Home
Theatre Possibilities
BACK to BluRay and Home Theatre Info
This is a former
basement bedroom turned into a home theatre, incorporating seats,
poster frames, and other
accessories salvaged from local commercial theatres that closed,
as well as posters
and leftover props from local movie productions.
Wall construction,
screen, drapes, platforms, carpeting, and lighting fixtures
were all installed “do-it-yourself”
with the only expenses being materials
purchased at various
local home improvement and fabric stores.
The screen is a
4x8-foot sheet of matte white vinyl wall paneling,
masked to a height
of 3 feet 4 inches, with movable side masking
adjustable from
1.18:1 (about 4 feet wide) to 2.4:1 (the full 8-foot width)
and everything in
between.
The bottom masking
can also be moved down to permit a 4-foot by 5-foot-4-inch
image for 1.33:1
films or larger pictures for special large format films like
Todd-AO 70mm, IMAX and
Smileboxed Cinerama (digitally projected from BluRay).
Above, screen
masking pulled in for classic 1.33:1 aspect ratio.
Below, masking
pulled out for full 2.4:1 CinemaScope widescreen ratio (constant height).
Box seat alcove on left
was formerly a closet when the room was a bedroom.
ABOVE: Five-picture
panorama from the rear exit.
BELOW: Three-picture
panorama from front right, edge of screen.
Large and small
projection ports in rear wall between exit and an acoustic drape.
Rear surround
speakers sit on decorative plaster columns in rear corners.
Center surround
speakers are in ceiling.
Original 1920s-era
theatre seats had been discarded by now-demolished Forx Theatre.
Easy chairs had been
discarded by former Westward Ho Motel.
Poster frames from
former Colony Twin Theatre.
LEFT: Seats before risers installed. RIGHT: Seating
after risers and aisle lights added.
Panoramic view from
back row before risers installed or new front speakers purchased.
(screen masking set
for 1.85:1).
New Front Speakers:
Left / Subwoofer & Center / Right
(New medium-grade
Sony set)
Center Surround
Speakers: Left & Right , mounted in ceiling
(Mismatched but
perfectly adequate leftover old 1960s hi-fi speakers)
Rear Surround
Speakers: Left and Right, set on plaster Corinthian columns
(Matched pair of
Panasonic Thrusters from an old stereo)
Entry next to video
projector, players, and amp equipment,
as well as 16mm
projectors & films.
Movable Panasonic PT-AE2000U
projector at highest level
--not permanently
mounted in order to permit more flexibility in positioning as well as
portability and easy movement completely out of the way when 16mm film
projector(s) are used--
Magnavox (Funai)
BluRay player
Philips multi-region
DVD player, Sylvania (Funai) DVD/VHS combo
Sony Digital 8
camcorder, Audio cassette deck, Yamaha 7.1 A/V processor-tuner
Late 1980s Pioneer
Laserdisc player under a 5 preview monitor and stack of DVD-Rs
Lobby directly
outside screening room
Poster frame &
dater frames from former Colony Twin Theatre
8x10 still frames
from Empire Theatre
Ticket grinder from
former Cinema International Theatre
Coke menu board from
now-demolished Star-Lite Drive-in Theatre
Lobby adjoining Projection
Booth at rear entry to auditorium
(earlier wiring
configuration and alternate preferred projector height
that permits a
simple zoom to change aspect ratios
rather than both a
zoom and lens offset adjustment)