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In a tiny private theater in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts, filmmaker Douglas Trumbull is screening one of his latest creations. At first, the movie looks familiar: it's footage of astronaut Chris Hadfield singing David Bowie's "Space Oddity" in a clip that went viral on YouTube a couple of years ago. But halfway through the song, the film shifts from Hadfield strumming his guitar in the International Space Station to 3-D shots of planets and stars so detailed that I feel as though I'm on the ISS itself, looking through its cupola windows. A huge image of Earth fills my field of view and begins rotating. I'm wearing 3-D glasses, but the picture is far brighter and sharper than is typical in 3-D movies. Next to me, people mumble things like "Completely unreal" and "Awesome."
This is Magi, a system that captures images in 3-D and "4K" ultrahigh resolution and displays the resulting frames at five times the usual rate. Trumbull developed the technology as a way to create movie experiences more immersive than regular 3-D or giant-screen IMAX—and restore the joy of going out to the movies.
[...] The movie industry could use some magic. North American box office receipts have been relatively flat for years. Many consumers prefer the convenience and affordability of watching movies on their TVs and mobile devices, especially since manufacturers keep developing sharper, brighter, more color-accurate screens.
To develop something far better, Trumbull built a studio on his sprawling Berkshires property; hired a multitasking crew that ranges from four to 50 people, depending on the project; and produced a series of demos that tested new cinematic techniques, such as how to combine different frame rates and resolution levels in one movie. On top of all that, he has created a new type of movie theater optimized for showing Magi films.
Presumably, not showing 45 minutes of TV commercials before the feature is not on the list of things that could bring some magic back to the movie industry...
(Score: 5, Informative) by Celestial on Friday October 07 2016, @08:46PM
During Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, at the start of the huge battle between man, Aragorn's ghosts, and the trolls, some jerk's phone rang about three rows behind, and he answered. And yapped throughout the entire battle scene. And tried to talk over the movie.
Before seeing Pacific Rim, I ordered a medium Coca-Cola at the concession stand. The lady behind the counter filled a cup, then pushed it towards me... knocking it over, spilling it all over me. I was literally drenched in Coca-Cola from the neck down. The lady behind the counter apologized and gave me a new soda. To make matters worse, not only did I have to watch Pacific Rim while drenched in Coca-Cola, there was a three year-old boy right behind me who kept screaming throughout the entire film and kicking my seat. Towards the end of the movie, he flung one of his flip-flops over my head. Yeah, I didn't go back to the movie theater for two years after that.
The next movie I saw after that was Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation. Great movie, BTW. However, I had a group of elderly people (five or so, IIRC), in the row in front of me who kept talking. There was also a guy about four rows in front of me who kept playing some game on his cell phone. About fifteen minutes into the film, two of the elderly people in the row in front of me yelled at the guy to turn off his phone. The guy responded by giving his finger, and then holding up his phone high in the air for everyone to see, basically shining a light in that section of the theater. He was never kicked out or dealt with.
When I saw Star Trek Beyond for the second time in the movie theater a couple of months ago, about a third of the way throughout the film a siren began blaring throughout the theater. I thought some jerk was playing a game on his phone or something. However, a few seconds later, the film stopped playing and the lights came on. A half minute or so later, a voice came through a loud speaker that an emergency had been reported and we needed to evacuate. We began evacuating... I wasn't sure what was going on. Fire? Shooter? A couple of minutes later, one of the movie theater ushers started telling people to go back to their seats. A few minutes after that, the manager of the movie theater made an announcement that we all had to leave. I went outside in the pouring rain, and saw a fire truck pull up. I overheard the fire chief talking with someone. It was nothing. Turned out some idiot pulled a fire alarm inside the building.
Yeah, I wonder why the movie theater is dying...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 08 2016, @01:37AM
And tried to talk over the movie.
You had the fix in your hands. Popcorn and candy and ice.
Say 'hey turn it off or get out' if he doesnt, start throwing. Trust me everyone will join in. (4th one so far and it worked).
Every time I have used this tactic *everyone* around me joined in. If there is no one around step outside and grab an attendant. They will take care of it. If they dont just say 'I would like a refund then and will just rent it from redbox'.