Once in awhile I come across little stories that are relevant to this column that don't necessarily call for so many words of commentary. But it's a shame to skip over them, so occasionally, I'd like to break The Exhibitionist up a bit and write about a few of them at once.


The first thing that caught my attention this week was a report of a study focused on ambient lighting, such as the kind used in cinemas. According to research conducted by academics at the University of Cumbria in England, and at University College Dublin in Ireland, movies should be viewed in rooms that are as well lit as the movies themselves. So, yes, that means your local multiplex has the lights dimmed way too low.

But, you wonder, isn't it dark in theaters because we can see the movie much better that way? And when we're at home don't we turn out the lights, or, when it's daytime, close the shades for the same reason? Well, yes, but incorrectly so, say Cumbria's Professor David Manning and UCD's Professor Patrick Brennan. Their findings indicate that such darkness actually hinders the eye's ability to see at optimum capability. "Ideally, ambient light should be adapted to the brightness of the screen for the eye to pick up as much detail as it can," Manning said. "However, most people prefer to watch films in a darkened room, but as the eye adapts to the surrounding light these conditions may not be conducive to picking up maximum visual detail."

I'm about a week behind, but I wanted to talk this week about something discussed at the ShowEast exhibition convention, which was held October 13 - 18 in Orlando. That something is onscreen advertising, which I'll get to in a second; first I wanted to just outline some of the other somethings that were addressed. For those who don't know, ShowEast is one of four annual events where studios and theatre owners meet -- along with others involved in the movie industry, such as food concessions companies -- in order to discuss trends and issues, while simultaneously (and it seems primarily) celebrating upcoming releases and big stars.

This year, ShowEast awards went to John Cusack ("Star of the Year"), Frank Darabont ("Kodak Award For Excellence in Filmmaking"), New Line Cinema theatrical distribution president David Tuckerman ("Show 'E' Award") and National Amusements' Shari Redstone ("Salah M. Hassanein Humanitarian Award"), among others. Typically the awards, particularly those given to talent like actors and directors, are handed out as thank you notes to people who made the money for exhibitors this year. Obviously, giving an award to Darabont before The Mist even hits theaters is a little weird. And despite the surprise box office for Cusack's 1408, his award is also for not-yet-released movies Grace is Gone and Martian Child. As for Tuckerman's award: I don't get it. New Line hasn't been having the best year, and yesterday I heard through the grapevine that The Golden Compass is a mess. Then again, the grapevine has been wrong before ...

Movie theaters and video games go hand in hand. I remember that when multiplexes first started springing up around me in the early '80s, they all featured an abundance of arcade games. Besides the fact that the bigger theaters had bigger lobbies to hold a number of games, and besides the fact that games were such a big trend when multiplex construction was on the rise, cinema planners and owners were smart to see the connection between one visual entertainment and another. Eventually, game systems at home caused a decline in arcade games. Local arcades closed down and new theaters were built with less space for the games. I did notice while working in movie theaters that kids would come in solely to use the games without interest in buying a movie ticket, but for the most part game playing at the cinema has significantly decreased in popularity from what it once was.

Starting November 18, however, video gaming at the cinema is set to take a new turn -- in Belgium, at least. A new theater run by Kinepolis (the company credited with building the first megaplex, by the way) in Bruges will be offering a service where people can play video games on the big screen. The service will allow customers to play either their own PS2 games or one of the titles provided by the theater in one of their digital-screen auditoriums Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. The cost is to be 15 Euros ($19 US) per half-hour, per console (regardless of number of players).