176-629: The Glasgow Film Theatre ( GFT ) is an independent cinema in the city centre of Glasgow . It occupies a purpose-built cinema building, first opened in 1939, and now protected as a category B listed building . GFT's predecessor, the Cosmo, was Scotland's first arts cinema and only the second purpose-built arthouse in Britain, after the Curzon Mayfair in London. Opened on 18 May 1939, it was also
352-415: A digital cinema format that uses dual 2K resolution projectors and a screen with a 1.90:1 aspect ratio; this system is designed primarily for use in retrofitted multiplexes, using screens significantly smaller than those normally associated with IMAX. In 2015, IMAX introduced an updated "IMAX with Laser" format, using 4K resolution laser projectors. The term " premium large format " ( PLF ) emerged in
528-412: A movie house , cinema hall , picture house , picture theater , the pictures , or simply theater , is a business that contains auditoriums for viewing films for public entertainment. Most are commercial operations catering to the general public, who attend by purchasing tickets . The film is projected with a movie projector onto a large projection screen at the front of the auditorium while
704-651: A movie house , film house , film theater , cinema or picture house . In the US, theater has long been the preferred spelling, while in the UK, Australia, Canada and elsewhere it is theatre . However, some US theaters opt to use the British spelling in their own names, a practice supported by the National Association of Theatre Owners , while apart from Anglophone North America most English-speaking countries use
880-618: A 11,000 sq ft production sound stage built at Disney's Burbank studios in 1940. It was subsequently dedicated to the film. The on-screen musicians were not the Philadelphia Orchestra but in fact local players, with Disney sound effects artist Jimmy MacDonald on timpani and composer Paul Smith on violin. Taylor's introductions were filmed in August 1940, with Howe returning as cinematographer. Howe adds visual energy with brief flashes of colour projected onto some instruments as
1056-573: A better view. Many modern theaters have accessible seating areas for patrons in wheelchairs. See also luxury screens below. Canada was the first country in the world to have a two-screen theater. The Elgin Theatre in Ottawa, Ontario became the first venue to offer two film programs on different screens in 1957 when Canadian theater-owner Nat Taylor converted the dual screen theater into one capable of showing two different movies simultaneously. Taylor
1232-537: A break in between. Separate admission for a short subject is rare; it is either an extra before a feature film or part of a series of short films sold as one admission (this mainly occurs at film festivals). (See also anthology film .) In the early decades of "talkie" films, many movie theaters presented a number of shorter items in addition to the feature film. This might include a newsreel , live-action comedy short films, documentary short films, musical short films, or cartoon shorts (many classic cartoons series such as
1408-542: A contest at the studio for a title that produced almost 1,800 suggestions, but the favorite among the film's supervisors was Fantasia , an early working title. Horne said: "It isn't the word alone but the meaning we read into it." From the beginning of its development, Disney expressed the greater importance of music in Fantasia compared to his past work: "In our ordinary stuff, our music is always under action, but on this ... we're supposed to be picturing this music—not
1584-525: A contract with Disney that allowed him to "select and employ a complete symphony orchestra" for the recording of The Sorcerer's Apprentice , and was paid $ 5,000 for his services. The three-hour recording session began at midnight on January 9, 1938 at Culver Studios in California, with 85 Hollywood musicians. When production costs surpassed $ 125,000, as much as four times greater than the average Silly Symphony , Disney and his brother Roy , who managed
1760-401: A copy of the entire conversation for review. As selections were considered, a recording of the piece was played back at the next gathering. Disney did not contribute much to early discussions; he admitted that his knowledge of music was instinctive and untrained. In one meeting, he inquired about a piece "on which we might build something of a prehistoric theme ... with animals". The group
1936-408: A custom horizontal camera crane was built that accommodated glass panes four feet wide, with the artwork painted on them, so they could be shifted out of the way as the camera tracked through. Workers shot continuously for six days and nights, but following processing they discovered the camera was fitted with the wrong type of lens and had photographed the track, stands, and themselves. Three days into
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#17327870084962112-457: A distance. A ninth channel provided a click track function for the animators to time their drawings to the music. The optical sound film stock was stored in a truck outside the Academy, as keeping the highly flammable material inside the wooden basement posed a fire risk. In the 42 days of recording 483,000 feet (147,000 m) of film was used. Disney paid all the expenses which included
2288-414: A full restaurant menu instead of general movie theater concessions such as popcorn or candy. In certain countries, there are also Bed Cinemas where the audience sits or lays in beds instead of chairs. 3D film is a system of presenting film images so that they appear to the viewer to be three-dimensional. Visitors usually borrow or keep special glasses to wear while watching the movie. Depending on
2464-501: A gap in the market, and hence avoiding the major film distributors`routine of giving preference to UK-wide circuits, up stepped George Singleton, whose cinemas included elegant art deco buildings designed for him by James McKissack. He now headed one of Glasgow's illustrious cinema chain families, and would become a co-founder of the Glasgow Citizen's Theatre alongside James Bridie and Tom Honeyman . The name chosen of Cosmo
2640-411: A graveyard and ruins, formed an ideal location for his ghostraising spectacle. When it opened in 1838, The Royal Polytechnic Institution in London became a very popular and influential venue with all kinds of magic lantern shows as an important part of its program. At the main theatre, with 500 seats, lanternists would make good use of a battery of six large lanterns running on tracked tables to project
2816-526: A live concert series. A sequel, Fantasia 2000 , co-produced by Walt's nephew Roy E. Disney , was released in 1999. Fantasia has grown in reputation over the years and is now widely acclaimed as one of the greatest animated films of all time ; in 1998, the American Film Institute ranked it as the 58th greatest American film in their 100 Years...100 Movies and the fifth greatest animated film in their 10 Top 10 list. In 1990, Fantasia
2992-570: A mix of Ayrshire brick finished with faience cornices, set on a base of black Swedish granite – and inside, where a globe was installed over the stalls entrance. In its original layout, there was just a single auditorium, seating 850. The Cosmo opened on Thursday 18 May, with an advertisement in the Glasgow Herald the following day promising future audiences a programme of ‘continental fiction films, revivals of British and American fiction films, documentary films, cartoons and news reels. There
3168-472: A music score pinned to his desk to work out the choreography so he could relate the action to the melody and the counterpoint, "those nasty little notes underneath ... so something has to be related to that". The studio filmed professional dancers Joyce Coles and Marjorie Belcher wearing ballet skirts that resembled shapes of blossoms that were to sit above water for Dance of the Flutes . An Arabian dancer
3344-422: A profit from its $ 2.28 million budget after its return to theaters on December 17, 1969. The film was promoted with a psychedelic-styled advertising campaign, and it became popular among teenagers and college students who reportedly appreciated it as a psychedelic experience . Animator Ollie Johnston recalled that young people "thought we were on a trip when we made it ... every time we'd go to talk to
3520-542: A real appetite for foreign-language film in the city. In fact, Glaswegians in this period had a healthy appetite for film in general: in 1939, they went to the cinema an average 51 times a year, compared to 35 times for the rest of Scotland, and 21 times in England. And they were well-served for cinemas – by the close of the decade, the city could boast 114 in all, with a total seating capacity of more than 175,000. But there was, as yet, no commercial arthouse cinema. Spotting
3696-933: A record previously held by Gone with the Wind . Its eight-week run at the Fulton Theatre in Pittsburgh attracted over 50,000 people with reservations being made from cities located one hundred miles from the venue. Engagements were also held at the Geary Theatre in San Francisco for eight months, the Hanna Theatre in Cleveland for nine weeks, the Majestic Theatre in Boston ,
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#17327870084963872-439: A registered charity and embarked on a campaign to raise money for a second cinema to replace the old basement conference room. Screen 2 (with seats for 142), and the downstairs café-bar Café Cosmo, opened for business in 1991. Edinburgh-based architect James Doherty returned in 1998 to revamp the foyer; in a nod to the original design, the new foyer includes a mosaic globe designed by American Glasgow-based artist Todd Garner set into
4048-417: A result, the customer geography area of multiplexes and megaplexes typically overlaps with smaller theaters, which face threat of having their audience siphoned by bigger theaters that cut a wider swath in the movie-going landscape. In most markets, nearly all single-screen theaters (sometimes referred to as a "Uniplex") have gone out of business; the ones remaining are generally used for arthouse films, e.g.
