Reel Time takes stock

  • Published
  • By Nick DeCicco
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  With numerous movie distributors changing from film to digital projection, Travis' Reel Time Theaters program faced a choice: Upgrade or shut its doors.

The dilemma affected the base's movie slate. For example, "Parental Guidance," a comedy starring Billy Crystal and Bette Midler, was unavailable because the distributor, 20th Century Fox, refused to make 35 mm prints.

Rather than shut down, Travis purchased the Christie Solaria One, a $90,000 digital film projector.

"In 2013, you go digital or you close," said Michael Kraus, Travis Reel Time Theater supervisor. "They told us we were the first to get (the projector) in the Bay Area."

The change also includes a $30,000 screen. With the additions, Reel Time can now screen 3-D films at Travis' base theater.

"The cost of this upgrade is staggering, but The Exchange and our movie distributors took notice of your patronage and decided it was worth the upgrade cost," said Morris "MJ" Howard, Travis and McClellan Air Force Base Exchange general manager.

Kraus said the upgrade in picture quality is remarkable.

"Stunning is the only word that fits," Kraus said. "The resolution is like putting four Blu-ray discs together. I knew it was going to be better, but I had no idea how much better."

The improvements equate to monetary savings for both film distributors as well as Travis.

In the past, heavy 35 mm prints arrived on reels at higher production and shipping costs than sending boxes with foam-insulated hard drives.

Together, the changes chop thousands of dollars out of the transaction for the distributors and Travis.

"That's a huge savings to them and us," Kraus said, who has managed the theater for one month and retired last year from the 9th Air Refueling Squadron.

Kraus said any profits from the screenings come back to Travis.

Reel Time films screen every week on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The first weekend with the new system came Feb. 22, when an advance screening of "Jack the Giant Slayer," which opened nationwide March 1.

"The audience applauded when the film was over," Kraus said.

Once the new equipment arrived, Kraus was able to screen "Parental Guidance," which played the weekend of March 1.

For G- and PG-rated films, Kraus estimated more than 100 people visit the theater on average. For free showings, such as that of "Jack the Giant Slayer," the number swells to as many as 700, Kraus said.

Kraus said the biggest crowds he's seen came last summer, when the Travis community flocked to recent Academy Awards ceremony host Seth MacFarlane's comedy "Ted."

Attendance and the cost of the upgrade were the reasons many of the theaters in the western region of Army and Air Force Exchange's Reel Time program closed. Travis, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. and Fort Irwin National Training Center in San Bernardino, Calif., are the only bases continuing to support Reel Time from a list of more than 25 in the region.

"They selected the different facilities that were profitable so they could sustain it," Howard said.

Though only at the helm of the Reel Time program for one month, Kraus is no stranger. He volunteered as a projectionist before taking over as manager, giving him insight into the difference in technology.

For 35 mm, projectionists used a series of approximately 1-yard-wide platters Kraus referred to as "pizza trays" to hold the film stock before it ran through the projector.

The Christie projector allows for a different interface. Kraus demonstrated that projectionists can organize the showing into a playlist, selecting the order of trailers before a film rolls.

Kraus said when possible, he watches previews in advance to make sure they are age appropriate. Despite the Motion Picture Association of America approving trailers for all audiences, he said some depict violence or other situations unsuitable for a G or PG audience.
Additionally, the transition from analog to digital has improved the sound quality of the pictures.

"The surround sound is much more responsive and crisp," Howard said.

The industry-wide transition to digital projection ends more than a century of screening film prints, from nitrate -- which fans of Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" know is highly flammable -- in the early 20th century to polyester bases as well as black and white stock to color film.

Reel Time movies are shown at the base theater. Films using the new technology screen Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The first 3-D showing is "Monsters, Inc.," scheduled for March 15.

For more information, visit shopmyexchange.com or call 437-3855.