Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Alternative materials for movie screen

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Posted by Marin Zorica (Member # 1716) on 02-03-2006, 05:41 PM:

OK, instead professional movie screens for theatres what are other materials which can be used for projection, i saw one theatre using some kind of white blanket or something and this come on mine mind.

Posted by Josh Mitoska (Member # 1086) on 02-03-2006, 06:37 PM:

A Theatre I looked into buying a while back actually used drywall to make their screen, I did not even notice untill they told me-

Posted by Paul Trimboli (Member # 1509) on 02-03-2006, 08:19 PM:

You could get away with using some other material, BUT it depends on the screen size. The reason is the speakers need to be placed behind the screen otherwise the sound will not sound like it is coming from the picture but above or below it. I have often wondered if it would be possible to put the HF at the top of the screen and LF at the bottom and time align them, maybe not the best setup.

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 02-03-2006, 10:22 PM:

At a time when an industry as a whole is faceing challenges from other entertainment sources I would think that the message is doing it bettr not finding an alternate low cost solution should be the goal

Posted by Lindsay Morris (Member # 1430) on 02-04-2006, 04:27 AM:

Probably not the same as an indoor venue but outdoors I use a steel framed and sheet steel faced 10m wide screen at my outdoor.
Left and Right units hang like a pair of ears on the left and right sides about 1/3 the way up the face.
Both of these are column style speakers that deliver a broad horizontal beam of sound into the audience.
For Centre a 12 sectioned multi throated horn sits on top in the middle pointing down in to the audience area and below the screen sits a huge wheeled "W" styled bass bin with 2 x15" bass units in that.(Size is 2.4m wide X 1m deep X 1.2m high.. is big and very heavy all made from 19mm ply and covered in HD black plastic)
In practice the sounds comes from the mouths of the actors wherever they are on screen and one can never get the impression that it is coming top/bottom/left/right unless with left and right it is effects that are deliberatley left or right etc.
The multi throated unit is a Raycophone Aust made unit from the 1938/48 era and its compression driver is a big fat electromagnetic unit that spins onto the back of the throat.
It got belted by lightning last season so is away being fixed... hopefully... and in its place I have mounted onto the throat a Western Electric 555 unit.. also very old but also rugged.The WE is not as clean sounding as the Raycophone but does do the job. The only problem is that the WE is a 7volt excitation unit and the Raycophone is a 10volt excitation unit so a big fat dropping resistor had to be fitted.
Inside the "W" bass bin is the 400hz crossover plus the power supply for the HF Horn as well as the 2 x 15" bass drivers.
Phantom of The Opera last season sounded great on that setup and 2 days later lightning smoked the voice coil of the HF unit.
Possibly in an enclosed area things may well be totally different but outdoors to service up to 500 patrons it works well.
Will post some pics when I get a USB port fitted to this computer and can download some digital shots I have... will have some time on my hands now recovering from some surgery which meant I had to close the outdoor mid season this summer. With a bit of luck should get the computer/s sorted out and some images posted on FT.
Lindsay

Posted by Kris Dirix (Member # 3012) on 02-04-2006, 01:19 PM:

Right Gordon,

In India they use white sheets [Embarrassed]

Not a very high quality level

Posted by John Koutsoumis (Member # 1855) on 02-04-2006, 06:40 PM:

You can have a solid screen and place speakers at the sides and below/above. If it's a small room the left and right speakers can be attached with brackets to the wall, you may have an issue though with bass overflow but that can be sorted out. With center channels you can both one below aimed slightly up and one above. The top one doesn't need to be the same size but needs to concentrate on the HF. Some might say this is a lousy set-up but done well it can sound quite fine. Another advantage using this option in a small theatre is that you can use top hi-fi speakers and get an amazing sound. I've been to venues with small auditoriums that have proper "Theatre" loudspeakers and sound just isn't the same. It might not be perfect but for someone with a little budget or non-profit it can work great. Of course you will need top amps and processors like QSC and DOLBY CP55/65 or even digital no consumer stuff.