4224-451: A school or something, they'd ask us what we were on." The release is also noted for the removal of four scenes from The Pastoral Symphony over racial stereotyping. Fantasia was issued on a regular basis, typically for exhibition in art houses in college towns, until the mid-1970s. The film was reissued nationwide once more on April 15, 1977 (the same year as Stokowski's death), this time with simulated stereo sound. This edit featured
4400-409: A screen in front of the stage and adding a projector; this conversion may be permanent, or temporary for purposes such as showing arthouse fare to an audience accustomed to plays. The familiar characteristics of relatively low admission and open seating can be traced to Samuel Roxy Rothafel , an early movie theater impresario . Many of these early theaters contain a balcony , an elevated level across
4576-728: A screening of Fellini's Roma . In its new guise, the cinema would continue to show films beyond the commercial mainstream. The key difference lay in GFT's broader remit. Taking London's National Film Theatre as a model, GFT continued to show the latest world cinema releases, but also advanced newer trends in film culture, collaborating with the Third Eye Centre (now the CCA Glasgow ) to show experimental films, screening film seasons, retrospectives and late-night cult classics, and developing educational activities. In 1986 GFT became
4752-424: A search for a stronger piece to fit the mythological theme, the piece was replaced with sections of Beethoven's sixth symphony. Stokowski disagreed with the switch, believing that Disney's "idea of mythology ... is not quite what this symphony is about". He was also concerned about the reception from classical music enthusiasts who would criticize Disney for venturing too far from the composer's intent. Taylor on
4928-414: A segment's narrative pattern was complete, an overall color scheme was designed to the general mood of the music, and patterned to correspond with the development of the subject matter. The studio's character model department sculpted three-dimensional clay models so the animators could view their subject from all angles. The live action scenes were filmed using the three-strip Technicolor process, while
5104-663: A single viewing room with a single screen. In the 2010s, most movie theaters had multiple screens. The largest theater complexes, which are called multiplexes —a concept developed in Canada in the 1950s—have up to thirty screens. The audience members often sit on padded seats, which in most theaters are set on a sloped floor, with the highest part at the rear of the theater. Movie theaters often sell soft drinks , popcorn and candy , and some theaters sell hot fast food . In some jurisdictions, movie theaters can be licensed to sell alcoholic drinks. A movie theater might also be referred to as
5280-421: A sound film that was mixed from the nine tracks recorded at the Academy to four: three of which contained the audio for the left, center, and right stage speakers respectively, while the fourth became a control track with amplitude and frequency tones that drove variable-gain amplifiers to control the volume of the three audio tracks. In addition were three "house" speakers placed on the left, right, and center of
5456-584: A system is used that requires inexpensive 3D glasses, they can sometimes be kept by the patron. Most theaters have a fixed cost for 3D, while others charge for the glasses, but the latter is uncommon (at least in the United States). For example, in Pathé theaters in the Netherlands the extra fee for watching a 3D film consists of a fixed fee of €1.50, and an optional fee of €1 for the glasses. Holders of
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5632-414: A total of over 500,000 visitors, with programs including Pauvre Pierrot and Autour d'une cabine . Thomas Edison initially believed film screening would not be as viable commercially as presenting films in peep boxes, hence the film apparatus that his company would first exploit became the kinetoscope . A few public demonstrations occurred since 9 May 1893, before a first public Kinetoscope parlor
5808-479: A wide variety of international cinema, classic films and documentaries alongside locally made work and material aimed at a range of community groups. In total, it shows over 600 different films every year, of which 60% are foreign-language. In addition to daily screenings of films, GFT is host to a number of clubs and activities including a Film Discussion Group in the upstairs bar to discuss new mainstream and foreign-language releases. Since 2005, GFT has been home to
5984-563: A year's lease with the venue that was fully equipped with Fantasound, which took personnel a week working around the clock to install. Proceeds made on the night went to the British War Relief Society following the Battle of Britain . Ticket demand was so great that eight telephone operators were employed to handle the extra calls while the adjoining store was rented out to cater the box office bookings. Fantasia ran at
6160-575: Is arguably the first cinema in the world. Claimants for the title of the earliest movie theatre include the Eden Theater in La Ciotat , where L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat was screened on 21 March 1899. The theatre closed in 1995 but re-opened in 2013. L'Idéal Cinéma in Aniche (France), built in 1901 as l'Hôtel du Syndicat CGT, showed its first film on 23 November 1905. The cinema
6336-641: Is credited by Canadian sources as the inventor of the multiplex or cineplex; he later founded the Cineplex Odeon Corporation , opening the 18-screen Toronto Eaton Centre Cineplex, the world's largest at the time, in Toronto, Ontario. In the United States, Stanley Durwood of American Multi-Cinema (now AMC Theatres ) is credited as pioneering the multiplex in 1963 after realizing that he could operate several attached auditoriums with
6512-458: Is increasing. The RealD company expects 15,000 screens worldwide in 2010. The availability of 3D movies encourages exhibitors to adopt digital cinema and provides a way for theaters to compete with home theaters . One incentive for theaters to show 3D films is that although ticket sales have declined, revenues from 3D tickets have grown. In the 2010s, 3D films became popular again. The IMAX 3D system and digital 3D systems are used (the latter
6688-503: Is mentioned in the 2010 Guinness World Records . The World's smallest solar-powered mobile cinema is Sol Cinema in the UK. Touring since 2010 the cinema is actually a converted 1972 caravan. It seats 8–10 at a time. In 2015 it featured in a Lenovo advert for the launch of a new tablet. The Bell Museum of Natural History in Minneapolis , Minnesota has recently begun summer "bike-ins", inviting only pedestrians or people on bicycles onto
6864-573: Is only one qualification – they must be of first rate quality.’ The opening screening was Julien Duvivier's Un Carnet de Bal (1937). The opening also saw the first appearance of Mr Cosmo, a dapper and bowler-hatted cartoon figure based on George Singleton, designed by Charles Oakley, Chair of the Film Society and the Scottish Film Council . Mr Cosmo figured on posters and adverts for the cinema, and popped up on-screen ahead of
7040-497: Is seen as an "antidote to serious music." In 1940, Ub Iwerks was re-hired at the Disney studios as a technical supervisor for special visual effects. Among his first assignments was the handshake scene with Mickey Mouse and Stokowski. The scene was produced by filming Stokowski shaking hands in thin air, after which the animators placed drawing paper on top of the photographic print and matched Mickey's actions with his. The animation
7216-576: Is still inconvenient and disturbing to find and claim it during the commercials and trailers, unless it is near an aisle. Some movie theaters have some kind of break during the presentation, particularly for very long films. There may also be a break between the introductory material and the feature. Some countries such as the Netherlands have a tradition of incorporating an intermission in regular feature presentations, though many theaters have now abandoned that tradition, while in North America, this
Glasgow Film Theatre - Misplaced Pages Continue
7392-516: Is the oldest known movie theater still in continuous operation. Traditionally a movie theater, like a stage theater , consists of a single auditorium with rows of comfortable padded seats, as well as a foyer area containing a box office for buying tickets. Movie theaters also often have a concession stand for buying snacks and drinks within the theater's lobby. Other features included are film posters , arcade games and washrooms. Stage theaters are sometimes converted into movie theaters by placing
7568-474: Is used in the animated movies of Disney / Pixar ). The RealD 3D system works by using a single digital projector that swaps back and forth between the images for eyes. A filter is placed in front of the projector that changes the polarization of the light coming from the projector. A silver screen is used to reflect this light back at the audience and reduce loss of brightness. There are four other systems available: Volfoni, Master Image, XpanD and Dolby 3D . When
7744-806: Is usually called a " megaplex ". However, in the United Kingdom, this was a brand name for Virgin Cinema (later UGC). The first megaplex is generally considered to be the Kinepolis in Brussels, Belgium, which opened in 1988 with 25 screens and a seating capacity of 7,500. The first theater in the U.S. built from the ground up as a megaplex was the AMC Grand 24 in Dallas, Texas , which opened in May 1995, while
7920-424: Is very rare and usually limited to special circumstances involving extremely long movies. During the closing credits many people leave, but some stay until the end. Usually the lights are switched on after the credits, sometimes already during them. Some films show mid-credits scenes while the credits are rolling, which in comedy films are often bloopers and outtakes, or post-credits scenes , which typically set up
