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Author Topic: Retro Cinemas Tom Petrov Five Guys Lover Posts: 1121 From: El Paso, TX Registered: Jan 2003 posted 06-08-2006 11:20 PM                    Ok. I have worked in the industry for almost 12 years. I like the older flat cinemas instead of these stadium seating theatres. Currently I work at a older cinema (with no stadium) and a newer theatre with stadium. Stadium seating is a gimmick because balcony theatre were stadium and never survived. What does everyone think of making a retro neighborhood theatre? It would have stadium seating in one theatre. Flat seating in the other. The theatre would be designed old, similar to an ballpark like Camden Yards and the theatre would have all the ammentities of the newer cinemas.  |  IP: Logged Mike Spaeth Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1129 From: Marietta, GA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 06-08-2006 11:45 PM                        It is a completely unfeasible idea. Unless it is a specialty venue, people WILL NOT patronize sloped floor theatres when they have a stadium choice. Call it a gimmick all you want, but it's a gimmick that works.  |  IP: Logged Tom Petrov Five Guys Lover Posts: 1121 From: El Paso, TX Registered: Jan 2003 posted 06-09-2006 12:29 AM                    Fair enough but I work at a theatre that is stadium seating and one that is flat. Every other week the stadium seating theatre is outgrossed by the flat theatre.  |  IP: Logged Frank Dubrois Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 896 From: Cleveland, OH Registered: Mar 2005 posted 06-09-2006 12:49 AM                    Maybe the auditorium in the flat seating has something else going for it that the stadium auditorium doesnt? Bigger screen? Digital sound? Better movies? People just dont look at flat seating and Stadium seating and CHOOSE flat...there has to be other reasons.  |  IP: Logged Cameron Glendinning Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 845 From: West Ryde, Sydney, NSW Australia Registered: Dec 2005 posted 06-09-2006 01:26 AM                     Personally, I dont think dress circles have died out! here in sydney australia, we have several new cinemas that have them, overall, upstairs tends to be busier, The Reading Cinema at Rhodes (14km from cbd) 2 of 8 screens have a balcony (complete with a 20 ft projector lift) The Randwick ritz a 1930s single screen (8km from cbd) (aprox 1100 people over 2 levels), 3 of the 5 new screens built beside the complex have dress circle and stalls. And at Worrywood (20 km from cbd) the GRAND also has a circle 1 of 7, All these cinemas have higher than usual figures. FLAT OR STADIUM? personally I dont like looking up at the screen :  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 06-09-2006 02:30 AM                     There are just some people who don't like the climbing up the terraced steps per each row...they'd just rather simply walk down an sloped aisle to the row of their choice to get to a seat.. Worked in a stadium complex and seen elderly people stumble and fall down due to the stepped aisles..let along getting exhausted in the climb....due to that they are not used to such constuction design for a cinema..  |  IP: Logged Christopher Crouch Expert Film Handler Posts: 128 From: Holywood, ca, usa Registered: May 2006 posted 06-09-2006 04:51 AM                  I once worked at a 20 plex that had ten sloped auditoriums (original complex) and ten stadium auditoriums (later addition). The patrons began refering to the original side as the "crappy side" and the stadium side as the "good side". These monikers were based on nothing more than the seating style, as the original auditoriums were much larger and provided better sound. Due to public demand, we had to adjust print placement more towards seating style than seating capacity (going with 280 seat stadium auditoriums over 400 seat sloped auditoriums for major releases). Even given the choice, patrons prefer stadium seating (aside from disabled people and senior citizens).  |  IP: Logged John Koutsoumis Master Film Handler Posts: 261 From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Registered: Aug 2003 posted 06-09-2006 04:55 AM                     Although it's now closed , here in Melbourne the best Cinema was at the Village City Center (Cinema #1) which had part sloped and part raised seating. I always sat in the sloped section. This cinema had 800+ seats and to me was the best design for the multiplex. Stadium seating in a way is a gimmick because Cinema chains use to promote their cinemas as being "new" or "better" yet the presentation technically still sucks. And all the stadium style cinemas have very uncomfortable seats. And in some venues if you sit at the back you are actually looking down at the screen  |  IP: Logged Dennis Benjamin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1445 From: Denton, MD Registered: Feb 2002 