my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Ground Level   » Reasons Moviegoers choose theatres (Page 1)

This topic comprises 4 pages: 1  2  3  4

Author Topic: Reasons Moviegoers choose theatres Scott Madsen Film Handler Posts: 58 Registered: Oct 1999 posted 05-31-2003 01:33 PM                     This survey was released this week. I have pasted part of it below. Does this seem to match, at all, reasons your customers tell you they chose your theatre? MILWAUKEE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 28, 2003--More than 99% of people who attend movies at a theatre find their experience to be enjoyable and entertaining, according to Marcus Theatres, which today announced the results of its most recent survey of movie-going trends. This is the fifth research project conducted for the company over the last 20 years. Dr. Jamshid Hosseini, Ph.D. in System Science-Management Science, coordinated this non-scientific survey, which has polled moviegoers' attitudes every five years since 1982. What is important to moviegoers at theatres they attend most regularly? -- 97% cleanliness of theatre -- 97% quality of projected image -- 97% comfortable seats -- 95% admission price -- 90% ample parking -- 90% theatre location -- 87% wide screen -- 86% employee service -- 86% digital sound -- 86% stadium seating -- 86% reasonable concession prices -- 84% safety and security -- 67 % attractive decor  |  IP: Logged Evans A Criswell Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1579 From: Huntsville, AL, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 05-31-2003 02:00 PM                        quote: -- 87% wide screen That alone makes be wonder how good this "survey" is. Aspect ratios are 1.85:1 and 2.39:1 (with very rare exceptions these days) and there is no flexibility of how wide a screen is in relation to its height if movies are shown properly. This survey makes it sound as if cropping the top and bottom and showing movies at too wide a ratio would draw more people to theatres (for example, showing flat at 2.00:1 and scope at 2.50:1). BAH!  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 05-31-2003 02:10 PM                     I don't interpret it that way at all. I think so long as the screen is "wide" the customers are happy. (IE-the screen size is as big as it could be for the auditorium.) Remember, most customers are idiots and wouldn't understand aspect ratio if you spent a month explaining it to them. These are the same people that don't understand why all of the speakers do not play all of the time during a movie. Someone needs to show this to the pencil pushers so they can stop spending so much money on the lobby and fix their presentations. I've been saying it for years, customers are in the auditorium watching the movie for 10 times longer than they are in the pretty lobby.  |  IP: Logged Greg Pauley Expert Film Handler Posts: 173 From: Huntington, WV, USA Registered: Jun 2000 posted 05-31-2003 02:32 PM                        I would have to agree with Brad, most customers don’t have any idea about aspect ratios. What you hear from most customers is “Is it playing on the big screen” whether it’s scope or flat. I like the idea that image quality and cleanliness is high on the list, two of the things I always bitch about.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 05-31-2003 02:36 PM                     That reminds me of my favorite customer. True story: The guy calls up and wants to know if we will be running whatever movie on our 70mm sized screen. I told him "oh no, our screen is MUCH bigger than that!" (I didn't feel like I was lying to the guy since it was in the 70mm capable auditorium with the biggest screen in the complex.)  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-31-2003 02:39 PM                        I'm assuming that this is a multiple-choice survey, where customers could choose multiple items. Unfortunately, they left out the one reason which really matters to most poeple: "most conveniently located theatre that was showing the movie that I wanted to see." From what I can tell, convenient theatre location is what drives most movie-going decisions. Sure, most people will stay away from a known dump, but otherwise they will usually go to the nearest theatre (or only theatre in their area) as long as it has the programming that they want. Obviously, everyone wants good picture and sound quality (even though many don't know what "presentation quality" really is), but they won't usually go out of their way except to avoid the worst offenders.  |  IP: Logged Thomas Procyk Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1842 From: Royal Palm Beach, FL, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 05-31-2003 03:42 PM                     I always call and ask at what time(s) the movie I want to see will be showing on the "largest screen." Mainly because at the 20 and 22 plex they have 8 or 9 prints of any given move and a few are bound to end up in the 75-seat storage closets. Example: AMC Pleasure Island 24 has Finding Nemo in the DLP house, the largest film house (balcony! ), a medium house, and a pathetic little "screening room" tucked away in the back corner. BEWARE of Auditorium 22! =TMP=  |  IP: Logged Mark Lensenmayer Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1605 From: Upper Arlington, OH Registered: Sep 1999 posted 05-31-2003 04:07 PM                     Our local monthly magazine (cleverly called COLUMBUS MONTHLY), just released their list of the "Best" theatres. They pretty much rated the quality of the seats and little else. They actually seemed to rate theatres in the order of the list above with the exception of picture quality. Some specific mentions were made of sound quality (mostly nonsensical) and nothing was made of picture quality. The theatre I like best was rated low because it "looked older than its 5 years". They also liked another theater because it has a Dippin'Dots machine. They did rate as No. 1 our lonely and superb 8-plex located downtown. All THX with management that cares. Unfortunately for them, I can almost always get a good seat easily because it is never busy. I drive past a jammed 24-plex parking lot to get there. It sure is a strange business. BTW, there is a VERY nice mention of Kara McVey and the Strand, concerning her efforts to book movies in a competitive zone.  |  IP: Logged Mathew Molloy Master Film Handler Posts: 357 From: The Santa Cruz Mountains Registered: Nov 2000 posted 05-31-2003 04:27 PM                     Brad, you gave the smart answer...I always make the mistake of trying to educate the public and in the end they think I'm just bullshitting them. Like when I explain why the scope picture is bigger than the 70mm picture...especially to the guy who was outraged that we "had the masking pulled in for our 70mm presentation of Lawrence!". Oh there was the woman who had a screening tape of Baraka who called me after seeing that film in the theatre I where I worked. She tried to rip me a new one over the phone because she thought that we cut the top and the bottom of the picture off because it's "completely square on my t.v." and why would we crop such a beautiful film? (It didn't help we had top/bottom masking that came in after the flat trailers.) When I started to explain ratios and t.v. cropping the old hag hung up on me and I'm sure if my wish came true, she's burning in hell right now. Then there's floorstaff. Few, if any of them understand what to be looking/listening for when doing theatre checks. I've got a great staff but explaining it to them is like talking to a brick wall. It's like explaining that THX is not a digital system to people. My partner, bless his little heart, still doesn't see the difference between film and video. He doesn't hear the difference between good and bad sound. We went to see Gladiator in Marina Del Rey - it was a gawd-awful presentation but he couldn't tell. He never noticed the scratches or heard it switch in and out of digital. I thought it was due to his lack of exposure to quality as he listens to his c.d.'s on his computer and has an old t.v. So I took him to the 70mm screenings of 2001 & Lawrence - but he still doesn't understand what all the fuss is about. If the theatre doesn't stink it doesn't matter what the presentation is like - as long as they show movies he wants to see. Just last Sunday an acoustical tile fell in the booth of my theatre during the trailers and landed on the film as it fed to the platter. The entire print of Winged Migration was scratched and it was like watching a film through a cage. As it was the holiday weekend we did not get a new print until Wednesday. NOBODY COMPLAINED! I just wish my assistants had put a note up in the box office so people won't judge our theatre by that experience...but I'm beginning to doubt they noticed. I'm also thinking people equate art films with crappy presentations - at least around here. I've yet to see a decent show at our competitors. Final thought: Most people don't notice and most of those who do notice don't know what they're talking about. None of which will stop me from trying to put on the best show that I can.  |  IP: Logged Don Bruechert Mmmmmmmmm, bird! Posts: 340 From: Manitowoc, WI, USA Registered: Jan 2003 posted 05-31-2003 04:32 PM                        Because we have taken a single screen theater and converted it into a six-plex, we have 4 houses on the main floor, one is a small climb of about 6 stairs plus the "stadium", and the other is way up at the top in the original balcony. Customers know that rarely will we bring in a movie that is higher than the main floor during its first 2 weeks, and "hot" movies will be in one of the 3 houses with digital sound. As the movie ages, however, it is moved into some of the more basic houses, or "up the tower" as we like to refer to it - giving the customers an incentive to watch it one of the first 2 weeks it is playing, or risk climbing 5 or 6 flights of stairs to see it in the nosebleed auditorium. We have had customers call and ask if a movie was up there or not, and I recall as a customer always bitching when I had to go see a movie up there. That is the one auditorium where we don't bitch at customers who have their feet on the seats, as the rows are so close together there is no legroom. My preferred posture in that room is to put my feet on the armrests of the seat in front of me - that is almost perfect alignment and very comfortable. So I would think customers would be concerned with their overall comfort and inconvenince as well. Everywhere you go someone is going to bitch about the concession prices, so that doesn't really matter much!  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 05-31-2003 05:03 PM                     The Marcus Theatres survey doesn't mean squat. And if anything most of the respondents are just checking off items they know little to nothing about (such as "wide" wall to wall screens, aspect ratios, sound quality, projection quality, etc. etc. etc.). The Wallace Theaters Cache 8 theater in my town is a clear illustration to the laziness of many movie customers. I firmly believe many people visit theaters based on whatever house is closest. That's it. I feel like filling my pickup bed with small printed leaflets and dumping them in the Cache 8 parking lot. The leaftlets would say, "if you pay money to watch a movie in this place, you are a moron." Of course, not all the fault goes to the movie-goers. A big chunk of the blame deserves to be directed back at the executives in charge of the movie theater chains. Their