8096-640: The Looney Tunes and Mickey Mouse shorts were created for this purpose). Examples of this kind of programming are available on certain DVD releases of two of the most famous films starring Errol Flynn as a special feature arrangement designed to recreate that kind of filmgoing experience while the PBS series, Matinee at the Bijou , presented the equivalent content. Some theaters ran on continuous showings , where
8272-792: The Apollo Theater in Chicago , and also in Philadelphia , Detroit , Buffalo , Minneapolis , Washington, D.C. , and Baltimore . Fantasia grossed over $ 300,000 in the first sixteen weeks in New York; over $ 20,000 in the opening five weeks in San Francisco; and almost the same amount in the first ten weeks both in Los Angeles and Boston. The first eleven roadshows earned a total of $ 1.3 million by April 1941, but
8448-465: The Curtis Institute of Music , and each musician was paid a flat fee of $ 10 per hour with principal players receiving as much as $ 400. Westminster Choir College (an Ohio-expatriate conservatory which had recently resettled permanently in nearby Princeton ) was engaged to furnish the sung elements of the film under the supervision of Charles E. Henderson . College-affiliate Julietta Novis
8624-536: The Digital Cinema Package for the film. Control data is encoded in a monoaural WAV file on Sound Track channel 13, labelled as "Motion Data". Motion Data tracks are unencrypted and not watermarked. Movie theaters may be classified by the type of movies they show or when in a film's release process they are shown: Usually in the 2020s, an admission is for one feature film. Sometimes two feature films are sold as one admission ( double feature ), with
8800-678: The Glasgow Film Festival . Held annually each February, the festival presents a programme of feature films, shorts, special events and live and interactive happenings from the GFT and other cinemas, galleries and unusual venues across the city. 9 Spies At The ABC - Vampires t The Odeon - Culture At The Cosmo: What We Watched In Glasgow Cinemas In The 1960s by Jim Doyle 55°51′57″N 4°15′40″W / 55.86575°N 4.26122°W / 55.86575; -4.26122 Movie theater A movie theater ( American English ) or cinema ( Commonwealth English ), also known as
8976-754: The Latham family, was demonstrated for members of the press on 21 April 1895 and opened to the paying public on 20 May, in a lower Broadway store with films of the Griffo-Barnett prize boxing fight, taken from Madison Square Garden 's roof on 4 May. Max Skladanowsky and his brother Emil demonstrated their motion pictures with the Bioscop in July 1895 at the Gasthaus Sello in Pankow (Berlin). This venue
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#17327870084969152-468: The Ministry of Technology campaign to raise standards. Using a very futuristic look, these 27-seat cinema vehicles were designed to attract attention. They were built on a Bedford SB 3 chassis with a custom Coventry Steel Caravan extruded aluminum body. Movies are also commonly shown on airliners in flight, using large screens in each cabin or smaller screens for each group of rows or each individual seat;
9328-692: The Mount Wilson Observatory , and observed a herd of iguanas and a baby alligator that were brought into the studio. The viewpoint was kept low throughout the segment to heighten the immensity of the dinosaurs . According to Ward Kimball , the animators were "extremely specific on touchy issues". The female centaurs were originally drawn bare-breasted, but the Hays office enforcing the Motion Picture Production Code insisted that they discreetly hung garlands around
9504-482: The New York Philharmonic and agreed that he would be most suitable for the role. Disney did contact Taylor about the project and invited him to collaborate with Stokowski and himself, but by then work on Pinocchio , Bambi , and development on his new Burbank studio kept him too busy to work on the new feature. In a change of plans, Taylor was asked during a call on September 3, 1938, to come to
9680-522: The Pathé Unlimited Gold pass (see also below) are supposed to bring along their own glasses; one pair, supplied yearly, more robust than the regular type, is included in the price. IMAX is a system using 70 mm film with more than ten times the frame size of a 35 mm film . IMAX theaters use an oversized screen as well as special projectors. The first permanent IMAX theater was at Ontario Place in Toronto, Canada. Until 2016, visitors to
9856-501: The Philadelphia Orchestra . Music critic and composer Deems Taylor acts as the film's Master of Ceremonies who introduces each segment in live action. Disney settled on the film's concept in 1938 as work neared completion on The Sorcerer's Apprentice , originally an elaborate Silly Symphony cartoon designed as a comeback role for Mickey Mouse , who had declined in popularity. As production costs surpassed what
10032-617: The Toccata and Fugue . Fantasia was re-released in January 1942 at more popular prices with a mono soundtrack, and was placed on the lower half of double bills with the Western film Valley of the Sun . RKO reissued Fantasia once more on September 1, 1946, with the animated sequences complete and the scenes of Taylor, Stokowski, and the orchestra restored but shortened. Its running time
10208-555: The $ 85,000 in production and installation costs of a single Fantasound setup, along with theatres having to be leased, forced Disney to exceed their loan limits. The onset of the Second World War prevented plans for a potential release in Europe, normally the source of as much as forty-five per cent of the studio's income. Up to eighty-eight engagements were outlined across five years, but wartime demands for material limited
10384-604: The 1570s in the English language. Movie theatres stand in a long tradition of theaters that could house all kinds of entertainment. Some forms of theatrical entertainment would involve the screening of moving images and can be regarded as precursors of film . In 1799, Étienne-Gaspard "Robertson" Robert moved his Phantasmagorie show to an abandoned cloister near the Place Vendôme in Paris. The eerie surroundings, with
10560-511: The 1980s the introduction of VHS cassettes made possible video-salons, small rooms where visitors viewed movies on a large TV. These establishments were especially popular in the Soviet Union , where official distribution companies were slow to adapt to changing demand, and so movie theaters could not show popular Hollywood and Asian films . In 1967, the British government launched seven custom-built mobile cinema units for use as part of
10736-535: The Broadway for forty-nine consecutive weeks, the longest run achieved by a film at the time. Its run continued for a total of fifty-seven weeks until February 28, 1942. The remaining twelve roadshows were held throughout 1941, which included a 39-week run at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles from January 29. Fantasia broke the long-run record at the venue in its twenty-eighth week;
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#173278700849610912-467: The Crest Theatre in downtown Sacramento, California , small-scale productions, film festivals or other presentations. Because of the late development of multiplexes, the term "cinema" or "theater" may refer either to the whole complex or a single auditorium, and sometimes "screen" is used to refer to an auditorium. A popular film may be shown on multiple screens at the same multiplex, which reduces
11088-562: The Dark and Warner Bros. House of Wax , the first 3D feature with stereophonic sound. For many years, most 3D movies were shown in amusement parks and even "4D" techniques have been used when certain effects such as spraying of water, movement of seats, and other effects are used to simulate actions seen on the screen. The first decline in the theatrical 3D craze started in August and September 1953. In 2009, movie exhibitors became more interested in 3D film. The number of 3D screens in theaters
11264-722: The IMAX cinema attached to the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford , West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom, could observe the IMAX projection booth via a glass rear wall and watch the large format films being loaded and projected. The largest permanent IMAX cinema screen measures 38.80 m × 21.00 m (127.30 ft × 68.90 ft) and was achieved by Traumplast Leonberg (Germany) in Leonberg, Germany , verified on 6 December 2022. IMAX also refers to
11440-401: The Old French word "theatre", from the 12th century and "...directly from Latin theatrum [which meant] 'play-house, theater; stage; spectators in a theater'", which in turn came from the Greek word "theatron", which meant "theater; the people in the theater; a show, a spectacle", [or] literally "place for viewing". The use of the word "theatre" to mean a "building where plays are shown" dates from
11616-468: The RKO distribution logo being replaced with that of Buena Vista Distribution, since RKO had not been part of a release since 1946. It had not been removed earlier as the credit sequence would have required to be re-shot. A two-and-a-half-minute reduction in the film's running time in this version remains unclear in existing records. In 1980, the studio shipped a damaged segment of The Nutcracker Suite to various film restoration companies; each advised that
11792-441: The Seven Dwarfs as the apprentice, but he did not want to dilute the impact of his debut feature and chose Mickey Mouse. Stokowski suggested the cartoon could star "an entirely new personality" that represented "in the mind and heart of everyone seeing the film their own personality, so that they would enter into all the drama and emotional changes of the film in a most intense manner"; Disney rejected this also. In its original form
