Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Handing out 3D glasses

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Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 04-27-2011, 12:10 PM:

How do you deal with handing out 3D glasses?

I'm currently on my second 3D movie and haven't yet come up with a great way to get the glasses to the customers. On the other hand, I have no idea how anyone else does it.

Do you just put the box/bin out somewhere and tell everyone to take one? If so, how do you prevent some kid from taking six? Is there some kind of a dispenser/rack/whatever that makes this easier?

I'm currently putting the cardboard box that the glasses came in behind my ticket counter and handing out one pair of glasses with each ticket, but it's something less than an ideal situation because I end up with the box sitting on top of my popcorn pail and have to move it off every time I want to refill the popcorn kettle and make more popcorn.

I know, that probably sounds silly but hey -- this is life in small theatre. I sell tickets and make popcorn, my wife handles the concession. I've been thinking about how to handle those darn glasses; maybe someone here has a brilliant idea that I've not considered.

Again, I've never seen how anyone else does it. I'm rarely in anyone's theatre other than my own, and I don't think I've been in another theatre when a movie is actually playing in over a decade...

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 04-27-2011, 12:30 PM:

We hand them out with the tickets. On busy nights, we have one person who sells the tickets, and another person stand there and hands the glasses to the ticket seller, who passes them to the customer, after the cash transaction is finished.

On slow nights, the person selling tickets does both jobs -- hands the glasses out after the transaction is done.

We just dispense them right out of the washing rack (Dolby glasses). If we only have a few glasses left in a rack and we need that rack to wash other glasses, we put the clean glasses in a plastic tray and dispense from that.

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 04-27-2011, 12:38 PM:

Either the box office cashier gives them out after the ticket purchase or the ticket taker gives them out for the appropriate movie.

Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 04-27-2011, 01:14 PM:

Agreeing with Adam, most places I have visited just hand them out either with the ticket or when the ticket is torn. This seems to work very well.

The local AMC Imax Jr. locations put out a rolling metal cart with trays of glasses outside the theatre. You have to pick out your own glasses there, which is nice because they are frequently dirty and it takes awhile sometimes to find a clean pair.

Posted by Caleb Johnstone-Cowan (Member # 3710) on 04-27-2011, 02:58 PM:

I'm surprised your local digital IMAX location is that sloppy. We have someone in the screen handing out glasses and hosting every IMAX Digital show, and someone in there at the end to collect the glasses as people leave. It would have to be a truly dead (less than ten people expected) show before we even considered doing less than that.

How you issue the glasses depends on if they're disposable or not. For disposable glasses you can always buy a small plastic storage tub and transfer them in a tray at a time to save space compared to the box they come in.

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 04-28-2011, 09:22 PM:

quote: Mark Lensenmayer
You have to pick out your own glasses there, which is nice because they are frequently dirty and it takes awhile sometimes to find a clean pair.

Yuck.

We don't let the guests handle the glasses -- we don't want to contaminate the rest of the glasses. The Dolby glasses in the new "60 at a time" trays can get a little tangled up with each other and it's highly likely that someone will inadvertently grab one and pull out two and...touch the other one.

Instead we have the ushers distribute them as they tear tickets. They wear white cotton gloves.

Personally, I think I liked the "18 at a time" trays better -- although that would result in a lot more wash cycles.

Posted by Michael Brown (Member # 890) on 04-29-2011, 08:10 PM:

quote: Manny Knowles
We don't let the guests handle the glasses -- we don't want to contaminate the rest of the glasses. The Dolby glasses in the new "60 at a time" trays can get a little tangled up with each other and it's highly likely that someone will inadvertently grab one and pull out two and...touch the other one.

Instead we have the ushers distribute them as they tear tickets. They wear white cotton gloves.

Seems a little extreme if I'm honest, It's only glasses not sterile medical equipment that's being handed out.

I have OCD but I think I'd still cope with glasses that someone else had touched already.

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 04-29-2011, 09:24 PM:

Well, that's your rotten opinion.

Personally, I don't see what's extreme about it. We take the time to sanitize them.

I think the patrons feel better knowing that nobody has touched their glasses. I know I'd feel better.

Posted by Chase Pickett (Member # 5975) on 04-29-2011, 09:36 PM:

I don't care if other people have touched the glasses I am wearing for a movie. I just care if they have touched the lenses. Thus cotton gloves = Badass.

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 04-29-2011, 09:44 PM:

Honestly, I'm of the opinion that someone who is afraid of touching a pair of glasses that someone else touched shouldn't be out at a movie theater at all. Just think of the doors they touch to enter that other people have touched or the fact that the ticket seller and taker both touched their ticket or sitting in chairs that haven't been sanitized since the last person and so on.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 04-29-2011, 11:10 PM:

I was thinking about the glasses they hand out for the 3D attractions at Disney. They are just in big trays, so people almost can't help but touch at least one or two other pairs besides they pair they take for their own use.

Of course it's a good thing to clean the glasses between uses, but I think this whole "avoid germs at all cost" mania that's sweeping the country is quite silly. We are given an immune system for a reason. There are germs everywhere -- you can't avoid them. They're in the freaking AIR. People let their baby crawl on the floor, or put toys in their mouth that have been laying on the floor, but they make sure the bottles and blankets are sanitized....it's insanity.

It's a big beautiful dirty world; grit your teeth and enjoy it. If you are felled by some random germ, well it was probably your time to be felled.

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 04-30-2011, 08:25 AM:

Fact is -- a lot of people are germ-phobic, and some of them are your customers.

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 04-30-2011, 08:48 PM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
Of course it's a good thing to clean the glasses between uses, but I think this whole "avoid germs at all cost" mania that's sweeping the country is quite silly. We are given an immune system for a reason. There are germs everywhere -- you can't avoid them. They're in the freaking AIR. People let their baby crawl on the floor, or put toys in their mouth that have been laying on the floor, but they make sure the bottles and blankets are sanitized....it's insanity.

It's a big beautiful dirty world; grit your teeth and enjoy it. If you are felled by some random germ, well it was probably your time to be felled.

Is this THE SAME MIKE BLAKESLEY who also said THIS..?

quote:
When I go to the bakery and they use a tissue to transfer my chosen pastries into a bag, and then they PUT THE TISSUE WITH THEIR GERMS ON IT INTO MY BAG.

This one dork at the bakery uses a different tissue for each donut.

Film-Tech Thread

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 04-30-2011, 08:57 PM:

It's one thing for some douche to scratch his butt and touch something that will touch your skin; it's another for those same germs to touch what you will eat.

But then again, there are theaters out there that don't even wash the glasses between uses any more because it takes to much effort and/or payroll and those chemicals are expensive.

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 04-30-2011, 09:02 PM:

Even so, Adam -- that sounds like the same rampant germ fearing that he's crying out against.

I'm wondering how long it will be before 3D finds itself embroiled in the scandal of a conjunctivitis outbreak. I think that's when the 3D honeymoon will end.

I find it fascinating that people around here can be so picky about doing everything "perfectly" - until someone goes a little further than them. And then it's "insane." Utterly fascinating.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 04-30-2011, 09:19 PM:

The 3D honeymoon as already ended. I already have people that regret ever getting involved with it. After Avatar, the ROI just hasn't been there. In fact, attendance is down, over all. Some have dropped the 3D upcharge so now they have a more expensive system that sells no more tickets and brings in no more revenue.

-Steve

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 04-30-2011, 10:07 PM:

quote: Manny Knowles
until someone goes a little further than them. And then it's "insane."

People who drive slower than me are idiots and people who drive faster than me are maniacs. [Big Grin]

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 04-30-2011, 10:51 PM:

quote: Manny Knowles
Is this THE SAME MIKE BLAKESLEY who also said THIS..?

Manny - the difference is that the bakery tissue is INTENDED to keep the germs away from the food, but then the dude goes ahead and puts the tissue in the bag WITH the food.

I still eat the donuts. I just thing they should throw the tissue in the trash, where the good Lord intended it to go.

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 05-01-2011, 01:19 AM:

Oh, I agree with you on that point.

But wouldn't you feel a little better eating the donut if that business with the tissue hadn't gone down like that?

I still watch 3D movies at places where I question -- or don't know anything about -- their sanitation practices. But I'd feel a little better if there were tell-tale signs that they were doing the right things.

Seeing 3D glasses "distributed" in a "free for all" manner may not be a deal-breaker -- I'd probably still watch that movie, that time -- but witnessing that would diminish my comfort level. That negatively impacts the quality of my experience and becomes a factor in deciding whether to push my luck with a return visit.

And I am by no means unique -- others think/feel the exact same way, even if they never "process it" and put it into words.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 05-01-2011, 09:06 AM:

I often wonder about how these people deal with restaurants and the "silverware." Silverware is something where you rarely know exactly how well it was sanitized and you are putting that, which was in someone else's mouth into yours.

-Steve

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 05-01-2011, 11:27 AM:

This reminds me of when I'd transferred to a cinema closer to my old university.

I went to prepare a guy's hot dog order, grabbing the items using the tongs provided. Then, one of the other workers freaked out and said "You have to wear the plastic food-handling gloves when you use the tongs for the hot dogs, then throw away the gloves." I told him that if I had to wear the gloves and throw them away anyway, I wasn't going to use the tongs at all since you can touch the food while wearing the gloves...

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 05-06-2011, 12:53 PM:

the ticket taker at AMC Hoffman this morning was just completely clueless that 'Cave of Forgotten Dreams' was a 3D movie (at all) - I was like 'uh, glasses please?'

the worse offender was the projectionist who displayed the entire 1.85 film in 2.35, cropping wasn't too bad, but still come on, you have 21 other screens to attend to and you screw up the film I'm at ... [Mad]

I also did not like the fact that the adjacent hallway into the auditorium - the lights were a mild distraction - essentially there's no door to close to make it completely dark - I should have gone to Georgetown, but then I would have had to pay for parking.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-06-2011, 06:09 PM:

quote: Jonathan Goeldner
who displayed the entire 1.85 film in 2.35

Are you saying you sat thru an entire film with the wrong lens in the projector, and didn't say anything to anybody? If that's true you should be banned from Film-Tech.

I can see sitting through a movie that's just a tad out of focus, but tolerating the wrong lens, that's unforgivable.