Lakeport >> The movie theater experience, even for the best of us, can feel overwhelming at times. The extreme high volumes and the bright flashing screen in an almost pitch black room, packed with dozens of people doesn’t always make for the friendliest of environments.
Now, imagine trying to go to the movies with a sensory processing disorder.
Little things that may not bother most, things like sitting still in a movie seat for two hours, become a seemingly impossible task to accomplish. Couple in all the other elements of the movie going experience, and the thought of going to watch a film at the local theater with somebody with sensory issues becomes daunting, to say the least.
Enter Lakeport Cinema 5 and general manager Justin Hamaker. Lakeport Cinema recently began a special program aimed specifically at those who might be overwhelmed by the traditional movie experience, in order to give those who might not get to enjoy the big screen a chance to attend.
“I have a friend who has an autistic son, and that’s what really brought it to my awareness that there’s a need for this kind of thing,” said Hamaker. “Also, we had a local group come in that rented an auditorium about a year ago. This has been a growing thing as parents realize theaters have the ability to do these shows … It won’t appeal to everybody, but the people it matters to have been asking.”
The old rulebook for movie conduct is tossed out to make the experience more pleasant for those attending the special showings. The volume in the auditorium is turned down significantly, and the lights are left on. All previews are removed from the beginning of the movie to help control the ambient level and tone of the movie. Audience members are permitted to move around and talk freely. A closed captioning system is also employed, which puts all the movie dialogue up on the screen to help patrons follow along.
“Feedback from parents is that it makes it easier for some kids to follow along to see the words. Also, for some of the adults who don’t need the adjustments, it makes it easier for some of the adults to see the dialogue,” Hamaker added. “We don’t police people talking. People who come to the shows are in the habit of talking to themselves, some out loud. Sometimes they need to get up and move around, and we want to make an environment for them to get up and move around; whatever they need to view the movie comfortably.”
The first special showing was on June 27, when the theater screened “Inside Out” for those with special sensory needs, about a week after the movie was released. They also hold sensory sensitive showings of their free weekly kids’ movie. The next new release to be shown will be “Minions” on Saturday, July 18 at 11 a.m. Though regular matinee prices are charged for the showings of new releases, that’s not the theater’s focus for the events.
“It’s not been a huge turnout, but it’s one of those things that, now we’ve realized there’s a demand, it’s more just a service to offer than trying to make a profit off of,” said Hamaker. “If we got a huge turnout, we’d be delighted.”
According to Hamaker, although currently their movie choices are focusing on popular children’s movies, there is a possibility they will extend the program to more adult-oriented films in the future. He noted that the theater has had adult patrons suffering from trauma, as well as sensory difficulties, attend the showings.
“The big thing is we really want to make this a real positive experience for these families who don’t get to go to the movies on a regular basis because of concern of others,” he said. “They’re aware the person they’re bringing would be a disruption. They know the regular environment is too much for their person to handle, be it too loud or too dark, whatever. We just want to make a safe positive environment for these people to watch and enjoy the movie.”
Though the idea isn’t entirely new to the movie theater business, it’s only in recent years that the technology, specifically the advent of digital printers replacing the film reel, which would require multiple reels of 35mm film to project captions, has become available and commonplace enough to permit these shows targeted at groups with special needs to occur.
“With digital print, pretty much every movie we play we have the ability to run open captions on,” Hamaker said. “Film requires a separate 35 strip for captions. We only did it once, and it was so hard to do … it’s not something that was viable. Now with digital, we’re looking for any opportunity we can to provide these things.”
As part of the closed captioning system, the theater also has available a “descriptive narration” feature that provides those who are visually impaired with a headset, which provides a narrative of the action in the movie along with the dialogue to allow them to more fully enjoy the film. This program for the sensory sensitive is currently being used at Lakeport Cinema 5’s sister theater, Paradise Cinema 7, in Paradise, but the hope is to spread it even further.
“The owner of our company, Scott Lotter, does a lot of work with the theater association. He’s communicating with other theater owners all over the country on a regular basis relaying positive feedback we’ve gotten,” said Hamaker. “We’re really trying to encourage other theaters to be proactive in reaching out to their viewers with systems like this.”
Doors will open for the special showing of Minions at 10:30 a.m. Matinee tickets are $7.50 per person for non-3D movies.
Lakeport Cinema 5 is located at 52 Soda Bay Road in Lakeport. Call 263-4144 for information on the sensory sensitive showings.