11968-427: The airline company sometimes charges a fee for the headphones needed to hear the movie's sound. In a similar fashion, movies are sometimes also shown on trains, such as the Auto Train . The smallest purpose-built cinema is the Cabiria Cine-Cafe which measures 24 m (260 sq ft) and has a seating capacity of 18. It was built by Renata Carneiro Agostinho da Silva (Brazil) in Brasília DF, Brazil in 2008. It
12144-599: The amplifiers. The illusion of sound traveling across the speakers was achieved with a device named the " pan pot ", which directed the predetermined movement of each audio channel with the control track. Mixing of the soundtrack required six people to operate the various pan pots in real time, while Stokowski directed each level and pan change which was marked on his musical score. To monitor recording levels, Disney used oscilloscopes with color differentiation to minimize eye fatigue. To test recording equipment and speaker systems, Disney ordered eight electronic oscillators from
12320-556: The animated segments were shot in successive yellow, cyan and magenta -exposed frames. The different pieces of film were then spliced together to form a complete print. A multiplane camera that could handle seven levels, three more than the studio's original model, was built specifically for the film. Fantasia has 3,500 feet of multiplane footage, more than Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio combined. Disney had been interested in producing abstract animation since he saw A Colour Box by Len Lye from 1935. He explained
12496-464: The animation of the characters. The lead ostrich, Madmoiselle Upanova, is based on Irina Baronova . Hyacinth Hippo, the prima ballerina, was inspired by dancers Marge Champion and Tatiana Riabouchinska and actress Hattie Noel who weighed over 200 pounds (91 kg), the animators studying the "least quiver of her flesh, noticing those parts of her anatomy that were subjected to the greatest stress and strain". Riabouchinska's husband David Lichine
12672-423: The audience for a sequel. Fantasia (1940 film) Fantasia is a 1940 American animated musical anthology film produced by Walt Disney Productions , with story direction by Joe Grant and Dick Huemer and production supervision by Walt Disney and Ben Sharpsteen . It consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski , seven of which are performed by
12848-407: The audience sits upon chairs, blankets or even in hot tubs , and watch the movie on a temporary screen, or even the wall of a building. Colleges and universities have often sponsored movie screenings in lecture halls. The formats of these screenings include 35 mm, 16 mm, DVD , VHS, and even 70 mm in rare cases. Some alternative methods of showing movies have been popular in the past. In
13024-409: The auditorium above the theater's rearmost seats. The rearward main floor "loge" seats were sometimes larger, softer, and more widely spaced and sold for a higher price. In conventional low pitch viewing floors, the preferred seating arrangement is to use staggered rows. While a less efficient use of floor space this allows a somewhat improved sight line between the patrons seated in the next row toward
13200-421: The auditorium that derived from the left and right stage channels which acted as surround channels . As the original recording was captured at almost peak modulation to increase signal-to-noise ratio , the control track was used to restore the dynamics to where Stokowski thought they should be. For this, a tone-operated gain-adjusting device was built to control the levels of each of the three audio tracks through
13376-470: The car's stereo system. Because of their outdoor nature, drive-ins usually only operate seasonally, and after sunset. Drive-in movie theaters are mainly found in the United States, where they were especially popular in the 1950s and 1960s. Once numbering in the thousands, about 400 remain in the U.S. today. In some cases, multiplex or megaplex theaters were built on the sites of former drive-in theaters. Some outdoor movie theaters are just grassy areas where
13552-436: The choice of other films but offers more choice of viewing times or a greater number of seats to accommodate patrons. Two or three screens may be created by dividing up an existing cinema (as Durwood did with his Roxy in 1964), but newly built multiplexes usually have at least six to eight screens, and often as many as twelve, fourteen, sixteen or even eighteen. Although definitions vary, a large multiplex with 20 or more screens
13728-494: The cinema included Hamlet (which ran for eleven weeks in 1948), Les Enfants du Paradis (1945), Jazz on a Summer's Day (1959) and Disney's Fantasia (1941), a long-running Cosmo Christmas favourite. A ‘Cosmo Club’, offering films ‘unblessed by the Censor's certificate’, opened in 1960. The Cosmo ran for three decades until economic circumstances dictated that it could not survive in its original form. On 21 April 1973 it
13904-562: The conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra , at Chasen's restaurant in Hollywood and talked about his plans for the short. An enthusiastic Stokowski informed Disney that he liked the piece and offered to conduct for free. Disney's New York representative met Stokowski on a subsequent train journey, and reported the conductor was serious in his offer and "had some very interesting ideas on instrumental coloring, which would be perfect for an animation medium." Disney felt "all steamed up over
14080-434: The dark. Since the advent of stadium theaters with stepped aisles, each step in the aisles may be outlined with small lights to prevent patrons from tripping in the darkened theater. In movie theaters, the auditorium may also have lights that go to a low level, when the movie is going to begin. Theaters often have booster seats for children and other people of short stature to place on the seats to allow them to sit higher, for
14256-528: The details for the segments, and showed greater enthusiasm and eagerness as opposed to his anxiety while starting on the problematic Pinocchio . Clair de Lune was soon removed from the program, and Disney and his writers encountered problems of setting a concrete story to Cydalise . Its opening march, "The Entry of the Little Fauns", attracted Disney to the piece which at first provided suitable depictions of fauns he wanted. On January 5, 1939, following
14432-406: The development of Fantasound, a pioneering stereophonic surround sound system which innovated some processes widely used today, including simultaneous multitrack recording , overdubbing , and noise reduction . Fantasound, developed in part by Garity, employed two projectors running at the same time. With one containing the picture film with a mono soundtrack for backup purposes, the other ran
14608-482: The dialogue, sounds and music are played through a number of wall-mounted speakers. Since the 1970s, subwoofers have been used for low-pitched sounds. Since the 2010s, the majority of movie theaters have been equipped for digital cinema projection , removing the need to create and transport a physical film print on a heavy reel. A great variety of films are shown at cinemas, ranging from animated films to blockbusters to documentaries. The smallest movie theaters have
14784-529: The early 1950s with the release of the first color stereoscopic feature, Bwana Devil . The film starred Robert Stack , Barbara Britton and Nigel Bruce . James Mage was an early pioneer in the 3D craze. Using his 16 mm 3D Bolex system, he premiered his Triorama program in February 1953 with his four shorts: Sunday In Stereo , Indian Summer , American Life , and This is Bolex Stereo . 1953 saw two groundbreaking features in 3D: Columbia's Man in
14960-415: The feature film. Advertised start times are usually for the entire program or session, not the feature itself; thus people who want to avoid commercials and trailers would opt to enter later. This is easiest and causes the least inconvenience when it is not crowded or one is not very choosy about where one wants to sit. If one has a ticket for a specific seat (see below) one is formally assured of that, but it
15136-549: The film are used in Dance of the Hours —a thump when an ostrich ballerina falls to the ground and the crash of the palace doors at the very end. The setup used for The Sorcerer's Apprentice was abandoned as Disney and RCA wanted to use a different multi-channel recording arrangement. For the Academy sessions, 33 microphones were placed around the orchestra that captured the music onto eight optical sound recording machines placed in
15312-400: The finely detailed images of extra large slides on the 648 square feet screen. The magic lantern was used to illustrate lectures, concerts, pantomimes and other forms of theatre. Popular magic lantern presentations included phantasmagoria, mechanical slides, Henry Langdon Childe 's dissolving views and his chromatrope. The earliest known public screening of projected stroboscopic animation
15488-552: The first decade of motion pictures, the demand for movies, the amount of new productions, and the average runtime of movies, kept increasing, and at some stage it was viable to have theaters that would no longer program live acts, but only movies. The first building built for the dedicated purpose of showing motion pictures was built to demonstrate The Phantoscope , a device created by Jenkins & Armat, as part of The Cotton State Exposition on September 25, 1895 in Atlanta, GA. This
15664-580: The first eleven engagements, who was given specific instructions regarding each aspect of the film's presentation, including the setup of outside theater marquees and curtain and lighting cues. Patrons were taken to their seats by staff hired and trained by Disney, and were given a program booklet illustrated by Gyo Fujikawa . The first roadshow opened at the Broadway Theatre in New York City on November 13, 1940. The Disneys had secured
