Remembering Good Times at the Cinema

[JediMichael]

Massive theater!

Yeah. But because during the week it wouldn't be nearly as busy as a weekend, corporate made it so 2 concessionist, cafe worker, box office and 3 ushers with a few managers to help if needed.
I was an usher. So during the week, one would be on tickets, another checking theaters (called theater walks) and that last person to clean all 22. Some theaters might be showing a movie that didn't have one person in it, or not many, or that no one bought anything....or that actually threw there stuff away, but then another might be half thrashed and 4 of those types just ended all within 5 mins of each other and the next showing is in 25 mins. So while we had plenty of down time once they all were running, we were definitely working hard to earn that $5.15 an hour.

 

[Halliwax]

5.15 a hour… insane

 

[JediMichael]

I came, clocked in, and a manager told me they were cutting hours and sent me home. I was clocked in a few mins. Didnt even expect to get a check. Totally kept it as you can see.
Could have rushed to the bank in a hurry telling them I need to make a phone call.....back when it was 25 cents.....and when phone booths were still a thing.

 

[JediMichael]

Sorry, I'm having too much fun reliving these old memories. Back on post #41, I posted when I went back in 2018 and saw Anna, my old manager....well, just found this video from early 2000 with her there standing in almost the same area. (the pic of us where we took it)
The lady here with her back to the camera was actually the General Manager at the time, but one of the auction prizes was highest bidder got to pick a manager to work a normal employee shift and uniform for the day, so of course they picked the GM.
Every auction they also had the, pie a manager prize. Whipped cream in a aluminum plate. One time I told the girl that won to hit the manager nice and hard......she just about broke his nose....oops.....another time some ushers ran in with their own pies and things got real crazy, REAL fast....and that was it for any pieing future.

 

[Halliwax]

I came, clocked in, and a manager told me they were cutting hours and sent me home. I was clocked in a few mins. Didnt even expect to get a check. Totally kept it as you can see.
Could have rushed to the bank in a hurry telling them I need to make a phone call.....back when it was 25 cents.....and when phone booths were still a thing.

View attachment 1530826

LOL dude so you document everything like this in your life or just the theater stuff?

 

[Halliwax]

Sorry, I'm having too much fun reliving these old memories. Back on post #41, I posted when I went back in 2018 and saw Anna, my old manager....well, just found this video from early 2000 with her there standing in almost the same area. (the pic of us where we took it)
The lady here with her back to the camera was actually the General Manager at the time, but one of the auction prizes was highest bidder got to pick a manager to work a normal employee shift and uniform for the day, so of course they picked the GM.
Every auction they also had the, pie a manager prize. Whipped cream in a aluminum plate. One time I told the girl that won to hit the manager nice and hard......she just about broke his nose....oops.....another time some ushers ran in with their own pies and things got real crazy, REAL fast....and that was it for any pieing future.

View attachment 1530830

Dude keep it going I love the old photos and stories. The comparison photo like this, im very passionate about this kind of thing

I find this thread very very interesting and fun, brings back a lot of cool Memory’s and I think it’s awesome heading, and more importantly “seeing” others stories and experiences

 

[JediMichael]

LOL dude so you document everything like this in your life or just the theater stuff?

Back then, just about everything. Tons of footage of school and other places. This being Oviedo, FL, north of Orlando, I'm in a big "If you grew up in Orlando" FB group and posted a few things from the theater as well. Getting a lot of likes. People are asking me to see what other old footage I can upload from the Orlando area....so going through tapes now and planning to edit and cut out any stupid parts. I did a lot in stop motion or filmed things for like a second and stopped the camera....brain too ADHD......

 

[Halliwax]

Dude I was the same way.. I documented everything with a old camcorder and my Mavica.. had a old website sharing the adventures of me and my friends

This is why I love seeing all your footage and photos..

I lost my computer back in 2004.. couldn’t recover any of it..

I don’t have the hardware to convert all my mini vhs to digital.. but I throw them in my old VCR once and awhile..

