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Author Topic: What color should I paint the booth? Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-20-2005 08:19 PM                     I just got word that my boss has budgeted for a complete paint job of my theater, including the booth. I get to decide what color to paint it. The booth is visible to customers who sit in the balcony. There is a large glass window. People can see right in. Right now the walls in the booth are that standard beige color they paint just about everything that doesn't have a specific color request. Not only does the light spill out of the booth but it looks like crap when the walls get scuffed up. The "correct" color to paint would be flat black. However, customer aesthetics is an issue. I was considering midnight blue instead. It would still be a dark color but it wouldn't produce that "black hole" effect that flat black would produce. What do you all think?  |  IP: Logged Aaron Sisemore Flaming Ribs beat Reeses Peanut Butter Cups any day! Posts: 3061 From: Rockwall TX USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 09-20-2005 08:23 PM                     Most of our booths are either a dark gray or chocolate brown color. Shows off the gear nicely without all the light spillage. Is that a T-bar ceiling in there? Get that painted flat black ASAFP or else you will be lighting the whole auditorium up. -Aaron  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 09-20-2005 08:24 PM                        I've worked in many midnight blue painted booths. It's my favourite booth colour.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 09-20-2005 08:40 PM                     Don't paint the ceiling tiles. REPLACE them with black ones. Otherwise they won't be able to absorb the noise properly and you will make your booth LOUDER. Also consider dropping $20 on a light grid to replace the diffuser on your flourescent lights. It will force the light straight down, rather than out into the auditorium. Do note many of them can be flipped upside down for more or less directionality. Do stay away from pure black, as lighting in there will be a pain. Midnight blue is about as dark as I would go, no lighter than a medium grey in my opinion.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-20-2005 09:39 PM                     Yes, that is a suspended ceiling. And, yes, it does shine light out into the house. It sucks! I'm going to try to get that replaced too. They do make special spray paint for drop ceilings that is more dye than paint. We use it for spraying ceiling tiles that have water stains on them. I don't know if it comes in black, though. One of our venues has flat black walls backstage. You're right. The light does suck in there. It's like being in a black hole. The cool-white fluorescents don't make it any better. My Production Manager wants it black. I told him that it would create that "Black Hole" effect that we have in the other venue. It would also look icky for customers. Personally, I'm partial to blue but brown and grey might be nice. I'll have to run it by the boss.  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 09-20-2005 10:33 PM                        Here's a midnight blue booth with dyed black tiles and stock black grid.  |  IP: Logged Dan Lyons Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 698 From: Seal Beach, CA Registered: Sep 2002 posted 09-21-2005 02:49 AM                     Get some curtains in that thing! unless you're into being watched...  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 09-21-2005 05:08 AM                        I also don't like black (too depressing and no reflected light, even the part that you need to work) Also, when you darken that room, you will need A LOT of additional lighting in order to work. Consider masonite sheets used like giant aperture plates on the equipment side of your large porthole glass. These do not necessarily need to be permanently attached. This preserves the original intent of "other uses" while reducing the need for changes internal to your booth, I have done this in many theatres and it seems to work well; especially 20 years later when equipment changes. Louis  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 09-21-2005 07:58 AM                        If you don't like black, dark gray will do. Fine to use lighter colors/pastels on surfaces that don't reflect into the auditorium. For those large windows, movable heavy dark drapes on rods would allow covering the parts of the windows that are not being used for viewing or projection, cutting down on sound and light transmission, and making watching the projectionist less of a "spectator sport"  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-21-2005 08:22 AM                     I like institutional green which most of the old booths used to be painted  |  IP: Logged Jeff Taylor Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 601 From: Chatham, NJ/East Hampton, NY Registered: Apr 2000 posted 09-21-2005 08:49 AM                     Ditto Brad's point on that acrylic diffuser. Get what most lumber yards would calla "mini-wedge" parabolic.  |  IP: Logged Marin Zorica Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 671 From: Biograd na Moru, Croatia Registered: May 2003 posted 09-21-2005 09:20 AM                     Randy, i think you got biggest both window!!!!!!!!  |  IP: Logged Scott Jentsch Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1061 From: New Berlin, WI, USA Registered: Apr 2003 posted 09-21-2005 11:38 AM                        I painted the ceiling of my home theater Sherwin Williams Portabello (SW 6102) in a flat finish. Color Guide (that site doesn't allow bookmarking the exact page, so you have to click on the color samples to view them) In your situation, I would make the ceiling black and the walls Portabello. My walls are Practical Beige (SW 6100), but I wouldn't recommend using that for anything but an accent color in your application. All that said, if the walls of the auditorium are blue-grey as they appear in your photo, going with midnight blue might be a more color-coordinated way to go.  |  IP: Logged Paul Mayer Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under! Posts: 3836 From: Albuquerque, NM Registered: Feb 2000 posted 09-21-2005 11:53 AM                        Our old Parkway Theatre had a 70mm changeover booth with "picture window" glass like Randy's. They installed small aperture masks in front of each machine to cut down on stray light leaks. I liked working with those big windows--you'd always be at least peripherally aware of the screen from anywhere in that booth. Reminded me of working at a drive-in. But they didn't have audience sitting just below. The booth at the Carpenter PAC at CSULB is even more extreme with floor to ceiling horizontally beveled glass with the last row of audience seats right there at booth floor level. IIRC the Parkway booth had the standard black drop ceiling with battleship grey walls and floor and black carpet runners next to each machine.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-21-2005 01:44 PM                     I like having the picture window. Like Paul said, you can see the screen at all times. We've been talking about getting blinds on the windows. That way we can raise or lower them in sections as needed. The windows are regular old tempered glass. I don't like them very much. Most other people don't seem to notice but I can tell the difference in the picture when they are closed. I usually slide the center section open about six inches. It lets some of the projector noise out but it's not very noticible in the lower section of the house. We don't normally use the balcony for movies anyway. If the movie sells well enough that we have to open the balcony I'll close the window and live with it. Usually, the balcony is where my projectionists sit. Every public showing has at least one person sitting in the last row of the balcony, just a few feet from the booth door. If there is a problem somebody is only a second's dash away. It's been several years since that part of the building was painted. I'll be glad to see a color that doesn't reflect out into the house so much.  |  IP: Logged

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