I used to work at this theatre. Ran the projectors. Was absolutely hilarious watching them try and operate the projectors. That projector bulb he was handling is under high pressure and could have exploded and seriously injured him. Was such a beautifully designed theatre but horrible location and mismanaged from the start. Was sad to see it get demolished. A parking garage now stands in its place. Been watching these guys videos a while and can't believe they explored my old theatre
You know the name of the place just out of curiosity and I'm from Mexico things like this are not abandoned here and when something like this is abandoned the first day the thieves already stole everything xd
I worked in a theater out here in Vegas for years too, can you mess stuff up messing around with the projectors and they can catch fire because the light and film and all that stuff? I know they have their own exhaust and cooling too right?
Wow. I love and hate when abandoned buildings are demolished. Yeah, make use of the land again, but this theater was GORGEOUS. And instead of “refurbishing” it or whatever, they waste money destroying the whole building and spend god knows how much money to build an entirely new building.
Film is this guy's passion. Out of all the videos I've seen so far, he's had a monotone voice. But, in this video he's been like little kid. I love it!
Protip for anyone else exploring a movie theatre: Don't turn the projectors on. Those things get very very hot and need special cooling and extraction hardware which likely wasn't turned on (see silver duct above projector). You may accidentally start a fire.
When such companies go under, they power is usually kept on by someone, such as the bank. The idea behind it is to keep people from stealing or committing vandalism. Its benifits the community to do so, as it increases the odds another company will take over the loction and bring buisness to the area.
wow this was amazing haha loved how you turned the power on for diff spots i woulda done the same. i woulda been nervous in there haha. great shots at the beginning to man !
This reminds me of every horror game ever. "Go find this thing, oh no you need to go do this other thing for this thing to turn on, now run all the way back to that thing you had to turn on, except there's gonna be a monster this time."
+AdamHH11 i agree with you, i found this movie called THE LAST SHOWING,,, it is a horror film about a movie theatre projectionist and without spoiling the movie for you i would just have to say watch it, this movie is really good,
Theres just something eerily beautiful about a place that was once bustling with people, full of laughter and fun to rotting away and decaying . The closest to a zombie apocalypse we will get for now
close to any end of the civilization event, if aliens(the smart kind i dont mean just a foreign bacteria from space) come to earth these will be the legacy we leave
Stephthecrab It does kind of remind me of Dawn of the Dead, how a place that was bustling with humans, is now just dead, deserted, as in with a post-apocalyptic scenario
I like how you guys are really respectful to the buildings you go in, you don't damage or vandalise anything or steal anything, you just take in the surroundings and document them for others to enjoy. Great Vid Keep it up!
how cool would it be to hold a secret underground movie night, where a bunch of ppl all get together there and watch a movie. have someone run the projector and everything. would be tits.
jtbedazzle Lol alot of the stuff wouldn't work, they said it wouldn't be able to play sound. Also im sure the owners would realize if the power bill went up a ton because someone was watching a film xD
Try doing maintenance at night for a large chain. The one night I changed my plans about doing some work at a location the assistant manager was murdered and had I gone in that night I might of been in the middle of it. BTW the reason the lamp shut off is your more than likely tripped the cooling fan safety.2Kw lamps need active cooling.
Anthony Delara Because I'm 15 and even If I was older I wouldn't really want to risk breaking the law. Sorry if this counts as advertising but If you want to look at my photography look at my instagram "@flajarkin24" or my DeviantArt "FlajarkinArt"
I keep coming back to this video. The nostalgia of 90’s and early 2000’s futuristic view on what we thought the world would look like. Neon lights, memorable shapes and designs from malls to movie theaters to theme parks. It’s ironic. It was an illusion, a false hope of what the future would come to be. I love this video for that childhood magical feeling.
Extremely unlikely that any full movies were left behind. Distributors however never took trailers back, which when put together take up about one reel. All the film in this video is likely old trailers. They tend to pile up. Whole movies are nearly as large as the large silver discs seen in the video(That's what they sit on and play from, they're called platters) These guys did many things wrong trying to get film onscreen however they were on the right track. The projector system has many interlocks to shut the system down in case the film slips off of a roller to prevent damage to the film print(they cost thousands) or to prevent damage to the system or operator. That's why the "Start" button did nothing. There was no film threaded. All the things they did to control it, they did with the manual controls without discretion. They likely overheated the xenon. I'm amazed it turned on at all, safety switches must've been bypassed because they shouldn't turn on without the doors being closed or proper cooling airflow present, even in manual mode. I'd love to get in there and show you how it's done :) It's a very pretty theater! Source: 10 years experience as movie theater projectionist. I have run those same exact projectors.
Be very careful around the xenon bulbs as the xenon gas is under extremely high pressure. If you drop one or cause it to rupture, it will explode sending quartz-glass fragments everywhere. I was cringing when you guys picked that one up.
HeylonNHP There is a kind of black humor joke among cinema techs: Q: What was the last thing the projectionist saw before he went blind? A: The Xenon bulb exploding. You guys have no idea how dangerous what you were doing was. First off, you had an OPEN lamphouse with the bulb lit!!. Why was that bad? 1) Looking into directly at that bulb could have cause permanent damage to your retina as the arc in a xenon bulb is as bright as the sun, only a lot effin closer. 2) You had that lamphouse door open and you ignited the xenon bulb WITHOUT the air cooling system running. That is enough to cause a bulb to explode...with the door OPEN....while you were 2 feet away!! Insane!!! 3) You had film in the gate without the projector running it. Had you messed around just a little more, it wouldn't have been long before you hit that combination where you got the light to hit the film sitting in the projector gate without the projctor motor running, film not moving. That light would have set that film on fire in about 3 seconds. So, you are lucky you didn't get quartz shards of glass in your face or fingers missing or eyeballs sliced from an exploding xenon bulb. Hey, there is a reason the ones you found outside the projector were encased in plastic -- what you didn't happen upon, and I assure you it was in there someplace, was the protective HAZMAT-looking suit the projectionist uses when he's changing the xenon bulb. There is a reason he wears that whenever he has to handle one of these bulbs. Oh yah, and BTW, just FYI, letting that super bright light thru the lens without any film running and especially without the projector motor running the shutter, you probably damaged the $4000 lens which can't take that heat directly (the rotating shutter and the film itself reduce the radiant energy getting to the glass elements of the lens. Without those pieces of that very critical equation in balance, a lens will get ruined in short order. What THAT would do, would be to put your little crime spree (B&E) in the felony level of law breaking. What you need is a seasoned projectionist to go in there with you to keep you safe AND to do what you weren't able to quite get accomplished -- run a picture on the screen. What you need to do it to take me with you!
Since the place still had power, I wouldn't have dared flick any of those breaker switches in case I blew up the projector or sounded the fire alarm - which would give away there were people inside!
Tomsonic41 The fire alarm is positively not controlled by breakers. It is a separate, closed and secure system because of its importance for life safety.
Nice intro part, it's interesting to see places abandoned for years with power still on. Be careful with those bulbs in the projector though. The pressure in it is 12 atmospheres when it is hot, it can blow up like a glass grenade. Also the bulb needs quite a long time to cool down to restrike again, maybe that's why it didn't turn on.
I saw the movie "the odd life of timothy green" poster in the beginning of the video and that cane out in 2012 so it probably shut down a couple months after that, so.it should.have been abandoned for 2-3 years
This whole building felt very liminal through the entire walkthrough. it had that late 1990s early 2000s vibe with it. also for anyone wondering why the power could've been on. sometimes for demo or renovation. they turn on the power if they can if they are going to part out and salvage anything inside the theater.
Doing this type of stuff would just scare the shit it of me. It's like a haunted house, but you have no idea where to go and you don't know that the next room doesn't have any "real" threats. This is just the second one of your videos that I've seen, but I plan on marathoning them as this does fascinate me. What is the creepiest/scariest/grossest thing you have encountered while exploring abandoned buildings?
