Oliver Theatre owner David Lesmeister (left) and digital cinema installer Shawn Greek work on the transition from 35 mm film to the digital format.

by Lyonel Doherty

The times they are a changing, so is the Oliver Theatre, which is saying goodbye to 35 mm film and going digital.

“The change is inevitable,” said owner David Lesmeister, who’s more than excited about the transition.

The film buff made the jump to digital sooner than later because there will come a time in the not-so-distant future when 35 mm film will no longer be available. Simply put, if you don’t change, you don’t have a business.

Lesmeister revels in the thought of showing movies with no imperfections, which you can get on film.

“It’s so frustrating when you get a scratched print and sound track . . . it’s discouraging to give someone a bad presentation.”

But that’s not the case with digital film.

“Oliver will now have the same picture and sound that the biggest theatres in Vancouver or Hollywood have,” said Shawn Greek, a digital cinema installer who helped Lesmeister make the transition.

Greek said digital is a fantastically pristine medium; you won’t see any dust or jittering when you watch a movie.

Lesmeister got a sneak peak of what to expect, and he was amazed at the sharp and crisp image and colours. So were the Chronicle staff.

Besides the quality, the big advantage with digital is the tremendous cost savings, Greek said.

Digital movies come via a hard drive at a cost of about $100, compared to $2,000 for a 35 mm print, which weighs 80 pounds. Some theatres get their movies via satellite. In any event, it will save distributors millions of dollars, Greek said.

Last week Lesmeister’s nephews helped him take down the old film screen and put up a new silver screen. This will allow the theatre to play 3D movies, a bandwagon that everyone is jumping on, Greek said.

“Some movies must be seen in 3D, like Avatar . . . it’s almost an entirely different movie in 3D.”

The movie “Hugo” is another film that must be seen in 3D, Greek said.

He noted that while bigger theatre companies are charging the maximum for the new 3D glasses (Real D), the Oliver Theatre is charging very little. These glasses aren’t the flimsy ones people used to wear; they are thick, plastic ones that look like sun glasses. Think the Hanson brothers in the movie, “Slapshot” and you’ll get the picture.

“The transition to digital will give the Oliver Theatre a brand new lease on life and will ensure it will be around for years to come,” Greek said.

He gave kudos to Lesmeister for investing nearly $100,000 on the system so that Oliver can offer the best in the industry.

Lesmeister used to run the drive-in theatre in Osoyoos before taking over the Oliver Theatre from his father in 1976. He has fond memories of that era in cinema, with wild car chases and shootouts that filled the screen; rather tame by today’s film standards, but classic nonetheless.

Here are some famous lines from those great films:

-“Somebody always shows up with a gun (Strother Martin in Hard Times).”

-“Is this the only way you can get a woman (Elizabeth James in The Born Losers)?”

-“If you have to shoot, shoot, don’t talk (Eli Wallach in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly).”

-“I promise you’re gonna talk to me, soldier (Jack Starrett in First Blood).”