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Author Topic: Showtimes at :05, :25, :55 Eric Hooper Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 532 From: Fort Worth, TX, USA Registered: May 2003 posted 03-14-2004 11:04 AM                     Why? Ok, now I can understand the mega 20-plex needing to stagger showtimes throughout the 7 o'clock hour between 20 theatres. But why would a SINGLE SCREEN or even a TWIN have rediculous showtimes of 12:35, 3:05, 5:25, 7:55, 10:25? Why? Why? Why? Are these showtimes supposed to be subconciously easier to remember? What's the reasoning behind this? I don't get it. Most of the Regal/UA and other independent single screens here in the Bay Area do showtimes on the hour or :15 or :30. (i.e. 12:30, 3:45, 7:00, 10:15 or 1:30, 4:15, 7:00, 9:45.) This makes SO MUCH more sense to me.  |  IP: Logged Ian Price Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1714 From: Denver, CO Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-14-2004 11:30 AM                     I have a 5-screen and my times this week are 7:00, 7:10, 7:15, 7:20 & 7:30. My perfect showtimes would be every 10-minutes. My late evening showtimes are 9:20, 9:30, 9:30, 9:40 & 9:40. So I would usually start two films at the same time to avoid those :05 showtimes. In those megaplexes just try to not start two films at opposit ends of the complex.  |  IP: Logged Jim Bedford Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 597 From: Telluride, CO, USA (733 mi. WNW of Rockwall, TX but it seems much, much longer) Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-14-2004 11:57 AM                        Whether it's the time a train leaves or a film starts, management is always looking for a better way to alert or tell their customers what time things happen. Perhaps it's the same logic that has subdivisions putting up 16 or 21 MPH speed limits, to catch attention of unaware folks. Since many people work to arrive where they're going at the hour or half-hour, the five minute start after the hour or half-hour gives a small grace period. But when you deal with people, you gotta be human, and humans often have no clue. The truth is that almost nothing matters when it comes to showtimes, so to me, the best policy is to add the film run time to the trailer run time, figure in cleanup, house loadin and out, and set the times based on those factors (as long as it doesn't conflict with the same in another auditorium.) Trying to second guess your audience just doesn't make sense unless it's July 4, the Super Bowl, or some local special event that competes with your shows. And even then it often won't make much of a difference.  |  IP: Logged Carl Martin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1424 From: Oakland, CA, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 03-14-2004 05:40 PM                        i've noticed that our showtimes are almost always :00, :10, :15:, :20, :30, :40, :45, or :50, hardly ever :05, :25, :35, or :55. as far as i know it's not a policy. maybe they just seem awkward, being too close to a full or half hour. it makes 0 diff to me, as long as there aren't 2 starting at the same time. with 3 screens, that's easy. carl  |  IP: Logged Kenneth Wuepper Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1026 From: Saginaw, MI, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 03-14-2004 06:00 PM                     Ellis Merkley, manager of the Temple Theatre in SAGINAW, MI. was always miffed at the phone calls he fielded. "What time does your one o'clock show start?" He was equally baffled by the calls wanting to know when the 7 o'clock show started. All 1 o'clock and 7 o'clock shows started at the designated times by the big blue clock in front of the auditorium. (Which clock was always 5 minutes slow) By the way, the calls only started coming after the local multiplex opened. Cheers  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-14-2004 08:32 PM                        When someone asks "what time does the 7:00 show start," what they want to know is what time the FEATURE starts. I learned this on a tour at Disney World once....the guide said one of the most common questions they get is, "What time is the 3:00 parade?" Which translates, "what time does it pass by THIS SPOT?"  |  IP: Logged Roger Katz Film Handler Posts: 61 From: Thomaston, CT, USA Registered: Feb 2003 posted 03-14-2004 08:44 PM                     There is a single screen cinema in these parts where the evening showtime is typically listed as 7:14.  |  IP: Logged Chris Hipp Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1462 From: Mesquite, Tx (east of Dallas) Registered: Jul 2003 posted 03-14-2004 09:52 PM                     quote: In those megaplexes just try to not start two films at opposit ends of the complex. Yeah, they don't. It sucks big time when your complex is easily two football fields between the two farthest projectors. One day I am going to use a pedometer and see how many miles I actually walk a day.  |  IP: Logged Dennis Udovich Film Handler Posts: 71 From: Sheboygan, WI, USA Registered: Dec 2001 posted 03-15-2004 06:01 PM                        I've got a 14-screen complex with SIX separate projection rooms. This is because we expanded four times and the booths could not be connected. I had a projectionist wear a pedometer for one shift. He put on FIVE MILES! I have no overweight operators.  |  IP: Logged Jim Ziegler Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 753 From: West Hollywood, CA Registered: Jul 99 posted 03-16-2004 02:36 AM                     Generally I stat everything on the tens (:00, :10, :20 etc) becasue thats what my booth manager wants. I don't have a preference either way...  |  IP: Logged Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 03-16-2004 11:23 AM                     The few times I was asked to set showtimes, I arranged them so that we would have staggered starts as well as staggered exit times. Once during a Christmas holiday from college, I worked a 6-plex that had busted automations. Those showtimes also took LENS CHANGES into account! I've had people ask what time the 7 o' clock show starts too and it took a while before I figured out that they specifically wanted to know the start time of the actual movie. I used to just think it was one of those "dumb questions." A good friend of mine tells a funny story about the time he was given a tour of a NASA telescope facility that recorded and studied solar activity -- flares, sunspots and such. Anyway, before he could stop himself, he blurted out: "Do you have to wait till night to do that?"  |  IP: Logged

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