Posted by Jean-Pierre Van Hoof (Member # 2063) on 02-11-2006, 07:25 AM:

Hi,

Last month I noticed that in a small auditorium(50seats) we have, the screen (4 by 1.70 Mtr) needed a replacement.
Since we don't have speakers behind the screen I thought it would be wise to go for a Harkness non-perforated screen and I can tell you WOW what a nice picture.
Since there are more auditoriums in our theatre that have a similar configuration I intend to change them all for non-perf screens.
We where always told by our cinema supplier the it didn't matter if you had perf or non-perf butt I can tell you it does!
They told us you had only 10 to 20% loss of light butt I find those holes absolutely awful to watch because it looks like if you are projecting with a cheap old video beamer because the holes are certainly visible like bad pixels on a lcd screen to me.
We had 2 options plaster the wall white or get a non-perf screen but due to a very rough construction behind the old screen we choose for the non-perf option.

The L C R speakers are located under the screen and are not visible to the audience so you can't tell where the sound is coming from.
The speakers we're using are made by a small Dutch company who build High-End home audio installations and is called Bach audio. The sub woofer is an active RCF 1Kw and is just standing on the floor somewhere in the corner of the screen.
It's all hooked up to a CP500 and sounds wonderfully.
Now that small auditorium where people tend to say that the screen was to small and the picture to dull and the sound was not good love it now and give us compliments for the great experience they have watching a movie in it.
So a investment of just 200 Euro's payed out to be a great improvement and IMHO made the overall viewing experience 300% better.

<S>

[ 02-11-2006, 09:13 AM: Message edited by: Jean-Pierre Van Hoof ]

Posted by Carl Martin (Member # 1146) on 02-13-2006, 05:35 AM:

there are several screens around here whose perforations are easily seen from the far side of the auditorium. i'd much prefer a solid screen to that crap, even if the sound isn't quite coming from the right place.

carl

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 02-13-2006, 02:19 PM:

You cna get "micro-perf" scren material from Stewart Filmscreen, and I'm sure other manufacturers offer similar types. The perfs are about 1/3 normal size and tightly patterned, so they're almost invisible.

Of course, it's super costly!!

Our screen at UCI is 14' x 30' electric roll-up and cost around $60,000 !!! A replacement sheet is almost $45,000 [Eek!]

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 02-13-2006, 04:05 PM:

quote: Paul Trimboli
I have often wondered if it would be possible to put the HF at the top of the screen and LF at the bottom and time align them, maybe not the best setup.

Oh god, help us all! What you have described has already been done by AMC. They called it the "HITS" sound system (although it should've been called "SHITS"). Do a search and you will turn up nothing but negative comments on this stupid idea.

quote: Gordon McLeod
At a time when an industry as a whole is faceing challenges from other entertainment sources I would think that the message is doing it bettr not finding an alternate low cost solution should be the goal

Amen!

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 02-13-2006, 04:46 PM:

quote: Tony Bandiera Jr
Our screen at UCI is 14' x 30' electric roll-up and cost around $60,000 !!! A replacement sheet is almost $45,000

Tony, someone is ripping UCI off big-time. Yes, motorized screens are very expensive, but it's the mechanism that is expensive, not the screen material. The screen material shouldn't cost any more than what it would if you were going to hang it on a standard frame. Installation might be a bit more costly because of the way the screen needs to be attached to the drum, but the material itself is no different and shouldn't cost any more than what that size would cost for a standard frame installation. Depending on the surface type, a sheet your size shouldn't cost you more than $2000. Call Hurley and give them the size and get a ballpark figure. Then call the installer and tell them you HAVE the screen material, you just need them to attach it to the drum. The screen should be able to be attached to the drum without taking the unit down. But even if for some reason they tell you they need to remove the mechanism in order to attach the new screen material, it can't be more work-intensive than stringing a screen to a frame. If they still want to charge you $45,000, find another installer.