15840-546: The first megaplex in the U.S.-based on an expansion of an existing facility was Studio 28 in Grand Rapids, Michigan , which reopened in November 1988 with 20 screens and a seating capacity of 6,000. A drive-in movie theater is an outdoor parking area with a screen—sometimes an inflatable screen —at one end and a projection booth at the other. Moviegoers drive into the parking spaces which are sometimes sloped upwards at
16016-476: The first time, and made Fantasia the first theatrical feature film presented in digital stereo sound. The standard recording was used for the film's wide release to around 400 theaters. This time, actor Tim Matheson provided the narration. For its fiftieth anniversary reissue, Fantasia underwent a two-year restoration process that began with a six-month search to locate the original negatives, which had been in storage since 1946, and piece them together. This
16192-1299: The floor. In the same period, new sets of curtains were commissioned from Glasgow School of Art graduate Adrienne Brennan (Screen 1) and Glasgow studio Timorous Beasties (Screen 2), both of which reference the ‘cosmos’ in their design. In 1988 the building was B-listed by Historic Scotland . In 2013 café cosmo was moved to the mezzanine level to make way for a 3rd cinema screen. Over the years GFT has played host to guests including Richard Attenborough , Elmer Bernstein , John Byrne (playwright) , Danny Boyle , Simon Callow , Robert Carlyle , Robbie Coltrane , Sean Connery , Willem Dafoe , Carl Davis , Bill Forsyth , Stephen Fry , Peter Greenaway , David Hayman , Jane Horrocks , Eddie Izzard , Richard Linklater , Felicity Kendal , Anthony LaPaglia , Paul Laverty , Jonny Lee Miller , Janet Leigh , Mike Leigh , Ken Loach , Baz Luhrmann , David Lynch , Ewan McGregor , Hayley Mills , Peter Mullan , David Niven , David Puttnam , Jean-Paul Rappeneau , Christopher Reeve , Nicolas Roeg , Mickey Rooney , Paul Schrader , Martin Scorsese , Tilda Swinton , Quentin Tarantino , Giuseppe Tornatore and Max von Sydow . GFT screens
16368-409: The front to give a more direct view of the movie screen. Movies are usually viewed through the car windscreen (windshield) although some people prefer to sit on the bonnet (hood) of the car. Some may also sit in the trunk (back) of their car if space permits. Sound is either provided through portable loudspeakers located by each parking space, or is broadcast on an FM radio frequency, to be played through
16544-476: The general release of Fantasia , but fought their decision to have the film cut. He gave in as the studio needed as much income as possible to remedy its finances, but refused to cut it himself, "You can get anybody you want to edit it ... I can't do it." With no input from Disney, musical director Ed Plumb and Ben Sharpsteen reduced Fantasia to one hour and forty minutes at first, then to one hour and twenty minutes by removing most of Taylor's commentary and
16720-510: The grounds for both live music and movies. In various Canadian cities, including Toronto , Calgary, Ottawa and Halifax , al-fresco movies projected on the walls of buildings or temporarily erected screens in parks operate during the Summer and cater to a pedestrian audience. The New Parkway Museum in Oakland, California replaces general seating with couches and coffee tables, as well as having
16896-414: The hall's basement, where engineers followed the music in real time and muted microphones when their assigned section was not playing. Each one represented an audio channel that focused on a different section of instruments: cellos and basses, violins, brass, violas, and woodwinds and tympani. The seventh channel was a combination of the first six while the eighth provided an overall sound of the orchestra at
17072-612: The handshake scene were also redubbed, the former by Wayne Allwine , who would do so again in Fantasia 2000 ' s version of the same scene. The 1982 version was reissued from February 1985, which kicked off with a run at the Plitt Century Plaza Theatre in Los Angeles that was fitted with the HPS-4000 digital speaker system. This allowed the digital stereo recording of the Kostal soundtrack to be presented for
17248-538: The hippos and ostriches were based on those by cartoonist T. S. Sullivant . To gain a better idea on the animals' movements, the crew visited Griffith Park Zoo in Los Angeles. Animator John Hench was assigned to work on the segment, but resisted as he knew little about ballet. Disney then gave Hench season tickets to the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo with backstage access so he could learn more about it. The studio filmed several people in live action to help with
17424-461: The idea of using stop-motion animation. Diagrams of real snowflakes were traced by the Ink and Paint Department, who used a material a little heavier than regular cels, and painted them in translucent white. They were then cut out and placed on revolving spools attached to small steel rails. The mechanics was hidden under black velvet as the snowflakes were moved one frame at a time. The hand-drawn animation
17600-482: The idea" and thought the partnership "would be the means of a success and should lead to a new style of motion picture presentation." He had already begun working on a story outline and wished to use "the finest men ... from color ... down to animators" on the new short that was to be promted as a special and unique film, outside of the Mickey Mouse cartoon series . On December 16, 1937, Stokowski signed
17776-592: The last cinema to be built in Glasgow before the outbreak of WW2 . The Cosmo arrived at the close of an important decade for British film culture. With the advent of sound in film, language became a barrier and popular films from the continent quickly disappeared from British screens. In Glasgow, audiences for world cinema were served by the Film Society of Glasgow. Founded in 1929, this was the first cultural film group in Scotland, and its growing membership demonstrated
17952-433: The main feature in a pose – comic or tragic – appropriate to each release. Over the years, he would become a familiar figure to generations of Glasgow cinema-goers and can be glimpsed around the GFT building to this day. Quality European cinema was central to the Cosmo's programming from the start, with pre-reading of film catalogues being undertaken by Charles Oakley to assist the selections by George Singleton. Programmes in
18128-584: The manufacture of a new system that would "create the illusion that the actual symphony orchestra is playing in the theater." Sarnoff backed out at first for financial reasons, but agreed in July 1939 to make the equipment so long as the Disneys could hold down the estimated $ 200,000 in costs (equivalent to about $ 4.4 million in 2023). Though it was not exactly known how to achieve their goal, engineers at Disney and RCA investigated many ideas and tests made with various equipment setups. The collaboration led to
18304-946: The mid-2010s to refer to auditoriums with high-end amenities. PLF does not refer to a single format in general, but combinations of non-proprietary amenities such as larger "wall-to-wall" screens, 4K projectors, 7.1 and/or positional surround sound systems (including Dolby Atmos ), and higher-quality seating (such as leather recliners). Cinemas typically brand PLF auditoriums with chain-specific trademarks , such as "Prime" ( AMC ), "Grand Screen” ( B&B Theatres ), "BTX" ( Bow Tie ), "Superscreen" ( Cineworld ), "BigD" ( Carmike , now owned by AMC), "UltraAVX" ( Cineplex ), "Macro XE" ( Cinépolis ), "XD" ( Cinemark ), "BigPix" ( INOX ), "Laser Ultra" ( Kinepolis and Landmark Cinemas ), "RPX" ( Regal Cinemas ), "Superscreen DLX"/"Ultrascreen DLX" ( Marcus ), "Titan" ( Reading Cinemas ), "VueXtreme" ( Vue International ), and "X-land" ( Wanda Cinemas ). PLFs compete primarily with formats such as digital IMAX;
18480-432: The money problem came in ... The compromise was that it finally went out standard with dimensional sound. I think if I'd had the money and I could have gone ahead I'd have a really sensational show at that time. —Walt Disney on the widescreen release in 1956. By 1955, the original sound negatives began to deteriorate, though a four-track copy had survived in good condition. Using the remaining Fantasound system at
18656-437: The music fitting our story." Disney had hoped that the film would bring classical music to people who, like himself, had previously "walked out on this kind of stuff". More than 1,000 artists and technicians were used in the making of Fantasia , which features more than 500 animated characters. Segments were color-keyed scene by scene so the colors in a single shot would harmonize between preceding and following ones. Before
18832-527: The musician's wages, stage personnel, a music librarian, and the orchestra's manager that cost almost $ 18,000. When the finished recordings arrived at the studio, a meeting was held on July 14, 1939, to allow the artists working on each segment to listen to Stokowski's arrangements, and suggest alterations in the sound to work more effectively with their designs. Some solo parts were subsequently recorded in California, still under Stokowski's direction. The Disney brothers contacted David Sarnoff of RCA regarding
19008-415: The musicians tune up, and changes the hues of the side lighting for each introduction for variety. The jam session during the intermission includes a theme from The Pastoral Symphony and "Bach Goes to Town", a jazz tune popularised by Benny Goodman . David Butler points out the significance of the brief interlude, demonstrating to the audience that "these musicians aren't serious all the time" and that jazz
19184-422: The necks. The male centaurs were also toned down to appear less intimidating to the audience. Originally, the segment included a pair of black centaurs who tended to the others, but these were cut from the film in later releases due to their implications of racism. (see § Controversies ). Dance of the Hours was directed by Norman Ferguson and Thornton Hee and was completed by eleven animators. Most of
