Comments on: Let's go to the movies…in New York http://www.sinanbastas.com/2008/07/15/lets-go-to-the-moviesin-new-york/ The one-man nation built on observation, introspection and appreciation Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:03:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: tara http://www.sinanbastas.com/2008/07/15/lets-go-to-the-moviesin-new-york/comment-page-1/#comment-159 tara Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:15:11 +0000 http://maydanoz.wordpress.com/?p=91#comment-159 Even though I can understand your distress when going to the theatres here, I strongly disagree. The 2 main things that you talk about; the 15 minute break and the seats not having numbers, both have very reasonable explanations. I think the unnumbered seats have a simple explanation. It sells more tickets. When you're buying tickets and you see that the best seats have been taken, you don't buy a ticket for that specific showing. Slowly, you lose interest because you're unable to find tickets for the seats you want. This not only diminishes your interest in the film, but hurts the film tremendously. Box office numbers are the biggest publicity that a film can get these days... 2nd: The 15 minute break. I'm going to approach this from a very historical point of view, so please bear with me. I hate the 15 minute break. It was in fact Wagner who brought the new theatre. When he wrote his operas, he wanted to create this idea of undivided attention and concentration. He changed the design of opera houses and made undivided rows (100-150 seats in only one row). You couldn't leave even if you wanted to. Once the opera started, the theatre would go completely dark, taking out any element of distraction. And most importantly, he took out the 15 minute breaks. He wanted his audience to indulge themselves in his work with their heart and soul. He wanted his work to become real for those 4-5 hours and he wanted his work to be the only thing that mattered. This is an incredible invention. Before him, people went to operas because it was the social event of the time. Going to the opera meant you were of a certain class, of a certain education. The way they dressed, with whom they went were all very important aspects. After him, they stopped coming to the opera as a social event (ones who went to see Wagner operas of course), their dresses, their jewelry their social status didn’t matter anymore, because no one could see that anyways. His opera became the only experience in the opera house. So, a bit too much of a music lesson, but this is how these theatres were created. A movie is made as an experience, when the director, writer makes a movie, it’s intended to be enjoyed as a whole. You can't put in a 15 minute break! That ruins the concentration, ruins the connection with the characters, ruins your dedication to the story... This may as well be too much of a theoretical response, but I'm really glad we don't have them 15 minutes you should be too!!! Even though I can understand your distress when going to the theatres here, I strongly disagree. The 2 main things that you talk about; the 15 minute break and the seats not having numbers, both have very reasonable explanations.

I think the unnumbered seats have a simple explanation. It sells more tickets. When you’re buying tickets and you see that the best seats have been taken, you don’t buy a ticket for that specific showing. Slowly, you lose interest because you’re unable to find tickets for the seats you want. This not only diminishes your interest in the film, but hurts the film tremendously. Box office numbers are the biggest publicity that a film can get these days…

2nd: The 15 minute break. I’m going to approach this from a very historical point of view, so please bear with me.

I hate the 15 minute break. It was in fact Wagner who brought the new theatre. When he wrote his operas, he wanted to create this idea of undivided attention and concentration. He changed the design of opera houses and made undivided rows (100-150 seats in only one row). You couldn’t leave even if you wanted to. Once the opera started, the theatre would go completely dark, taking out any element of distraction. And most importantly, he took out the 15 minute breaks. He wanted his audience to indulge themselves in his work with their heart and soul. He wanted his work to become real for those 4-5 hours and he wanted his work to be the only thing that mattered.

This is an incredible invention. Before him, people went to operas because it was the social event of the time. Going to the opera meant you were of a certain class, of a certain education. The way they dressed, with whom they went were all very important aspects. After him, they stopped coming to the opera as a social event (ones who went to see Wagner operas of course), their dresses, their jewelry their social status didn’t matter anymore, because no one could see that anyways. His opera became the only experience in the opera house.

So, a bit too much of a music lesson, but this is how these theatres were created. A movie is made as an experience, when the director, writer makes a movie, it’s intended to be enjoyed as a whole. You can’t put in a 15 minute break! That ruins the concentration, ruins the connection with the characters, ruins your dedication to the story… This may as well be too much of a theoretical response, but I’m really glad we don’t have them 15 minutes you should be too!!!

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