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Author Topic: The Perfect Auditorium
Andrew McCrea
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 645
From: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Registered: Nov 2000


 - posted 02-18-2001 09:52 AM      Profile for Andrew McCrea   Author's Homepage   Email Andrew McCrea   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
What would be your ideal auditorium?

Mine would probably be as follows...

- Black walls and ceiling
- Curved, tiered, staggered seating with 48 inches back to back
- Curved large screen
- Stadium Seating
- Dolby Digital Surround Sound
- Digital projection
- Waterfall curtains

What would yours be? If I think of some more, I'll put them up!

------------------
Andrew McCrea

"I'm Not Bad, I'm Just Drawn That Way!" - Jessica Rabbit

Darryl Spicer
Film God

Posts: 3250
From: Lexington, KY, USA
Registered: Dec 2000


 - posted 02-18-2001 10:55 AM      Profile for Darryl Spicer     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Black ceiling is good black walls is bad. If you want to be constantly cleaning the walls make them black. THey show up everything.

Curved seating is ok to some degree. If curved to much it puts the customer in a position that can be unconfortable on the sides of the seating arrangement. also can effect the way a person percieves the sound
good distance is crucial to allow for patrons to pass thru rows without the sitting patron having to stand up.


I honestly do not like curves screens. Unless you are doing cinerama curved screens are not needed. I remember watching American president on a curved screen. Everytime Michael Douglas would be shooting pool his cue stick would bend out of wack do to the curved screen. Things like that are reel anoying.

I do not like stadium seating for it's bad points. You do get an unblocked view but after you witness young children falling down the steps and older people falling up the steps all that comes to mind is lawsuits and higher insurance. You also have to deal with more light in the auditorium do to all the aisle lighting and estra wall lighting needed because of all the steps. Fire marchals will shut you down in a flat second if you do not maintain this enviroment. All this light gets reflected to the screen.

I would probably have at least two digital systems. Dolby Digital and DTS. I have been using DTS since it was introduced with jurassic park. I prefer it over all the other systems because it offers full dynamic range in all directional channels.

At this time I would not use a digital projection system. Everyone thinks digital is so great but you have to remember there has to be an analog conversion somewhere in the process. That means problems will alwasy excist no mattrer what. I prefer film and when film is done right it can be as flawless as the analog process will allow.


as far as curtains I have no problem with them. When they are opperating properly and set up correctly they look nice covering the screen. Until the motor breaks with the curtain half way up.


Just give me a standard well sloped setting arangement with plenty of room a nice size standard screen with colorful soundfold good sound and a flawless film presentation and I will be happy.



Aaron Sisemore
Flaming Ribs beat Reeses Peanut Butter Cups any day!

Posts: 3061
From: Rockwall TX USA
Registered: Sep 1999


 - posted 02-18-2001 11:29 AM      Profile for Aaron Sisemore   Email Aaron Sisemore   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
>>Digital projection<<

...SUCKS!

Vive le FILM!

-Aaron

Jerry Chase
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1068
From: Margate, FL, USA
Registered: Nov 2000


 - posted 02-18-2001 12:21 PM      Profile for Jerry Chase   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I don't know about a "perfect" auditorium, since an auditorium is a mass of compromises from the get-go, but some of the very best film viewing I've ever had was in a smaller theatre that I managed for many years.

The theatre was built in a pre-existing shopping center, and ceiling height was fixed, requiring excavation to get a sloped floor. Even with that, the screen went from 10 inches below the ceiling to 30 inches from the floor and was only about 12 feet high. That screen was plain painted drywall, with the speakers sitting on the floor in front, right behind the curtain. (Try leaving a speaker sitting on the floor in today's theatres, and see how many minutes it takes before it gets stolen.)

The seating was modified continental, with a carpeted cross-aisle break just in front of the sweet spot. Late night screenings were a joy. The screen was directly in front, properly lit, with no need to tilt your neck up, and the sound for those days was as clean and crisp as you could find.

Not having the perforated screen or reflections from rigging meant that it was possible to get totally lost in the image. I still remember a travelogue short of flying through rain forest above Tahiti that was better than reality, when viewed there. I still would take the experience of seeing film in that auditorium over seeing film in 99% of all other auditoriums, classic, stadium, giant, or megaplex.

My regret was that the Norelco 35-70 projectors being used there never got a chance to show any 70mm film. I can only dream of how incredible the image would have been on that screen.

Of course, the auditorium was a bear when it was filled with people. Anyone standing in the front became part of the movie (a fact not lost on the first Rocky Horror crew) and people towards the back had to hope that they could see between the heads in front of them.

John Pytlak
Film God

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


 - posted 02-18-2001 12:42 PM      Profile for John Pytlak   Author's Homepage   Email John Pytlak   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
For many reasons (handicapped/elderly access, tripping hazards, acoustics, keystone distortion, construction cost, etc.), I prefer conventionally sloped auditoriums. IMHO, a conventially sloped auditorium with comfortable modern seating (cupholders are mandatory), ample row spacing for legroom, and screen positioned higher for good unobstructed sightlines, would have all the advantages of stadium seating, without the problems.