I'd get the entire projection system running if I was there. The breaker didn't fail, The Proper People it was the lamp safety internlocks that turned the ballast off. Those lamps are under extreme(serveral thousand psi) pressure, and if one fails during operation, the case is meant to stop it from blowing the projectionist's head off. I'd love to help you get the projectors running again, if you ever visit the place. Too bad I'm not local.
***** Although I would never trespass, I would love to get that booth up and running again. I buy and rebuild old and new commercial movie projectors. I have 5 film projectors and boxes full of old and new movie trailers :)
fancysnake1 It'd be good to show people what theaters _were_, just by making it a museum type thing, where people could walk around somewhat freely(put locks on lamp compartments, plexi around the projector?) Expose some kind of custom 35mm trailer with a seamless loop(kittens?), and splice it to roll continuously, maybe replace one lamp by an LED(and the other to be off and open for people to see the insides) to run for the entire duration of the day without being too expensive.
***** That sounds like a fun project. It reminds me how when companies used to show off their film equipment at cinema conventions but only without using a lamp or film with any pictures on them. I think some of them might have though. I remember seeing a video of a projector prototype that had glass installed in part of the doors so you could see the innards of it all while it ran.
***** Almost all modern projectors have glass or plexi windows so you can see both the film side and in many cases, the gear side of the projector precisely because the projectionist needs to SEE what's going on with the film. Although I do admit that with the advent of the multiplex where the projectionist was never stationary at the single projector, the glass doors remained but the projectionist was rarely there to see anything. In fact, UA management stopped calling the booth guys "projectionists" altogether; they called them "film attendants." And we called UA management "assholes."
The server racks or film controllers were probably repurposed in another theatre, I am surprised by how they still had running electrical service. When you said you "gained access," did you get someone's permission, or just find an open door?
You guys are fun! Based on the relative date of closure, could be the owner or franchise didn't want to pay the conversion to digital projection. At a minimum of $70,000 USD per screen, some non-profitable properties just closed instead. Why the electric's on is puzzling, unless it's for perimeter lighting, freeze protection etc.
Oh man, that's a really good observation, and entirely true! They probably hope to sell it as a "second run" discount theater, or to re-purpose the place for something else.
That's exactly what I was thinking. There's a reason that box has ducting going to it. I'm guessing that "finger chopper" also helps circulate the air to keep things from cooking
It's always goos to see these places that are abandoned, but still have power, and have no disruptions. I mean some of the graffiti we see is super cool, but it's always nice when places are just left alone.
Foxy The Pirate i really want to go exploring, but all my friends would just steal those speakers and break everything. But i found a friend to explor with and in about 2/3 hours there will be a video of us breaking in the old elementry school we were in. There were still computers, and beamers but we didn't take anything or destroy ;) please watch it :D only downside is that it's dutch but still cool to watch all those dj equipment and microphones :3
+Barry Soetorro I disagree about the location. Movie theaters are dying off everywhere because of online video streaming. Sadly, one day, there will be no movie theaters. I go to theaters because it's something I did so often as a child. I still do it to this day. The last movie I went to was Jurassic World. Two big theaters in my city went bankrupt a year ago. I dread the day they all die.
+largol33t1 chill out. movie theaters closes all the time. it doesn't mean they will all die out one day. just. cause one did or two. they just built a few new theaters in my area. so quit assuming. they will die out one day, yes. this year? no. next year? no. maybe in 20 years or so but not anytime soon.
hellomikie92 Why don't YOU close your mouth if you can't keep from attacking someone? I stated something that is a fact. There are no theaters within 20-30 miles of my neighborhood because the two that were there closed. Remember Blockbuster Video? All gone thanks to online video. Doesn't mean it can't happen to theaters. Drive in theaters have almost completely vanished and I've seen only one in my entire life. I could go on and on but there's no proof that they'll last forever. I haven't seen any new theaters being built so where's your proof?
+Night2010Fury My town had one that was opened in '64 that looked real sweet for it's time. It was closed up namely due to consolidation within the chain and it was torn down, it's property is now the home of two pointless motels and an upcoming strip plaza.
Night2010Fury It usually comes down to money with these companies, and that theater was in a good part of town. Of course it didn't help they had to cut the rooms in halves so they could run more movies later on. vintagetoledotv.squarespace.com/other-vintage-print-ads/single-gallery/9234090 This was the cinema I went to at least once back in the late 90's. Some church now owns the lot for whatever they do there. vintagetoledotv.squarespace.com/other-vintage-print-ads/single-gallery/20603933
I pretty much grew up coming to this theater every weekend. This is actually quite heart breaking. I'm still saddened by how it was taken care of properly and eventually closed. So many childhood and family memories here. Damn.
ok looking at the comments and hearing what he had originally mentioned about GAINING access to the old theater i come to these conclusions: 1. the theater still has power because someone still owns it. when he mentioned to remember which breakers were turned on that were previously off was out of respect. the owners probobly dont mind if you admire the fixtures or even if you find a film and watch it just as long as you cut the power after you are done. if i were the owner and some kid left the power on id be PISSED bc theaters are not cheap to run electricitywise and would probobly not allow folks to explore again. that is why the place is not vandalised and everything is intact. perhaps the owners will reopen it in the future or they may gut everything sell the equipment and make the building into something else. only time shall tell. thanks for sharing guys!!! gotta preserve the old pasttimes:)
Was in theater in Florida? The murals in the auditorium were a common build/design theme for Cobb Theaters/Regal Cinemas locations in Florida that were built in the early and mid 90s. There are still a few locations that contain the murals in the larger auditoriums. If you're in South Florida, the Royal Palm 18 & Bell Tower 20 have similar murals and would've been built around the same time period - give or take - as this location
The people that own these theaters are usually either landlords that lease out the building/land to a theater company. So they leave the power on to show the building to people that may be interested in it for remodeling although most of the time it gets sold as-is to tear down for another company to build.
I love exploring abandoned buildings with friends especially of this size! Me and a few friends would always drive around the country exploring places like this here and there
Projector movie film is extremely flammable, if you get it too close to the main bulb, it will instantly ignite. You guys could have easily started a huge fire. I would have done the same thing. :D
+WolveZZy I remember! I think I was 6 at that time but my mom took me to the movies and I saw that poster.. So weird to think it was that long ago.. I feel so old I'm 9 now
Interesting videos of these places that are not used anymore for some strange or not so stage reason. Glad to see u guys just going in,taking video, remembering what they once were, and not stealing or vandalizing anything. Some of these videos are a learning experience. And while watching them picturing them as when they were in full operation. Our town has had plenty of these buildings, and just tore them down, some were in very good condition and had historic value. One was a huge beautiful theater, that had a fire by stage, but it was repairable, it had ornate artwork painted on the ceiling around a gold dome, and was very upscale inside. The whole city was upset when it was torn down instead of restored.
Dammit guys, you blew out the bulb by not powering up the cooler. Now nobody else will be able to go urban exploring just to enjoy the good old 35mm film that most theatres have sadly abandoned.
This is probably the best abandoned theater I've seen. I love abandoned places, especially malls and theaters. It's not often that I find a good abandoned theater video to watch, and this one was awesome. Y'all did a great job of getting every little thing, and the fact that the theater still had power made it that much cooler. I used to manage at a theater, but all of our projectors were digital, so I never learned the art of being a projectionist, so this is the closest I've ever been to a projector. Also, my theater was relatively small, so seeing one this big is amazing. Thanks so much for this video guys! If y'all know of any cool places in Dallas, Texas to explore, let me know! :)
A word of strong warning to anyone that comes across a xenon cinema projection lamp they are under very high internal pressure and will explode like a fragmentation grenade from the slightest stress seriously injuring or blinding anyone in close proximity ,, do not tamper with or handle then ,, projectionists have to wear full face and body protection when working with those lamps and trust me if you have ever seen one explode you would understand why...
re: " we ran projectors without any protective gear." Gads, man, he's referring to CHANGING THE BULBS. If you didn't wear goggles, protective gear, you could die a slow painful death ...
