In the case of numbered seating systems the attendee can often pick seats from a video screen. Sometimes the attendee cannot see the screen and has to make a choice based on a verbal description of the still available seats. In the case of free seats, already seated customers may be asked by staff to move one or more places for the benefit of an arriving couple or group wanting to sit together. Some outdoor movie theaters are just grassy areas where 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.
Many modern theaters have accessible seating areas for patrons in wheelchairs. In the early times of talkies, American studios found that their sound productions were rejected in foreign-language markets and even among speakers of other dialects of English. One of the solutions was creating parallel foreign-language versions of Hollywood films. ] opened a studio in Joinville-le-Pont, France, where the same sets and wardrobe and even mass scenes were used for different time-sharing crews. Since the 1960s, multiple-screen theaters have become the norm, and many existing venues have been retrofitted so that they have multiple auditoriums. In the 1970s, many large 1920s movie palaces were converted into multiple screen venues by dividing their large auditoriums, and sometimes even the stage space, into smaller theaters.
In India, PVR Cinemas is a leading cinema operating a chain of 500 screens and CineMAX and INOX are both multiplex chains. Indonesia has the 21 Cineplex and Cinemaxx (as of 2019, renamed as Cinépolis) chain. The major studios kept thousands of people on salary—actors, producers, directors, writers, stunt men, crafts persons, and technicians.
In Oceania (particularly Australia), large chains include Event Cinemas, Village Cinemas, Hoyts Cinemas and Palace Cinemas. In South America, Argentine chains include Hoyts, Village Cinemas, Cinemark and Showcase Cinemas. Colombian, Costa Rican, Panamanian and Peruvian chains include Cinemark and Cinépolis. In some theaters, seating can be dynamically moved via haptic motion technology called D-BOX. 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.
- In some jurisdictions, movie theaters can be licensed to sell alcoholic drinks.
- In the United States, many movie theater chains sell discounted passes, which can be exchanged for tickets to regular showings.
- This changed the paradigm of film making by the major Hollywood studios, as each could have an entirely different cast and creative team.
- It is the birthplace of various genres of cinema[citation needed]—among them comedy, drama, action, the musical, romance, horror, science fiction,[dubious – discuss] and the epic—and has set the example for other national film industries.
- The invention of relatively inexpensive, portable, but thoroughly professional 16-mm equipment—and the synchronous sound recorder—facilitated the development of a similar movement in the United States at just about the same time.
According to such systems, children or teenagers below a certain age may be forbidden access to theaters showing certain movies, or only admitted when accompanied by a parent or other adult. In some jurisdictions, a rating may legally impose these age restrictions on movie theaters. Where movie theaters do not have this legal obligation, they may enforce restrictions on their own.
(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 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 the same items would repeat throughout the day, with patrons arriving and departing at any time rather than having distinct entrance and exit cycles.
The movement was criticized for too often degenerating into reportage rather than artistic expression. Nevertheless, it continued the movement toward greater realism in films and demonstrated a different approach http://supattratravel.com/ to documentary film making. Outstanding examples of French cinéma vérité are Jean Rouch’s Chronique d’un été (1961; Chronicle of a Summer) and Chris Marker’s Le Joli Mai (1963; “The Lovely Month of May”).
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. In the United States, many movie theater chains sell discounted passes, which can be exchanged for tickets to regular showings.
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 a better view.