dying picture theatres

[lynnb]

I was just reading an interesting article on Thom Hogan's site ('Swimming in Ponds', Feb 29, http://www.bythom.com/index.htm) where he talks about one of Kodak's core revenue streams, the printing of movies for distribution, dying out this year as movie theatres go digital:

the printing of films to be distributed to theaters, is about to die completely. Several studios have already gone all digital for projection. The rest are now following. Small theaters are struggling with the costs associated with that transfer, and we have estimates that we'll see at least a thousand of them die this year, maybe more. But by the end of 2012 almost all movies you'll see in a theatre in the US will be projected from encrypted hard drives, not film

Sounds like an opportunity to document with film, the small film-projection theatres across the country that are likely to close due to technological change - before they disappear altogether. Seems more appropriate to document them with film, than digital.

I'll start a separate W/NW thread specifically for local picture theatres (not multiplexes). There's still a few local ones in my area, mostly showing art house films. It would be very sad if they disappeared just because they couldn't afford to upgrade to digital.

I've seen books about historically significant picture theatres, but couldn't find anything about theatres here on RFF. Please feel welcome to correct me if it's already been done.

 

[sepiareverb]

It would be very sad if they disappeared just because they couldn't afford to upgrade to digital.

Equally sad is the pathetic quality of much digital projection.

 

[dave lackey]

I really can't say that everything in this world is getting better and this is one of those strange things that is probably being done due to cost.

A Nat Geo presentation on Doomsday preparers had something in one of the shows about the fear of, not just nuclear blasts, but the energy pulses (forget the term but my next cup of coffee should wake me up). Seems that those energy pulses would wipe out anything electronic and possibly digital archives? I dunno.

Can't really understand the decision but....😕

 

[aad]

I was all set to get on the "film is better for cinema" until the visit to a new all-digi theater in December.

Sorry, the new stuff has caught up.

 

[Keith]

Brisbane's first digital cinema is up and running and it's a small independant. The owner wasn't overjoyed at bailing out on film but did state that he had made the decision to ensure future survival of the family owned business.

 

[robert blu]

In my country the multiplexes have a great share in the market. But there is also an interesting circuit of high quality film, "essay" called, which are not so important from numeric point of view to be distributed in digital and are, hopefully will always be projected from film.
robert
PS: it will be for sure an interesting project to document these theaters, so long we have them.

 

[sepiareverb]

I was all set to get on the "film is better for cinema" until the visit to a new all-digi theater in December.

Sorry, the new stuff has caught up.

Maybe in some places, but the trickle down is going to be a long time coming to all of us. Here the digital cinema is really lousy compared to the film projection it replaced. An order of magnitude lousy. Like Super-8.

Of course it is cheaper for the theater, and so likely the only reason I still have a theater to go to at all. Not that I really like it much anymore. 😕

 

[wblynch]

Digital is cheaper yet the ticket prices skyrocket.

In the 1950's movie theaters feared going out of business due to competition from Television. But they survived on their advantages: huge screens and powerful sound systems.

You can now buy a 70" high definition flat screen for your home in the $1000 range. Home theater sound systems are amazing and are very affordable.

What is the advantage of a movie theater now? High Prices? Sticky, dirty furniture and floors? Weirdos in the restrooms?Parking gridlock? And picture quality is no better than home theater...

It's actually self destructive. At least with Film Projection they could have an advantage to advertise that home theater could not match.

Well the greedy are known for killing golden-egg laying geese.

Soon the (former) theater multiplexes will become big box, warehouse stores.

 

[pggunn]

A Nat Geo presentation on Doomsday preparers had something in one of the shows about the fear of, not just nuclear blasts, but the energy pulses (forget the term but my next cup of coffee should wake me up). Seems that those energy pulses would wipe out anything electronic and possibly digital archives? I dunno.

electromagnetic pulse

It is sad to see the old theaters disappear. I grew up in small towns in the American mid-west mostly - my father's career had us moving about every year and a half, on average - and seeing a Saturday afternoon matinee in the local theater and having an ice cream soda at the corner drug store afterwards were very special events in my childhood.

When I grew old enough to get a driver's license, drive-in theaters were pretty special too. Now there are very few old-fashioned theaters, soda fountains, or drive-ins around today.

As the multiplexes began their ascendance, many of the old theaters survived into my adulthood by showing cheap matinees for the kids and catering to college crowds at night. Some resorted to pornography.

Today, where I live now, there is one old theater downtown that has been restored and preserved where I've had the pleasure of seeing classic films by Buster Keaton and Alfred Hitchcock, concerts by Bela Fleck and others.

Documenting the few remaining old single screen film theaters, and the demise of those that haven't, would be a great project for anyone with the financial resources to undertake such a project. It would take a lot of research, planning and travel to do it right, but it would be well worth the effort. It's an interesting idea Lynn.

I just had a thought. How about RFF members posting photographs of old surviving theaters in their towns on this thread, or another? Well, maybe that was what you were getting at all along and I'm just a little slow!

 

[FrankS]

The movie theatre in my small town:

 

[dave lackey]

Here is a test shot of the theater on our town square using the IIIF. In recent years, they moved to plays and short movies, no more featured movies.

 

[mugent]

I wonder if the theatres would die out completely if movies were made available on DVD/iTunes/Whatever at the same time as theatre release?
I almost resent going to the Cinema, it's like sharing your living room with 100 loud, obnoxious, inconsiderate people.
Cinema has it's charms, but the only thing keeping it alive is the studios staggering release dates of the various mediums, so they can sell you the same thing several times over.

 

[dave lackey]

Well, it certainly won't happen... why would it?

People still like to go shopping at the mall and stores even though they can buy on-line. People still like to go out to get away from the house.

So, the market will always be there for entertainment outside the home. Try sitting around the house unemployed for the last three years and you will understand.😉 Or ask a teenager or young married couple, or...

Do most people care if it is digital or film? I think not but I could be wrong.

What I AM excited about is the recent movie...The Artist.:angel:

 

[batterytypehah!]

I used to make a living working for an independent theater at one time but now, I haven't been to a multiplex in so long I don't even know what digital projection looks like. Or 3D, for that matter. I just have no interest in what they have to offer, not enough interest to pay for a ticket, anyway, rather than the occasional DVD rental half a year later.

There are still numerous independent and second-run theaters here in the Boston area but you may be right, I wonder how many of them can afford to go digital, and how long those that can't will survive.