Motion Picture News (Oct-Dec 1929)

1240 .1/ o I i o ii P ic i it re N e Note: — This department is conducted as a general service to exhibitors and as an aid to them in solving their various construction problems (excepting those which relate to projection rooms). All correspondence will be treated in strict confidence and answers will be identified by initials only. Address all communications, Victor A. Rigaumont , in care of Motion Picture News, 729 Seventh Avenue, Nezu York City, Readers incur absolutely no obligation through requests for advice on construction addressed to this department. No Lobby Entrance Into Stores Dear Mr. Rigaumont: Our backers are extremely anxious to obtain some show windows in our theatre lobby. On one side they want to get the entrance door to a candy store. There is lots of space to do it and they believe It would be a good business move because there are a lot of people that pass the stores up after they get out of the theatre. E. H. Answering E. H. : You may get more people in the candy store and the other stores through the door and displays but the benefits you would accrue would be negligible compared to the possible damages you would suffer in case of a panic because of a fire originatine in these stores. Furthermore, the law will not let you do that. The law distinctly specifies that the theatre portion must be segregated from the merchantile portion by a 1M inch brick wall or an S-inch concrete wall. There is no alternative, or any possible way that you will be allowed to place any show windows or entrances from your theatre lobby into any merchantile section. You are far better off the way you are, from the theatre standpoint of view. Furthermore, lobbies nowadays are the show windows for the theatre and not the location for show windows for stores. Thai is why we always design 1 1 ' • 1 1 elaborate displays and frames and other attraction features because, after all, as I have said before, ii i^ your show window and your product is "" the inside-in your theatre. • • • Impractical To Build Small Theatre Dear Mr. Rigaumont: I am interested In presenting to the town of ... a memorial theatre seating about GOO or 700 people and I plan to spend about $200,000.00. It Is my Intention to create free shows on certain days. The other days the theatre Is intended to be rented out to an operator. The Idea of renting the theatre to an operator is to get some income which will carry the lntorest of the building costs and the land charges. I would appreciate your suggestions regarding what type and size of theatre you deem suitable because I own several sites In the city which could be usod very well for this purpose J. F. C. Answering J. F. C. : Investigating the other theatres in your town, I find that you have a good bit of competition and, furthermore, that this competition has more seats than you want and that they are pretty well supplied with products. It is very thoughtful of you to build a memorial theatre and present free shows as far as the people are concerned, but to spend $200,000.00 for only 600 seats in a town of your population is just something that is not being done any more. These days we are trying to get theatres built as reasonably as possible, so that the showman can have some profit after he has bought his products — inasmuch as everything costs money nowadays. For $200,000.00 you could get a gorgeous theatre with 600 seats. As far as renting it to somebody else and making money on it, it is difficult to make money on 600 seats with such building costs. Therefore, your idea of obtaining interest charges on your rental may or may not be practical. If you have the ground, I suggest that you build a bigger theatre for the same amount of money and do not make it so gorgeous. First of all, interview the other showmen in town and ascertain whether or not they, who are in business and established, will consider running your theatre, with your option of free shows that do not interfere with the shows that they are carrying on. I shall be glad to hear further from you when you obtain concise results as to the marketability of your enterprise, which should be not only a memorial but a successful, paying theatre venture as well. • • • Determining Decoration Costs Dear Mr. Rigaumont: We intend to build a theatre about sixty feet wide and would like to find out whether or not It is cheaper for us to build a one-floor house, than it is to build a one-floor house with a balcony, it being understood that we have a stage. We would like to have about 1200 seats. Could you tell us in the next issue of THE SHOWTVIAN how much a theatre of this size would cost to decorate? R. L. A Qswering R. L. : A one floor bouse, sixty feet wide, with about 1200 seats would make your auditorium too long, especially in these days of talking pictures. It is preferable for you to build a balcony in this house with a single span. When seating capacity is not considered, a one-floor house is cheaper to build than a house with a balcony. Hut in your case, any money that you would save, you would quickly lose later because the rear seats would be too far away from the stage. If you had a greater width, say 80 feet, then you could obtain a one-floor house nicely. Decorating a theatre is a question of how much money a person happens to have. I suppose your question is how economically you can decorate the theatre. By "Economically" is meant the use of good paint, good material, and plenty of it and in artistic fashion. On these grounds, I would say that a 1200 scat house would cost about $3,800.00 to decorate. Of course, you can get it cheaper. I have seen theatres of that size estimated at $1500.00, but that does not mean anything. Remedying Talking Picture Echo Dear Mr. Rigaumont: The Theatre consists of one main floor with no balcony. Since the installation of talking pictures, we have discovered that there are certain portions of the auditorium where it is difficult to hear. The noise occurring seems to be an echo located about the fifth row from the back, in the center, and is also located along the side wall seats about halfway down. This puts about fifty seats out of commission and we are anxious to have this condition remedied because it is liable to do us a lot of harm. Is there anything that you can suggest? R. McO. Answering R. McG. : If your ceiling is curved at the side walls and at the rear, a great deal of your trouble may come from there. Another source of trouble may be the back wall which, most likely, is a hard surface and throws back the sound like a rubber ball. The fact that you do not have a balcony does not help you. Balconies are very beneficial for acoustics, if they do not overhang too much, inasmuch as they pocket any echo that may bounce back toward the screen. My suggestion is that you obtain an acoustical expert from one of the companies whose name you can readily find among the advertisers in THE SHOWMAN section. They will make the recommendations, free of charge, after a scientific study of your particular conditions. Acoustical fibre or plaster placed on the rear wall and on the curved sections of your ceiling, if such exist, will be very beneficial, and the use of draperies on those surfaces will also help to conquer the defects. Plot Needed For 1600 Seat House Dear Mr. Rigaumont: It is our desire to construct a 1600 seat theatre as economically as is possible and yet secure as dignified a building as is possible with a moderate expenditure. We should want a stage and a balcony, and figure that the balcony should seat about 400. We also want to have a set of stores in the theatre building running back for a depth of about 60 feet, with offices above. We have looked over considerable real estate and have several lots in view for our theatre. However, before purchasing any land we would like to know how large a lot would be necessary for the accommodation of a theatre such as we have specified. It being understood that the buUdlng width In front shall not exceed the width of the theatre and Its courts. P. C. Answering P. C: Figuring an eight foot court on each side of your theatre, 60 feet of stores and a 25 foot deep stage, you will need a lot approximately 96 foil wide by about 17.ri feet deep. In your location, it would be most desirable to spend as little money as possible on the enterprise and yet keep the architecture and decoration of your auditorium simple and dignified. You can elabo rate more than ordinarily on the equipment and furnishings, because equipment and furnishings can be changed and made to look different as the years go by.