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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Author
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Topic: Your DREAM Theater...
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Buck Wilson
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 894
From: St. Joseph MO, USA
Registered: Sep 2010
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posted 01-01-2014 02:44 AM
Surely everyone has an ideal theater in mind they'd design if money was no object...... Perhaps maybe not everyone spends as much time thinking about it as I do but anyways.......
I would have two here in town.
--Trail Theater--
There is a single screen art-deco style theater downtown that I have just been drooling over for over 5 years now. I'd love love love to get my hands on that.
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/1821
I'd leave everything on the outside as-is(restoring it all of course, there is extensive neon on this facade) except the seafoam green vitrolite. I would change that out to a large dark midnight blue glass tile. The inside however would be completely gutted and re-done. I am talking PREMIUM movie-going experience here. Perhaps small bar/expanded concession menu. Would likely be stadium seating mainly due to space constraints, with very comfortable black leather rockers. The lobby and auditorium would be very vibrant and colorful, yet tasteful and of great quality. Stunning acoustical panels would decorate the auditorium, that is redesigned to meet/exceed Thx standards. Extremely insulated, when no sound is playing you would hear NOTHING. No HVAC, no water running through pipes, no booth noises, nothing. The screen would of course have common height masking, as well as a full curtain. Between shows, the curtain would be closed and there would be a gentle, glowing light show on the curtain, with laid back music playing in the background. The projection- a higher end Barco 4k projector, perhaps dual, HFR ready, and the best 3d. Of course, the booth would also be set up for 35/70mm 'just in case'. I would typically play indie/limited release content, just the stuff this town doesn't typically get but could do well if done right. The staff would likely be dressed in black/white, perhaps with vests/bowties, and friendly as can be. Real-world friendly, not Chick-fil-a cheesy friendly. Throw a couple of spotlights in the upper front corners of the roof, and make customers feel really special on the weekends. Presentation will be flawless, crystal clear, and bright. The sound will blow you away in its depth and clarity. Welcome to the Trail.
--Star Crest 4--
If you've read this far, kudos. My second theater would be similar, so I can leave out a lot of details. I would open up a brand new 4-plex attached to the local mall, running 2nd run content in the highest of quality. I want to see the first run theater in town squirm as they watch customers drop like flies waiting for this theater to get movies. Again, HIGH quality auditoriums, thx quality, with a classier, subdued theme perhaps with an emphasis on star shapes... lots of fabric and velvet screen curtains, make it feel very warm and inviting. Auditoriums will be 200-300 seaters, with not statium seats, but a steeper raked standard layout.
Of course, both theaters would only sell the best products, Coke, etc and have large, bright spotless restrooms.
Enough of my personal theater dream porn, lets hear yours.
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Scott Norwood
Film God
Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 01-04-2014 05:40 PM
Mine would be something from the 1930s, art-deco style, 500-700 seats with a balcony, showing daily double features of classic films (with printed calendar schedules) with the odd late-run current title mixed in. Uniformed ushers, top-of-the-line 16/35/70mm film and video projection, curtains, comfy seats, full stage for occasional live events, reasonable ticket prices, etc.
Maybe this could have a second screen in an adjacent building for current releases.
There are lots of places that come very close to this (and I have been privileged to work in several), but nothing that fully fits the bill with the right mix of programming and environment.
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Aaron Garman
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1470
From: Toledo, OH USA
Registered: Mar 2003
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posted 01-04-2014 07:29 PM
6 purpose built cinemas:
1-A 1920s movie palace with 1000 seats, designed for silents and classics at 1.33 or 1.37. Orchestra pit, organ, the whole she-bang. 35mm and DLP. Nitrate approved. Premiere film: Casablanca (film)
2-An art deco house, 1000 seats, designed specifically for the widescreen era. Capable of 1.66, 1.85, and all cinemascope variants. 35mm and DLP. 3D both on film and digital. Premiere film: The Robe (film)
3-A 70s vintage Cinerama/D150 styled house exclusively for large format film presentations (non-IMAX). 1000 seats. 35, 70, Cinerama and DLP capable. Premiere film: This is Cinerama (film)
4-A multi-purpose 80s era GCC style house with a 50 foot scope screen. 1000 seats, sloped house. 16, 35, 70, and DLP capable. 3D capability on film and digital. Premiere film: Titanic (70mm print).
