more on The Movie Theater Experience

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Date: October 2, 2005 2:01:26 PM EDT
To: Bob Frankston <Bob2-19-0501 () bobf frankston com>
Cc: dave () farber net, lauren () vortex com
Subject: Re: [IP] The Movie Theater Experience




> I suspect, however, that the authentic replicas of the classic
> experience use old projectors as part of that authenticity.

Bob, this is in general incorrect.  These sort of theaters have
been making massive investments in upgrading everything from
seating and restrooms to brand new projectors (and believe me,
70MM projectors are not cheap!)  Some also have made the investment
for projecting polarized (not crummy red/blue) classic 3-D films.
I think that AC's Egyptian theater renovation cost about $15M,
and the Aero another million.

I've recently seen 70mm screenings of "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Mad,
Mad, Mad, Mad World" at the Egyptian.  Brand new prints for both.
Stunning.  It almost makes you want to cry realizing what has been
lost in terms of most people's viewing experiences.  There are often
other surprises too.  During the intermission in "Mad" they ran an
original audio track (which I did not know existed) over the PA.
This was a series of police radio calls describing further movements
of the characters over the interval of the intermission.  It was not
necessary that you hear this (after all, it *was* intermission) but it
provided a bridge in the action between the two halves.

The point being, there's still a lot of life in theaters if things
are done right.  AC packs them in.  OK, this is L.A. and it's a movie
biz company town, but other cities have gotten similar results.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren () pfir org or lauren () vortex com or lauren () eepi org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
  - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, EEPI
  - Electronic Entertainment Policy Initiative - http://www.eepi.org
Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com


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