Volume 126 Issue 43
kansan.com
Thursday, November 7, 2013
KANSAN t.21
KELSEY BARRETT
kbarret@kansan.com
For more than a century, Liberty Hall in downtown Lawrence offered a true cinematic experience to movie-goers. Projectionists prepared films by piecing together several reels and threading them into a platter to create a looping film for an audience. The heavy involvement of projectionists started to fade as the industry evolved digitally.
More than two-thirds of the roughly 130,000 movie screens are digital, according to research conducted by the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. Studios are pushing for more digital and less film because it lowers film printing costs and theater shipping costs. Smaller, independent cinemas like Liberty Hall see the necessity to switch platforms, but still hold attachment to film.
"There's a romance with the film projectors," said Mick Cottin, cinema manager for Liberty Hall. "We've been showing movies on film since 1912 when the place was built, equipped with the stuff used to show silent films. But in 1924, we showed the first talking movie at Liberty Hall that Lawrence ever had, so there's a history with the film."
"It was pretty whirlwind at the very end there," Cottin said. "[I'm] kind of in disbelief that it actually happened because it was a huge investment and a big deal for the theater, but we were able to do it and continue showing
Barbie Atkins, a graduate student from Iola, has worked with 35-millimeter film for years before starting work at Liberty Hall a year ago. She shared some of the same hesitations in the beginning, but became excited about the positive effects it will bring to downtown.
The National Association of
"The digital switch is something that has been a long time coming." Atkins said. "With small movie theaters it's really switch or die. Liberty Hall is a special case because we offer so much, it is really a pillar of the community in Lawrence."
Theater Owners estimated that 10 to 20 percent of theaters in the country will close if they do not make the conversion. The digital projectors mean more opportunities for Liberty Hall.
Liberty Hall anticipated the change and began saving money as management developed a strategy to keep up with the competition. Cottin announced his decision to leave the theater in August, which served as a catalyst to complete the switch before his departure. The process included research, surveying other theaters in the area and getting a loan.
movies."
"Without the conversion, our ability to bring customers the best possible variety of first-run films would be drastically reduced and eventually impossible," Dean Edington, technical director of Liberty Hall, said in an email. "The huge difference in picture brightness, clarity, depth of color and contrast is immediately visible and the crisp, full tone of the audio in both theaters is like night and day."
Cottin said although it's the end of a projection era, he appreciates what the digital format offers.
"There's going to be certainly people who are sad to see film go but I know that this weekend we had regulars come in and see our films and they were all blown away with it," he said. "The picture, the sound, and the whole experience is a lot different than it used to be. It's much closer to the industry standards that we weren't able to provide because our 35-millimeter projectors were old and well-loved."
Edited by Jessica Mitchell
MICHAEL STRICKLAND/KANSAN
Index
CLASSIFIEDS 2B
CROSSWORD 5A
CRYPTOQUIPS 5A
OPINION 4A
SPORTS 1B
SUDOKU 5A
All contents, unless stated otherwise. © 2013 The University Daily Kansan
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