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Technology
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July 25, 2017
Redondo Beach, CA - Dolby brings milestone 100th Dolby Cinema to Southern California
From Nerd Reactor: The best theater experience you’ll ever encounter is opening its milestone 100th theater in sunny Southern California. Today, Dolby announced that it has opened its 100th global Dolby Cinema location at AMC South Bay Galleria 16 in Redondo Beach, California.
“This global milestone highlights the strength of Dolby Cinema, with more than 325 Dolby Cinema sites installed or committed,” said Dolby in a statement. “As well as amazing studio support with more than 100 titles released or announced.”
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January 7, 2017
Buffalo, NY - Dear Turner Classic Movies: Buffalo is the answer to your prayers
From The Buffalo News:
Wanted: A city of movie buffs. Must be rich in history, have Hollywood ties and be worthy of shining in the spotlight. A functioning movie palace of yesteryear is a must. Contact Turner Classic Movies.
Found: Buffalo, N.Y.
When TCM reached out recently to its Backlot fan club members for recommendations of a city to host a big event, it was exciting to see Buffalo met its requirements.
We are more than chicken wings and walls of snow. We are home of the 1901 Pan-Am Exposition and Frank Lloyd Wright masterpieces; the birthplace of famous entertainers and two presidents and location for hundreds of movies. And that one historic movie palace you need? We have six grand and glorious options for you – all still operating, all built between 1920 and 1926 and all ready to welcome a full house of movie fans, local celebrities and athletes (we’re looking at you, Bills' fan Ben Mankiewicz) and TCM hosts to share a love of classic films.
or more than a century, hundreds of movies have used the Buffalo area as a location, from early Edison short films made here between 1896 and 1904; to battle scenes re-created at Curtiss-Wright Corp. for John Wayne’s “Flying Tigers”; and in more recent years, scenes for “Planes, Trains & Automobiles,” “Best Friends,” “Bruce Almighty” and “The Savages.” The wondrous Niagara Falls has roared to life alongside such co-stars as Marilyn Monroe and Joseph Cotten in the thriller “Niagara,” Christopher Reeve in “Superman II” and even the “Sharknado” gang.
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November 1, 2016
Irwin, PA - Irwin’s Lamp Theatre plans to buy digital projector to screen newer movies
From TribLive.com: The renovated Lamp Theatre in Irwin is showing movies again — classic flicks for now via an old film projector — but operators hope to entertain audiences with recent releases once a new digital movie projector is purchased.
The theater’s operators hope to have the new projector by the Christmas holiday season, said John Gdula, president of the Lamp Theatre board of directors. The organization is making the financial arrangements to buy a projector for about $38,000, he said.
A digital projector is needed to show first-run movies “primarily because the movie studios are stopping production of movies on film,” said Patrick Corcoran, vice president of the National Association of Theatre Owners, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group.
Corcoran said the studios have moved to digital production as a way of reducing costs.
“It’s much less expensive for them to distribute the movies on hard drives — about $60 — than on film, which costs about $1,200 per movie,” Corcoran said.
The quality of the digital picture is the same as film but does not develop flaws with age, Corcoran said.
With a digital projector, the Lamp Theatre would be able to screen new movies. Whether the movies would be first-run or available after making a run at the multiplex cinemas in the region likely would be determined by the rules governing distribution rights of the movie, Gdula said.
The revenue generated by ticket sales and the profit from concessions should cover the cost of the digital projector, Gdula said.
The Lamp’s operators will have to consider when to show movies as an increasingly busy production schedule includes live entertainment and the showing of older, classic movies.
“It’s a nice problem to have,” Gdula said.
The efforts to restore the Lamp Theatre over the past several years have been recognized by the Westmoreland County Historical Society, which recently gave the Lamp board an Arthur St. Clair Historical Preservation Award “for bringing a property back to life,” Gdula said.
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March 10, 2016
Bob Foreman Shares the Frank Adam (Stage Lighting Control) 1952 Catalog
From Mr. Foreman – “Frank Adam Electric Company of St. Louis, known for its commercial fuse boxes, entered the stage lighting control field in the late teens, when they introduced the concept of pre-set ("pre-selection”) in the switching portion of their stage lighting Switchboards. (Dimming preset and proportional mastering made their debut in 1932, when the first electronic Switchboard was installed at Radio City Music Hall.)
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January 18, 2015
“Introducing the UK’s first 4D cinema with shaking seats, water spray and scents” From Milton Keynes, England.
A British cinema is preparing to unveil the UK’s first 4D screen – where audiences are rocked in their seats and sprayed with water to simulate movie scenes.
Despite 3D cinema remaining a novelty for many movie-goers, the new technology takes the experience one step further and aims to make the audience feel as though they are in the film.
Set to be pioneered by the country’s biggest cinema chain Cineworld, 4DX will feature water sprays, gusts of air, and even different scents recreating explosives and coffee which will be pumped into the cinema.
Read the entire article online at mirror.co.uk
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December 11, 2014
“Dolby looks to kill the IMAX giant with new ultra-bright laser projection”
Dolby has been to the top of the mountain and laid eyes on the future of visual technology, and that future begins with three simple words: high dynamic range.
Everyone knows IMAX is the big name in cinema for those seeking a transcendent theater experience, offering over 830 theaters worldwide, with massive, visually stunning screens that aim to make it worth leaving the comfort of your home theater to brave the crowds. However, while Dolby may be best known for its indelible mark on the world of sound, the company’s latest large-format theater projection technology aims to put the name IMAX in your rear view mirror…
Read the entire article at digitaltrends.com.
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August 27, 2014
Texting encouraged in some Chinese theaters
Theaters in China have been experimenting with technology that projects audience tweets onto the screen during a movie. While many are concerned about the ramifications of such technology damaging the theater experience, others are praising it due to it being somewhat of an organic progression as more and more Chinese watch films on mobile devices. Are other countries next?
Read more in Yahoo Tech.
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May 27, 2014
Dealflicks takes their show on the road
Dealflicks, the startup mentioned two years ago, is growing their business thanks to the old school sales strategy of meeting clients face to face. The sales team is riding in a van around the country to gain new business for their innovative product. They work with theaters to sell discount tickets and concessions during more challenging time periods.
Read more in the Los Angeles Times.
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April 17, 2014
Battle for the bigger screen
It’s not just IMAX that has the huge screens anymore. Chains like Cinemark have been expanding their large-format theaters in an effort to lure more moviegoers in that are serious about getting them best experience possible.
What could this mean to you and what will happen next? Get the full story in the New York Times for more.
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April 9, 2014
Marcus Theatres uses NCR technology to increase sales
Marcus Theatres is selling more than just tickets thanks to their relationship with NCR Corporation. The company’s technology facilitates to-go orders on concessions and even analyzes ticket sales to advise on marketing decisions.
Read more at Business Wire.