Fort Cinema going 3-D, digital

Fort Cinema owners Des and Amanda Hale plan to upgrade the movie theater with 3-D film screens and digital picture and sound. The first feature to be shown with the new equipment is the family movie "Tangled," which opens Nov. 24.

FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- Moviegoers who head out to the local cineplex this holiday season are in for a different experience.

Des and Amanda Hale, owners of Fort Cinema, 224 W. 18th St., recently finished up plans to install digital projectors and sound, as well as 3-D film screens, in the theater's three auditoriums later this month. The new projectors will replace the film variety that are becoming outdated.

The 3-D screens, which are becoming more popular and widely used across the United States, will help the theater continue to move into the future, Hale said.

"The movie industry has taken steps to go completely digital and move away from film," she said. "Theaters across the nation have been using film for decades, and soon, film will become completely obsolete. Studios have found that digital will be much more cost-efficient in production and shipping costs. However, this then requires all theaters in the country to completely renovate their current equipment. We have seen the change taking place the past two years in larger market areas, and knew the time for us to change was rapidly approaching."

One of the biggest benefits of digital projectors is that movies have the same quality of picture for every showing, as opposed to film, which degrades every time it is shown and is susceptible to scratches and imperfections, Hale said. The digital audio system will produce a clear, crisp sound without the static background noise sometimes heard with film. The sound system in all three auditoriums will be upgraded to accommodate 7.1 surround sound. Each auditorium will also include a new silver screen, which is required for 3-D viewing.

The silver screens, which were popular in the early days of the movie industry and once the standard for motion picture projection, have come back into use as they are ideally suited for modern 3-D film polarized projection.

The changes that will soon be made at the theater are very expensive, but Hale said she and her husband felt it was time to make the upgrades in order to bring the "best possible movie experience" to Fort Scott.

"This is an exciting yet scary time for us as we are an independent theater, and the transition to update our theater to digital is very costly," she said. "We did considerable research on digital equipment providers and saw how the market is excited about digital and 3-D movies. So although the change is inevitable and costly, we knew the time was drawing near."

When the Hales first began obtaining bids for equipment, they decided to not only make the digital upgrades, but to provide a 3-D experience for moviegoers as well.

"Studios have been turning out multiple 3-D movies and there will be over 60 3-D movies in the upcoming year," Hale said. "We want to provide the best possible movie experience to Fort Scott, so we looked into going both 3-D and digital in all our auditoriums. Not all theaters will make the move toward 3-D, but we felt it was important to provide the best quality entertainment to Fort Scott."

Total cost of all the changes is nearly $300,000. To finance the upgrades, the Hales returned to a local bank and the United States Department of Agriculture Office of Rural Development that helped them secure financing to open the theater in 2006. At that time, because they sought to become independent owners and not become part of a chain, the Hales secured a guaranteed government loan through the USDA Rural Development.

The transfer to digital and installation of 3-D screens is scheduled to take place the weeks of Nov. 22 and Nov. 29. Installation work will take place during the work week and not during the weekends. One auditorium will be closed the first week so movies will be shown in the other auditoriums during that week. Two auditoriums will be closed the second week, but there will be two showings of movies each night in the completed auditorium, Hale said.

The first movie to make use of the digital and 3-D technology that will be shown in the theater is the family film, "Tangled," which opens Nov. 24.

"The installers have informed us we will be able to open a digital and 3-D movie in that first auditorium that day," Amanda said.

The theater will be open all day with full hours and showings on Wednesday, Nov. 24, Thursday, Nov. 25, and Friday, Nov. 26.