Claud in the Field: Camp Cinemark

Have you ever camped out in front of a theater awaiting the opening of a summer blockbuster movie? Have you ever attended a midnight showing of a movie on its opening night/day? I haven't really camped out but I did attend a midnight showing of only one film -"Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" which was released in 1999. My cousins- Norma, Jamie, and I parked our butts in front of Edward's Cinema in Corona, CA along with all the other Star Wars fans awaiting the latest and greatest from George Lucas. When we got into the theater the anticipation and excitement was significant. All us fans uniting to experience this great masterpiece together. Little did I know that the excitement and large doses of sugar would send my 23 year old self crashing during the second hour of the movie and this film would be the most loathed episode in the saga (it is my son's favorite at the moment). It didn't matter; I was there and I could claim that for the rest of my life. I was a die hard fan.

Over the years I have seen camp outs for summer event movies. The same questions always filled my head-How can they sleep outside? Do these people have jobs? When do they use the bathroom? Camping out was common for films in big cities, but imagine my surprise when I found campers at the Cinemark theater in Colorado Springs, CO. I remember the first time I saw them. It was for "The Dark Knight" last summer. My first thought was "do movies really sell out that quickly in the springs?" Then I saw them again this summer continuously for all the big releases. I decided to step into tent city (I call it that) and ask them exactly what they were doing. I was surprised at what I encountered.

The event the kids are waiting for this time is "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", which opens July 15. My first stop was at Mike's tent. He is 17 years old and started camping on 7/6. He has a really nice set up-TV, DVD player, and a Wii (my kind of camping). My first question to him was why was he there; was it because he was a die hard fan or because it's a fun thing to do. His answer was "a little of both". I can respect that. There are bunch of tents set up along the theater with the ages of the campers ranging between 16-20. The few of them I spoke to said about the same thing- they love the thrill of camping and counting down to the latest event. Their parents support the idea, they go home to check in and shower but for the most part soldier on at the Cinemark. The Cinemark seems to support this, the only thing they ask, according the guys I spoke to, is to keep their area clean and for the underage kids to sign a waiver releasing the Cinemark of any liability.

There was one sponsored set up in tent city and that belonged to Fanboyz.net. Their website is pretty cool. It has the latest and greatest on movies including sneak peeks and behind the scenes info. Check it out when you can (I have already added it to my favorites). I spoke to John, who is 17 years old. Fanboyz.net should be proud to have this kid as their representative because he impressed the heck out of me. He informed me about the origins of the site and what they are really about. All the guys working on behalf of the site are movie lovers, they camp out to build excitement for the movie and/or event. John also told me about the midnight showings and special pre-movie events the site and theater sponsor. I probably could not stay up to go to a midnight showing but if you live in the area and can stay up late I strongly suggest checking one out. For "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" they had trivia games and handed out toys and merchandise. They have had events were they ask the crowd to construct something (i.e. Ironman, Transformer) out of cardboard. I think what grabbed me the most after talking to John was how dedicated and passionate he was about what he was doing. At 17, I was not passionate about anything but sleep. There was nothing like this when I was a kid, hell I can't even remember if there was internet at that time. John made me question my dedication to movies.

Most of these guys have formed friendships outside of the events and there is a mutual feeling of camaraderie between them. I have nothing but admiration for these kids. If my son wants to do something like that in his teens, I hope I am a cool enough mom to support it. Next time you see a camp out in front of your local theater, show these kids some respect because they have definitely earned mine.