19360-440: The newly established Hewlett-Packard company. Between the individual takes, prints, and remakes, approximately three million feet of sound film was used in the production of Fantasia . Almost a fifth of the film's budget was spent on its recording techniques. RKO balked at the idea of distributing Fantasia , which it described as a "longhair musical", and believed its duration of two hours and five minutes plus intermission
19536-582: The number of Fantasound prints to sixteen. All but one of the Fantasound setups were dismantled and given to the war effort. Upon acquiring the film's distribution rights in April 1941, RKO initially continued the roadshow booking policy but presented the film in mono, which was easier to exhibit. The combined average receipts from each roadshow was around $ 325,000, which placed Fantasia at an even greater loss than Pinocchio . Disney allowed RKO to handle
19712-508: The original tale. Although Disney had explored the concept of matching animation to classical music since 1928 with his Silly Symphony cartoons, he wanted to go beyond the usual slapstick in those shorts and produce ones where "sheer fantasy unfolds". Upon receiving the rights to use the Dukas piece in July 1937, Disney considered using a well-known conductor to record the music for added prestige. He happened to meet Leopold Stokowski , then
19888-403: The other hand welcomed the change, describing it as "a stunning one", and saw "no possible objection to it". The new feature continued to be known as The Concert Feature or Musical Feature as late as November 1938. Hal Horne, a publicist for Disney's film distributor RKO Radio Pictures , wished for a different title, and gave the suggestion Filmharmonic Concert . Stuart Buchanan then held
20064-656: The podium with Stokowski". The Sorcerer's Apprentice was recorded in a three-hour session that began at midnight at the Culver Studios on January 9, 1938. The venue was chosen as the sound stage at the Disney studio at Hyperion Avenue was too small. Stokowski picked the 85 musicians himself, and felt they would be more alert by working at such a late hour. The session involved a single rehearsal. Engineers at Disney collaborated with RCA Corporation that involved recording with multiple audio channels to allow any desired dynamic balance to be achieved upon playback. The stage
20240-512: The popularity of such shows in France. The earliest public film screenings took place in existing (vaudeville) theatres and other venues that could be darkened and comfortably house an audience. Émile Reynaud screened his Pantomimes Lumineuses animated movies from 28 October 1892 to March 1900 at the Musée Grévin in Paris, with his Théâtre Optique system. He gave over 12,800 shows to
20416-407: The procession figures was so closely drawn, "a difference in the width of a pencil line was more than enough to cause jitters, not only to the animation, but to everyone connected with the sequence." The jittering created on the first shoot led Disney to order a time-consuming and expensive redo. The studio had no camera that moved slowly and continuously enough to film the segment as Disney wanted, so
20592-504: The production of a collar button. Other deleted material included Prelude in G minor and Troika by Sergei Rachmaninoff , and a rendition of "The Song of the Flea" by Mussorgsky, which was to be sung by Lawrence Tibbett . On September 29, 1938, around sixty of Disney's artists gathered for a two-and-a-half hour piano concert while he provided a running commentary about the new musical feature. A rough version of The Sorcerer's Apprentice
20768-405: The production of motion pictures or in a large private residence. The etymology of the term "movie theater" involves the term "movie", which is a "shortened form of moving picture in the cinematographic sense" that was first used in 1896 and "theater", which originated in the "...late 14c., [meaning an] open air place in ancient times for viewing spectacles and plays". The term "theater" comes from
20944-466: The program. In 1936, Walt Disney felt that his cartoon studio 's star character Mickey Mouse needed a boost in popularity as newcomers Donald Duck and Goofy had become a new favourite amongst audiences. He decided to star Mickey in The Sorcerer's Apprentice , a deluxe cartoon short based on Goethe's poem of the same name and set to the orchestral piece by Paul Dukas also inspired by
21120-436: The recording that took place across 18, three-hour sessions in January 1982 at CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles, costing almost $ 1.4 million to produce. Five musicians who took part in the 1940 recording performed on the new one. Kostal had the difficult task of pacing his conducting to match Stokowski's, but chose Mussorgsky's orchestration of Night on Bald Mountain instead of the arrangement Stokowski had used which
21296-468: The recording was satisfactory. On January 18, 1939, Stokowski signed an eighteen-month contract with Disney to conduct the remaining pieces with the Philadelphia Orchestra. The main recording sessions took place on April 6, 8, and 12, each three hours in length, at the Academy of Music , the orchestra's home which was chosen for its excellent acoustics . The 90-piece orchestra included some students at
21472-421: The roadshow presentations. Since 1942, the film has been reissued multiple times by RKO Radio Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution with its original footage and audio being deleted, modified, or restored in each version. When adjusted for inflation, Fantasia is the 23rd highest-grossing film of all time in the U.S. The Fantasia franchise has grown to include video games, Disneyland attractions, and
21648-554: The same items would repeat throughout the day, with patrons arriving and departing at any time rather than having distinct entrance and exit cycles. Newsreels gradually became obsolete by the 1960s with the rise of television news, and most material now shown prior to a feature film is of a commercial or promotional nature (which usually include " trailers ", which are advertisements for films and commercials for other consumer products or services). A typical modern theater presents commercial advertising shorts , then movie trailers, and then
21824-590: The same staff needed for one through careful management of the start times for each movie. Ward Parkway Center in Kansas City, Missouri had the first multiplex cinema in the United States. Since the 1960s, multiple-screen theaters have become the norm, and many existing venues have been retrofitted so that they have multiple auditoriums. A single foyer area is shared among them. In the 1970s, many large 1920s movie palaces were converted into multiple screen venues by dividing their large auditoriums, and sometimes even
22000-477: The screen, provided they do not lean toward one another. " Stadium seating ", popular in modern multiplexes, actually dates back to the 1920s. The 1922 Princess Theatre in Honolulu, Hawaii featured "stadium seating", sharply raked rows of seats extending from in front of the screen back towards the ceiling. It gives patrons a clear sight line over the heads of those seated in front of them. Modern "stadium seating"
22176-438: The segment opened with an overture followed by live action shots of Stokowski conducting in silhouette, filming for which took place in January 1938 with cinematographer James Wong Howe . Layout artist Tom Codrick created what Dick Huemer described as "brilliantly colored thumbnails" from preliminary storyboard sketches using gouache paints , which featured bolder use of color and lighting than any previous Disney short. Mickey
22352-506: The segment, was used instead. This was also the case for a sequence in The Pastoral Symphony , so a duplicate was used. Each of the 535,680 frames were restored by hand with an untouched print from 1951 used for guidance on the correct colors and tone. Theaters that agreed to screen the film were required to install specific stereo sound equipment and present it in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The 1990 reissue also had
22528-446: The shock" of Night on Bald Mountain . Disney did not want much animated movement, but wanted the segment to bring the background artwork to the forefront which became a showcase for the multiplane camera. An early story outline had the segment end with a Madonna presented on the screen with the clouds, but Disney decided against this as he did not want to suggest overly religious imagery. There were ideas of releasing scents throughout
22704-424: The short could earn, Disney decided to include it in a feature-length film of multiple segments set to classical pieces with Stokowski and Taylor as collaborators. The soundtrack was recorded using multiple audio channels and reproduced with Fantasound , a pioneering sound system developed by Disney and RCA that made Fantasia the first commercial film shown in stereo and a precursor to surround sound . Fantasia
22880-399: The silver screen (formerly sometimes sheet ) and the big screen (contrasted with the smaller screen of a television set). Specific to North American term is the movies , while specific terms in the UK are the pictures , the flicks and for the facility itself the flea pit (or fleapit ). A screening room is a small theater, often a private one, such as for the use of those involved in
23056-555: The sound recording could not be upgraded to a quality suitable for theatre screenings. In late 1981, Disney executives decided to replace the Stokowski soundtrack with a new, digital recording in Dolby Stereo with conductor Irwin Kostal ; president and CEO Ron W. Miller said that the original had degraded and "no longer matched the extraordinary visuals." Kostal directed a hand-picked 121-piece orchestra and 50-voice choir for
23232-414: The stage space, into smaller theaters. Because of their size, and amenities like plush seating and extensive food/beverage service, multiplexes and megaplexes draw from a larger geographic area than smaller theaters. As a rule of thumb, they pull audiences from an eight to 12-mile radius, versus a three to five-mile radius for smaller theaters (though the size of this radius depends on population density). As
