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Author Topic: Curtains do you use them? Larry Zuverink Film Handler Posts: 98 From: Caledonia, MI, USA Registered: Nov 2002 posted 10-12-2009 07:11 AM                     I loved curtains. With adds and preshows we quite using them exept on theatre rentals that were not using the screen. We only have one location that has one theatre with them anymore.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-12-2009 01:49 PM                        quote: Ron Curran They don't make economic sense. Neither does parenthood. We love our kids and we love our curtains. Every time our lack of curtains begins to bother me less, a thread like this comes along and reaffirms my determination to get them again sometime.  |  IP: Logged Tony Bandiera Jr Film God Posts: 3067 From: Moreland Idaho Registered: Apr 2004 posted 10-12-2009 01:50 PM                     quote: Vern Dias Commonly called a traveller. Vern Also known as a bipart drape. (I believe that term is used mainly by the riggers who install them though.)  |  IP: Logged Tony Ratcliff Expert Film Handler Posts: 216 From: Madison, IN, USA Registered: Mar 2002 posted 10-12-2009 04:35 PM                     Like many of the others here, we close the curtains after the pre-show is over, make announcements, welcome, policies, etc., over the mic, then open the curtains for the movie while the film company logo is showing. Curtains are especially nice when showing classic films.  |  IP: Logged Scott Jentsch Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1061 From: New Berlin, WI, USA Registered: Apr 2003 posted 10-12-2009 04:43 PM                        Curtains are a classy touch that pretty rare nowadays. When a theater is considering how to differentiate themselves from the competition, I can think of few things that would make as much of an impression as having curtains would. They protect the screen from flying concessions, and closing them between the pre-show and the movie makes a very clear distinction between the two. My guess is that customer satisfaction would rise if a survey were taken before and after curtains were installed and used. The bad part is that curtains must cost a million dollars, because no one has them anymore...  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 10-12-2009 08:40 PM                     They don't cost millions BUT they do cost money...more money than any of the other colored fabric hanging in the theatre (by the sq. foot). Then you might deck them out a bit...add tassels to the bottom...have a nifty valance. Then...you had motor and rigging. That adds into the 1000s again and now you have a potential for failure. I think the potential for failure has killed as many curtains as the $$$$s have. Think about it...you have this expensive drape that has the potential to prevent a show from starting/running and you can't ever show on a spreadsheet how it generates any revenue. That said...if you don't have curtains...you are at best a second rate theatre, at least in my book. Put in good stuff, well rigged and keep it up like all other parts of the theatre and you WON'T have problems. Steve  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 10-12-2009 08:50 PM                        quote: Steve Guttag now you have a potential for failure. I think the potential for failure has killed as many curtains as the $$$$s have. That's a great point, Steve. The theatre I grew up with went without a curtain from 1947 to 1970. Curtains were installed when they remodeled and automated. Except for replacement of a motor that shouldn't have been there in the first place, they worked with no problems for some time. That all stopped around 12 years ago, when the cables slipped off of a pulley and jammed. The owner was 10 miles away at his drive-in. They did get the curtains opened manually, but that one occasion was enough that he didn't fix the problem and never used the curtains again. They're still there, along with a lightly-used motor, and no pre-show advertising... but I don't see them being used anytime soon.  |  IP: Logged Jesse Skeen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1517 From: Sacramento, CA Registered: Aug 2000 posted 10-13-2009 12:01 AM                     I had a negative view of curtains for a while, because at the theater near me (which I ended up working at later, and is now gone) some jerk would often close the curtains during the end credits, making them hard to read! It ruined the post-credits scene at the end of "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" too, since you couldn't tell what the hell was going on. They do look nice when you use them properly and close them during the rating card at the end.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 10-13-2009 06:43 AM                     quote: Jack Ondracek That all stopped around 12 years ago, when the cables slipped off of a pulley and jammed. The owner was 10 miles away at his drive-in. They did get the curtains opened manually, but that one occasion was enough that he didn't fix the problem and never used the curtains again. And there it is...cables don't just "slip off the pulley" cables are not maintained. Cables stretch with all of the weight/friction they have to overcome. Have you all ever noticed that even on maskings...the stops seem to drift or the image seems to no longer be centered? It isn't a mystery. Cables stretch, pulleys get tugged out of position or also wear out. Anything that is mechanical and moves is also aging. All motorized drapery should be checked regularly. Slack needs to constantly be taken out of the cables (ideally checked once per month)...check pulleys and such once a year. Lubricate the carriers and pulleys once per year (you'd be amazed how much quieter they run...none of that "clack, rrrrrr, clack, rrrrr, clack....etc" as they open/close. Also, pay attention to the grand drape...it is GOING TO STRETCH and possibly hit the ground (Depending theatre design). The grand drape can NEVER drag on the ground. That puts unbelievable stress on the system. Not only are you pulling the weight of the curtain but now you are pulling the friction of the curtain...it can more than double the load of the system. The curtains stretching is also an indicator that the grommets at the top are likely also starting to pull loose from the fabric...they should be checked over. Again, put in good stuff (good fabric, good motor, good rigging) and keep it up, just a little bit, and it isn't going to be a problem. If you "set it and forget it" you have a disaster coming your way, and it will be your fault. Steve  |  IP: Logged Scott Jentsch Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1061 From: New Berlin, WI, USA Registered: Apr 2003 posted 10-13-2009 10:43 AM                        It's not the same, but I wonder if anyone has created a "digital curtain" animation for Digital Cinema shows? I'd be curious to see if the effect was decent or not...  |  IP: Logged Jeremy Weigel Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1062 From: Edmond, OK, USA Registered: Mar 2007 posted 10-13-2009 11:15 AM                     Animated Curtian  |  IP: Logged Scott Jentsch Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1061 From: New Berlin, WI, USA Registered: Apr 2003 posted 10-13-2009 01:20 PM                        I should have known that YouTube would have something! This one has better movement on the opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa5y1tCTOtQ&NR=1 But the closing is actually just the opening in reverse, and the bottom of the curtain doesn't move correctly. The original video has a variation which looks better as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50AF-uFpRtc&feature=related The idea is sound. If I had a digitally-equipped theater, I'd be trying to put something like this in place to see how it looked. If the motion was correct and you add a little foley for the curtain pull, I think it has possibilities! I might try it with the intro video in my home theater...  |  IP: Logged Michael Voiland Expert Film Handler Posts: 219 From: Naperville, IL US Registered: Aug 2009 posted 01-27-2010 12:51 AM                     After years of not running for years our biggest theater had the curtains close... Granted I had to yank and shake and tug a little then manually turn the gearbox to get them the rest of the way open again but they close smoothly except there is a ton of crap in their way. They sit about 5 inches off the ground.  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 01-27-2010 02:03 AM                     Anybody still have, or heard of "fire curtains?" - those curtains that had advertising on them that would fall just behind the title or traveller curtain, but before the screen or open stage? The theatre that I worked at in my home town as Head Projectionist contained all three: Massive red velvet waterfall, lime green title and the fire curtain (which was manually raised or lowered..this was more for advertising and was just fire-proofed canvas). In olden days, this curtain was made of asbestos.. -Monte  |  IP: Logged Edward Havens Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 614 From: Los Angeles, CA Registered: Mar 2008 posted 01-27-2010 03:09 AM                     The Beverly Center still has curtains in all houses, and they all work... it's just that when the people who were running the place at the time had the slide ads put in, they disconnected all the leads from the automation to the motors, and now we're having a bitch of a time trying to get it all back in working order again. I really want to have the curtains working again, especially in House 1 and 3, which are the only ones that are not waterfalls.  |  IP: Logged

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