Petition to support 35mm movie projection

[waynecrider]

I'd sign it but they don't need my information. I do support the idea tho.

[Sal Santamaura]

...Today I checked the listings for "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," one feature we do intend to view early next week...Its manager responded that projection was 100% film. I thanked her, then asked that she let the owners know this answer was a good one and the reason I'd be going to their establishment rather than the competition's. She sounded pleased and committed to pass my input along.

We just returned home from the theater. Ads and other "stuff" shown to early arrivers were digital. The feature (and a few feature previews before it) were film. To reinforce the message, moments ago I sent that theater chain's management a "contact us" message, via its Web site, saying the only reason we went there was their film projection. I added that one might as well stay home and watch a disc when theaters project features digitally. My conclusion was: "As long as you project film, we will keep coming to your theater. Switch to digital and we're done."

[ajuk]

Why are cinemas struggling to get prints already? Tt's still not unusual to be projecting film yet.

[mrred]

You are assuming they havn't started to choke the pipeline already. It should only effect new releases at first.

[Mainecoonmaniac]

The pay off for converting to digital projection only benefits the movie producers, not for theater owners. There are theaters that have projectors that are decades old and are perfectly good. I have a feeling that with digital projection, theaters will have to bear the cost of short hardware upgrade cycles and constant upgrades in software. This trend can endanger small art movie houses. The little guy that cares about movies shot on film will get the shaft like independent book sellers that can't sell Ebooks.

Take a look at this:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...8SPB.DTL&tsp=1

[Nelson]

I've never seen digital projection in a theater before. All the cinemas nearby (even the big 20-screen one or whatever it is) are 100% film, and I hope they stay that way! Honestly, I really can't see our smaller cinemas switching due to the high cost. It was a big deal just switching from carbon arc to xenon! I'm not too worried at the moment. Still, I will gladly sign the petition.

At work, I manage a 486-seat auditorium. We occasionally show movies for school classes, but sadly, all we have is a DLP projector and a DVD player. Looks horrible, but its good enough to entertain school kids. I'd love it if we could actually get a real projector be able to project movies the right way!

[wiltw]

The other night there was a segment on KTVU about movie theaters faced with the $75k cost to convert each screen's equipment to digital projectors, that new releases will be distributed in digital format rather than cans of 35mm projection prints. In the SF Bay area, a number of small theaters are saying they cannot possibly afford the investment to convert all their equipment to digital.

Yuck, digital movies. You can't even project digital still images with the same resolution as the captured image in the camera, at best you have a poor 1920x1080 projection vs. capture at 5184x3456 (Canon 7D) or 5616x3744 (1DsIII), for example.

Initial Digital Cinema installations were 2K installations, with a resolution of 2048 pixels by 1080 pixels (HDTV's are 1920x1080 or 1280x720).
Sony was the first to introduce 4K systems, which display 4096 pixels by 2160 pixels, and other manufacturers have followed. 4096 pixels across a 100' wide screen?! 40 pixels per foot, 3.6 pixels per inch.

Gimme film projection!!!

[munz6869]

A local multiplex (Hoyts Chadstone), recently threw all their 35mm projection gear away in a skip, and the three main local film distributors in Australia have advised they will be phasing out prints (and destroying them) within 18 months! Terrible news for small independent cinemas...

Marc!

[clayne]

This is all for control and commercial reasons as well. Nothing to do with quality. It's money game$ as usual.

[Nelson]

Maybe we should all start writing to the management of our local film cinemas, expressing our support for the continued use of film projection.