Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2009 July 6

= July 6 =

Chinese music
1. Is there a genre called 抒情音乐? If so: 2. What is the name of the equivalent (or most similar) genre in English (music)? 3. Examples of some of the best 抒情音乐?

Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.189.59.246 (talk) 05:14, 6 July 2009 (UTC)


 * I haven't heard of that as a specific musical style, but it literally means expressing a sound of happiness, or just "happy sounding." There is a lot of happy sounding English music - how about Shiny Happy People. --  k a i n a w &trade; 12:51, 6 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Try finding about it in Chinese Wikipedia if you know Chinese. It translates something as love song in English. I don't know the genres but I think that's the meaning of those words. --98.154.26.247 (talk) 05:44, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

I found http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/抒情文 which suggests that 抒情 can also be a literary genre. 抒情 literally means to express your emotions (I passed A-Level Chinese). Hope this helps everyone find out more. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 218.186.10.235 (talk) 10:39, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Film
Say you want to start a cinema in your town, where do you get your films from? Is there a place online where they order films from? The big circular kind that gets transported in big circular metal containers. And what if you want to run a old film no longer in production, from say the 80's?--77.166.165.137 (talk) 10:47, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

This site (http://www.independentcinemaoffice.org.uk/) might be some help. Their FAQ section has some useful info. It has a question "I am thinking about opening an Independent Cinema, how do I get started?" which links to this pdf (http://www.independentcinemaoffice.org.uk/pdf/atacinemanearyou.pdf) which should be well worth reading. Sorry if you're not UK but since not specified I just went with one I could find. I assume the same sort of info is (largely) relevant for other nations. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 11:35, 6 July 2009 (UTC)


 * Begin with lists of film distributors: http://www.filmforum.org/distributor.html Pepso2 (talk) 13:01, 6 July 2009 (UTC)


 * I have started a few theaters. You will need a distributor.  This is something you want to get in order before you build the business plan.  The distributor will tell you what your minimum/maximum ticket price will be based on the type of movies you will be showing.  For example, if you do second run you may be told you can charge $3-$6/ticket, but first run may be $7-$15/ticket.  You must then work with the distributor to see how much of the ticket price you will keep.  It is very (VERY) little.  Another example: I used a Miramax distributor for one theater.  The distributor took 30% of ticket sales.  The producing company took 50% of ticket sales.  The shipping company took 10% of ticket sales.  Federal tax was 5% of ticket sales.  That is 95% of ticket sales, leaving me with 5% of the ticket sale.  Obviously, the theater failed. --  k a i n a w &trade; 14:15, 6 July 2009 (UTC)
 * I've always heard that the profit margin is in the popcorn and other refreshments. Not so? Deor (talk) 21:46, 6 July 2009 (UTC)
 * When you are struggling to keep 5% of ticket sales, it should be obvious that the profit is in concessions. There are other tricks though.  One I exploited as much as possible is free tickets.  If you don't sell a ticket, you don't have to give any of the ticket price away (but you lose 5% of the sale).  However, when a person gets a free ticket, he or she is much more likely to purchase concessions.  So, I gave away the maximum number of free tickets allowed by the distributor each week. --  k a i n a w &trade; 13:02, 7 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Concessions? Where I come from, "concessions" at a theatre/cinema would refer to tickets offered at a reduced price, eg. for students, children, OAPs.  Popular screenings might advertise "No concessions", meaning only full-priced tickets are available.  I guess an American seeing that would bring his own popcorn...  Gwinva (talk) 22:26, 7 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Indeed. Here in the States, what you refer to as concessions would most likely be called a discount, e.g. "senior discount" for those over 65 years of age, "student discount" which is generally only for college students since they often pay their own bills, etc.  In the States, concessions, in this context, mean popcorn, soda/pop/drinks, candy, etc.  Dismas |(talk) 01:40, 8 July 2009 (UTC)


 * In the U.S., movie theaters originally banned all food and drink from the theater. To attract people (and attempt to limit food and drink being smuggled in), a concession stand was put in that sold allowed food and drink.  The term "concession" implied that the food and drink sold was not banned from the theater. --  k a i n a w &trade; 12:30, 8 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Interesting..thanks! I'm always intrigued to discover just how much we are "divided by a common language"! Gwinva (talk) 20:54, 8 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Then you might be interested in this blog. 89.168.106.72 (talk) 21:27, 8 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks! Looks interesting. Gwinva (talk) 03:13, 9 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Kainaw, are you sure about that explanation? I always thought it meant that the cinema (or other organisation, e.g. an airport) gave a "concession" to another company to sell its products there. I can't find much evidence either way from a quick search, but Concession (contract) seems to give my idea some support. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 08:39, 9 July 2009 (UTC)


 * At an airport, the concession is to another company. In a movie theater, the concession is run by the theater itself.  My explanation may be reworded as: There is a concession to sell another company's products.  Either way, the concession items are allowed and all other food and drink is banned.  This entire thing can easily be muddied by a popularity of the 60's - the drive-in movie.  Many drive-in movies did give concession to other businesses to push carts around the car lot and sell food and drink.  But, the word "concession" was already popular in the movie theater business by then.  Of course, I got my information on this from working in the movie theater industry and, as with any other industry, the stories about history may very well be false.  Regardless, "concessions" in a United States movie theater refers to the food and drink, not free or discounted tickets. --  k a i n a w &trade; 13:02, 9 July 2009 (UTC)


 * "The distributor will tell you what your minimum/maximum ticket price will be based on the type of movies you will be showing" - that is somewhat alarming. It is your theatre, so as long as the distributer gets paid, why should that have any influence on your theatre's ticket price?  Astronaut (talk) 05:27, 11 July 2009 (UTC)


 * They get paid a percentage of the ticket sales. If you agree to give them 50% of sales in a market where all tickets are $10/ticket, they expect $5/ticket.  Then, if you charge $1/ticket, you just cut $4.50/ticket out of the distributor's pocket.  So, they aren't getting paid.  Also, it may be your theater, but it isn't your movie.  The owner of the movie still has say over when it may be shown, where it may be shown, and what the cost of viewing will be. --  k a i n a w &trade; 12:31, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

USSR pop song
does anybody knows a 1980s English language pop song, whose refrain says "USSR..."?? Tnx! --Sailko (talk) 18:57, 6 July 2009 (UTC)
 * "Back in the U.S.S.R." by The Beatles, maybe?  The left orium  19:22, 6 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Of course, the OP is 20 years off from that one, but that's the only major song I can think of that uses USSR in the chorus... --Jayron32. talk . contribs 20:23, 6 July 2009 (UTC)
 * I tried on youtube and it's not... it's more likely a dance song (italo disco maybe). Dunno, but thanks +for help. --Sailko (talk) 20:38, 6 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Found on youtube, ut was Eddy Huntington - U.S.S.R. :) --Sailko (talk) 20:43, 6 July 2009 (UTC)