Great great times

 

[JediMichael]

Dude I was the same way.. I documented everything with a old camcorder and my Mavica.. had a old website sharing the adventures of me and my friends

This is why I love seeing all your footage and photos..

I lost my computer back in 2004.. couldn’t recover any of it..

I don’t have the hardware to convert all my mini vhs to digital.. but I throw them in my old VCR once and awhile..

Great great times

Thats too bad. Ive lost stuff on a computer, but mostly just ms paint and audio wav files. Glad I have all these tapes, even if its a pain to go through them all.
My Dad just got me this usb thing to transfer everything. He gave me all the old tapes that he filmed. I think Ill need a bigger harddrive to store it. It will connect to anything with rca or s-video plugs.....I actually wonder if it would work from like a video game play live, or does it need the time code to work....???

Worth checking it out if you ever want to back up any old tapes, as they deteriorate over time.

 

[Halliwax]

Thanks for that info! Before my grandmother died I brought all her 38 film to a local guy and he put it on dvd, super expensive that’s why I never looked into doing my tapes

I’m going to check this out, appreciate that advice

 

[JediMichael]

Thanks for that info! Before my grandmother died I brought all her 38 film to a local guy and he put it on dvd, super expensive that’s why I never looked into doing my tapes

I’m going to check this out, appreciate that advice

That can be VERY expensive. I think because its just so time consuming. This Roxio one costs around $70. I found a cheap usb type on amazon that did work, but the software recorded low quality, under SD. Probably like 240i or something. I probably could have found software that was cheaper, but my Dad just went ahead and got this and it does work pretty good. That old SD footage on tapes like that can only look so good anyways.
That theater walkthrough footage I posted, I had to boost the colors WAY up, because most the consumer cameras were only 1 CCD making the color range quite low. My good but now totally worn out mini DV camera is 3 CCD, and made a huge difference even when it was still SD quailty.

 

[JediMichael]

One standee I did keep for a while, and here I actually broke it down even more for space, as my room back then was pretty small, was The Iron Giant, behind my bed. I am not sure what happened to that...probably threw it out when I moved.....sadly....
I need to find video of my first apartment with roommates....every wall and ceiling was covered in movie posters. Even ran old film trailers around it and laser disc up the stairs....good times....

 

[Halliwax]

Excellent movie

 

[Mottrex]

One standee I did keep for a while, and here I actually broke it down even more for space, as my room back then was pretty small, was The Iron Giant, behind my bed. I am not sure what happened to that...probably threw it out when I moved.....sadly....
I need to find video of my first apartment with roommates....every wall and ceiling was covered in movie posters. Even ran old film trailers around it and laser disc up the stairs....good times....

View attachment 1530838

Loved the nod to him in Ready Player One!

 

[Halliwax]

waiting for new vintage photos from michael, he's been pretty consistent with updating us here

 

[Mottrex]

waiting for new vintage photos from michael, he's been pretty consistent with updating us here

How do you post pics, I can only get them to work on my posts..

 

[Halliwax]

click the attach button here

 

[JediMichael]

I've had covid this whole week, but yesterday was really bad and ended up with a migraine. Glad thats gone....please stay gone.

So yeah,......I want to share a bunch of the drawings I made while on a ticket shift. Some I'll have to go find in the closet.

During Ep. I with the Entered stamp we gave everyone. That was one of the most serious times the theater ever was about anyone sneaking in.

Just a random alien thing that I hung on the back wall.

I started randomly drawing shapes with no idea how it would end up.....but it was also Valentines Day (2005 I believe)
Funny how that turned out. I had so many people tell me I need to make it into a tattoo. Colored in photoshop.

This was a very interesting piece. This was started not long after that last one by a coworker. He started with the dali melting clock, then gives me the paper and was like, add something and pass it on. So after 4 months, 12 pages big, management telling us we couldn't keep doing this on the clock....sure....we finished. I drew most everything, but still got most every employee to drew a little something.

 

[Halliwax]

Glad to see you’re pulling through with the Covid, the stuff is everywhere right now

 

[OzReturner]

Love that collage, so much to look at!