This was so fun to watch - the fact that it still had power and wasn't abandoned for too long - too bad you couldn't get any projectors to work..that would have been amazing!
The projectors are actually threaded with film. Most of the film you saw on the floor were probably previews. They used to come in small rolls that projectionists would have to manually splice together into packages before the main movie print played. Fun fact: The Christie series projectors that you encounter in this theater pull film from the center of the reel, which lays flat on one of the three horizontal platters next to the projector. The film runs through the projector and is fed back through to the platter where it gets re-wound around a metal ring that sits in the center of an empty platter. And, yes, you overheated the projector because while there is a fan going, it is not the MAIN vent required to keep the bulb cool. The power for that would have been in the circuit breaker panel to the right of the projection window, along with other controls such as house lights, audio system, etc.
+thenewBMW Also: This series of projectors are no longer widely used. Most film projection (at major chains such as Regal and Century, at least) are now all digital. This is the old 'analogue' system. That would probably explain why this theater is abandoned. The Christie series projectors were difficult to learn technical maintenance for and become certified to operate, expensive to repair and required cleaning off fine purple dust from the film print at least twice daily. They also required a separate sound system. (While many film prints had an 'analog' soundtrack located on the side of the filmstrip. this was mostly used as a 'cue track' for a digital soundtrack supplied in the form of a CD to be loaded and played through the sound system simultaneously. ) The new digital projectors are far less complicated to operate and no longer require a projectionist to manually 'splice' films together. (They arrive in up to 3 different cans in as many as 9 reels. They must be attached in sequential order and then previewed to ensure they are not damaged in the process. When the run for a film is over, they must then be broken down, placed back on their separate reels and returned to the film distributor.)
Film has an analog sound strip embedded in one side of the strip, next to the image, to sync the audio track (which is on a separate CD) with the film images. In the event of CD failure or damage, the analog sound strip can also act as a substitute, though there will be a noticeable difference in sound quality. Without the analog soundtrack included, it would be extremely difficult to synchronize the audio and visual outputs. I'm not asking this with the intent of being cruel or condescending, but are you aware of what the word "Analog" means? Analog - (of a device or system) in which the value of a data item (such as time) is represented by a continuous(ly) variable physical quantity that can be measured (such as the shadow of a sundial) It means that a manual, physical device is responsible for a measurement or quantification as opposed to "Digital" in which the action of measurement or counting is done by electronic means. The sound strip located on the side of the film strip in between the frame images and the gear slots on the far edge includes magnetic markers which signal track changes on the theater's sound system, which is housed in a nearby but separate unit from the projector. When the magnetic strip passes through the projector, a reader designed to pick up on just that exact marker transmits the signal to the sound unit to skip to the next track, ensuring that the film remains in perfect sync with the sound. This is why I referred to this setup as an "Analog" system, as it relies on a physical apparatus (film and CD combination) to project the image/sound and a physically present means of synchronization for the two. Digital projectors need none of these things: The data is transmitted into the projector already synchronized fully in one signal without the need for a separate audio unit or a physical copy of the images to be present.
Those aren't Christie projectors. They are strong "millenniums" on xetron consoles with strong platters and xetron maxi 12 automations. The one they were messing with had both a Dolby digital (SR-D) and SDDS penthouse readers.
The digital sound is printed on the film not on CD's for the two systems shown here. The optical track is NOT used to sync any digital system. DTS uses its own specific time code track and Dolby Digital and SDDS also have their own tracks printed on the film. Why do you talk about things you obviously know nothing about? Like seriously? What do you do for a living so I can go post some complete nonsense on a video about that?!
Literally my first priority would have been trying to turn on the Escalators and then once I finished that I'd go get my laptop and a projector and watch something
i live down the road from there and you guys brought so many good memories back. i loved that movie theaters. It would be awesome to go back and check it out with some cool people like you guys.
I was a projectionist and they used to tell us to wear special protection for handling bulbs because if they break they go off like a grenade. I winced when he picked one up and was waving it around. he had no idea he was handling a mini bomb. The interlock for the lamp compartment was stopping restriking the lamp - good thing as you shouldnt have the door open for explosion safety when the bulb is running. Theres a lot of things that have to be done right when lacing a projector to get it to run and not rip the film apart. Nice try tho.
That bulb you guys touched is effectively useless now. When you touch those things with your bare hands the oils from your skin rub off, those bulbs burn SO hot that that oil will instantly boil melting the glass and creating a weak point, causing the bulb the shatter. It was probably shit anyway given the fact that it was just loose in the breaker room, but ya know, "The More You Know".
@@jpratm1993 I don't exactly remember to be honest! But it was at the Fort Lauderdale River walk. Most of which has been torn down and made into apartments.
@@jpratm1993 If you go on Google Maps or Google Earth on a computer only, you can look back at the historic street view images to see back when it was still there. It was on SW 1st Ave in Fort Lauderdale Florida. I have seen it on there before, the name was clearly visible. I just don't feel like getting my computer out for you lol
jtbedazzle Except there wouldn't be any FILM to run. The studios are not making motion picture film any more. You'd have very good projection equipment but for the wrong format. Unless you put in an $80,000 digital projector, you'd have nothing to put in those machines. So figure to retrofit that 14 plex with 14 DLPs would cost over a million dollars. And THAT is why the owner walked way from the property...nothing to play on those perfectly good 35mm projectors. It is the same story with LOTS of theatres that were marginally profitable with film the economics just were there; they just couldn't make the transition to digital because of the cost. If you are operating on a very small profit margin with film, there is little chance that you would every be able to recoup the investment costs you would have to incurr to convert to digital. It would take decades to ever get your money back, if ever. Digital was lethal for many theatres.
It's a shame so many people break into these places and trash them. Nice video guys. Glad to see you enjoy what you do and take care of where you explore.
***** We never B&E, we always find our way in through some other way that's already open. If there is no entrance, we don't go in. The only reason we don't show our entrance on video is because we don't want to give others watching a roadmap of exactly how to get in. That will lead to a place getting vandalized fast.
this was one of the coolest videos so far. you should go back with someone with more advance knowledge in electronics and try to get a movie running. Honestly that would probably be the best urbex video anyone has ever done. you have become my favorite explorer. keep doing what youre doing!
Looks almost exactly like the Green Hills Regal theater here in Nashville. That was built sometime in the late 80's/early 90's, has a very similar asethetic with all the loud colors and neon lights, had a similar thing where you entered on the top floor, bought your ticket then went down the escalator to the entrance for the theaters. That place does a good business though, yeah the interior is kind of dated but its very well kept/clean. Also keep in mind that ALL movie theaters use digital projectors now days. That might have been one of the reasons they closed up, I'm sure upgrading the projectors would have been a substantial 6 figure sum. If the theater wasn't making the numbers, no sense in sinking all that money in there.
Did you guys get cellphone reception in there? If not, I wonder if theaters have signal blockers to prevent illegal retransmission of movies. If so, I would've Googled up how to start a movie on a theater projector.
This is definitely one of the most enjoyable UA-cam videos I've ever seen in my life. I cannot freaking BELIEVE how much stuff got left behind in this movie theater after it got shut down. Unfortunately, it's this way with probably all movie theaters that get shut down. It's so ironic. Thousands or millions of dollars get poured into movie theaters and when they get shut down, it seems that absolutely nothing gets taken, as if the employees left in a hurry. They do not take the seats, decorations, lights, posters, film reels, projectors, wiring, NOTHING!! It goes to show you how wasteful companies can be. I used to go to the Westland General Cinema 8 movie theater here in Columbus, Ohio. It got shut down in like 2000, then a few years later, they opened it back up as a dollar theater, then it got shut down again for good. It's no wonder why people often take things from abandoned places. They SHOULD take them, because no one else is. You can't steal trash. If I were you, I would take every single thing out of this movie theater that you possibly can and give it away or sell it. If it was so important to them, they would have taken it. Another thing that you can do is go back to that theater and write down all of the information that you can about the projectors, then do an online search about how to operate those kinds of projectors, then come back and hook it up if you can so that you can watch a movie!
