Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Got a chandelier in your auditorium?

my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

»	Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE » Operations » Ground Level » Got a chandelier in your auditorium?

Author

Topic: Got a chandelier in your auditorium?

William Hooper
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1879
From: Mobile, AL USA
Registered: Jun 99

posted 07-03-2001 03:37 AM

Does anyone have a big house with a chandelier on a winch in the auditorium?

How often do you re-lamp it? Has an electric winch been installed?

Someone nearby is saying that their chandelier needs to be re-lamped twice a year, & installation of an electric winch would supposedly not be unusual.

I think they've got a lamp (or other) problem.

| IP: Logged

John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 07-03-2001 09:44 AM

Why does this remind me of "The Phantom of the Opera"???

Or the "Phantom of the Megaplex"?:
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0266850

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

| IP: Logged

Will Kutler
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1506
From: Tucson, AZ, USA
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 07-03-2001 03:21 PM

The Fox theater in Tucson, which is a 1930 movie-palace is currently being restored. I am a volunteer who is involved in the restoration of the "booth". The Fox is a non-profit private foundation that is a community project relying on grants and donations. There are 5 chandaliers in the theater, the largest just having been restored. Should you be interested in more info, I could get it for you. If you check out the "pictures" section of the Film-Tech web-site, there are other restored movie palaces around the country that also have chandaliers.

| IP: Logged

JC Cowles
Film Handler

Posts: 77
From: St. Paul, MN
Registered: Jun 2001

posted 07-03-2001 10:33 PM

We have three huge chandeliers in our lobby. I don't know how often we change the bulbs, but I was told we use Traffic Light bulbs for long life. I will try and find out more details.

| IP: Logged

William Hooper
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1879
From: Mobile, AL USA
Registered: Jun 99

posted 07-04-2001 11:42 PM

quote:
Why does this remind me of "The Phantom of the Opera"???

Is it because of the organ & (when one of the sump pumps conks out) the underground lake?

Thanks Will & JC!

| IP: Logged

Bill Enos
Film God

Posts: 2081
From: Richmond, Virginia, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 07-05-2001 12:28 AM

We have 9 chandeliers in the auditorium. Three on each side about 35 feet up in arches, these are about 3 feet in height. One in an alcove on each side of the proscenium, about 7 feet in height; and the main chandelier in the center of the dome. This one is 22 feet high and about 12 feet in diameter, it hangs about 64 feet above the floor and lowers on a hand crank winch. All chandeliers have red, cobalt blue, and amber bulbs, all on dimmers which are never brought to full. Bulbs are changed on an as necessary basis which means about every 18 months or so. Sooner if too many are out. The main has around 300 bulbs, the 3 ft. ones have 8 and the 7 ft. ones have 28 bulbs all 25 watts. There are also 3 chandeliers in the lobby, 2 small and one very large, these are reachable from ladders and bulbs changed weekly.

| IP: Logged

Matthew Bailey
Master Film Handler

Posts: 461
From: Port Arthur,TX
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 07-06-2001 02:55 AM

No offense-before I get to the subject,J.C.,are you a native American
Indian?,because it looks like it from your picture.
no, im honesly not one of those persoms that causes them problems
you probably know the type,nor do I have anything against them.
I am Native American,possibly Lakota.
okay,now to the subject. There is a single screener in Carnegie,
Oklahoma called the Liberty theatre that is still operating.
They still have chandeliers in their auditorium.

| IP: Logged

Pete Naples
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1565
From: Dunfermline, Scotland
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 07-06-2001 08:58 AM

One place I worked (built as a theatre, now a bingo hall) had four real monsters in teh auditoreum, these used to go through lamps at a frightening rate. They were raised and lowered handraulically, however we pressed a battery drill into service, on the handle shaft of the winch to speed things up a little.

| IP: Logged

Bernard Tonks
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 619
From: Cranleigh, Surrey, England
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 07-07-2001 04:05 AM

Granada Theatres in the UK were renown for massive chandeliers in their auditoriums.

I would use the 16,000 hour long life bulbs. The specially designed, thicker filament of these bulbs has 9 supports (rather than 3) which ensures they will last up to 16 times longer than a regular bulb…reducing maintenance costs.

Ideal for light fittings in awkward or inaccessible positions. Reduced brightness compared to a regular bulb but remains bright throughout its life. Long life bulbs should NOT be mixed with regular bulbs in the same or nearby fittings.

Definitely for me if I had chandeliers in my cinema.

------------------

| IP: Logged

Bruce McGee
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1776
From: Asheville, NC USA... Nowhere in Particular.
Registered: Aug 1999

posted 07-07-2001 02:05 PM

This is an interesting topic.

I am wondering about the original question about the short-lived lamps. Is the dimmer system up to snuff?

I know that some theatres buy the cheapest things that they can find. (Your theatre is not one of these, I assume.) Cheap does not mean better, as you know.

Our local civic auditorium (funded by the city) buys 2nd grade lamps for their lighting needs. Everytime I go to a function there, I notice that lights are out all over the place. What a shame. It makes the Civic Center (It's name) look really cheap. I hate this. The people working there are professionals and they cant do anything about this problem.

Anyway, can you find 130v lamps for the fixtures in your theatre? W.W. Grainger Company has lots of different voltage ratings for many types of lamps. 130v lamps do last longer than the 120v ones. I hope you can figure out the short lamp-life problems.

| IP: Logged

William Hooper
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1879
From: Mobile, AL USA
Registered: Jun 99

posted 07-09-2001 12:19 AM

Bruce is about where I was thinking on this, too.

From another front came a message from Lyman Brenneman in Cleveland:

"But, why relamp twice a year? The chandelier must be on a dimmer
and if they would set the output voltage of the dimmer at about 105
to 110 volts and use 130 volt lamps instead of 120 volt lamps they
would only have to relamp about every 5 years.

"Tell them to look in the big General Electric lamp catalog and they
will find that almost all incandescent lamps are available in both
120 and 130 volt ratings.

| IP: Logged

Paul G. Thompson
The Weenie Man

Posts: 4718
From: Mount Vernon WA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 07-09-2001 01:19 AM

Bruce, if the lamps are just regular incandescent bulbs, replace them with the lamps used in the average stop light. They are rated at about 5 or 6 thousand hours, if I recall correctly. They might cost a couple of bucks a pop, but the savings in the long run are quite high.

They can be purchased form your local electrical contractor supply house.

| IP: Logged

Bill Enos
Film God

Posts: 2081
From: Richmond, Virginia, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 07-09-2001 06:04 PM

We use 130 volt whenever possible. A good source is Gray Supply. They have just about any bulb known, many in 130V. Many of their bulbs are imports. A lot of the bulbs we use don't seem to be available from U.S. manufacturers at all. One local supplier told us that G.E. had discontinued several frosted colored bulbs, Gray had the G.E. bulbs in stock and had no problems getting them, I guess the local people didn't want our business, we buy several hundred bulbs a year, it now goes elsewhere.

| IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

Printer-friendly view of this topic

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.