Static structures (e.g. – buildings) – With stadium or auditorium feature – Movable stage
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-19
2001-07-03
Cuomo, Peter M. (Department: 3636)
Static structures (e.g., buildings)
With stadium or auditorium feature
Movable stage
C052S064000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06253494
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to theater and stage design, and more particularly, to a novel and unique rotating theater and rotating stage design that produces seamless screen to stage and stage to screen transitions.
2. Descritpion of Related Art
The performing arts have long been a cornerstone of society. Throughout history, the performing arts have played an important role in the expression of a society's values, virtues, and vices. With such a crucial and central role in society, the performing arts have become a part of the essential fabric of a society. Before the advent of motion pictures, the theater experience consisted of live performances. Live theater is exciting and vibrant where the enthusiasm of the performers and the excitement of the performance is easily felt by the audience. Live theater is a richly rewarding experience for both young and old.
With the advent of motion pictures, new vistas and avenues of opportunities and new and different means and forms of expression became available that heretofore simply did not exist. Cinema provides the performing artist and the many other creative people involved with the performing arts with a wonderful vehicle with which to capture and express all the joys and all the sorrows of the human experience. Movies provide an audience with aspects of a performance not readily available to live theater or with aspects not possible with a live performance, for example, breathtaking panoramic views, action sequences that require large areas and/or large numbers of people, the passionate and emotional closeups, and of course, the spine-tingling cinematic special effects. Movies provide elements of excitement and entertainment simply not available to live theater. The excitement of watching a “Starship” warp through space or a person dangling perilously over a cliff thousands of feet in the air or feeling the emotional intimacy provided by a closeup view of an actor's face which reveals all the anguish or happiness of an emotion so stirringly captured in the actor's eyes cannot be achieved in a live performance.
Both live theater and motion pictures have their own unique gifts and qualities and their own special offerings. Each art form has its own special attributes that cannot be duplicated by the other. Each has its own elements of drama and excitement. Each provides its audience with a memorable experience and with a desire to come back for more again and again. Each art form is alive and well, in fact, each is thriving as is evidence by the enormous financial success of many movies and plays.
The related art describes a few innovations designed to enhance the entertainment experience of the performing arts patron. For example, an advanced state of the art movie theater whose building is formed in the shape of a spherical geodesic dome is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,885,878 issued on Dec. 12, 1989 to G. Wuu. The building for the theater has a dome-like spherical configuration that is formed of geodesic triangular panels. The inner wall surface of the building functions as a curved motion picture screen surface and provides at least 300 degrees of an arc for projecting the movie. A platform within the dome is spaced upwardly a predetermined height from the bottom surface of the building. An electronic control system is used to tilt the platform upwardly and downwardly in any direction about its vertical axis in all 360 degrees. The electronic system is coordinated with the motion picture to be viewed to give the viewer a vivid sensation of seeing and feeling the action in a story as if being there.
An audiovisual display system for displaying three dimensional images that includes an image source for projecting an image in a predetermined direction is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,276 issued on May 17, 1994 to K. Taaffe. A stage contained within the audiovisual display system provides a setting for the video image. The audiovisual display system displays three dimensional images along a line of sight to be viewed by a viewer. A transparent screen is disposed between the predetermined direction of the video image and the stage and is oriented at an angle less than 90 degrees to the line of sight and less than 90 degrees from the predetermined direction so that a viewer is able to view the stage and the image projected on the transparent screen so that the image appears to be positioned on the stage to the viewer.
A permanently fixed theater construction comprising a ground level lobby and a projection screen that are at opposite ends of the construction is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,669 issued on Nov. 28, 1995 to L. Alter. A seating region on a support floor is angled downwardly from the lobby into a pit towards the projection screen. An entrance to and an exit from the seating region are both provided at the floor level through the lobby and there is a projection room with a projector in the lobby. The projection room includes a projection window above the floor level of the lobby facing the projection screen and the projector itself is movable from a first set up and maintenance position at the floor level to a second operating position level with the projection window. The projector when moved to the operating position projects a large format film to the screen.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. The prior art does not describe any entertainment platform as innovative and novel as the multi-entertainment or “Multex” platform of the present invention. The present invention combines the best of both cinema and live theater into a single enormously entertaining and engaging entertainment platform. There clearly exists the unfulfilled need for an entertainment platform that combines the best of both worlds.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a stage and motion picture screen arrangement that creates seamless transitions from screen to stage and from stage to screen. It is another object of the invention to provide a novel and innovative form of entertainment that combines both the key elements of a motion picture and a live performance into a single entertainment experience.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a theater design that utilizes the unique features and characteristics of multi-entertainment.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a form of entertainment whereby the transition from screen to stage and from stage to screen is invisible producing a smooth continuous effect. It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in a stage design and in a theater design for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
The “Multex” stage design comprises a theatre stage and motion picture screen arrangement that allows the audience to experience continuous uninterrupted entertainment on screen and on stage with seamless transitions between stage to screen and screen to stage. The transition from stage to screen and from screen to stage occurs without any discontinuity. These seamless transitions allow the audience to remain continuously focused throughout the entire performance with no break in the action. The fading of the action on the screen and the lighting of the stage is done in such a manner that there is no perceptible discontinuity or interruption in the action viewed by the audience.
The theatre stage of the present invention includes an upper stage with an opening for raising and lowering scenes onto and off of the stage, and a lower preparation area for set design, dressing rooms and storage. The multi-transforming stage also includes a set transport mechanism that eases movement and storage of the sets on the theatre stage.
The large movie screen and the dome ceiling screen provides the audience with a sense of participation in the actio
Cuomo Peter M.
Ellis Venable & Busam LLP
Tran Hanh V.
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