movie theaters versus live theater

[gunhilltrain]

It's been a while since I've seen a stage play, but I think I remember that the interiors of the theaters were somewhat better lit than the darkness of a movie house during the running of a film. Am I correct about the lighting? Or is my memory faulty?

 

[SimonDoom]

I think that's somewhat correct, because in a live play the stage necessarily must be lit by lights, and the spillover from that lights up the audience portion of the theater more than the spillover from a movie screen does.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

The aisles of both generally have low lighting to keep late arrivals from tripping, at least in this area. There are few really dark places. Theatre boxes, perhaps?

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Cinemas don't seem to be properly dark any more, possibly to assist latecomers in getting to their seats seeing as ushers are a thing of the past. Theatres in my experience tend to be darker because the lights are shining onto the stage, so there's more contrast. Some small theatres I've been to recently have had moments of pitch black - your classic pros-arch stage theatres may have more light in the auditorium. And house staff watching.

 

[NotWise]

I've watched both movies and live theater in a place I'm very familiar with. They don't change the house lighting, but as Simon said, light will spill over from a well-lit stage. If the stage is dark, then so is the theater.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

The aisles of both generally have low lighting to keep late arrivals from tripping, at least in this area. There are few really dark places. Theatre boxes, perhaps?

Oh, is that what this is about?

 

[OffNSFW]

The aisles in movie theaters tend to be lit near the carpet with red-shifted light, which tends not to draw the eye and can still help people not eat it on their way up or down the stairs.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I think that's somewhat correct, because in a live play the stage necessarily must be lit by lights, and the spillover from that lights up the audience portion of the theater more than the spillover from a movie screen does.

Yes, although a movie audience is surprisingly well lit if you look back at their faces. Probably that has something to do with the screen being a single, flat lighting source.

 

[gunhilltrain]

The aisles of both generally have low lighting to keep late arrivals from tripping, at least in this area. There are few really dark places. Theatre boxes, perhaps?

Yes, there are certain safety regulations that have to be followed, like there has to be lit exit signs. Some of that goes back to early theater fires like the one in the Iroquois Theater in 1903.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Oh, is that what this is about?

No, I was trying to write about how the movie theater experience has changed since I first went over sixty years ago. Sometimes I like to mix in some non-fiction essays as a change of pace. It will be the second installment to a series for which I wrote the first part years ago.

https://classic.literotica.com/s/movies-and-memory-ch-01

I have other non-fiction on here.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Cinemas don't seem to be properly dark any more, possibly to assist latecomers in getting to their seats seeing as ushers are a thing of the past. Theatres in my experience tend to be darker because the lights are shining onto the stage, so there's more contrast. Some small theatres I've been to recently have had moments of pitch black - your classic pros-arch stage theatres may have more light in the auditorium. And house staff watching.

One of the things I mentioned was that cinemas once had the house lights on between showings. I'd have to estimate the time, but it was probably about twenty minutes. With more trailers and then non-movie commercials, something starts up as soon as the closing credits are finished. In some places I think there is always something being shown on the screen.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

One of the things I mentioned was that cinemas once had the house lights on between showings. I'd have to estimate the time, but it was probably about twenty minutes. With more trailers and then non-movie commercials, something starts up as soon as the closing credits are finished. In some places I think there is always something being shown on the screen.

That's definitely not the UK experience. Credits end - house lights up halfway through - and some token cleaning before allowing the next punters in, and the screen only kicking in at showtime. The local ads you used to get before the official cinematic ones and then the trailers seem to be a thing of the past - until the 90s there would always be a grainy and grey ad for your local curry house - same images used all over the country, the address stuck in at the end.

Lots of Brits have been complaining about how helf'n'safety means it never gets properly dark in the cinema auditorium now. I think it's worst in the multiplexes which are run by two teenagers, one to sell all the food and drink, the other to check tickets and then set films going. Whenever the screen says to contact staff if someone is pirating the film, there's always hollow laughter and someone yells 'what staff?'

The luxury cinema experience is better, not least because you can have coffee and cake followed by a whisky, while watching. And there's enough staff about that any misbehaviour would be addressed.

Back in the late 80s, the only reason I didn't lose my virginity in a cinema was an usherette marching in with the very large torch. Flashlight. The usher wouldn't exist now.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Back in the late 80s, the only reason I didn't lose my virginity in a cinema was an usherette marching in with the very large torch. Flashlight. The usher wouldn't exist now.

Did you have to wait until cinemas got rid of ushers?

 

[SimonDoom]

One of the things I mentioned was that cinemas once had the house lights on between showings. I'd have to estimate the time, but it was probably about twenty minutes. With more trailers and then non-movie commercials, something starts up as soon as the closing credits are finished. In some places I think there is always something being shown on the screen.

I remember that. If you arrived early to a movie you'd sit in the theater with the lights on and nothing to do. Nobody had cell phones to keep themselves distracted. There was no constant flood of commercials and trailers and entertainment on the screen. Sometimes music would play--often bad music (bad to a teenage kid, anyway).

You'd actually have to talk to the person sitting next to you, to while the time away. Imagine that.

We live in an age today where nobody can endure silence for any period of time. Constant entertainment is required. It's very different.

 

[ElectricBlue]

You'd actually have to talk to the person sitting next to you, to while the time away. Imagine that.

"Gosh Mom, do you think it will be a good movie?"

"It's got Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft in it. I'm sure it will be excellent."

 

[SimonDoom]

"Gosh Mom, do you think it will be a good movie?"

"It's got Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft in it. I'm sure it will be excellent."

"You're trying to seduce me, aren't you, Mom?"

"What gives you that idea, silly boy?"

 

[gunhilltrain]

I remember that. If you arrived early to a movie you'd sit in the theater with the lights on and nothing to do. Nobody had cell phones to keep themselves distracted. There was no constant flood of commercials and trailers and entertainment on the screen. Sometimes music would play--often bad music (bad to a teenage kid, anyway).

You'd actually have to talk to the person sitting next to you, to while the time away. Imagine that.

We live in an age today where nobody can endure silence for any period of time. Constant entertainment is required. It's very different.

It's really an economic thing. Theaters think they need commercials in that gap. I mentioned Bounty Towels because it was one of the first I remember. I don't find them entertaining, and the numerous trailers seem more annoying than ever. Well, the old "coming attractions" clips were overstated too, but there were usually two of them at most. The older ones I've seen on YouTube were just over three minutes long; I think they are longer now.

One thing that distinguished cinema from its first competitor, network television, was that it once didn't have commercials.

 

[gunhilltrain]

"Gosh Mom, do you think it will be a good movie?"

"It's got Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft in it. I'm sure it will be excellent."

That reminds me of a friend who liked science fiction. When he was about thirteen, he talked his mother into taking him to see Barbarella. He truly only had a vague idea of what was in it. After they left the theater, they never talked about that movie again.

 

[ElectricBlue]

"You're trying to seduce me, aren't you, Mom?"

"What gives you that idea, silly boy?"

"Sshhh, Simon. The movie's about to start. Have you got the popcorn on your lap?"

 

[gunhilltrain]

"Sshhh, Simon. The movie's about to start. Have you got the popcorn on your lap?"

That reminds of the theater popcorn scene with a young Mickey Rourke in Diner (1982).