|
|
 
|
|
Author
|
Topic: Does Anyone Still Do Pre Movie Light Shows
|
Paul Cassidy
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 549
From: Auckland, New Zealand
Registered: Aug 2001
|
posted 09-18-2003 04:30 PM
Just asking , as we had a private movie showing for a family group at a Private cinema with all the pre-movie entertainment we used to have , lights dimming , Non sync music increasing in volume and the lights changing through the rainbow on the curtains , which I enjoyed , but some of the younger ones just made comments , like "Get on with it ....etc." for us as kids it was a magical time that took us into another world and the pre show was part of that experience .... seems our kids are from the super market multiplex age of "show it and go" whats your thoughts and does anyone still do it ???? or is time limiting this . When we were younger we could go the the cinema 15 mins before show time ,sit and soak at the ambience of the cinema , listen to the pre show music and have a generally relaxing time , now it is shove you in ,Blast you with adds and trailers and kick you out as soon as the credits roll . ![[Confused]](confused.gif)
[ 09-18-2003, 09:42 PM: Message edited by: Paul Cassidy ]
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Warren Smyth
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 158
From: Auckland ,New Zealand
Registered: Aug 2003
|
posted 09-19-2003 09:21 AM
My following comments relate to the changes in our part of the world Paul, although projectionists in other places may find the information has a familiar ring. Also, it should not be interpreted as denigrating the work of many very fine people in the industry, who work under conditions and restrictions today, that I never faced.
quote:
For us it was a magical time that took us into another world.
That sentence crystallizes a motivation that once existed in the exhibition of motion pictures. The earliest screenings of films were included in live vaudeville performances. These were presented by showmen to audiences to whom even the magic lantern was a wonder. New and larger theatres were built to satisfy the increasing demand for this new entertainment.
Now the owners like Hayward in New Zealand and Fullers and J C Williamson in Australia were not stupid men. They followed the trend overseas of building picture palaces. The idea was that the patrons would step into a world of splendor. The moment they left the pavement, the psychological conditioning had begun. For the very first time in history, the laborer, the farm hand, the maid could for a few pence, feel like a king or queen. They were infact, in opulent souroundings fit for royalty.
The manager greeted them in a dinner suit and the front of house staff in their smart uniforms were polite. None of the phoney "Have a nice day" that has been a recent unfortunate import into this country. These well trained usherettes showed the patrons to their seats, leading the way shining a torch on the floor behind them.
The lobbies and auditoruims were magnificent with marble staircases leading to the best seats in the lounge. There was soft music appropriate to the occasion played. The house lighting and elaborate decor provided facination and admiration. The naked screen was NEVER seen. This would have destroyed the illusion and it was illusion for which that they had paid their money. This was a generation who had never seen tv and radio serials were the only dramatic entertainment at home.
The projectionist was not simply a technition, he was an artist and a master of co-ordination. He understood the psychology of illusion and was trained accordingly. The house lights would dim, the overture would commence at a higher level and everyone knew the show was about to begin. The tradition of showmanship which had started in the vaudival days still influenced the presentation. There were often two curtains a waterfall (festoon) and behind, a set of tabs. Foot lights and overhead border battens with primary colours enabled the curtain to be bathed in changing colours. By mixing, you could get five good colours from red green and blue. Auckland's atmospheric Civic had a cloud effects projector for the ceiling. This theatre, with others, has been faithfully restored including the clouds.
Some theatres had multiple coloured circuits over the procenium arch as well. The Regent Auckland where I worked had so many dimmers, that two lighting boards were required at opposite ends of the projection room and occupied practically the whole of the walls from floor to ceiling. This was before the days of electronic dimming with triacs which minaturised the control. Incidentally, it still had the swimming pool below the stage floor which opened to reveal a live performance of water follies back in the thirties.
The three minute overture at the Regent saw one running from one end of the projection room to the other as the lights were controlled to the phrasing of the music. The lighting display was itself, a performance. As the overture came to an end, the co-ordination of projector motor start, curtain lights, change-over from non-sync to film and the fade in of the picture would be seemless. This was done with one projectionist unless the theatre had a trainee assistant.
This was a creative process and with fifteen hundred or more people in the auditorium, it was a very satifying for the projectionist. For the audience, it was an important part of the conditioning that had started maybe half an hour before. The patrons' expectation of something special had gradually increased until that special moment when the curtain raised and another opened to carry them into a world of make believe.
