Rules and Consequences

[zanygang]

The Prince Charles cinema puts up signs telling people to switch off mobile phones, not to smoke, and to refrain from talking during the film. This usually works, and all cinemas should do it.

(And perhaps they should also put up a sign telling people to keep their feet off the seats.)

I think mobile phone blocking devices would be too expensive. All the cinemas should need to do is put up a sign outside the auditorium telling people to switch of their mobile phones etc before going in, for the benefit of latecomers, and also put up a sign reminding people to switch off mobile phones before the film.

At my local theatre if someone's mobile phone goes off during the performance they have to pay a ten pound fine. And that's just an amatuer dramtics society.

[Brighton Bourne]

I think mobile phone blocking devices would be too expensive. All the cinemas should need to do is put up a sign outside the auditorium telling people to switch of their mobile phones etc before going in, for the benefit of latecomers, and also put up a sign reminding people to switch off mobile phones before the film.

As with theatres (which suffer the same problem) the only way that could be legally used would be a Faraday Cage around the auditorium - something that would be prohibitedly expensive to construct - especially in retrospect to the original build. The active blocking of mobile frequencies is, in the UK, against the law.

Selfish people who use their mobiles in cinemas would simply ignore any sign outside the auditorium but I agree something more should be done.

[zanygang]

On You Tube I saw a piece of film by the makers of Meet the Robinsons. It was a frog singing a song about cinema etiquette to the tune of I Heard it Through the Grapevine.

However one copy of this film is of really poor quality. It looks as if someone filmed it on a cinema screen. So they were breaching the rules of the cinema.

What was even more appalling was one of the comments made by a viewer. They said that they found the piece of film amusing, but they talked out loud during the main feature anyway.