Agreed Donnie, cars are a totally different animal. In reality I was pretty deep into high performance GT automobiles for awhile for purely selfish reasons, and really could not care less with regard to the public perception or my cars (usually it was a blur). I simply love the exhilaration of getting behind the wheel of a supremely-engineered machine with more torque and HP than any human being has a good reason to own, other than why not?. But I got bored with cars after a few years.
I'm interested in seeing what others have done mainly for inspiration. I understand that privacy is a concern, especially nowadays. But frankly, this board is pretty anonymous, unless one chooses to reveal personally identifiable information or share that info with a select few via PM.
As a child growing up in a small town with little to do, we did fortunately have three movie theaters, and so going to the Saturday matinee developed into a passion, and my love of film took its roots. We did not have much money, and I will confess that my sidekick and I sometimes resorted to sneaking in without a ticket. More often than not, we got caught and thrown out. Once when we had purchased tickets, I got caught smuggling in contraband from the corner store: a Snickers bar and large green bottle of Bubble Up. I vowed to my buddy "Someday I'll own a theater, and we'll get in for free anytime we want!"
So fast forward several decades; when my wife and I finally broke ground on our family compound in early 2012, I designed the structure around the theatre, rather than finding a corner for it in the new home. Most of the rest of the home is nearing completion, and the focus now is on the cinema, which is windowless and entirely underground. It is composed of a lobby and concessions, decent sized media closet for racks, equipment, projector, K stuff, etc. and a separate viewing room. Like Jim, the theatre itself is designed for sound and vision: black carpeting, dark Guilford acoustic panels, few distractions, no starfield ceiling. I've also had an underground city built around the theater, comprised of small London shops, cobblestone alley, and such. The theatre marquee itself has been under construction by a sign company that does them for classic commercial theatre renovations. The man says he has 400 hours into the sign, and that I should prepare myself psychologically for the invoice, which will be slightly over budget. I told him not to worry about it, but to focus purely on workmanship.
So my goal is to create the total experience, the magic if you will. Yes, this is a private space, solely for the enjoyment of my family and friends. An escape that my grandchildren will hopefully cherish. And where we can experience some truly wonderful cinematic achievements. Although IMO, much of what Hollywood produces is junk, they are many good and few great films produced every year. Kaleidescape seems to be the only system on the market that provides a wonderful interface and the scripting functionality that I want.
The experience starts with a stroll to the theatre storefront, the posters of coming attractions, the ticket window (35? admission, by the way), the aroma of fresh popcorn, standing in line at the concessions counter, then finding your seat, lights going down, exciting trailers, and the feature begins. And ending with a "wow, that was a great movie"... or "wow, that ending really sucked."
I'd love to see what others have done, not for bragging rights, but just to satisfy intellectual curiosity. And if anyone is interested, I'm happy to post progress photos as well. If not, that's fine too. And Jim, Jim, I'm sure I would find your "boring" theatre... fascinating!