posted 06-09-2006 06:43 AM                        Maybe - the difference has to do with the cultural background of the people going to see the movies? I notice the majority of the people conversing about this - are people from outside the US. Maybe the stadium seating craze hasn't really caught on outside the US? Just a thought. Since I prefer to watch movies completely by myself - I don't care about it either way. I care about the picture on the screen and the sound coming out of the speakers. It just so happens that we are converting our largest auditorium to Stadium seating next week. So I will really get to see if the people in our little town prefer one over the other. I have a feeling the senior citizens will hate it and the younger set will love it.  |  IP: Logged Matt Kerekes Film Handler Posts: 73 From: Rio Rancho, NM Registered: Oct 2004 posted 06-09-2006 07:53 AM                     I agree with Dennis. Seems to be the normal thing that seniors don't like stadium and younger people don't like slope.  |  IP: Logged Lyle Romer Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1400 From: Davie, FL, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 06-09-2006 08:15 AM                     It also depends on the stadium design. The "good" stadium where the risers are over a foot allows an average sized person to see over the head of another average sized person. The "bad" stadium found in some retrofits has risers less than a foot and is actually worse than sloped because you have to look through the heads to the screen. With sloped you looked up over the heads.  |  IP: Logged Kara J. McVay Film Handler Posts: 95 From: Delaware, OH Registered: May 2002 posted 06-09-2006 09:30 AM                        I run a 90 year old theatre that has 3 screens, the main floor has never be touched, it has a sloped floor that by the time you get to the front of the stage you are 5ft. below street level. In 1986 the balcony was closed off and made our 3rd screen, it is a big screen that folks either love or hate, the majority that hate it, hate the fact that they have to climb the stairs to get there. Our 2nd screen was built in 1982 and was never part of our original theatre, a storefront in the same building, it is just a "bowling alley" screen. I am very close to Columbus, OH, I have a brand new Rave 18 screen about a 15-20 min. drive (when I have to PAY to watch a movie that is where I choose to go). Those who want the stadium seating go to Rave, those who love our beautiful historic downtown stay.  |  IP: Logged Frank Dubrois Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 896 From: Cleveland, OH Registered: Mar 2005 posted 06-09-2006 10:06 AM                    PAY to watch a movie? What the hell??  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 06-09-2006 12:33 PM                     People like being able to see the screen. That's why stadium seating is popular. I've been to lots of traditional sloped floor auditoriums and I have always disliked having to look through or around the heads of other viewers just to see the screen. With stadium seating, you could have some 6' 10" guy sit in front of you and not worry about his melon blocking your view. In a normal auditorium you would have to switch seats -which often means going to pick a really shitty seat off to the side somewhere and leave behind that "sweet spot" seat you picked near dead center of the room when you arrived nice and early for the show. All was well until the undiscovered NBA basketball star player chose to sit right in front of you once the auditorium got crowded. My only big complaint about stadium seating is sound quality. For some odd reason sound quality just seems to work out better in normal sloped auditoriums. This factor is more noticeable when the seating capacity gets to high levels. If you have a huge stadium seated auditorium then echo tends to be a problem. There's also a lot more cubic area of airspace in there for speakers to manipulate. In the end many stadium seated auditoriums have way underpowered speaker systems. Also most are not THX certified. The whole stadium seated theater building craze did a heck of a lot of damage to THX. Theater operators figured they didn't need to build for THX since stadium seating and digital sound were both enough when it came to what they considered "marketing gimmicks."  |  IP: Logged Bill Enos Film God Posts: 2081 From: Richmond, Virginia, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 06-09-2006 12:36 PM                     Stadium seating must be a nightmare for insurance liability. The rep. from our insurance carrier comes by every few years and has said that the claims from stadium seats are quite a bit higher than for traditional sloped theatres and are a significant factor in rates. Our main floor is sloped and the balcony is stadium. I guess stairs in dim light are not good.  |  IP: Logged

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