The projection angle should ideally be less than a few degrees from perpendicular to the center of the screen. All formats should have common image height, with adjustable side masking. IMHO, curtains add class sorely missing in today's theatres (while protecting the screen between shows).

IMHO, many of the good conventionally sloped "out of date" theatres killed by stadium complexes could be very competitive if new comfortable seating was installed with the ample legroom demanded by today's audiences.

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


Ian Price
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1714
From: Denver, CO
Registered: Jun 99


 - posted 02-18-2001 01:32 PM      Profile for Ian Price   Email Ian Price   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Absolutly John!

Some of the best color in theatres that I have seen are Red velvet and Gold trim. Or like the Radio City Music Hall which is resplendant in Gold. The Mayan in Denver looks like the inside of a Mayan temple with earth tones and indian masks for lighting fixtures. The Cape Playhouse has America's largest cieling mural. It is an Art Deco representation of the Heavens. I have spent hours sitting in there looking at the cieling. The Crest in LA has the famous buildings of LA on the walls complete with lights in the windows and stars on the cieling with shooting stars and two or three curtains and an organ. A theatre should be visualy interesting before the lights go down.

Remember, "The Show Starts On The Sidewalk."

George Roher
Master Film Handler

Posts: 266
From: Washington DC
Registered: Jul 99


 - posted 02-18-2001 02:11 PM      Profile for George Roher   Email George Roher   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
My ideal auditorium would have a sloped floor and a balcony and would seat around 1,500 people. It would have a Cinerama strip screen with a curtain. There would be multicolored curtain lights. The show would be presented on film, via 2000ft reels. (Of course it would also be set up for 70mm and Cinerama, both of which would be shown as often as possible)


Rachel Carter
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 248
From: Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA
Registered: Dec 2000


 - posted 02-18-2001 02:55 PM      Profile for Rachel Carter   Email Rachel Carter   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
My ideal theater would be half stadium style and half sloped. Black ceilings are a must with red cloth walls and a red curtain on the screen.

I do not like the curved screens because IMO they are not compatible with all movies.

Sound, I would like to have Dolby Digital and DTS, I prefer the sound of DTS over anything else.

As far as seats are concerned, I prefer high back with the most important CUP HOLDERS!

------------------
"Blood is thicker then blondes" - From the movie, Save the last Dance.

FUNNY!!!!!


Gordon McLeod
Film God

Posts: 9532
From: Toronto Ontario Canada
Registered: Jun 99


 - posted 02-18-2001 09:36 PM      Profile for Gordon McLeod   Email Gordon McLeod   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I would like a D150 screen
500 seats half on a rake and half on the stadia
70MM EQUIPPED (only REEL theatres have that ) ) also maybe a pairof lazy8's
Panastereo 70 system with a SOnics S4 speaker array all the digtial + double system mag

and of course the most important : an industry to provide 70mm prints from 65mm negatives to make it worthwile

Aaron Sisemore
Flaming Ribs beat Reeses Peanut Butter Cups any day!

Posts: 3061
From: Rockwall TX USA
Registered: Sep 1999


 - posted 02-18-2001 10:03 PM      Profile for Aaron Sisemore   Email Aaron Sisemore   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Perfect Auditorium?

-A combination of slope seating and stadium seating, or a nice deep slope.

-Comfortable rocker seats with cupholders.

-Effective but unobtrusive aisle lighting.

-40' wide (or better) FLAT matte white screen with masking for all the available cinema film formats.

-A curtain of some type, whether its a waterfall or side to side curtain.

-A color scheme that is pleasing to the eyes, no dayglo colors or pastels, pleaaaase!

-Ornamental sound controls, whether in the form of padded wall carpeting, Soundfold, or acoustic panels.

-THX style drop ceiling with flourescent fixtures for cleaning installed... OR:

-if desired, some kind of decorative ceiling treatment with the fiber-optic stars, murals on the walls (on some type of acoustic treatment panel) with deco chandeliers with large wattage incandescent cleaning lights installed.

Booth:

-Two Norelco AAII or Century JJ 35/70 projectors (35mm 6000' changeovers standard, no automation)

-Strong Super-80 lamphouses with 4000W Christie or Osram bulbs

-Elmo 16mm projector with xenon lamp

-Dolby SRD, DTS35 and 70mm, 35mm mag, 70mm mag sound capability.

-Dream rack would have all-tube power amps for L, C, R,and QSC solid-state amps for surrounds and subwoofer

-Not-so-dream rack would have all QSC amps.

-Dolby CP200 with aux box and SA10 EX unit

-Biamped speakers (surrounds too!), probably fully upgraded Altec A4 screen channels with EV MantaRay horns and JBL or Altec surrounds, and JBL subs.