That was a different time, a time when projectionists were required to pass practical and written examination for A grade certification, a time when they were valued, a time before advertising films, a time when people dressed up to go to the 'pictures', a time when patrons had permanent bookings every week, a simpler time, a time of inocense, a time that is past - never to return, like the Regent, that fell victim to the ball and chain.
| IP: Logged
|
|
Martin Brooks
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 900
From: Forest Hills, NY, USA
Registered: May 2002
|
posted 09-19-2003 03:11 PM
Screen #1 ("The Loews") at the Loews Lincoln Square in NYC does a little automated light show and curtain opening before each show. It usually gets a bit of a laugh from the audience.
I think context plays a large role in whether this works or not. In a typical cinderblock shopping mall multiplex that plays advertising and/or some bad music service, trying to also do something classy is almost a joke. It's like the McDonald's in Manhattan that has a doorman in a tuxedo and top hat.
But if a theater is beautifully appointed and plays suitable walk-in music and doesn't run screen advertising, then I think a bit of a light show and curtain opening can work quite well, especially for "important" films. But even in that case, it can't go on for very long - it can't be done to satisfy the ego of the programmer or operator -- it has to make sense to the audience.
I saw the original roadshow of West Side Story at the Rivoli in Manhattan in the early 1960s. That show started with an overture, with the house lights mostly up and with abstract images that were projected over the curtain. As the house lights came down, the curtains slowly opened and just as the house lights came all the way down, the abstract images changed into the skyline of New York City and we heard the buzz or tone of what seemed like an airplane. As the image focused on one particular playground, the camera zoomed in with the sound of a big chord and the sound spread from mono to 6-channel mag stereo and sounded just great. Now that was the way to start a film.
| IP: Logged
|
|
Paul Cassidy
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 549
From: Auckland, New Zealand
Registered: Aug 2001
|
posted 09-19-2003 03:38 PM
Thanks Warren , I remember the Regent well , apart from the Cinerama (of which I only saw single lens projection)this was my favorite cinema for light shows , truly an awesome sight , the other Auckland cinema that did this well was the more modern Odeon (which still stands), the other theatres St James , Plaza , Century ,Oxford ,Westend and the Embassy were not all that memorable , notably the 2 70mm theatres (Cinerama & Plaza ) only had the huge Red curtains , so not much of a light show on those , but any 70mm film had it's own unique mood setting begining . ![[beer]](graemlins/beer.gif)
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Paul H. Rayton
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 210
From: Los Angeles, CA , USA
Registered: Aug 2003
|
posted 09-25-2003 08:58 PM
Speaking of "pre-show" activities, I might mention the El Capitan Theatre here in Los Angeles. They consistently present what they call a "curtain show", prior to the start of the actual films.
They have 3 curtains, and the "curtain show" consists of various spot & flood lights playing on the various curtains, with music. The show changes pretty much with every feature, but mostly the "changes" are variations in the colors of the lights, the timings, the positions of the spots, etc., things like that.
The physical curtains themselves do not change. First is a conventional fabric drape curtain. Second is a slatted, silvery, highly reflective layer that sparkles in the lowered lights. And finally is a hard-surface (? - Don't know, I've never touched it!) element with a stylized painting, kind of 1030s style, of some elegant dancers. Theatre employees call this curtain the "Fred & Ginger" curtain. The show ends with a spot on "Fred & Ginger" gradually going out (dimming, or irising down to zero), at which time that curtain opens and the film starts, usually with the trailers.
This house has been progressively rebuilt and improved starting back in about 1990 by Disney, and shows exclusively Disney films (with extremely rare exceptions). It also sometimes presents a full live show prior to some attractions, typically Christmas season and early summer.
This year, for example, a fairly long-lived show was presented prior to "Finding Nemo". There were something like 16 dancer/performers who appeared on stage for every show. It ran from opening (in late May) through July 4 weekend. Something like 6 weeks or so.
This is the one place in L.A. that presents such a show, and the costs are tremendous. (Of course, they charge a higher price than any other cinema around, but that goes with the territory when you have live performances!)
The music is recorded, but it's quite a spectacle when you are used to generic multiplex blandness.
(My theatre, which is nearby, is the polar opposite: no curtain at all. At least I have movable masking, which I can sometimes manipulate a bit for some attempt at "presentation". But not much!)
If you are in L.A., check the schedule of the El Capitan. They also have a web site, the exact address of which I don't know, but something like "El Capitan Theatre.com". Google it and you should get something.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
All times are Central (GMT -6:00)
|
|
Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM
6.3.1.2
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.
|
Home
![[thumbsup]](graemlins/thumbsup.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic