By comparison, even the biggest of big screen TVs are peanuts. Trite. Insignificant. Small potatoes. Cheap 'n' nasty.
One joins the really big league in home movie set-ups when you have a complete theater in your home, costing anything from $30,000 to upwards of a million dollars.
The sky's truly the limit in design, technological bells and whistles, and size, said Jack Reese, a home theater designer who for the past eight years has installed theaters nationally and internationally _ with themes ranging from a Roaring '20s speakeasy, to a Harley-Davidson shrine, to exotic projects for a couple of Red Sea sheiks.
Reese's company, A Creative Theater, is at the moment midway to finishing a Marco Island project that will have an Australian theme, with walls upholstered in crocodile-type fabric, a multiple-seat arena and full stage with motorized drapery for complete theater effect.
Reese said in recent years the aspect of a "dedicated" media room has become almost a standard feature in homes and high-rises throughout the United States.
"They aren't just centered around the act of viewing a movie," he said. "People use them as venues for charitable events, business meetings and even as family rooms."
The company's work has been featured in magazines such as Architectural Digest, Audio Video Interiors and Home Theater Magazine.
Reese formed the company along with colleague Dale Hall. The company's interiors director is Marianna Felice, who cut her creative teeth in New York City.
Part of Felice's job, Reese said, is to stay in touch with trends on both sides of the Atlantic.
Because tastes and wallet sizes differ, Reese and his team like to get to know customers fairly well before finalizing suggestions.
"We discuss all the parameters," he said. "Such as whether it's new construction, a remodel, a condo, and aspects such as how much seating is required, the type of equipment needed _ or already bought _ and also budget."
ACT charges a basic design fee, Reese said, which is used to give clients full color renderings, vignettes, sample boards, floor plans and equipment layout plans.
Price and time needed are then finalized.
(Contact Quentin Roux of the Naples Daily News in Florida at www.naplesnews.com.)