5-An IMAX house with 90 foot IMAX screen. 1000 seats. 70mm IMAX and future digital equivalent (not yet invented). Premiere film: Hubble 3D/The Dark Knight (film of course).
6-A 100 seats private screening room for birthdays, christenings, and bachelor parties. Just like the multipurpose house, just a lot smaller. 16, 35, 70, and DLP. Premiere film: patron-dependent.
All cinemas share:
Curtains (even the IMAX house)
Moveable masking (yes, even the IMAX house).
Dolby Processors
QSC speakers and amps
Barco DLP
Kinoton film projectors
Cup holders
Uniformed Ushers and Usherettes
Popcorn, candy, hot dogs, nachos, soda, and water only. No booze. No fried foods. Nothing priced over $3. One size for all drinks and popcorn.
Cafe adjacent to the main lobby for small sandwiches, tea, and coffee. Open for matinees only.
NO SCREEN ADS. Curtains only open for the feature. Soft music plays prior to the show. Animated shorts shown for all matinees prior to the screening. Roadshow presentations for all applicable films.
I could continue...but this is probably enough.
And just so Brad's happy: no billion flavor Coke machines.
AJG
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Mark Ogden
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 943
From: Little Falls, N.J.
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 01-04-2014 08:27 PM
quote: Scott Norwood
Mine would be something from the 1930s, art-deco style, 500-700 seats with a balcony, showing daily double features of classic films (with printed calendar schedules)
Sounds like the Harvard Square Cinema a long time ago. I used to LIVE in that place, late 70s to early 80s, when I was dating a gal from Somerville. She used to have the printed calendar tacked up in her kitchen, their classic double feature was Harold and Maude and King Of Hearts. The red line of the T would drop you off right in front. I would see movies all day while she worked, either there or at the Janus, or the Orson Wells. Lord, what memories.
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Sam Graham
AKA: "The Evil Sam Graham". Wackiness ensues.
Posts: 1431
From: Waukee, IA
Registered: Dec 2004
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posted 01-05-2014 10:13 AM
The building itself would be a 70's National Amusements shoebox. White with the red "CINEMA I-II-III" lettering, even though it would probably be a five-to-nine-screen operation in a small market.
There would be no online ticketing, no advanced ticket sales, and we would accept cash only. The ticket booth would be staffed by identical twins dressed as Wednesday Addams. They would never smile.
The lobby would have wood paneling with 70's supermarket green and white floor tile and globe ball lighting. There would be vinyl sofas to sit on. There would be traditional phone booths without phones, but people could step into to have private conversations on their cell phones in.
The concession stand would have an all-girl staff wearing uniforms similar to those worn at Hot Dog on a Stick. We would sell corn dogs instead of hot dogs which we would batter and fry on site, though probably not to order due to the need to quickly flow traffic. We would also sell chili and maybe krinkle-cut chili-cheese fries. We would also have an interesting variety of retro candy. Our soda would be the cane sugar variety from Dublin Bottling Works, plus Cheerwine and Green River too if I could get the syrup in real sugar formulas. Freshly made sweet tea and lemonade would also be available.
The auditorium corridor would be a horrible boring white on adobe texture with wrought iron amber carriage lamps and the only fluorescent overheads in the entire building. The bathrooms would have entrances that were modified kybos (a trick I'm stealing from Jungle Jim's of Cincinnati). When you walk in to the kybos, you would enter the most opulent bathrooms in the history of the world. The urinals in the men's room might surround a volcano, complete with fire and faux flowing lava. The women's rest room would be themed like a Barbie dream palace, with harp music playing and maybe a waterfall effect.
The auditoriums would not use fixed numbers. They would change with each feature, they would not be sequential, and not be limited to the number of auditoriums. What was Auditorium 4 one week might be Auditorium 72 the next. The current number would be clearly posted on an LCD screen in front of each auditorium door (as well as the movie playing in said auditorium).