-Manual dimmer controls

-Various non-sync sources (CD, reel-to-reel, cassette, vinyl) conditioned thru a tube preamplifier.

-Aaron



Jason Burroughs
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 654
From: Allen, TX
Registered: Jun 99


 - posted 02-18-2001 10:56 PM      Profile for Jason Burroughs   Email Jason Burroughs   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
My idea of a perfect auditorium, the former GCC Northpark (auditorium 1). Pics are in the warehouse for those of you who haven't checked them out yet.

Richard C. Wolfe
Master Film Handler

Posts: 250
From: Northampton, PA, USA
Registered: Apr 2000


 - posted 02-18-2001 11:10 PM      Profile for Richard C. Wolfe   Author's Homepage   Email Richard C. Wolfe   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
George:
You wouldn't happen to be talking about the Uptown, now would you?

George Roher
Master Film Handler

Posts: 266
From: Washington DC
Registered: Jul 99


 - posted 02-18-2001 11:34 PM      Profile for George Roher   Email George Roher   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Richard,

I wasn't specifically talking about the Uptown, at least not in it's present state. It no longer has a strip screen or projectors in the Able and Charlie booths. And I would want my ideal auditorium to be a bit larger then that.

John Pytlak
Film God

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


 - posted 02-19-2001 11:26 AM      Profile for John Pytlak   Author's Homepage   Email John Pytlak   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I LOVE a properly designed auditorium with a deep curved screen. Nothing like being surrounded by a huge 70mm or Cinerama image to engage your peripheral vision and "bring you into the movie". But I HATE that there are only a few dozen seats in the "sweet spot". Mildly curved gain screens (per SMPTE RP95) or flat matte screens are more practical in that they don't limit the good seats.

For well projected 35mm film, I prefer to sit lined up with center screen, about 2 picture heights from the screen. So for a 20x48 foot scope image, I'll sit 40 feet from the screen, and likewise for a 20x37 foot 1.85:1 flat image or a 20x27 foot "Academy" image.

For a 70mm picture (especially one shot in 65mm), I'll probably sit even closer, depending on the subject matter.

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

Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99


 - posted 02-19-2001 01:53 PM      Profile for Scott Norwood   Author's Homepage   Email Scott Norwood   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I agree with the others that stadium seating is over-rated and really does nothing more than a well-designed sloped floor would do, but at much greater cost (both with respect to dollars and with respect to design/convenience/acoustics/etc.). I'm not even sure that I think cupholders are a good thing; sure, they're nice to have, but only if they are regularly cleaned, in order to prevent them from becoming sticky and nasty over time.

I'm sort of ambivalent about the curved-screen/flat-screen thing. Academy-ratio films just don't look very good on a deep-curve screen (even at the Uptown in DC...) to my eyes. Many scope and 70mm titles do "work" well on both shallow-curve and deep-curve screens. Some 1.85 and 1.66 films work better in some formats than others (Starship Troopers -- a 1.85 picture -- looked great on the Uptown's deep-curve screen.

I suppose then that an "ideal" theatre could conceivably have any type of screen (flat, shallow-curve, or deep-curve), as long as it were set up properly, with proper lenses, and with masking capable of adjusting to fit any format, preferably with the 70mm picture area being taller and wider than the 35mm scope picture. Curtains are a must. The screen should be situated within a procenium that is tastefully decorated. There should be a chandelier (or several) in the auditorium as well as in the lobby. A balcony would be nice, but only if the sound quality can be good; most theatres with balconies have terrible sound quality in the balcony seats...

Any ideal theatre should be able to show any common picture and sound format -- 16mm, 35mm (silent with variable speed, Academy, 1.66, 1.85, scope), and 70mm. An ideal booth would probably have a pair of 35/70 machines and one or two 16/35 machines as well. Carbon-arc lamps would be "nice" but are probably impractical...a good xenon setup would be fine. All sound formats (optical, 16/35/70 mag, SR-D, DTS (16/35/70), SDDS 8-channel, mag interlock (16/35/70), DA-88 interlock, etc.) should be supported. Non-sync sources should include CD, DAT, cassette, 1/4" 2-track tape, etc. There should be a separate sound system for microphone use. Limited stage lighting facilities should be provided (including at least one spotlight, probably a xenon or carbon-arc Super Trouper, or equivalent). The booth should be designed to be nitrate-safe.
Programming should change daily, and should commonly include double-features and short subjects. Titles should range from current first-run hits to foreign films to classic titles to film-festivals.
Basically, I want something with the architecture of the Byrd Theatre (Richmond, VA.), the picture quality of the Senator (Baltimore, MD.), the format support of the Egyptian Theatre (Hollywood, CA.), the sound quality of the Cinerama Dome (Hollywood, CA.), and the cleanliness and attention to detail of the best-run theatre in the country.

Hey, I can dream, can't I?



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