23408-466: The story was outlined in a meeting in October 1938, including the creation of the main alligator character, Ben Ali Gator. Its story, direction, layout, and animation underwent several rewrites, yet Disney wanted to present animals perform a legitimate caricature ballet sequence with comedic "slips". The design of the elephants and alligators were based on those by German illustrator Heinrich Kley , while
23584-469: The studio temporarily hired him to produce pencil sketches for the animators to gain inspiration from. Chernabog and parts of the segment were developed further by Danish-born illustrator Kay Nielsen . Tytla conducted research on all the characters he had animated and being Ukrainian , was familiar with the folklore that the story detailed. Actor Béla Lugosi , best known for his role in Dracula (1931),
23760-415: The studio's finances, realised that the short could never earn such a sum back on its own. Roy urged his brother to keep additional costs to a minimum "because of its very experimental and unprecedented nature ... we have no idea what can be expected from such a production." Ben Sharpsteen , a production supervisor on Fantasia , recalled that Disney "saw this trouble in the form of an opportunity. This
23936-536: The studio, a three-track stereo copy was transferred across noise-free telephone wires onto magnetic film at an RCA facility in Hollywood. This copy was used when Fantasia was reissued in stereo by Buena Vista Distribution in SuperScope, a derivative of the anamorphic widescreen CinemaScope format, on February 7, 1956. The projector featured an automatic control mechanism designed by Disney engineers that
24112-517: The studios as soon as possible. He was paid $ 1,440 per week during his one month visit. The program for The Concert Feature was assembled in a series of meetings in September 1938. Disney made story writers Joe Grant and Dick Huemer gather a preliminary selection of music and along with Stokowski, Taylor, and the heads of various departments, discussed their ideas. Each meeting was recorded verbatim by stenographers with participants being given
24288-410: The studios to help select musical pieces for the new film, which was initially titled The Concert Feature . Disney agreed to pay Stokowski $ 80,000 plus royalties for his services. The pair further thought of presenting the film with an on-screen host to introduce each number in the program. Both had heard composer and music critic Deems Taylor provide intermission commentary during radio broadcasts of
24464-582: The summer of 1939 included La Grande Illusion (1937) and La Kermesse Heroique (1935). Though supplies dried up during WW2 and the cinema fell back on more mainstream English-language fare, screenings were enthusiastically resumed shortly thereafter. In February 1946, the Cosmo became the first cinema in the UK to screen a French film made under the Occupation, and Cosmo audiences also saw wartime German features, including – in breathtaking Agfacolour – The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1943). Big hits at
24640-402: The system used, these are typically polarized glasses . Three-dimensional movies use two images channeled, respectively, to the right and left eyes to simulate depth by using 3D glasses with red and blue lenses (anaglyph), polarized (linear and circular), and other techniques. 3D glasses deliver the proper image to the proper eye and make the image appear to "pop-out" at the viewer and even follow
24816-528: The term cinema / ˈ s ɪ n ɪ m ə / , alternatively spelled and pronounced kinema / ˈ k ɪ n ɪ m ə / . The latter terms, as well as their derivative adjectives "cinematic" and "kinematic", ultimately derive from Greek κίνημα, κινήματος ( kinema , kinematos )—"movement, motion". In the countries where those terms are used, the word "theatre" is usually reserved for live performance venues. Colloquial expressions, mostly applied to motion pictures and motion picture theaters collectively, include
24992-399: The theater during Fantasia , including the smell of incense during Ave Maria . The final shot, beginning with a black foreground and a shining white light in the background, measured 217 feet of film; according to Disney historian John Culhane, this was likely the longest continuous scene in animation history to date. Ed Gershman, who worked on the segment, described how the animation of
25168-433: The third reshoot, a minor earthquake rocked the wooden stands and panels that kept the glass panes in place. Rather than carry on with the risk of jittered footage, they started over for a fourth time and completed one day before the film's premiere. The finished film was rushed to New York on a charter plane and spliced into place with four hours to spare. The live action scenes were the first to be filmed inside Stage 1 ,
25344-400: The two, Disney rejected all three. According to Huemer all Fishinger "did was little triangles and designs ... it didn't come off at all. Too dinky, Walt said." Fischinger, like Disney, was used to having full control over his work and not used to working in a group. Feeling his designs were too abstract for a mass audience, Fishinger left the studio in apparent despair, before the segment
25520-572: The use of common " off-the-shelf " components and an in-house brand removes the need to pay licensing fees to a third-party for a proprietary large format. Although the term is synonymous with exhibitor-specific brands, some PLFs are franchised. Dolby franchises Dolby Cinema , which is based on technologies such as Atmos and Dolby Vision . CJ CGV franchises the 4DX and ScreenX formats. In some theaters, seating can be dynamically moved via haptic motion technology called D-BOX . In digital cinema , D-BOX codes for motion control are stored in
25696-470: The viewer when he/she moves so viewers relatively see the same image. The earliest 3D movies were presented in the 1920s. There have been several prior "waves" of 3D movie distribution, most notably in the 1950s when they were promoted as a way to offer audiences something that they could not see at home on television. Still the process faded quickly and as yet has never been more than a periodic novelty in movie presentation. The "golden era" of 3D film began in
25872-420: The widescreen format led to the cropping and reframing of the images. On February 20, 1963, Fantasia was re-released in both standard and SuperScope versions with stereo sound, though existing records are unclear. Its running time was 56 seconds longer than the previous issue which is unexplained. This was the final release that occurred before Disney's (and Taylor's) death in 1966. Fantasia began to make
26048-534: The work done in the Toccata and Fugue was "no sudden idea ... they were something we had nursed along several years but we never had a chance to try." Preliminary designs included those from effects animator Cy Young , who produced drawings influenced by the patterns on the edge of a piece of sound film. In late 1938, Disney hired Oskar Fischinger , a German artist who had produced numerous abstract animated films, including some with classical music, to work with Young. Upon review of three leica reels produced by
26224-529: Was added later. Animation on The Sorcerer's Apprentice began on January 21, 1938, when James Algar , the director of the segment, assigned animator Preston Blair to work on the scene when Mickey Mouse wakes from his dream. Each of the seven hundred members of staff at the time received a synopsis of Goethe's 1797 poem Der Zauberlehrling , and were encouraged to complete a twenty-question form that requested their ideas on what action might take place. Early on Disney considered using Dopey from Snow White and
26400-553: Was also brought in to study the movements for the goldfish in Arab Dance . Jules Engel also worked on the choreography and color-keying for this sequence. To avoid hard ink outlines, new techniques like transparent paint was used on the cels. The snowflakes used in the snowflake fairies sequence was difficult to draw by hand, so a man named Leonard Pickley, from the Special Effects Department, came up with
26576-481: Was also shown that, according to one attendee, had the crowd applauding and cheering "until their hands were red". The final pieces were chosen the following morning, which included Toccata and Fugue in D minor, Cydalise et le Chèvre-pied by Gabriel Pierné , The Nutcracker Suite , Night on Bald Mountain , Ave Maria , Dance of the Hours , Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy , The Rite of Spring and The Sorcerer's Apprentice . Disney had already begun working out
26752-400: Was altered acoustically with double plywood semi-circular partitions that separated the orchestra into five sections and acted as a baffle wall to increase reverberation . Chief Disney sound engineer William Garity was "very disappointed" with the overall results and was unable to have a full complete rehearsal and record the orchestra in separate sections as scheduled, but Stokowski insisted
26928-422: Was attractively brief for signage and advertising, and stemmed from cosmopolitan. Singleton appointed his usual architects James McKissack and WJ Anderson II to work on the new cinema. Their design for the Cosmo's geometric, windowless façade was influenced by the work of Willem Marinus Dudok , a leading Dutch modernist architect. The international theme was continued outside in the choice of cladding materials –
27104-490: Was based on Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov 's version. The new recording also corrected a two-frame lag in projection caused by the recording techniques used at the time the film was made. The Kostal soundtrack was prepared for the film's reissue from April 2, 1982, which had Taylor's scenes replaced with briefer voiceover narration from Hugh Douglas as the studio felt audiences by now had become "more sophisticated and knowledgeable about music." Mickey Mouse and Stokowski's voices in
