Movie seems zoomed in on screen…not sure how to fix?

[Mike Reed]

Beetlejuice-Beetlejuice is definitely a "Flat" movie. Now, depending on your screen's native aspect ratio (and if you employ movable masking), be prepared for a possibly smaller picture as the flat ratio is smaller than the scope one.

Yeah so tonight on Beetlejuice I switched to 2Dflat, but the picture was a little smaller and there were two black bars on the sides. Now you were able to see the entire movie verse scope which cut off various things like some captions and tops of heads and signs. It’s probably not enough to make a bad movie experience. I noticed the side black bars right away but after I watch the movie for a few minutes I kind of forgot about them.

[Steve Guttag]

Now, if you had movable masking, it would look finished!

[Mike Reed]

Now, if you had movable masking, it would look finished!

I take it I don’t have movable masking on the NEC2000? ?

[Steve Guttag]

Movable masking is drapery for your screen to mask off the unused portion. It has nothing to do with your projector. So, for something like Scope (or 2.20) it would look similar to this.

Screen Shot 2024-09-07 at 11.18.42 PM.png

For F-137, it would look like this:

Screen Shot 2024-09-07 at 11.18.54 PM.png

No "naked" screen for a performance. And, with motorized masking, you can have it move, if need be between ads, trailers and feature.

Typical "unfinished" theatres do it like this (shaded area is the unused portion):

Screen Shot 2024-09-07 at 11.23.04 PM.png

[Mike Reed]

[QUOTE=Steve Guttag;n40788]Movable masking is drapery for your screen to mask off the unused portion. It has nothing to do with your projector. So, for something like Scope (or 2.20) it would look similar to this.

Ok I know what you mean now. Thanks for clarifying! I own an old theater with no movable curtains at this time. The Movie theater is almost 100yrs old. There are some curtains hanging by the screens but the mechanism is long since broken. Can’t imagine having automated curtains but that would be awesome some day!

[Ryan Gallagher]

[Ok I know what you mean now. Thanks for clarifying! I own an old theater with no movable curtains at this time. The Movie theater is almost 100yrs old. There are some curtains hanging by the screens but the mechanism is long since broken. Can’t imagine having automated curtains but that would be awesome some day!

If it's 100yrs old i expect it's a single screen operation. As such motorized drapes are less important if you have staff around to configure things for each film. Our top is motorized but our sides are manual here, also 100+ years old. We just set masking for the feature and then manipulate any pre-roll to fit inside that. if there are some ropes behind the screen or off to one side, you might have manual masking too. But perhaps the ropes themselves have given up due to age and dry-rot. Easy fix if you can get to the track and all the parts are still around.

Though if the rope has rotted away I wouldn't trust the curtains to not just fall down the first time you try to move them. Dry rot is a thing.

[Ryan Gallagher]

The Movie theater is almost 100yrs old

I gather you are at the historic Ritz in Clearfield. I found a picture of you! ;-)
https://www.thecourierexpress.com/ne...85c4d17d3.html

My hat is off to you and your crew for taking on the challenges of keeping another single screen historic gem alive. But it does sound like you could use a visit from someone to help you learn the capabilities of your systems. There is bound to be a historic single screen lover willing to help out that doesn't live too far afield.

[Mike Reed]

[QUOTE=Ryan Gallagher;n40795]
I gather you are at the historic Ritz in Clearfield. I found a picture of you! ;-)
https://www.thecourierexpress.com/ne...85c4d17d3.html

My hat is off to you and your crew for taking on the challenges of keeping another single screen historic gem alive.

Yeah that’s me and my family! My wife and I co-own the Ritz. It’s actually a two screen theater. We’ve done a lot of renovations since last November when we purchased it. Trying to keep the regalness of the theater as well as update to modern tech. It’s a staple in our community. I’m an entrepreneur by trade and run my own business besides the Ritz. I’ve learned a lot the past 10 months owning the theater. This group has been very helpful! I learn new stuff all the time. We plan on keeping Theater going for a long time! Beetlejuice was super successful tonight! ?

Anyway I appreciate your help and speedy responses!

[Ryan Gallagher]

It’s actually a two screen theater.

One screen, two screens... red screens, blue screens.

It's the 100+ years old part that really matters. ;-)

[Steve Guttag]

Truth be told, older theatres are more likely to have both masking (movable black drapes) as well as a Grand Drape (aka "Curtain"). When I started, a great many of the theatres I worked were from the 1930s and all of them had masking (and curtains). In fact, the theatre I showed above is the AFI/Silver...I first worked the Silver under K-B Theatres (1980) and while its main curtain was gone then, side masking (manual) was still used. The Roxy in Northampton, PA is from 1921...full drapery there.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Screen Shot 2024-09-07 at 11.18.42 PM.png

Screen Shot 2024-09-07 at 11.18.54 PM.png

Sorry for butchering your post. That's the AFI Silver Screen #1?

That's some fine, sophisticated drapery there, something you don't really see anymore those days, at least not in new builds.

I especially like how they match up those 4 stripes on each side with the ornamentation in the ceiling in non-scope mode. I guess those are on a separate rail?

[Ryan Gallagher]

That's some fine, sophisticated drapery there, something you don't really see anymore those days, at least not in new builds.

I especially like how they match up those 4 stripes on each side with the ornamentation in the ceiling in non-scope mode. I guess those are on a separate rail?

Yeah it appears their main curtain (patterned to match the walls fabrics) can be used at intermediate positions to effectively move the "architecture" closer to the screen, and get uniform black masking on most sides.

Our curtain, being for a theatrical stage, is about 5 feet downstage of the screen, so never would have thought to use it that way.

[Steve Guttag]

The curtain in 2003 was, indeed, made from the wall fabric. It has since been replaced with a Red curtain. Yes, the "walls" are on their own track and motor. As for masking, most of our theatres have motorized masking with many utilizing multi-stop (more than 2) and some have 3 and 4-way masking. There really is no excuse for the demise of masking aside from cheapness and a complete lack of respect for the presentation/appearance of the theatre. Then again, I feel the same way about the grand drape too.

[Ryan Gallagher]

The curtain in 2003 was, indeed, made from the wall fabric. It has since been replaced with a Red curtain. Yes, the "walls" are on their own track and motor. As for masking, most of our theatres have motorized masking with many utilizing multi-stop (more than 2) and some have 3 and 4-way masking. There really is no excuse for the demise of masking aside from cheapness and a complete lack of respect for the presentation/appearance of the theatre. Then again, I feel the same way about the grand drape too.

Haha, I think grand drapes went away when the room itself stopped being so "grand" and become just a dark box you walked into. ;-)

[Steve Guttag]

Exactly...why should people pay sit-down prices to get "fast food" type presentations. We did, in recent memory put in a theatre that also put in a grand drape...Ventnor Square in Ventnor City, NJ (essentially, Atlantic City). And yes, it has motorized masking too as well as Dolby Atmos.