide (or better) FLAT matte white screen with masking for all the available cinema film formats.

-A curtain of some type, whether its a waterfall or side to side curtain.

-A color scheme that is pleasing to the eyes, no dayglo colors or pastels, pleaaaase!

-Ornamental sound controls, whether in the form of padded wall carpeting, Soundfold, or acoustic panels.

-THX style drop ceiling with flourescent fixtures for cleaning installed... OR:

-if desired, some kind of decorative ceiling treatment with the fiber-optic stars, murals on the walls (on some type of acoustic treatment panel) with deco chandeliers with large wattage incandescent cleaning lights installed.

Booth:

-Two Norelco AAII or Century JJ 35/70 projectors (35mm 6000' changeovers standard, no automation)

-Strong Super-80 lamphouses with 4000W Christie or Osram bulbs

-Elmo 16mm projector with xenon lamp

-Dolby SRD, DTS35 and 70mm, 35mm mag, 70mm mag sound capability.

-Dream rack would have all-tube power amps for L, C, R,and QSC solid-state amps for surrounds and subwoofer

-Not-so-dream rack would have all QSC amps.

-Dolby CP200 with aux box and SA10 EX unit

-Biamped speakers (surrounds too!), probably fully upgraded Altec A4 screen channels with EV MantaRay horns and JBL or Altec surrounds, and JBL subs.

-Manual dimmer controls

-Various non-sync sources (CD, reel-to-reel, cassette, vinyl) conditioned thru a tube preamplifier.

-Aaron

For well projected 35mm film, I prefer to sit lined up with center screen, about 2 picture heights from the screen. So for a 20x48 foot scope image, I'll sit 40 feet from the screen, and likewise for a 20x37 foot 1.85:1 flat image or a 20x27 foot "Academy" image.

For a 70mm picture (especially one shot in 65mm), I'll probably sit even closer, depending on the subject matter.