27280-425: Was brought in to provide reference poses for Chernabog, but Tytla disliked the results. He then got Jackson to pose shirtless which gave him the images he needed. At one point in its development, the idea of using black cats to represent evil was considered, but Disney rejected it as he thought cats had always been used. The film's program reads that Ave Maria provides "an emotional relief to audiences tense from
27456-646: Was closed in 1977 and the building was demolished in 1993. The "Centre Culturel Claude Berri" was built in 1995; it integrates a new movie theater (the Idéal Cinéma Jacques Tati). In the United States, many small and simple theaters were set up, usually in converted storefronts. They typically charged five cents for admission, and thus became known as nickelodeons . This type of theatre flourished from about 1905 to circa 1915. The Korsør Biograf Teater, in Korsør , Denmark, opened in August 1908 and
27632-491: Was completed, in October 1939. Disney had plans to make the Toccata and Fugue an experimental three-dimensional film, with audiences being given cardboard stereoscopic frames with their souvenir programs, but this idea was abandoned. In The Nutcracker Suite , animator Art Babbitt is said to have credited The Three Stooges as a guide for animating the dancing mushrooms in the Chinese Dance routine. He drew with
27808-555: Was considering The Firebird by Igor Stravinsky, but Taylor noted that his " Le Sacre du printemps would be something on that order", to which Disney replied upon hearing a recording, "This is marvelous! It would be perfect for prehistoric animals. There would be something terrific in dinosaurs, flying lizards, and prehistoric monsters. There could be beauty in the settings." Numerous choices were discarded as talks continued, including Moto Perpetuo by Niccolò Paganini with "shots of dynamos, cogs, pistons" and "whirling wheels" to show
27984-495: Was coupled to a variable anamorphic lens, which allowed the picture to switch between its Academy standard aspect ratio of 1.33:1 to the wide ratio of 2.35:1 in twenty seconds without a break in the film. This was achieved by placing the cues that controlled the mechanism on a separate track in addition to the three audio channels. Only selected parts of the animation were stretched, while all live action scenes remained unchanged. This reissue garnered some criticism from viewers, as
28160-510: Was first released as a theatrical roadshow that was held in 13 cities across the U.S. between 1940 and 1941 by RKO Radio Pictures ; the first began at the Broadway Theatre in New York City on November 13, 1940. While acclaimed by critics, it failed to make a profit owing to World War II 's cutting off distribution to the European market, the film's high production costs, and the expense of building Fantasound equipment and leasing theatres for
28336-410: Was hired to portray Yen Sid for the camera for the animators to use for reference. A sorcerer's robe and hat was bought from a costume rental shop and decorated with stars and crescent moons. An early concept for The Rite of Spring was to extend the story to the age of mammals and the first humans and the discovery of fire and man's triumph. John Hubley , the segment's art director, explained that it
28512-577: Was later curtailed by Disney to avoid controversy from creationists , who promised to make trouble should he connect evolution with humans. To gain a better understanding of the history of the planet the studio received guidance from Roy Chapman Andrews , the director of the American Museum of Natural History ; English biologist Julian Huxley ; paleontologist Barnum Brown ; and astronomer Edwin Hubble . Animators studied comets and nebulae at
28688-650: Was later, at least since 1918, exploited as the full-time movie theatre Pankower Lichtspiele and between 1925 and 1994 as Tivoli. The first certain commercial screenings by the Skladanowsky brothers took place at the Wintergarten in Berlin from 1 to 31 November 1895. The first commercial, public screening of films made with Louis and Auguste Lumière 's Cinématographe took place in the basement of Salon Indien du Grand Café in Paris on 28 December 1895. During
28864-557: Was opened on 14 April 1894, by the Holland Bros. in New York City at 1155 Broadway, on the corner of 27th Street. This can be regarded as the first commercial motion picture house. The venue had ten machines, set up in parallel rows of five, each showing a different movie. For 25 cents a viewer could see all the films in either row; half a dollar gave access to the entire bill. The Eidoloscope , devised by Eugene Augustin Lauste for
29040-447: Was photographed with the Stokowski film inside the camera to create a single negative that combined both sequences. Disney wanted to experiment in more sophisticated sound recording and reproduction techniques for Fantasia . He said: "Music emerging from one speaker behind the screen sounds thin, tinkly and strainy. We wanted to reproduce such beautiful masterpieces ... so that audiences would feel as though they were standing at
29216-536: Was presented by Austrian magician Ludwig Döbler on 15 January 1847 at the Josephstadt Theatre in Vienna , with his patented Phantaskop. The animated spectacle was part of a well-received show that sold out in several European cities during a tour that lasted until the spring of 1848. The famous Parisian entertainment venue Le Chat Noir opened in 1881 and is remembered for its shadow plays , renewing
29392-418: Was redesigned by animator Fred Moore who added pupils to his eyes for the first time to achieve greater ranges of expression. Most of the segment was shot in live action, including a scene where a UCLA athlete was asked to run and jump across one of the studio's sound stages with barrels in the way, which was used for reference when Mickey traverses through water. English silent film actor Nigel De Brulier
29568-458: Was restored to one hour and fifty-five minutes. This edit would be the standard form for subsequent re-releases, and was the basis for the 1990 restoration. I wanted a special show just like Cinerama plays today ... I had Fantasia set for a wide screen. I had dimensional sound ... To get that wide screen I had the projector running sideways ... I had the double frame. But I didn't get to building my cameras or my projectors because
29744-583: Was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Fantasia opens with live-action scenes of members of an orchestra gathering against a blue background and tuning their instruments in half-light, half-shadow. Master of ceremonies Deems Taylor enters the stage (also in half-light, half-shadow) and introduces
29920-723: Was selected for the soprano solo. Having first encountered the ensemble during his tenure with the Cincinnati Symphony , the Westminster Choir (formerly of neighboring Dayton ) established itself thenceforth as one of Stokowski's longtime collaborators-of-preference. On the sleeve notes of the LP version of the soundtrack, Disney acknowledged the original words were written by Walter Scott , but decided to use original lyrics specially written for Fantasia by American author Rachel Field . The two sound effects heard in
30096-505: Was sold to the Scottish Film Council, re-opening the following year as the Glasgow Film Theatre with the former auditorium subdivided into a 404-seat cinema (now Screen 1) in the former balcony and a conference/exhibition space in the stalls. Mr Cosmo bowed out at a gala screening of Fantasia , announcing he would ‘watch with pride an affection this new development of the old tradition.’ The new cinema opened on 2 May 1974 with
30272-430: Was the birth of a new concept, a group of separate numbers—regardless of their running time—put together in a single presentation. It turned out to be a concert—something novel and of high quality." Ideas to expand The Sorcerer's Apprentice and produce a full-length feature film began in February 1938, when inquiries were made to extend Stokowski's contract with the studio. In August, Disney asked Stokowski to return to
30448-413: Was the first time since then that a print of the film had been prepared using the original negative and not a copy. A new print was formed that was identical to the 1946 version with Taylor's introductions restored but with a new end credits sequence added. As the original opening shots of Rite of Spring could not be found, footage from the Disney educational film A World is Born , which used footage from
30624-433: Was too long for a general release. It relaxed its exclusive distribution contract with Disney, who wanted a more prestigious exhibit in the form of a limited-run roadshow attraction . A total of thirteen roadshows were held across the United States; each involving two daily screenings with seat reservations booked in advance at higher prices and a fifteen-minute intermission. Disney hired film salesman Irving Ludwig to manage
30800-445: Was used for Ben Ali Gator's movements. Night on Bald Mountain was directed by Wilfred Jackson . Its story closely follows the descriptions that Mussorgsky had written on his original score of the tone poem. Chernabog was animated by Vladimir "Bill" Tytla , his design inspired from a pencil sketch by Swiss artist Albert Hurter of a demon sitting atop a mountain unfolding its wings. Despite Hurter never producing animation for Disney,
30976-508: Was utilized in IMAX theaters, which have very tall screens, beginning in the early 1970s. Rows of seats are divided by one or more aisles so that there are seldom more than 20 seats in a row. This allows easier access to seating, as the space between rows is very narrow. Depending on the angle of rake of the seats, the aisles have steps. In older theaters, aisle lights were often built into the end seats of each row to help patrons find their way in
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