Nice... Old Xetron lamphouses with exhaust fan and door interlocks bypassed. Hope you two didn't look directly at the xenon arc, and glad you walked away without the overheated bulb exploding in your face. Definitely good that you didn't play with any of the others.
Man, this is sad. I went there when that whole complex was brand new. Amazing shops, restaurants, bars... My mind was blown that you could buy a beer and go see a movie. Last I saw in 2012 the whole thing was falling apart. Damn shame.
Gotta' love CSX! They insist on running their trains on lines built incredibly close to buildings like that movie theater! Hell, why the fuck did they build that so close to the tracks, I will never know. And if I ever saw a movie at that particular theater, I would get distracted and want to go railfan instead! LOL Or simultaneously watch both the train and the movie!
I used to work at this theatre. Ran the projectors. Was absolutely hilarious watching them try and operate the projectors. That projector bulb he was handling is under high pressure and could have exploded and seriously injured him. Was such a beautifully designed theatre but horrible location and mismanaged from the start. Was sad to see it get demolished. A parking garage now stands in its place. Been watching these guys videos a while and can't believe they explored my old theatre
Was this in Massachusetts? It looks familiar?
You know the name of the place just out of curiosity and I'm from Mexico things like this are not abandoned here and when something like this is abandoned the first day the thieves already stole everything xd
I worked in a theater out here in Vegas for years too, can you mess stuff up messing around with the projectors and they can catch fire because the light and film and all that stuff? I know they have their own exhaust and cooling too right?
i'm no projectionist but just by looking at how they ignited the bulb with the lamphouse door open i burst into laughter💀
@@AlexGamerRBX it was originally a Regal cinemas. It was in Fort Lauderdale, fl
Update for anyone wondering: This movie theater sat closed like this until 2017, when it was purchased and then demolished for new construction.
Thank you for the update ❤️🌟
So.....What building will occupies the former movie theater land ?
Cece Marie for fucks sake come ON!
also where’s michael in this video?
Wow. I love and hate when abandoned buildings are demolished. Yeah, make use of the land again, but this theater was GORGEOUS. And instead of “refurbishing” it or whatever, they waste money destroying the whole building and spend god knows how much money to build an entirely new building.
Film is this guy's passion. Out of all the videos I've seen so far, he's had a monotone voice. But, in this video he's been like little kid. I love it!
And to this day he still hasn't been this excited lol
That’s because you’re used to hearing Michael and this is Bryan. Michael isn’t even in this video. I dint know who that dude is.
Protip for anyone else exploring a movie theatre: Don't turn the projectors on. Those things get very very hot and need special cooling and extraction hardware which likely wasn't turned on (see silver duct above projector). You may accidentally start a fire.
I'm one day late paying my electric bill and my power goes off. Few years abandoned and still has electricity! Dayumm😃
someone is probably paying
When such companies go under, they power is usually kept on by someone, such as the bank. The idea behind it is to keep people from stealing or committing vandalism.
Its benifits the community to do so, as it increases the odds another company will take over the loction and bring buisness to the area.
Difference between you and the theater is they are still paying their bills.
@@germanicus8342 taking over and re-opening a movie theater? in 2019? doubt it will happen but you never know.
WHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! agree.........
3.75 for bottled water no wonder its abandoned
Have you ever been to movie theatre?
@@happilyham6769 yes and it currently does not cost almost 4 for a bottled watter 2 the most
@@Beahhhh the one near me it's literally 4 for a water. They're 1 liter bottles, not small ones, but still.
@@TehSlan
For a 1L, that's "reasonable". For a 500ml gulp? I'd rather drink from the tap.
That's cheap for being a movie theater.
wow this was amazing haha loved how you turned the power on for diff spots i woulda done the same. i woulda been nervous in there haha. great shots at the beginning to man !
Exploring With Josh Thanks!
Exploring With Josh why not do a colab with them ive watched both of you and think youd be a great team
What a waste of such an amazing building.
i love your intro song :D
I LOVE YOUR VIDEOS JOSH!!!!!
This reminds me of every horror game ever. "Go find this thing, oh no you need to go do this other thing for this thing to turn on, now run all the way back to that thing you had to turn on, except there's gonna be a monster this time."
lol, except they are doing it in real life making them 10 times more brave.
+AdamHH11 i agree with you, i found this movie called THE LAST SHOWING,,,
it is a horror film about a movie theatre projectionist and without spoiling the movie for you i would just have to say watch it, this movie is really good,
except the monster is an extremely bright lamp that probably melted half of their retina when they opened the cabinet with the projector on.
@@lsswappedcessna
Not a monster then, a trap.
Theres just something eerily beautiful about a place that was once bustling with people, full of laughter and fun to rotting away and decaying .
The closest to a zombie apocalypse we will get for now
close to any end of the civilization event, if aliens(the smart kind i dont mean just a foreign bacteria from space) come to earth these will be the legacy we leave
Stephthecrab your really pretty
more like Jurassic park
Stephthecrab
It does kind of remind me of Dawn of the Dead, how a place that was bustling with humans, is now just dead, deserted, as in with a post-apocalyptic scenario
There is beauty in decay and destruction. Honestly some buildings look so much prettier after years of water damage and nature taking over.
I like how you guys are really respectful to the buildings you go in, you don't damage or vandalise anything or steal anything, you just take in the surroundings and document them for others to enjoy.
Great Vid Keep it up!
The urbex rule is “Take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footprints”
how cool would it be to hold a secret underground movie night, where a bunch of ppl all get together there and watch a movie. have someone run the projector and everything. would be tits.
jtbedazzle Lol alot of the stuff wouldn't work, they said it wouldn't be able to play sound. Also im sure the owners would realize if the power bill went up a ton because someone was watching a film xD
ツ Shimo 霜 ツ They take out the amplifiers and sound processors and sell them to people like me :p I got 6 QSC amps and 2 sound processors from AMC.
fancysnake1 Cool, you use them for like a home theater?
ツ Shimo 霜 ツ no imagination
yeah. somehow that would be 100x funner than just going to watch a movie lol
I work at a Cinemark Theater Location & man it's creepy at night after closing
Try doing maintenance at night for a large chain. The one night I changed my plans about doing some work at a location the assistant manager was murdered and had I gone in that night I might of been in the middle of it. BTW the reason the lamp shut off is your more than likely tripped the cooling fan safety.2Kw lamps need active cooling.
@@seannot-telling9806 holy fuck, that's crazy. One decision different and you wouldn't have been typing right now. Glad you're ok
@@seannot-telling9806 just gonna say that like those lamps get super hot
@@sierra991 You should hear it when one fails in a violent manner.
@@seannot-telling9806
Suddenly, shotgun blast.
If you get the chance you guys should explore an abandoned chuck e cheese from the 90s/early 2000s
I second this motion!
+The Red Sweater Ghost notion* lol
+TheRushingCamper Nope. He was correct. It's motion.
closest they'll find to that is maybe PTT or showbiz pizza
Showbiz was way better than CEC anyway.
If i was the person that owned this abandoned building, i would throw a bad ass party and have movies playing all night ughhh
same I want a to own a Abanded high school
owned it
i know right at least make the most of it !
The owner of this is going to get random electric charges for his abandon movie theater. Lol
Damn, I really wanted to see them project that film :/
Just looking at the reel, it was very green shifted. And that was part of the credits to something... Can anyone identify what film that came off of?