marketing is SHIT. Why do I say that? Because they're doing next to nothing in pointing out the pathetic shortcomings of rival movie theaters. The Carmike 8 in my town could accurately claim they're the best theater in the state. They certainly could do so based on their sound and projection quality (better than anything I can find in Oklahoma City or Tulsa). However, Carmike is not going to place ads and twist arms of branch offices bookers and stuff like that to benefit the place. Why? Because Carmike has its own share of very terrible quality theaters. All the circuits do. They're all guilty in cost-cutting away every bit of quality they can out of the most important part of their product: show quality. Well, the circuits might spend some bucks up front on hardware for a new theater. But they are CHEAPSKATES when it comes to good staffing and routine maintenance. A theater manager who is a film fan might care to make noise to get whatever he needs for his house. But many of the employees in so many plexi are just there to punch in and punch out. In all, I think the situation would be more positive if customers were not so RECKLESS on where they spend their money. If they were a little more educated to film-going and more responsible with their dollars a great many of the pig sty dumps out there would be forced to close. Right now I just see the damned things staying open until the building literally falls down.  |  IP: Logged Charles Everett Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: New Jersey Registered: May 2001 posted 06-01-2003 01:09 PM                     I'm in a region with stadium theaters galore. Where I see a particular movie depends on presentation quality and product availability. Reading Cinemas opened its 12-plex in Manville for Star Wars Episode 1. As good as that theater is, the 3 smallest halls have keystoning problems for scope ratio. When I wanted to see Harry Potter 2 (before Xmas) and Maid in Manhattan (on New Year's Day) Reading had moved those films to the smallest halls. I saw those 2 pictures at the AMC Hamilton since that megaplex can show scope ratio properly in every hall. Product availability: Most stadium theaters are mainstream by nature, yet if they have an arty title I want to see I'll go there. That's how I found the AMC (nee General Cinema) Clifton Commons, Edgewater Multiplex and Regal Warrington Crossing. OTOH Reading is now boycotting all Fox and Universal product in Manville -- I had to go to the AMC Hamilton to see Phone Booth. [ 06-02-2003, 06:25 PM: Message edited by: Charles Everett ]  |  IP: Logged Mark J. Marshall Film God Posts: 3188 From: New Castle, DE, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 06-02-2003 08:29 PM                    As long as we're sharing stories on what WE look for in theaters, how's this.... Being a die hard Star Wars fan, and someone keenly aware of a quality presentation, when Episode I was about to come out, I took off from work... (ready for this?) ...for TWO WEEKS STRAIGHT. My goal, to find a THX certified theater that was installing Dolby's EX, and that had a projection staff that cared about the presentation. (I was not working at a theater at that time.) Now, in this market, you can count the total THX auditoriums on one hand, so I was prepared to go to NYC or anywhere I had to to find the right theater. And I had two weeks to do it. First I tried a local major chain 24 plex that was relatively new at the time (those in the Philly area know where I mean). I went to see the Matrix in their biggest theater figuring that would be a good test. But there was a horrible echo in that auditorium! I moved around to different spots in the theater, but it was everywhere. I don't know if that was ever "fixed" or not because I never went back. Eventually I stumbled onto the GCC Plymouth Meeting 12. It was a brand new theater, only a couple of months old, stadium seating, all the digital formats, two THX certified auditoriums, and yes they were installing EX in the two THX houses for Star Wars. The projectionist there, a guy named Joe Tommassello (who currently lurks here... Hi Joe!), took me into the booth and showed me around as they were separating the surrounds. Joe seemed extremely dedicated, and was just as excited as I was about the opening. It was settled. I pitched my tent, and that's where I saw it. The funny thing was that all the people who made fun of me taking off for two weeks suddenly wanted me to get tickets for them too!  |  IP: Logged Jeff Taylor Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 601 From: Chatham, NJ/East Hampton, NY Registered: Apr 2000 posted 06-03-2003 09:36 AM                     Ever since I heard a group of my friends talking excitedly and happily about a recent movie going experience in a converted 1920's single which is now a triple I have to shake my head. The film they attended was in half of the former balcony, steep as a ski run, with off center projection booth and extreme keystoning, and operated by a projectionist who posts extremely elemetary questions on this forum from time to time, well you get the idea. It all seems to come down to convenience, scheduling, and ease of parking. Projection done right...what's that. Personally, I stick to theaters where I have passes!  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 06-03-2003 11:15 AM                        quote: operated by a projectionist who posts extremely elemetary questions on this forum from time to time Well, at least that projectionist is trying to learn to have "Film Done Right". The ones to worry about are those that are bad, and not even trying to improve or learn from their mistakes.  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 4 pages: 1  2  3  4

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.