|
|
This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
|
|
Author
|
Topic: boothless cinema
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Scott Norwood
Film God
Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99
|
posted 12-02-2013 09:17 PM
The only version of this that I have seen is in a hotel, of all places. There is an existing fully equipped 35mm projection booth in that venue (which, in a previous incarnation, was a full-time movie theatre), but the hotel wanted to be able to divide the space in half by means of a curtain and still use the D-cinema video projector in the front half of the space. As a result, they ended up with a custom-built wooden box suspended from the ceiling, with a Christie CP2210 inside of it and a custom-built exhaust system for the heat.
The setup sort of works (the Christie touch panel and Doremi server are in the projection booth, along with the 35mm equipment), except that the box is not particularly soundproof, and replacing a lamp or doing any other maintenance requires rolling in a man-lift, which could never be done with an audience in the theatre (it would block an exit).
This was probably the right thing to do for this special-venue location, but it really is not the sort of thing that would ever make sense in a commercial cinema. The only exception that I could imagine would be if the existing booth is very cramped and there is a need to keep the film projectors in place, but, even then, it would be a bad compromise.
Not being able to service the machine easily in the event of trouble will someday result in lost shows and unhapy patrons, which is something that no theatre owner wants.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
John Eickhof
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 588
From: Wendell, ID USA
Registered: Jan 2000
|
posted 03-21-2014 11:59 AM
Along with Monte, the theatre I manage is basically boothless too..I do have 6 out of 13 Barcos in what used to be the old booth from the original six screen, but, the floor has been raised (to get more ceiling height in the hallway below) So there is approx 4-ft room height w/ all the electrical conduits, & ductwork running rampant through it! So I have to crawl upwards of 200 feet to get to the farthest projector! If I try and duck-walk, I get too many cuts on the head from overhead piping! (I'm 6'4"!) The rest of my projectors are in soundproof boxes that the projector is lowered down by a hand winch that takes two people to do, one to get on a ladder and pull safety pins, the other to lower / raise the platform with the winch that is located behind the screen! Then when the projector is down a few feet the exhaust, power, Cat 6 & BNC connections have to be pulled so they can be lowered far enough down to service!(not enough service loop) Then the opposite is in store when returning the machine to operating position!! Plus, they don't register the same in the box every time so we have to reset the lens files after every service! My one and only 32B is located in a doghouse on the mall roof! Accessible only by a hatch in the wall about 8ft above the last row! Try placing a ladder and climbing in there when there is an issue with the projector and there is a full house! Been there, done that!! Not fun! I built a spacer out of 2x4s so I could pull the lowered projector out from the wall far enough to be able to replace power supplies! (Done this 3 times now on different machines!) Needless to say, I am am very opposed to any 'boothless' type installation!!! To address the issue of sound...most of my systems are running 200-300 feet of speaker line from the amps !! They did install twisted 2 pair #10 jacketed plenum wire so we don't have any crosstalk issues, but the power loss and sound delay was another interesting factor, as well as the installers had to install wifi so the EQ could be done as most of the Dolby CP-750s are hundreds of feet away from their respective theatres!! Plus, I have a 200ft plus run of analog sound from a cable box to the CP-750!! for our special events!! I used the best Belden shielded cable I could get, and it actually sounds pretty good!!
| IP: Logged
|
|
Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
|
posted 03-21-2014 01:02 PM
Is Carmike Cinemas going the boothless route in their new theaters? I was doing some image searching through Google related to premium priced theaters and found a few like the image below at new Carmike theaters:
This image was reduced in size according to forum limits, but the original high resolution image can be found pretty quickly through Google Images.
Obviously Carmike is copying a visual I've seen at a few film-based IMAX theaters (dome screen theaters in particular) where a bunch of the booth gear is on the ground level behind glass windows for the movie-goers to see. In this case it's all the servers, cinema processors and amplifiers. Numerous pipes and conduits rise from those racks leading to the projectors, speakers, etc. But are the projectors in a traditional booth or are they hanging from the ceiling in the auditoriums or crammed into some other hard to access compartment? Either way it looks like a real pain in the ass to keep all that wiring organized during installation.
One thing I do like about that approach of putting the booth racks behind windows for customers to see is it gives the theater another way to market sound and projection presentation to the movie-goers. The average person can see that isn't the kind of hardware you could pick up at Best Buy. Of note: this must be the AV rack room at the Carmike 13 in Champaign, IL. It's the only theater Carmike has that is equipped with Dolby Atmos. The nearest three or four racks in that image hold the Dolby Atmos related gear (most of it being amps). I like the visual touch of them adding Big D Experience and Dolby Atmos lighted signs above those racks.
One downside to this approach: if Edith Hinklebottom comes out to complain to the manager about the sound being too loud, she might stand outside that booth rack room to make sure the manager turns down that sound fader.
I can't help but wonder if boothless cinema is really a ploy to further reduce theater staff. If the projectors are stuffed in the auditorium ceilings or other little cubby holes and the booth racks are all concentrated into one room then maybe the manager's office can be built downstairs in the lobby. There's no need to have an upstairs area at all where the GM or any assistants could hide and potentially goof off. They can stay downstairs popping popcorn, selling tickets, counting drink cups and other inventory related stuff and lessen the need for all those high school kid workers bloating those payroll numbers.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
All times are Central (GMT -6:00)
|
This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
|
Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM
6.3.1.2
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.
|
Home
Printer-friendly view of this topic