Same
Same :(
Colton, that was most likely the green MPAA leader for a theatrical trailer ("The following preview has been approved for...")
me too! :)
As a photographer I'd kill to visit these abandoned places.
Why don't you then?
Anthony Delara Because I'm 15 and even If I was older I wouldn't really want to risk breaking the law. Sorry if this counts as advertising but If you want to look at my photography look at my instagram "@flajarkin24" or my DeviantArt "FlajarkinArt"
+Flajarkin no
Marley Gardner k
yay
For being abandoned this place look great.Most abandoned place I have been to all falling apart and the vandals have destroyed the place.
+Harry Starzec The guy in the video said a few years.
I know that but some place that have been abandoned for a year look in worse condition then this place.
It was abandoned in 2012 so it's not too long
+Paige Myhand Where is this movie theater located?
+Paige Myhand.... Great Video. Be careful. I'd love to contact the owner of this closed cinema to purchase some of the remaining equipment
I keep coming back to this video. The nostalgia of 90’s and early 2000’s futuristic view on what we thought the world would look like. Neon lights, memorable shapes and designs from malls to movie theaters to theme parks. It’s ironic. It was an illusion, a false hope of what the future would come to be. I love this video for that childhood magical feeling.
The movie posters really give it that frozen in time vibe.
What timestamp were the posters at?
Extremely unlikely that any full movies were left behind. Distributors however never took trailers back, which when put together take up about one reel. All the film in this video is likely old trailers. They tend to pile up. Whole movies are nearly as large as the large silver discs seen in the video(That's what they sit on and play from, they're called platters) These guys did many things wrong trying to get film onscreen however they were on the right track. The projector system has many interlocks to shut the system down in case the film slips off of a roller to prevent damage to the film print(they cost thousands) or to prevent damage to the system or operator. That's why the "Start" button did nothing. There was no film threaded. All the things they did to control it, they did with the manual controls without discretion. They likely overheated the xenon. I'm amazed it turned on at all, safety switches must've been bypassed because they shouldn't turn on without the doors being closed or proper cooling airflow present, even in manual mode. I'd love to get in there and show you how it's done :) It's a very pretty theater! Source: 10 years experience as movie theater projectionist. I have run those same exact projectors.
you worked there?
zule graffiti No, but one just like it.
+Night2010Fury bought.(:
Be very careful around the xenon bulbs as the xenon gas is under extremely high pressure. If you drop one or cause it to rupture, it will explode sending quartz-glass fragments everywhere. I was cringing when you guys picked that one up.
Even turning on the lights inside the projector is extremely dangerous. Those lights are realy fragile.
True. I also cringed when they turned on the bulb and opened the lamp house door. So dangerous.
HeylonNHP There is a kind of black humor joke among cinema techs: Q: What was the last thing the projectionist saw before he went blind? A: The Xenon bulb exploding.
You guys have no idea how dangerous what you were doing was. First off, you had an OPEN lamphouse with the bulb lit!!. Why was that bad? 1) Looking into directly at that bulb could have cause permanent damage to your retina as the arc in a xenon bulb is as bright as the sun, only a lot effin closer.
2) You had that lamphouse door open and you ignited the xenon bulb WITHOUT the air cooling system running. That is enough to cause a bulb to explode...with the door OPEN....while you were 2 feet away!! Insane!!!
3) You had film in the gate without the projector running it. Had you messed around just a little more, it wouldn't have been long before you hit that combination where you got the light to hit the film sitting in the projector gate without the projctor motor running, film not moving. That light would have set that film on fire in about 3 seconds.
So, you are lucky you didn't get quartz shards of glass in your face or fingers missing or eyeballs sliced from an exploding xenon bulb. Hey, there is a reason the ones you found outside the projector were encased in plastic -- what you didn't happen upon, and I assure you it was in there someplace, was the protective HAZMAT-looking suit the projectionist uses when he's changing the xenon bulb. There is a reason he wears that whenever he has to handle one of these bulbs.
Oh yah, and BTW, just FYI, letting that super bright light thru the lens without any film running and especially without the projector motor running the shutter, you probably damaged the $4000 lens which can't take that heat directly (the rotating shutter and the film itself reduce the radiant energy getting to the glass elements of the lens. Without those pieces of that very critical equation in balance, a lens will get ruined in short order.
What THAT would do, would be to put your little crime spree (B&E) in the felony level of law breaking. What you need is a seasoned projectionist to go in there with you to keep you safe AND to do what you weren't able to quite get accomplished -- run a picture on the screen. What you need to do it to take me with you!
lol, you went into better detail than I did. lol
Captain Cinema Hello fellow projectionist ;)
Since the place still had power, I wouldn't have dared flick any of those breaker switches in case I blew up the projector or sounded the fire alarm - which would give away there were people inside!
Tomsonic41 The fire alarm is positively not controlled by breakers. It is a separate, closed and secure system because of its importance for life safety.
@@antney1108 absolutely true. You wouldn't want the fire alarm to be powered by the same circuits as the building.
Nice intro part, it's interesting to see places abandoned for years with power still on. Be careful with those bulbs in the projector though. The pressure in it is 12 atmospheres when it is hot, it can blow up like a glass grenade. Also the bulb needs quite a long time to cool down to restrike again, maybe that's why it didn't turn on.
I saw the movie "the odd life of timothy green" poster in the beginning of the video and that cane out in 2012 so it probably shut down a couple months after that, so.it should.have been abandoned for 2-3 years
I saw a poster for The Dictator too, that also came out in 2012
i saw a poster for Project X, and it came out in 2012 !
Guys we get it, the theaters been abandoned since 2012.
John Mon noooooooo
This whole building felt very liminal through the entire walkthrough. it had that late 1990s early 2000s vibe with it. also for anyone wondering why the power could've been on. sometimes for demo or renovation. they turn on the power if they can if they are going to part out and salvage anything inside the theater.
Doing this type of stuff would just scare the shit it of me. It's like a haunted house, but you have no idea where to go and you don't know that the next room doesn't have any "real" threats. This is just the second one of your videos that I've seen, but I plan on marathoning them as this does fascinate me. What is the creepiest/scariest/grossest thing you have encountered while exploring abandoned buildings?
Possibly the mall or hospital
the abandoned ayslum with secret underground tunnels does the job too
Loved this one. Great vid guys!
Aye wats up bro!!!
+SneakerHeadInTheBay YOOO! Weird seeing you on this vid!
+Griffin Hill I heard a girl crying for help at 6:11
SneakerHeadInTheBay i whould film a movie here I have a script I made it’s all done by me and that’s my kind of location to film there
No security? Who pay's for the power?
The bulding is verry clean for a abandoned bulding.
is that sabrina on your profile pic
An abandoned building doesn't always need to have mold every where and stuff
+Crazy Gekko Derp........................
+XXBlaze BombxX No she just means, it seems weird that it still has most things still working for an abandoned building.
It was abandoned in 2012 you can tell by the movies that they showed
This is by far the best abandoned exploration channel. No one else does research before hand, so it's mostly just guessing. Your editing it amazing!!
When you realize they were SO close to projecting a movie 😭
The film might not have survived the projector though. It was green shifted. I could tell just by the cameraman putting a light to the film reel.
Same response as when you realize you almost started a fire in the projector housing because you're fucking around with things you know nothing about!
@@javaking1000 it's a Xenon lamp! The worst it can do is take your face off
@@AAA11538 , If those clowns ran that projector without running the cooling fan it would have likely burst into flames!
The breaker tripped as the bulb overheated and tripped it as the extractor fan wasnt running. Even home projectors need a cooling fan running.....
Oooh man you do not want to turn those projector lights on without their fan. They explode with the force of a grenade!
I'd get the entire projection system running if I was there.
The breaker didn't fail, The Proper People it was the lamp safety internlocks that turned the ballast off.
