Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: New screen - need to make it look pretty

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Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 03-25-2003, 02:54 PM:

My theatre currently shoots the film on an old curved screen made of sheetrock and painted with some kind of "special" paint to make it very reflective. I tell you, it looks like flat white to me. I am interested in putting up a perforated screen with a screen array behind it. I've been able to locate everything I need so far except for someone to hang drapes around the screen. Who knew I'd have such a hard time finding that! Does anyone here have a link or a suggestion for me? I'm located in small town NH - maybe that's part of my problem. Any help would be appreciated.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 03-25-2003, 04:01 PM:

Where are your speakers now? What size screen?

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 03-25-2003, 10:11 PM:

Many front end companies are willing to travel a pretty good distance. I have been exceedingly pleased with Pickett Theater Services out of Dallas. I'm sure you could find someone closer though.

How do you "bend" sheetrock?

Posted by Sam Hunter (Member # 1119) on 03-25-2003, 11:31 PM:

If I am not mistaken you can bend sheetrock by cutting grooves in the back of the sheetrock which allows you to bend it.

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 03-25-2003, 11:56 PM:

I am certainly no sheet rock expert, but if it is picked up on each end, it does have a nice sag in it. [Wink]

Posted by Sam Hunter (Member # 1119) on 03-26-2003, 09:25 AM:

Think about a arched entryway or something like that where the sheetrock would have to bend a good bit. Seems like I seen then do that on a Bob Vila show onetime.

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 03-26-2003, 02:07 PM:

To bend sheetrock, I think you have to wet one side, form it and leave it to dry.

In New England, I would presume a phone call to Boston Light and Sound would result in a list of front-end installers that they have been on jobs with that they could recommend.

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 03-26-2003, 04:39 PM:

It sure enough is curved sheet rock. I have no clue how they did it but they did. I think the original surface was plaster. They built this screen in the 20s if local history tells the truth.

My speakers are now on either side of the screen, I'm only mono. My sound system stinks, it's horrible.

I figure the most bang for the buck right now with this little theatre is a new screen and masking, and a new sound system bringing me a little more up to speed.

I want to bring in a USL processor and booth monitor, JBL speakers for the left, right,center, subwoofer and surround sound (2 on each side), adding USL ADL transmitters and about 5 headsets, and using crown amps for the whole deal. Add the new screen and masking and I think folks will think they are in a new theatre the first time they visit us after the upgrade.

Going from what's basically a 20 watt PA system to what I described above should really be an impressive jump.

I know this is the wrong forum to say this, but if anybody has something I could use, please let me know.

Thanks for all your help guys. You're great!

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 03-27-2003, 10:23 AM:

Ray, Be sure to get before-and-after pics to share here. [Smile]

Posted by Kris Brunton (Member # 432) on 03-27-2003, 02:26 PM:

You can either wet one side of the sheetrock as Adam described or use 1/4" sheetrock as it is very flexible.

Possibly Nick Mulone in Cheswick, PA could help you out.

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 03-27-2003, 05:57 PM:

David - I will do so. Thanks - I hadn't even though of it. So much to do at the moment.

Posted by Jeff Taylor (Member # 443) on 04-14-2003, 08:48 AM:

Wetting sheetrock or using flexible 1/4" to achieve a curve does work, but if you want to be really correct the proper term for bending wood or rock by means of a series of back cuts is called "kerfing". Tough to work it into a conversation on a regular basis, though.

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 04-14-2003, 10:16 AM:

Oh I dunno about that....

Up until I quit smoking a while back I spent a lot of time kerfing [puke]

up all kinds of stuff.

See! That was easy!

Posted by Jeff Taylor (Member # 443) on 04-14-2003, 10:30 AM:

I know what you mean. I'm ashamed to say I still do!

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 04-14-2003, 07:23 PM:

With a drill & a little time, you can do a dandy perf job!
[Big Grin]

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 04-15-2003, 05:09 AM:

Don't you mean with a little drill and a lot of time?????

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 04-15-2003, 01:15 PM:

Well, yah....

One of those Dremel tools would probably do the job nicely. As for time, if you allow for plenty of time and patience you can get the hole patterns really nice and uniform! [Wink]

Not to make too much light of this... really, I'm glad I'm not in your shoes. Good luck though... at least you're trying to find a solution you can get to work in there.

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 04-18-2003, 02:00 PM:

Hey Jack - My thought is that if I can't have fun doing this I'm not gonna do it. Make light of it, I do. I try not to take myself that seriously in life. I've had far fewer headaches since I made that decision!!!!

On a serious note - I'll be taking pictures this weekend of the theatre as it exists today. We close our doors on May 9th and start the changes. We reopen with the new screen and sound systen on May 15th with the premiere of Matrix Reloaded.

I am already hearing people around town talking about the theatre upgrade and I haven't even run ads yet. I've posted it in the theatre but that's all.

The kids at the local high school are telling me that it's all over the school that we are installing a kick ass sound system and starting it off with Matrix. One kid said that I'd better sell advance tickets or I'll have 500 people outside the door trying to get 100 seats on opening nite!

Now that's what I like to hear!

I think this upgrade is going to save this little theatre. I have my fingers crossed......

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 04-19-2003, 01:38 AM:

Ray, please try and take some pictures to send in of "before" and "after" shots from the same angle. [Smile]

www.film-tech.com/picsubmission.html

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 05-04-2003, 09:30 AM:

Hello all -

The initial pictures are too dark to post. I need to try again. They are not worth it the way they look now.

Work has begun behind the scenes. The pan for the new rack is secured to the wall and I have three 20 amp circuits on the same phase coming to it. It awaits the rack itself scheduled for Saturday the 10th.

I mounted the surround sound speakers yesterday May 3rd. I have not run the wire for them yet. The appearance of the speakers on the wall caused my audience last night to buzz about the upgrade. The word is out but now they see JBL everywhere they look. Many people came up to me yesterday saying they were very very excited about it.

I made the wire run for the screen array yesterday as well. The lines come from the booth, go into the attic and run over the joists to the back of the screen. I dropped a good service loop back there anticipating installation of the new screen frame and speakers on the 10th. I color coded the wires to make the rack wiring easier.

I'll keep you posted. Please feel free to offer any advice on the project. You've all helped a lot already!

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 05-04-2003, 11:05 AM:

Ray, keep us posted as the updates proceed! Like someone else said, some of us are participating in this with you vicariously and we all certainly wish you the best! Woo-hoo! [thumbsup]

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 05-04-2003, 11:52 AM:

David - I will do so. I have a digi-cam that a friend is going to lend me tomorrow afternoon. I think I can finally get some quality pictures of the place on Tuesday. That's the plan anyway. I don't have a scanner and my digital cam is ancient. It really produced some crappy pictures that i just don't want to use for the board.

Time for me to go get ready for the matinee of Anger Management. Signing off for now......

Posted by Daniel Fuentz (Member # 1684) on 05-04-2003, 11:48 PM:

Best of luck on the upgrades! It sounds as if your customers are already appreciative of the effort you're putting into making your theater as nice as possible! (I wish there were more theater owners like you!!)

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 05-05-2003, 01:28 PM:

I got some pretty good pics of my little theatre. I sent them in today - I think I got it right. It should just be a matter of time before they get around to posting them for me. The major work starts this Friday.

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 05-09-2003, 05:34 AM:

Brad - I sent in some pics the other day - did you receive them or did I manage to do something wrong? I've been waiting for them to appear. I'm hoping you're just busy and I didn't screw up. Let me know?

The theatre is closed and we start the reload this morning. One more cup of coffee then we start. Wish me luck guys!

Posted by Mike Olpin (Member # 1115) on 05-09-2003, 04:23 PM:

OMG - i wish i could be there!

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 05-09-2003, 08:03 PM:

Tore down the front wall today. Pulled all the old dust ridden farbric off. Touched up the insulation while it's open as well. No drafts back there at all. Built the frame and have it secured to the floor and the wall. Got the shelves mounted and assembled and positioned the new speakers on them. The new rack gets delivered in the morning. We also change our sound head from an RCA 1040 to a newer Simplex tomorrow. I still need to run the lines for the surround sound speakers, that's it. That's first thing in the morning. By then the techs will be on site and the work in the booth can begin. By tomorrow night I should be able to hear the new system playing. I can't wait. It's been a lot of work my friends. A lot of work.

But damn well worth it. I have pics, I'll post them once I see if my first post makes it on the board. I might have done something wrong. I sent them in a few days ago and they haven't shown up yet. Brad might just be busy I hope.

I'll update you guys tomorrow.

Posted by Jason Whyte (Member # 1433) on 05-10-2003, 12:37 AM:

"OMG - i wish i could be there!"

That makes two of us!

Ray, you should just set up a 24 hour webcam at the theater so we can watch the upgrades unfold. [Smile]

Nevertheless, again, the best of luck on the upgrade of your theater. Keep us posted!

Jason

PS - If you're bored and you still don't hear back from Brad on the images, feel free to email me a few. [Smile]

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-10-2003, 12:52 PM:

Ray - Brad prefers that you discuss "problems" with the forum via private mail rather than on the forum. Maybe if you write to him directly about the pics, the mystery will be solved.

Add me to the "I wish I could be there" list. How does the sound system sound??

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 05-11-2003, 10:05 PM:

I wasn't implying there was a "problem" at all. I figure if something went wrong it was on this end. [Big Grin]

The new sound system is in and tuned and the screen is up. We loaded up the last reel of anger management and ran it for a test. Oh my God. What a difference. I swear it's not the same theatre. It was so nice. I could hear everything, it's crystal clear. I felt like I was at the movies for the very first time in my own theatre. My patrons are going to freak out.

We've reset all the drapes. Pulled all the old carpet. The new stuff gets installed on Tuesday. I still need to mask the screen but I haven't received my duvetyne (sp?) yet.

The floor has been TSPd twice and the first coat of oil based grey has been applied to half of it. We should finish the floor by Tuesday night. The seats get bolted down Wednesday night.

I still have to do the ceiling tiles. They have yet to arrive as well. That's a one day job though and they should be here Tuesday. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Worked from 7am until just a half hour ago in there today. That test run made it all worth it.

It's gonna be a brand new theatre. I can't wait to open up again Thursday.

Posted by Mike Olpin (Member # 1115) on 05-11-2003, 11:19 PM:

YES! Dont you love it when stuff just works?

Seriously, Ray, i'm absolutely thrilled to hear how well this project is going.

BTW, what sound processor did you go with?

Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 05-12-2003, 03:25 PM:

I do wish that I could come and see the new set-up, Ray. The people of your town are so lucky to have you there. Looks like you are going to be giving DVD and Home Cinema a good run for their money!

If only our local theatres would do what you are doing.

I, too, look forward to seeing the before and after images!

Bruce

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 05-16-2003, 11:41 AM:

Paging Ray Bernardi!! How's the grand reopening going? Enquiring minds want to know!

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 05-16-2003, 12:04 PM:

We did it! It came out great. We worked for 6 days straight. From 7am to 2am - no [bs]

. It was a mammoth effort but oh my God! We opened last night to lines going right out of the parking lot. We sold out three shows in a row. People think the "new" theatre is outstanding. Not a single negative comment. The college crowd said it was f'ing awesome. More later guys - at work then 3 shows tonight! I'll post again in the morning but all went VERY well.

Posted by Mike Olpin (Member # 1115) on 05-16-2003, 02:00 PM:

From the Monadnock Ledger:

quote:
A new look for an old standby

"We have a lot of loyal patrons, and we want to give back to them," said Ray Bernardi, one of the owners of the Peterborough Community Theater.

The theater will be closing it's doors today so Bernardi, and the other owners, Judi Bernardi, Leigh Bernardi and Susan Mcleish can begin working on improving the theater before they re-open on May 15 with the premiere of The Matrix Reloaded.

Ray, You Rock.

Posted by Chris Markiewicz (Member # 1415) on 05-16-2003, 02:31 PM:

Congratulations on your successful reopening, Ray!

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 05-16-2003, 02:54 PM:

Thanks guys. I appreciate all the help I got here more than I can say. The new sound processor is an Ultra Stereo JS200. More than enough for my little place.

Wow - The Monadnock Ledger article made it all the way to San Diego!

Gotta go. My day job is over and I start selling for the 5pm show in 35 minutes.

I'll write more in the morning and I'm going to put up a web page that has my pics in it for you guys sometime this weekend.

EDIT - Forget the web page - I submitted them here. I have no time right now to throw a page together. The theatre is way to busy!!!

See you later.

[ 05-19-2003, 12:37 PM: Message edited by: Ray Bernardi ]

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 05-16-2003, 02:57 PM:

[thumbsup]

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 05-16-2003, 03:01 PM:

Congratulations. [thumbsup]

"Film Done Right" does get noticed and is greatly appreciated by your customers. [Smile]

Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 05-16-2003, 03:08 PM:

Ray

Congratulations on all your work, and all your partners work getting your theatre up and running.
Film Done Right [thumbsup]

Bill

What's your next booking??

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 05-19-2003, 08:28 AM:

I'm back in the real world again. The "fog of war" of last week is slowly going away. I've finally had eight hours of sleep, in one row! I even got to sit down and eat a meal for a change. I think the world may get back to normal now. What we accomplished in 6 short days is nothing short of super-human. Here's a run down of the events of the last week and a half.

The theatre closed as planned after the show on May 8th. When that show was done we went to work. The seats were unbolted that night and made ready to move. That's about all we did that night.

Friday morning arrived and we got down to it. The story I'm about to tell you unfolded in pretty much this order, but please remember the days all bled into one for me. We were working from 7 am until 2 am every day during this time period. Okay, here we go....

The duvetyne on the front wall was so old it had basically rotted in place. If you touched it, it would fall apart in your hand. In addition, I took a piece outside and touched a match to it and it went up like flash paper. It clearly had to go, it could not be built over.

The entire front wall was pulled down. The dust load in that duvetyne was impressive. We had about a half inch of dust on the floor in front of the wall once we pulled it down. The old duvetyne was bagged and removed from the theatre. Now we had access to the wall and could get in behind it.

We found a way in and went looking for the speaker wires we had dropped in there earlier in the week. You have to remember that before all this started, I had already prewired the room to save some time. Two days were spent in the attic and in the walls pulling wires and prewiring the rack.

We found the speaker wires and routed them to where they needed to be. The old sheetrock screen was left in place and painted flat black. The front wall was cleaned of all old nails and staples and once we were sure we didn't need to get back there again we insulated it. That finished the front wall prep.

The screen frame was put up and secured to the walls and floor. We needed to do some serious metal work to get this to happen. In its factory configuration it stood 2 and a half feet out from the wall. Too far. We cut it down to 18 inches and installed it. The new speakers were placed on the shelves and their wires were brought to them.

The seats were taken completely out of the theatre. The gunk that had built up on them was pressure washed off. All metal surfaces had a good scrub down with a nylon brush and the pressure washer. They got very clean. They look new.

The old baseboard was removed from the entire auditorium. It had been wrapped in the drape fabric and was loaded with crap. There was gum and candy and rips and it was just a terrible mess. We couldn't save it. It was broken up and removed. Once the baseboards were gone we unpinned the drapes. Years of hanging there had caused them to stretch and they looked pretty tired. We did not have enough money in the budget to replace them so we had to work with them. We spent hours removing all the nails and staples that had been shot through them over the years for one reason or another. We freed the drapes from floor to ceiling and shook the hell out of them. Again, the dust load was huge.

Once the drapes were free we went up under them and redid the insulation in the walls. The walls are 2x6 stuffed with insulation, and then draped. No sheetrock, no echo or sound bounce! It makes the room a dead hole, it sucks up sound. As we layed in the new insulation we used chicken wire over it to avoid it dropping as the old stuff had done. The drapes were left to hang free for a few days and were then shaken lightly, not stirred, and re-pleated. We then used soft brushes to buff them up and get a shine back in them. It came out well. They look new.

All the old baseboard was replaced, and painted the appropriate color. Red around the floor, black around the exits and doors etc. The color scheme is red and black.

The floors were done while the seats were out. We got down on our hands and knees and scraped them clean. We then went after the carpeting. It was a mess. At one time it had a beautiful curve to it way up the front of the room, but that had been lost. Someone installed carpeting all the way up under the first two rows of seats. It's pretty stupid to put carpeting under the feet of a movie audience. The floor is the trash can. The old carpeting was flattened and loaded with years of coke spills and other unmentionables. We cut it right out and found the original lines of the room. We removed about 15 feet of carpeting and cut it back to the original curve.

The floor under the carpeting was covered with glue. we removed it using scrapers and acetone. This was the point in construction when the most serious injury occurred, and yes, it happened to yours truely.

The acetone had to be scrubbed in to losen the glue. Then scrapped, then you had to repeat the process again and again until you had wood again. It took forever my friends. As I was laying down acetone, I was using my hand as a spreader to get good coverage. I pulled my hand toward me as I dragged it across the floor and I impaled my right middle finger on a tear in the plywood. I had a shaft of wood about the thickness of the inside tube of a ball point pen go in one side of my finger and out the other. Please remember that the wood had been soaked in acetone before this happened. To get the full effect, next time you get a good sized cut run into the bathroom and pour some nail polish remover in it. There you go.

After some war-like surgery, we had the "splinter" out of my finger. We cleaned it out good and wrapped it tight and got back to work.

The floors finally got clean and we could then degrease them before we started the ceiling. The floor is slanted of course, and we needed to be able to position a lift and drop the outriggers for stability to get to the ceiling. The lift is 750 pounds. We did not want it to slip and kill some one so we used TSP on the floors first. We mopped them down about 5 times until they were spotless and had no more grease covering. Then the ceiling got underway.

We had to replace about 150 ceiling tiles. The old tiles were white and had sagged and had water spots in them. The ceiling looked bad. Very bad. We began the ceiling at 4:30 one afternoon. I'll never forget it.

We positioned the lift and rode it to the ceiling. I reached up and removed the first tile. On top of it was a 6 inch layer of blown insulation that rained down like snow. Tons of it. It was all over the entire ceiling. Every time we removed a tile we had all this [bs]

drop out. It was a mess. We had a meeting.

The insulation had thrown a wrench into the plans. We needed to decide if we were going to go through with doing the ceiling. After a 15 minute meeting and a call to our frien who runs the local hardware store we decide to take the high road and just do it. We had an emergency delivery of insulation in rolls. We pulled out the old ceiling and we were knee deep in insulation. We bagged it up and removed it. We got the floor clean again. We used spray paint to black out the old tile grid and then cut insulation to fit on top of the tiles. Each new tile was layed into place and the insulation was placed on top of it. It took about 80 man hours to do the ceiling alone. It came out great. It was worth it.

During all this my wife was working in the concession stand. It was stripped and cleaned. Everything was painted. New shelves were put in. A popcorn station was built. Warmers were installed to keep butter melted. The concession stand got a full face lift.

The first coat of paint went down on the floors one night after we had finished everything else. It was looking pretty new inside.

Upstairs in the booth the new sound head was installed, the new rack was hung and wired. The connections were made to all the speakers and the sound system finally came to life one night about 8PM. WOW! It was great. We now had music in a big way that we could work to. The rock and roll never stopped. It drew people like flies to sugar. Word spread and more and more came to look and see what was happening.

We finished the floors after three new coats of paint. The seats were brought back in and bolted down. The new screen hung and masked. It looks great.

There were tons of other little jobs as well. We moved heaters and repiped them, we moved electrical outlets, the general rule of thumb was "if it moves, oil it, if it doesn't paint it".

We finished the job on Wednesday the 14th at 8:30 PM. The carpet layers installed the new carpet the next morning and cleared out two hours before we needed to open the doors for the Matrix.

During the carpet installation we had our fire inspection and we were cleared by them to reopen. It was done.

The next 4 days are a blur of Matrix Reloaded shows to sell out crowds. The new theatre has been well received. Lots of thumbs up from the folks that have been through it. The quality of our presentation is so much better now. Word spead like wildfire and we had lines 200 strong at times. For a little town that's a big event.

If you build it, they will come.....

And they did.

That, gentlemen, to the best of my ability is a recap of what we did to our little theatre. I will send in some construction and after pictures to add to the before pictures you've already seen.

Thanks again for your support, advice and encouragement. You've all been great.

EDIT - I've sent in the construction and after pics and dropped Brad an email as he told me to do. We should see them soon! [Big Grin]

[ 05-19-2003, 11:18 AM: Message edited by: Ray Bernardi ]

Posted by Clint Koch (Member # 1179) on 05-19-2003, 11:22 AM:

WOW!!!

Congrats!

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 05-19-2003, 11:23 AM:

I'm exhausted just from READING about all that work! Congratulations Ray.

Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 05-19-2003, 12:29 PM:

*WHEW* Sounds like a lot of work, but its good to hear everything turned out fantastic! [thumbsup]

Nothing like seeing a person put some pride into their showmanship! Well done!

=TMP=

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 05-19-2003, 12:35 PM:

I forgot to mention the removal of the "stage" that some prior owner had built. It was 2x6 construction. It stood about 18 inches high, was 10 feet wide and about 20 feet long. The deck was 2 sheets of plywood thick, and unfortunately, glued in place. We took it out with a saws all Friday morning the 9th. That was a big job in itself but needed to be done before the new screen frame could go up. Add this to the list of things that got done.

I think you can see why the community is receiving it as a new theatre. It really is.

Thanks for all the kudos guys. I appreciate it.

Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 05-19-2003, 12:57 PM:

Ray, Congratulations for a job well done. Don't drink all those beers. Take your wife out and buy her a Martini. She and you will sleep better. [Smile]

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 05-19-2003, 01:08 PM:

Thanks Bob - that's good advice. Actually, only about a six pack got consumed during this project, and then only after the power tools were laid down for the night. I work smart.

As far as sleep goes, it'll be a few months before I feel normal again I'm sure! I got a good nights sleep last night, 10 hours, and I woke up exhausted. I need a few more like that to recharge my batteries.

Tonights activities include dinner with my family at the table, and a board game with the kids. Then the wife and I are gonna put our feet up and watch "Everybody Loves Raymond", Robert gets married tonight, and then sleep again.

It actually sounds like a normal evening for a change. Oh, I'm gonna mow the lawn (hay field) too.

It's good when the job is behind you. [Big Grin]

Posted by Greg Pauley (Member # 503) on 05-19-2003, 01:09 PM:

Congrats Ray,
I bet the place smell better too!

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 05-19-2003, 01:13 PM:

Greg - It smells like a new car!

Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 05-23-2003, 08:24 AM:

Ray:

I just came from seeing all those images! Wow! It looks great! That black ceiling ROCKS! The whole place looks fantastic!

Uh, if you want to get rid of your old sound system amplifiers, let me know. I'm running some real antique equipment, and this would be a step up!

I wish I could come and see the looks on your patrons faces when the movie starts. Awesome!

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-23-2003, 05:53 PM:

Great pics. (but where are the booth pics?) [Smile]

That brings back memories of our own sound system "reloads" here, which took place in the early and mid 90s. I'll never forget the sound of that first explosion in "True Lies," our first DTS movie. Awesome!

Congratulations, Ray.

Posted by Daniel Fuentz (Member # 1684) on 05-23-2003, 07:12 PM:

Ray, your theatre looks amazing! I really admire the fact that you recognized there were things about your theatre that could be improved, and you made those improvements! [beer]

I'm sure your customers will appreciate your hard work for years to come!

Glad you got rid of the self-serve popcorn, too. The Signature here had that when they first opened, and on the night I went little kids were playing in it. Needless to say, I did NOT purchase any popcorn! [puke]

Posted by Per Hauberg (Member # 529) on 05-24-2003, 05:43 AM:

Congratulations, Man !

You must be proud (and tired). Looks to have been really worth Your great effort.
I hope, Your audience will know to appreciate and buy an extra ticket now and then to pay back, what You're doing for them.
Sometimes audiences are a bit unfaithfull, though: Two years ago, i did the same job here, getting about 30 % more visitors than earlier, but i'm still afraid of german CinemaxX chain coming to nearby big city Aarhus in october. From the restoration i have been using a hit-line in my adds, not directly translateable, but something like "when You prefer cosy for big" - hope, it will still work, when germans are coming.

Per

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 05-24-2003, 08:44 AM:

quote:
Great pics. (but where are the booth pics?)

My apologies on the booth pics. I will take a few and add them to the board. There were booth pics in the "before" post but I overlooked them in the "after" post.

Breakin' the law! My bad! [Big Grin]

Bruce - the old sound stuff has already been spoken for. I would have gladly donated to you but it's gone now. Sorry.

Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 05-25-2003, 02:41 AM:

Forgive me, but looking at the pictures, it doesn't look like that's a full Scope screen. Is it indeed 2.39:1, and are the pictures distorting it? It almost looks like... [Eek!]

2:1!!!

=TMP=

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 05-25-2003, 07:08 AM:

Thomas - It's possible the pics are distorting it some? It's a standard screen size I was told. If I run without a plate I just get a little bit of light over the masking. The only thing the plate is doing right now is taking out some of the keystoning that we have. I asked for standards when I put it all together. I hope I got them. I did the best I knew how.

When we ordered the screen I gave them my old dimensions and I was told the new one would be slightly wider, and about two feet taller than what I had built into the wall. The first run on the new screen was done with an old plate in and the picture didn't even come close to filling the screen. I pulled the plate and it almost fit. Just a bit too big, we cut a new plate and away we went.

I can't imagine a much bigger screen in that room. [Smile]

EDIT - It's 25 feet wide and 10.5 tall. It's actually bigger than that but that's what we masked it for. I guess I'm close, that's like 2.3809:1 isn't it?

[ 05-25-2003, 09:50 AM: Message edited by: Ray Bernardi ]

Posted by Ken Layton (Member # 133) on 05-25-2003, 10:32 PM:

Ray:

What a wonderful job you did. Looks like you made a 1000 percent improvement over what was there before. Your customers must really be pleased. [Smile]

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 05-26-2003, 09:04 AM:

Ken - I think they are. We have had one sold out show after another. We usually got sell outs only a few times a year, even when the movie was a good one. I've had people say they never would have considered seeing the Matrix at PCT until they heard about the upgrades. Now they say it's fantastic in there, they love it.

I can only hope this translates into an increase in the numbers for my little place. I want to keep it going but I can't do it if it can't pay for itself. I have a feeling I'm going to do okay with the place now.

Time will tell.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 05-26-2003, 09:24 AM:

As others have said, it looks (from the pictures) as if you have done a great job of upgrading your theatre.

It's great to hear that your ticket sales have increased since the upgrade. It sounds like your customers really do care about film (and sound) done right!

Oh, BTW, I was amused when looking at the "before" pics of the booth--I can tell from the tail label where that print of Anger Management came from (not me, but an operator I know). Knowing that, it should have been in great shape.