BENTONVILLE -- There were about 50 people in line to see the first film screened in a cinetransformer at the Bentonville Film Festival on Wednesday.
It was 45 minutes before the 10:30 a.m. showing of Hello, My Name is Doris starring Sally Field. The sun was out, and festivalgoers in line waited with anticipation.
Cinetransformer Schedules
Today:
Honey Bee - 10:30 a.m. April and the Extraordinary World; 2 p.m. Citizen Solider; 5 p.m. Running Wild; 8 p.m. Embers
Razorback - 10 a.m. TBA; 1:30 p.m. Waiting for B; 4:30 p.m. The Incomparable Rose Hartman; 7:30 p.m. Fair Market Value
Mockingbird - 11:30 a.m. Raising Bertie; 2:30 p.m. The Three Hikers; 5:30 p.m. Floyd Norman: An Animated Life; 8:30 p.m. Five Nights in Maine
Saturday:
Honey Bee - 11:30 a.m. Ace the Case AKA Kid Witness; 2 p.m. Race: Jesse Owens Story
Razorback - 10 a.m. Swing Away; 12:30 p.m. Saved by Grace; 2:30 p.m. The Founders
Mockingbird - 10:15 a.m. Lost and Found; 1 p.m. Albion; 3:30 p.m. God’s Not Dead 2
Winning films will be shown in the cinetransformers Sunday from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Film screening times and venues are subject to change. Download the Bentonville Film Festival app for the latest updates.
Source: Staff report
Festival volunteers organized people in line by those who had tickets, those who had festival passes and those who had neither but still wanted to see the film. The third group would be granted admission if space was available after ticket and passholders were allowed in.
Liz Bassler of Bentonville and Liz Driver of Rogers were about eight people back in the line without tickets. Both said they were not aware they could get individual tickets in advance online.
"It was confusing," Bassler said. "We really wanted to see the movie, but we got mixed messages of how to do it. Part of us didn't want to come because we didn't know if it would work out or not."
But the two came, got in line and waited. And waited. Seconds seemed like minutes and minutes seemed like hours. The concern about not being able to get in grew as the ticket and passholder lines lengthened.
About 10:15 a.m. tickets were collected and people started filing into the mobile theater that was wrapped in the festival's logos and colors. The process was calculated. A volunteer clicked a counter as each person stepped into the souped-up, transformed tractor-trailer.
Eighty, 81, 82... There are 91 seats in the 53-foot-long mobile theater.
Driver was 83. Bassler was 84. They were in.
The cinetransformers are new to the festival this year. The Honey Bee Cinetransformer is on North Main Street across from 21c Museum Hotel. The Razorback Cinetransformer is on Northeast Second Street just east of the BFF Village, which is north of 21c. The Mockingbird Cinetransformer is just southeast of the Razorback one on Northeast B Street.
The use of them narrowed the footprint of the festival, condensing it mostly to downtown. That makes the festival more walkable and requires less volunteers and city resources, officials have said.
The theaters are powered by their own generators and include restrooms, a ticket booth and a concession stand, said Leo Flowers, tour manager for Cinetransformer International.
"We have pretty much everything you have in a movie theater set up right here," he said, adding that one can be set up in about two hours.
The ticket booths and concession stands haven't been in use during this festival. Volunteers and staff organize the admission process for each film. They sell tickets at the venue when space is available.
Bassler and Driver made their way down the slight incline in the Honey Bee Cinetransformer.
A cinetransformer employee helped organize seating, asking guests their names and introducing them to people they would be sitting next to as the final seats were filled.
The seats were plush blue, equipped with cup holders in between each one.
Commercials for the festival and its sponsors played while people got seated.
Lights that lined the ceiling dimmed as the movie began to play. The rated R comedy told the story of a 60-something year old woman who, inspired by a self-help seminar, romantically pursues her much younger co-worker.
The computer cursor could be seen directing actions to get the movie started. The volume bar was visible as the sound level was adjusted. It gave the feel of a home movie screening while the amenities, decor and comfort gave the feel of a typical movie theater.
The audience roared with laughter throughout the movie. Then about halfway through, the film, submitted in digital form, began to shudder. The first couple of times it corrected itself within a second or two.
With 12 minutes left, the glitch couldn't correct itself. Officials stopped the movie to fix it.
The audience sighed and people murmured to each other. Flowers told everyone the issue was being fixed and that movie would be back on shortly. He checked to make sure everyone was comfortable.
"I was just sitting there so afraid we weren't going to get to see how the movie ended," Driver said after the film. Driver and Bassler said they thought officials handled the situation well and were appreciative of their communication.
The delay was about 10 to 15 minutes, but the film did resume and audience members received closure to the story they had become so engaged in.
Other films shown in cinetransformers ran glitch-free Wednesday, but there were a couple showings where guests were turned away because they were at capacity.
That is one draw back, limited seating, Driver said, recalling last year when movies were shown at larger venues like Northwest Arkansas Community College.
Despite the glitches, Bassler and Driver said they enjoyed the cinetransformer experience.
"I think I expected it to be a little more cramped," Bassler said outside after the movie. "It was more comfortable than I thought it was going to be. I enjoyed the experience, besides the glitches. It was a good experience. It was an excellent film."
NW News on 05/06/2016