Those lamps are under extreme(serveral thousand psi) pressure, and if one fails during operation, the case is meant to stop it from blowing the projectionist's head off.
I'd love to help you get the projectors running again, if you ever visit the place.
Too bad I'm not local.
***** Although I would never trespass, I would love to get that booth up and running again. I buy and rebuild old and new commercial movie projectors. I have 5 film projectors and boxes full of old and new movie trailers :)
fancysnake1 It'd be good to show people what theaters _were_, just by making it a museum type thing, where people could walk around somewhat freely(put locks on lamp compartments, plexi around the projector?)
Expose some kind of custom 35mm trailer with a seamless loop(kittens?), and splice it to roll continuously, maybe replace one lamp by an LED(and the other to be off and open for people to see the insides) to run for the entire duration of the day without being too expensive.
*****
That sounds like a fun project. It reminds me how when companies used to show off their film equipment at cinema conventions but only without using a lamp or film with any pictures on them. I think some of them might have though. I remember seeing a video of a projector prototype that had glass installed in part of the doors so you could see the innards of it all while it ran.
fancysnake1 Replacing parts of the casing with something like glass or plexi would be a nice idea to show the innarts of the projector running.
***** Almost all modern projectors have glass or plexi windows so you can see both the film side and in many cases, the gear side of the projector precisely because the projectionist needs to SEE what's going on with the film. Although I do admit that with the advent of the multiplex where the projectionist was never stationary at the single projector, the glass doors remained but the projectionist was rarely there to see anything. In fact, UA management stopped calling the booth guys "projectionists" altogether; they called them "film attendants." And we called UA management "assholes."
finally a new video, I just can't handle the waiting time between the videos ! Love your videos tho !
AFB 2 We're making them as fast as we can!
AFB 2 Can you come and check out my stuff?
+The Proper People I know you do it as fast as you can :D I'm just loving your videos so much !
must've shut down around 2012 because of the movies and when they came out
i dont understand why the companies would just leave everything there like that. It's mind blowing
Digital has taken over now. I don't think most companies even distribute film any more.
One of my favorites... I will cherish this one
The beginning is so aesthetically pleasing.
Looks like a really nice theater... Wonder why it closed and still has power?
Unless you're me and like trains.... :P I can see other people getting annoyed, but I also me just leaving it with power as it is...
Lol
+Thomas Blue The power is probably still on to prevent people from stealing the copper wiring
True...
+Michael Chapman copper wiring to what? is it supposed to shock you or something
The server racks or film controllers were probably repurposed in another theatre, I am surprised by how they still had running electrical service. When you said you "gained access," did you get someone's permission, or just find an open door?
+Blake-Technology! Found an open door
+The Proper People Whats the name of the song on your intro?
+ViperTechnologies Silences Await by cdk
Jamie Thompson THANKS!
+ViperTechnologies No problem
I'm a new subscriber to this channel and I have something to say.
You guys have really big balls to do this!
This theatre will never know the pain and terror of featuring the new 'Ghostbusters'
LMMFAO
Please call the ghostbusters immediately you just witnessed paranormal activity.
But we do have "Afterlife" to look forward to.
You guys are fun! Based on the relative date of closure, could be the owner or franchise didn't want to pay the conversion to digital projection. At a minimum of $70,000 USD per screen, some non-profitable properties just closed instead. Why the electric's on is puzzling, unless it's for perimeter lighting, freeze protection etc.
Oh man, that's a really good observation, and entirely true! They probably hope to sell it as a "second run" discount theater, or to re-purpose the place for something else.
Not a minimum of 70,000 per screen. With VPF deals the theatre owner wouldn't have to pay anything down even.
The lamp probably overheated and failed. It has to be cooled because of the intense heat it produces.
That's exactly what I was thinking. There's a reason that box has ducting going to it. I'm guessing that "finger chopper" also helps circulate the air to keep things from cooking
It overheated, but the heat circuitry tripped and shut it off, if they waited long enough for it to cool down, they could try again
It's always goos to see these places that are abandoned, but still have power, and have no disruptions. I mean some of the graffiti we see is super cool, but it's always nice when places are just left alone.
I've always dreamed of buying a theater. :)
Hope your dream comes true :)
alize0623 Picture this just hear me out! How about if you buy an movie theater and turn it into a concert venue! What do you think?
What a waste of a theater. Shame... Shame...
pretty much
Foxy The Pirate i really want to go exploring, but all my friends would just steal those speakers and break everything. But i found a friend to explor with and in about 2/3 hours there will be a video of us breaking in the old elementry school we were in. There were still computers, and beamers but we didn't take anything or destroy ;) please watch it :D only downside is that it's dutch but still cool to watch all those dj equipment and microphones :3
+Barry Soetorro I disagree about the location. Movie theaters are dying off everywhere because of online video streaming. Sadly, one day, there will be no movie theaters. I go to theaters because it's something I did so often as a child. I still do it to this day. The last movie I went to was Jurassic World. Two big theaters in my city went bankrupt a year ago. I dread the day they all die.
+largol33t1 chill out. movie theaters closes all the time. it doesn't mean they will all die out one day. just. cause one did or two. they just built a few new theaters in my area. so quit assuming. they will die out one day, yes. this year? no. next year? no. maybe in 20 years or so but not anytime soon.
hellomikie92
Why don't YOU close your mouth if you can't keep from attacking someone? I stated something that is a fact. There are no theaters within 20-30 miles of my neighborhood because the two that were there closed. Remember Blockbuster Video? All gone thanks to online video. Doesn't mean it can't happen to theaters. Drive in theaters have almost completely vanished and I've seen only one in my entire life. I could go on and on but there's no proof that they'll last forever. I haven't seen any new theaters being built so where's your proof?
Theatres from the 70s look so huge these days.
dangerouslytalented Regal Cinemas built and opened it in 1998. Pre-stadium seating style auditoriums make them look bigger
Night2010Fury
1998? Looking at the upholstery, they look so much older.
+Night2010Fury My town had one that was opened in '64 that looked real sweet for it's time. It was closed up namely due to consolidation within the chain and it was torn down, it's property is now the home of two pointless motels and an upcoming strip plaza.
+Christopher Sobieniak Sad. I hate that.
Night2010Fury It usually comes down to money with these companies, and that theater was in a good part of town. Of course it didn't help they had to cut the rooms in halves so they could run more movies later on.
vintagetoledotv.squarespace.com/other-vintage-print-ads/single-gallery/9234090
This was the cinema I went to at least once back in the late 90's. Some church now owns the lot for whatever they do there.
vintagetoledotv.squarespace.com/other-vintage-print-ads/single-gallery/20603933
Probably the bulb overheated and blew out since it doesn't look like y'all turned on the ventilation fans for the projector.
Nathan Oakes exactly
Exactly.. Without the ventilation fan those bulbs won't last that long
You could hear the fan on when he opens the cabinet. The breaker was just old so it tripped and broke.
+Xbox Randomness He turned it on but then he turned it off
What an incredible find!, good to see abandoned theater not totally vandalized, and ruined by scrappers.
I pretty much grew up coming to this theater every weekend. This is actually quite heart breaking. I'm still saddened by how it was taken care of properly and eventually closed. So many childhood and family memories here. Damn.
Wasn't *
+Geovanni Canales where is this at?
+Adam Vandermey He can't tell you or his comment will get deleted.
Brandon Raymond but I will I don't care i worked there its located in Florida this place is called las olas movie theater
+Brandon Raymond i worked there as well
LETS ALL GO TO THE LOBBY
LETS ALL GO TO THE LOB-
ok looking at the comments and hearing what he had originally mentioned about GAINING access to the old theater i come to these conclusions:
1. the theater still has power because someone still owns it. when he mentioned to remember which breakers were turned on that were previously off was out of respect. the owners probobly dont mind if you admire the fixtures or even if you find a film and watch it just as long as you cut the power after you are done. if i were the owner and some kid left the power on id be PISSED bc theaters are not cheap to run electricitywise and would probobly not allow folks to explore again.
that is why the place is not vandalised and everything is intact. perhaps the owners will reopen it in the future or they may gut everything sell the equipment and make the building into something else. only time shall tell.
thanks for sharing guys!!! gotta preserve the old pasttimes:)
If it still has power Iim going to throw a RAVE!!!!!!
