Once upon a time, film projectionists used to be valued employees of movie theaters.  Then movie theater corporations figured out that they could just get Jimmy from the snack bar to run upstairs and press a button before running back down to sell junk food (which is where theaters make most of their money).  Properly projecting a movie isn’t a priority for major theater chains, and so they were sent instructions on how to screen Wes Anderson’s latest film, The Grand Budapest Hotel.  Because the movie uses different aspect ratios, the instructions make it clear on how to frame the picture since it could be understandably confusing due to the shifting frame size.  The instructions also provide the optimal light level, but I assume that will be ignored since theaters cheap out on bulbs (that’s why most 3D movies are so dim).

The Grand Budapest Hotel is a great movie, and I hope theaters will follow these instructions to provide the optimal experience their customers deserve.  The Grand Budapest Hotel is currently playing in New York and L.A., and will open in more major cities this weekend.  Hit the jump to check out the image of the projection instructions.

Via Reddit.