Typical Cineplex Attraction

Since there are so many ways to configure an Attraction, we have developed a set of common examples, to help “kick-start” your setup. Here we detail how to enter a record for a typical Cineplex (Movie) Attraction.

Let’s say we are showing the Movie Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed at our Cineplex. Here is how we might enter values for such an attraction:

Notice that we have entered the full title of the movie in the Name or Title field. We have marked this movie as a “Regular Admission” attraction. This is a category made up by the Cineplex operator. It could have just as easily been categorized as a “Kids Movie” or “Live Action / Animated”. The attraction categories are up to you. The Rating field was set to PG. The movie is 1 hour, 37 minutes long, so a value of 97 is entered for the Duration field. The movie is distributed by Warner Brothers, so that is what is entered into the Affiliate field. The Sponsor field is left blank. The Synopsis field describes the action in the movie. As is typical for movie houses, the Seating Mode is set to General Admission Only. We are not issuing any special looking tickets for this movie, so the Ticket Format is set to System Default Ticket. We are using the primary ticket printer (number 1) to print tickets for this attraction. As would be typical for most movie records, the fields for Misc Lines 1,2 and 3, as well as the Special Printer Command are left blank.

Since this is a Movie Complex, and presumably we would be operating the POS Module in the Daily Admission Mode, we would also prefer that past showings of the movie “disappear” from the POS Screen as they expire. In other words, if there was an 11:00AM showing of Scooby Doo 2, we would like that button to go away after 11:00AM, so that we begin selling tickets for the 12:45PM showing. As such we will leave the option Display All Shows in the POS Menu unchecked.

This theater operator has decided to honor existing passes for this movie, and as such has checked the Allow Passes option.

Since entry to this movie constitutes entry into the Cineplex, the option Include in Census when Validated is checked.

Like most movie houses, this theater does not have an automatic turnstile controlled by a computer, so the option Opens Gate or Unlocks Turnstile is left unchecked.

The POS Button Caption is given a shorter title of simply “Scooby Doo 2”, and has been assigned a background color of dark green, with a text color of yellow.

The On Sale Date is set such that we can begin selling tickets right away, and it is not a Restricted Attraction, so any operator can sell tickets for it.

Since any ticket would be good for one showing only, the Expiration Date Action, Days and Count are set to Next Day, 1 and 1.

Entering the Movie Schedule:

The second tab of the Attraction Entry form is for creating and modifying the schedule for the Attraction. For Cineplexes, it is common that the same (popular) movie is showing on different screens during the day. It is also common that earlier shows, or shows on weeknights are priced less than “prime time” shows in the evenings and on weekends. Let’s use the following typical pricing scheme for this example:

No matter what day of the week it is, all shows BEFORE 4:00 PM are considered “Matinee” shows, and ALL tickets are just $5.00.

For the days Monday through Thursday, any show AFTER 4:00 PM is priced as follows:
ADULT: $6.50
CHILD: $5.00

For the days Friday through Sunday, any show AFTER 4:00 PM is priced as follows:
ADULT: $7.50
CHILD: $6.00

This should be similar enough to your operation to see how to set up your specific policies. Let’s get to work…

Begin by clicking on the Schedule Builder Button…

This will bring up the Schedule Builder Selection Screen. Select Cinema (Movie) Admission Schedule Builder…

The first thing we will do is the simple case of all shows prior to 4:00 PM being $5.00. Have a look:

The Start and End Dates are set to 08/27/2009 to 10/31/2009. Within that date range, ALL days of the week are acted on. Notice that all the Day buttons are GREEN. The movie is showing at Theater 2.

At our Cineplex, our first show of the day is at 10:00 in the morning. We allow 12 minutes between showings for previews and cleanup. We will tell the program to generate times for 4 showings. You’ll notice in the list there are the times of 10:00, 11:49, 1:38 and 3:27, which are spaced exactly for a 97 minute movie, with 12 minutes for previews and cleanup.

Finally we add the tickets of ADULT and CHILD, both priced at five bucks. Then we click the GENERATE SCHEDULE button.

Next, we will generate the schedule entries for the Weeknights, where the pricing is somewhat less expensive than the weekends.

The Start and End Dates are set to 08/27/2003 to 10/31/2003. Within that date range, ONLY the days Monday through Thursday are acted on. Notice that all the Day buttons for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are GREEN, while the Day buttons for Friday, Saturday and Sunday are RED. The movie is still showing at Theater 2.

At our Cineplex, our first evening show for Scooby Doo takes place at 5:16 in the evening. We allow 12 minutes between showings for previews and cleanup. We will tell the program to generate times for 4 showings. You’ll notice in the list there are the times of 5:16, 7:05, 8:54 and 10:43, which are spaced exactly for a 97 minute movie, with 12 minutes for previews and cleanup.

Finally we add the tickets of ADULT at $6.50 and CHILD at five bucks. Then we click the GENERATE SCHEDULE button.

Lastly, we will generate the schedule for the “Weekend” days of Friday, Saturday and Sunday:

The Start and End Dates are set to 08/27/2003 to 10/31/2003. Within that date range, ONLY the days Friday through Sunday are acted on. Notice that all the Day buttons for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are RED, while the Day buttons for Friday, Saturday and Sunday are GREEN. The movie is still showing at Theater 2.

At our Cineplex, our first evening show for Scooby Doo takes place at 5:16 in the evening. We allow 12 minutes between showings for previews and cleanup. We will tell the program to generate times for 4 showings. You’ll notice in the list there are the times of 5:16, 7:05, 8:54 and 10:43, which are spaced exactly for a 97 minute movie, with 12 minutes for previews and cleanup.

Finally we add the tickets of ADULT at $7.50 and CHILD at six bucks. Then we click the GENERATE SCHEDULE button.
That’s It! We have created a complete show schedule for Scooby Doo 2 that takes place at Theater 2. We would repeat these steps if the movie were also playing at another Theater in the Cineplex, such as Theater 4.

See Also:

Attraction Record Entry
Typical Performing Arts Attraction
Typical Sporting Attraction
Typical Theme Park Attraction
Changing Tickets and Prices