+Renee Brown XD
+Renee Brown This comment deserves more likes
This was the movie theatre I used to go to growing up. You literally brought me back to my childhood. Thank you!
Was in theater in Florida? The murals in the auditorium were a common build/design theme for Cobb Theaters/Regal Cinemas locations in Florida that were built in the early and mid 90s. There are still a few locations that contain the murals in the larger auditoriums. If you're in South Florida, the Royal Palm 18 & Bell Tower 20 have similar murals and would've been built around the same time period - give or take - as this location
The people that own these theaters are usually either landlords that lease out the building/land to a theater company. So they leave the power on to show the building to people that may be interested in it for remodeling although most of the time it gets sold as-is to tear down for another company to build.
+Sulfen Man if I could go in there. I would only take the audio equipment. Just that. :D
Man, i would love to go on an adventure like this
this theater looks like a theater Ive dreamed about as a child...?
ikr something like we've always go to watch a movie and be at the arcade.
me too.
what, no way, that’s the exact reason I clicked on this video!
it looks weirdly familiar to me too
Me too
Incredible 35 millimeters projectors still ready to go ON! How amazing! A strange situation! BRAVO! Emmanuel from Paris
I love exploring abandoned buildings with friends especially of this size! Me and a few friends would always drive around the country exploring places like this here and there
wow, theater must of just closed. Was in great condition. Enjoyed the video a lot
+Abandoned Steve (Historical - Urbex) It closed in 2012 or 2013.
It closed in 2012
Projector movie film is extremely flammable, if you get it too close to the main bulb, it will instantly ignite. You guys could have easily started a huge fire.
I would have done the same thing. :D
No, you're thinking of the old nitrate film stock.
That's why you carry a fire extinguisher when you're doing stupid things for shits and giggles.
No it isn't. It's made out of polyester and doesn't burn. Nitrate film hasn't been used since the 1950's
I watched Inglourious Basterds where she burnt all Germans in her theatre with all the old reel films back of screen
0:51 Who remembers the odd life of Timothy green?
+WolveZZy I remember! I think I was 6 at that time but my mom took me to the movies and I saw that poster.. So weird to think it was that long ago.. I feel so old I'm 9 now
Rickivan_RICK Lol! Im 12 now, Been so long!
+Rickivan_RICK old? Lol I'm about to be 25 this year... THATS old. Enjoy your childhood kid, I promise it goes by so fast ...
+Rickivan_RICK you seem verbose for a 9 year old.
Me
Interesting videos of these places that are not used anymore for some strange or not so stage reason. Glad to see u guys just going in,taking video, remembering what they once were, and not stealing or vandalizing anything. Some of these videos are a learning experience. And while watching them picturing them as when they were in full operation. Our town has had plenty of these buildings, and just tore them down, some were in very good condition and had historic value. One was a huge beautiful theater, that had a fire by stage, but it was repairable, it had ornate artwork painted on the ceiling around a gold dome, and was very upscale inside. The whole city was upset when it was torn down instead of restored.
I’m a electrician and watching you guys mess with the electrical panels was awesome. Very entertaining
Dammit guys, you blew out the bulb by not powering up the cooler. Now nobody else will be able to go urban exploring just to enjoy the good old 35mm film that most theatres have sadly abandoned.
2:22 jurassic park turning on the auxillary power
oh my god those cinematic shots are to die for
This is probably the best abandoned theater I've seen. I love abandoned places, especially malls and theaters. It's not often that I find a good abandoned theater video to watch, and this one was awesome. Y'all did a great job of getting every little thing, and the fact that the theater still had power made it that much cooler. I used to manage at a theater, but all of our projectors were digital, so I never learned the art of being a projectionist, so this is the closest I've ever been to a projector. Also, my theater was relatively small, so seeing one this big is amazing. Thanks so much for this video guys! If y'all know of any cool places in Dallas, Texas to explore, let me know! :)
The intro for thos was amazing!!! The best I've seen on any exploring channel!!! The music fit perfectly with the changes of sence! Love it
It's not abandoned if it still has power... It's just vacant
CoD 4 Vacant?? XD
billy the newbz, let's do this
A word of strong warning to anyone that comes across a xenon cinema projection lamp they are under very high internal pressure and will explode like a fragmentation grenade from the slightest stress seriously injuring or blinding anyone in close proximity ,, do not tamper with or handle then ,, projectionists have to wear full face and body protection when working with those lamps and trust me if you have ever seen one explode you would understand why...
Allrock123 Would have served this kids right to have been dealt such a blow.
Are Xenons lamps common? Because in the late 80s early 90s we ran projectors without any protective gear.
re: " we ran projectors without any protective gear."
Gads, man, he's referring to CHANGING THE BULBS. If you didn't wear goggles, protective gear, you could die a slow painful death ...
If you guys get the chance, you should try exploring the abandoned Summit Place Mall here in Michigan.
This was so fun to watch - the fact that it still had power and wasn't abandoned for too long - too bad you couldn't get any projectors to work..that would have been amazing!
This reminded me of Fight Club when Tyler Durden is splicing porno in to kids films. "Thats when you'll catch a look at Tyler's handy work".
The projectors are actually threaded with film. Most of the film you saw on the floor were probably previews. They used to come in small rolls that projectionists would have to manually splice together into packages before the main movie print played. Fun fact: The Christie series projectors that you encounter in this theater pull film from the center of the reel, which lays flat on one of the three horizontal platters next to the projector. The film runs through the projector and is fed back through to the platter where it gets re-wound around a metal ring that sits in the center of an empty platter. And, yes, you overheated the projector because while there is a fan going, it is not the MAIN vent required to keep the bulb cool. The power for that would have been in the circuit breaker panel to the right of the projection window, along with other controls such as house lights, audio system, etc.
+thenewBMW Also: This series of projectors are no longer widely used. Most film projection (at major chains such as Regal and Century, at least) are now all digital. This is the old 'analogue' system. That would probably explain why this theater is abandoned. The Christie series projectors were difficult to learn technical maintenance for and become certified to operate, expensive to repair and required cleaning off fine purple dust from the film print at least twice daily. They also required a separate sound system. (While many film prints had an 'analog' soundtrack located on the side of the filmstrip. this was mostly used as a 'cue track' for a digital soundtrack supplied in the form of a CD to be loaded and played through the sound system simultaneously. ) The new digital projectors are far less complicated to operate and no longer require a projectionist to manually 'splice' films together. (They arrive in up to 3 different cans in as many as 9 reels. They must be attached in sequential order and then previewed to ensure they are not damaged in the process. When the run for a film is over, they must then be broken down, placed back on their separate reels and returned to the film distributor.)
+thenewBMW that's not even analog, that's film
Film has an analog sound strip embedded in one side of the strip, next to the image, to sync the audio track (which is on a separate CD) with the film images. In the event of CD failure or damage, the analog sound strip can also act as a substitute, though there will be a noticeable difference in sound quality. Without the analog soundtrack included, it would be extremely difficult to synchronize the audio and visual outputs.
I'm not asking this with the intent of being cruel or condescending, but are you aware of what the word "Analog" means?
Analog - (of a device or system) in which the value of a data item (such as time) is represented by a continuous(ly) variable physical quantity that can be measured (such as the shadow of a sundial)
It means that a manual, physical device is responsible for a measurement or quantification as opposed to "Digital" in which the action of measurement or counting is done by electronic means.