The auditoriums themselves would be laid out like the Warren's stadium rooms (no director's suites, no fancy recliners, no balconies), but have dark blue curtains and the Act III wall sconces. The ceilings would be shaped and decorated to provide for a night sky theme, complete with lit stars. More subtle than theatres that did something like punched in Christmas lights...way better quality than that. Something that would make patrons look up and think "Oh my God". Something more detailed than anyone's ever seen, while still being able to accommodate required lighting, ventilation, and sprinklers. Each auditorium would be uniform in equipment with 4k projection and Dolby ATMOS sound. Yes, I would have THX certification, just so I can play that fucking "Amazing Life" trailer, because I still fucking geek out every time they play it at the Warren.
There would be no 3-D.
There would be a proper projection booth, if nothing else so I have a space to hang out alone in and be creepy.
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Edward Havens
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 614
From: Los Angeles, CA
Registered: Mar 2008
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posted 01-05-2014 02:42 PM
Scott came close to describing mine, expect I don't think I'd go quite 500-700 screens. Maybe ~400. Partly because I'd worry about how it'd look if there were only 40 people in a 700 seat house, partly because I'd worry about the bill to keep the room cool in the summer and warm in the winter. I used to manage a Fox Theatre years ago, one with a balcony converted to tiny theatres. The main floor house sat ~700 and it was a bitch to keep it at a good temperature during the winter.
But otherwise, yeah. Something from the 1930s, art-deco style, with a balcony, thrice-weekly changing schedule of double features of classic films with printed calendar schedules. Uniformed ushers, top-of-the-line 16/35/70mm film and video projection, curtains, proper masking and comfy seats. Definitely a sloped seating area.
I would love to have an Automaticket machine in a free-standing box office under the marquee, but I would also absolutely do online ticketing, and maybe even offer the print-at-home option. Make it easier for the guest to commit to the shows.
A well-stocked snack bar featuring all your old movie theatre candy favorites, and reasonably sized popcorn boxes/tubs and waxy soda cups, all at affordable prices.
While I would never do modern pre-show advertising, I would want to run a series of classic snipes like Let's All Go to the Lobby before and between shows.
And there would be notices everywhere I could get them up concerning my theatre that all electronic devices are not to be brought in to the theatre. No phones, no tablets, no phablets, no pagers. One strike and you're out. No exceptions.
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 01-05-2014 04:30 PM
I would build a Faraday cage around my dream theatre, to ensure that there is no cellphone or wifi coverage in the auditorium, and deal with the cellphone nuisance that way. No need for the trouble and expense of ongoing enforcement. I would also advertise prominently in my venue's printed program and on placards in the lobby that if you have a problem with not being able to receive a text or go on Facebook for a couple of hours, kindly bugger off somewhere else (my dream theatre, of course, being a venue that receives regular philanthropic donations such that its management doesn't have to worry about attracting enough customers to pay the bills)!
My ideal venue would have two auditoria. The first would be crescent-shaped and used for exclusively for 1:1.85 and wider movies, similar to Pictureville at Bradford. The second would be taller and squarer, and used for silent, Academy and 1:1.66 (the now sadly closed Heights Theater in Minneapolis would be sort of what I have in mind). It would also have a fully restored Wurlitzer pipe organ (console on a hydraulic lift under the stage, of course), a piano and a small orchestra pit for doing silent movies right. The widescreen theatre would have DP70s for 35/70 and whatever is the latest Kinoton FP-18 successor for 16, plus 4K digital. The "tallscreen" theatre would be similarly equipped, but with Cinemeccanica Vic 5s equipped with three-blade shutters (IMHO these offer the least flicker of any 35mm machine I've seen in action running at the lower end of the silent speed range, i.e. 16-18fps, and cause the least dye shedding on tinted and/or toned prints) and powerful enough lamps to achieve 16ft-l with the three-blade shutters.
Oh, and just to really push the boat out, I'd include a Flashscan HD in the rep screen, connected to the d-cinema projector, so that if experimental filmmakers etc. wanted to show Super 8 on the big screen, this would be possible.
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