WEBVTT - What's the Best Place To Sit In A Movie Theater?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>it's Christian Seger. And let me tell you I love

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<v Speaker 1>going to the movies, but I have often experienced that

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<v Speaker 1>awkward moment when you walk into the movies with friends

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<v Speaker 1>and you all kind of have a quick discussion. It

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<v Speaker 1>can sometimes get heated about where you want to sit

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<v Speaker 1>down to watch the film. Now, everybody has their preference.

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<v Speaker 1>Some people like to sit towards the front, some people

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<v Speaker 1>towards the back. The good news is that most modern

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<v Speaker 1>theaters are built in such a way that almost anywhere

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<v Speaker 1>you sit, you're going to have a pretty good experience.

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<v Speaker 1>And it actually starts with the seating because it's way

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<v Speaker 1>more plush than it used to be. If you go

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<v Speaker 1>to an older or discount theater, sometimes you'll still feel

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<v Speaker 1>the hard seats that fold down and they're not super

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<v Speaker 1>comfortable to spend two hours in. But most modern theaters

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<v Speaker 1>have really plush seats, and their backs are higher, the

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<v Speaker 1>armrests can fold down or up. You have to put

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<v Speaker 1>your cup there. Sometimes they even have trays that slide

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<v Speaker 1>out like that like you're on an airplane or something.

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<v Speaker 1>Their stadium seating, though, and that has really changed things

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<v Speaker 1>because theaters used to be built with a grade of

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<v Speaker 1>about fifteen degrees from the front to the back to

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<v Speaker 1>theoretically give you a good view over the heads of

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<v Speaker 1>other viewers, but now it's actually terraced so that it's

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<v Speaker 1>a rise of about twelve to fifteen inches per roh.

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<v Speaker 1>So no matter how many fools are coming into your

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<v Speaker 1>theater and sitting down with giant hats or big hair

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<v Speaker 1>dues and sitting in front of you, you're still going

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<v Speaker 1>to be able to see pretty well. But aside from comfort,

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<v Speaker 1>the really big thing that you want to take into

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<v Speaker 1>consideration is sound. We live in a time when theater

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<v Speaker 1>sound has been amped up to super digital magic. Really

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<v Speaker 1>the best place is going to be about two thirds

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<v Speaker 1>back from the front and toward the middle. The sound

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<v Speaker 1>engineers balance out a theater, and the way they do

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<v Speaker 1>it is they will sit in that exact position and

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<v Speaker 1>balance out everything from that spot, so that if you're

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<v Speaker 1>sitting right there, it's completely balanced and you almost get

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<v Speaker 1>a neutral sound. But if you shift just a seat

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<v Speaker 1>or two left or right, you're actually going to get

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<v Speaker 1>a more dynamic, stereo kind of sound. But if you

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<v Speaker 1>just want to sit wherever you want, look that's cool,

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<v Speaker 1>but just know you might not be getting the best

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<v Speaker 1>possible sound experience, so pick your seat and have a

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<v Speaker 1>great time at the movies. Check out the brainstuff channel

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<v Speaker 1>on YouTube, and for more on this and thousands of

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<v Speaker 1>other topics, visit how stuff works dot com.