The sound strip located on the side of the film strip in between the frame images and the gear slots on the far edge includes magnetic markers which signal track changes on the theater's sound system, which is housed in a nearby but separate unit from the projector. When the magnetic strip passes through the projector, a reader designed to pick up on just that exact marker transmits the signal to the sound unit to skip to the next track, ensuring that the film remains in perfect sync with the sound. This is why I referred to this setup as an "Analog" system, as it relies on a physical apparatus (film and CD combination) to project the image/sound and a physically present means of synchronization for the two.
Digital projectors need none of these things: The data is transmitted into the projector already synchronized fully in one signal without the need for a separate audio unit or a physical copy of the images to be present.
Those aren't Christie projectors. They are strong "millenniums" on xetron consoles with strong platters and xetron maxi 12 automations. The one they were messing with had both a Dolby digital (SR-D) and SDDS penthouse readers.
The digital sound is printed on the film not on CD's for the two systems shown here. The optical track is NOT used to sync any digital system. DTS uses its own specific time code track and Dolby Digital and SDDS also have their own tracks printed on the film. Why do you talk about things you obviously know nothing about? Like seriously? What do you do for a living so I can go post some complete nonsense on a video about that?!
Literally my first priority would have been trying to turn on the Escalators and then once I finished that I'd go get my laptop and a projector and watch something
You wouldn't have been able to watch anything, those are film projectors, they don't project video sources.
i live down the road from there and you guys brought so many good memories back. i loved that movie theaters. It would be awesome to go back and check it out with some cool people like you guys.
I was a projectionist and they used to tell us to wear special protection for handling bulbs because if they break they go off like a grenade. I winced when he picked one up and was waving it around. he had no idea he was handling a mini bomb. The interlock for the lamp compartment was stopping restriking the lamp - good thing as you shouldnt have the door open for explosion safety when the bulb is running. Theres a lot of things that have to be done right when lacing a projector to get it to run and not rip the film apart. Nice try tho.
That bulb you guys touched is effectively useless now. When you touch those things with your bare hands the oils from your skin rub off, those bulbs burn SO hot that that oil will instantly boil melting the glass and creating a weak point, causing the bulb the shatter. It was probably shit anyway given the fact that it was just loose in the breaker room, but ya know, "The More You Know".
Ben Phillips "the more you know" it had its protective covering on it.
I used to frequent this theater. It was in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Since torn down.
What was it called ?
@@jpratm1993 I don't exactly remember to be honest! But it was at the Fort Lauderdale River walk. Most of which has been torn down and made into apartments.
@@mht6848 thanks for responding. I'll try and find out.
@@mht6848 was it La Olas Movie Theatre?
@@jpratm1993 If you go on Google Maps or Google Earth on a computer only, you can look back at the historic street view images to see back when it was still there. It was on SW 1st Ave in Fort Lauderdale Florida. I have seen it on there before, the name was clearly visible. I just don't feel like getting my computer out for you lol
I would've turned all the lights on except the outside lights
Try Orion Me too lol
brought like 2 movie and a class room projector
Try Orion i would have made a giant batch of popcorn, turned on all the lights, hired a staff, and re opened the theater.
could i have 80 percent of
jtbedazzle Except there wouldn't be any FILM to run. The studios are not making motion picture film any more. You'd have very good projection equipment but for the wrong format. Unless you put in an $80,000 digital projector, you'd have nothing to put in those machines.
So figure to retrofit that 14 plex with 14 DLPs would cost over a million dollars. And THAT is why the owner walked way from the property...nothing to play on those perfectly good 35mm projectors.
It is the same story with LOTS of theatres that were marginally profitable with film the economics just were there; they just couldn't make the transition to digital because of the cost. If you are operating on a very small profit margin with film, there is little chance that you would every be able to recoup the investment costs you would have to incurr to convert to digital. It would take decades to ever get your money back, if ever. Digital was lethal for many theatres.
I'm getting extremely nostalgic watching this.
It's a shame so many people break into these places and trash them. Nice video guys. Glad to see you enjoy what you do and take care of where you explore.
you guys fricken rock! i just discovered you and i'm obsessed. i am def subscribing!
"No wonder this place sucked.." lmao!
This isn't really abandoned, this is just breaking and entering
***** We never B&E, we always find our way in through some other way that's already open. If there is no entrance, we don't go in. The only reason we don't show our entrance on video is because we don't want to give others watching a roadmap of exactly how to get in. That will lead to a place getting vandalized fast.
Is it just me or did audio cut out at end for a few seconds?
King Ham Oops
+King Ham same
The Proper People you guys should a collaboration with exploring with josh just saying
this was one of the coolest videos so far. you should go back with someone with more advance knowledge in electronics and try to get a movie running. Honestly that would probably be the best urbex video anyone has ever done. you have become my favorite explorer. keep doing what youre doing!
Looks almost exactly like the Green Hills Regal theater here in Nashville. That was built sometime in the late 80's/early 90's, has a very similar asethetic with all the loud colors and neon lights, had a similar thing where you entered on the top floor, bought your ticket then went down the escalator to the entrance for the theaters. That place does a good business though, yeah the interior is kind of dated but its very well kept/clean.
Also keep in mind that ALL movie theaters use digital projectors now days. That might have been one of the reasons they closed up, I'm sure upgrading the projectors would have been a substantial 6 figure sum. If the theater wasn't making the numbers, no sense in sinking all that money in there.
The decor is awesome there, hope someone reopens it.
this is the best pancake recipe I have ever seen.
so true
...
+Urbex US LPL
+Urbex US Pancake recipe?
did you come from a pancake recipe?... i came from mystery skulls ghost
I love your guys exploration videos! There awesome :p Keep up the good work!
Thanks!
Np :p
Did you guys get cellphone reception in there? If not, I wonder if theaters have signal blockers to prevent illegal retransmission of movies. If so, I would've Googled up how to start a movie on a theater projector.
This is definitely one of the most enjoyable UA-cam videos I've ever seen in my life. I cannot freaking BELIEVE how much stuff got left behind in this movie theater after it got shut down. Unfortunately, it's this way with probably all movie theaters that get shut down. It's so ironic. Thousands or millions of dollars get poured into movie theaters and when they get shut down, it seems that absolutely nothing gets taken, as if the employees left in a hurry. They do not take the seats, decorations, lights, posters, film reels, projectors, wiring, NOTHING!! It goes to show you how wasteful companies can be. I used to go to the Westland General Cinema 8 movie theater here in Columbus, Ohio. It got shut down in like 2000, then a few years later, they opened it back up as a dollar theater, then it got shut down again for good. It's no wonder why people often take things from abandoned places. They SHOULD take them, because no one else is. You can't steal trash. If I were you, I would take every single thing out of this movie theater that you possibly can and give it away or sell it. If it was so important to them, they would have taken it. Another thing that you can do is go back to that theater and write down all of the information that you can about the projectors, then do an online search about how to operate those kinds of projectors, then come back and hook it up if you can so that you can watch a movie!
OMG THIS IS THE BEST CHANNEL EVER!!!!
I was expecting a ghost train to pass though the theatre.
Those aesthetics tho
mac
though
+james771234 shush
+Nissan GTR no u
a e s t h e t i c
Nice... Old Xetron lamphouses with exhaust fan and door interlocks bypassed. Hope you two didn't look directly at the xenon arc, and glad you walked away without the overheated bulb exploding in your face. Definitely good that you didn't play with any of the others.
Man, this is sad. I went there when that whole complex was brand new. Amazing shops, restaurants, bars... My mind was blown that you could buy a beer and go see a movie. Last I saw in 2012 the whole thing was falling apart. Damn shame.
Gotta' love CSX! They insist on running their trains on lines built incredibly close to buildings like that movie theater! Hell, why the fuck did they build that so close to the tracks, I will never know. And if I ever saw a movie at that particular theater, I would get distracted and want to go railfan instead! LOL Or simultaneously watch both the train and the movie!