Edinburgh Fringe: at a cinema near you

What’s happening to cinema? According to the BBC, cinema is ‘good for theatre’ as audiences attending live screenings of the National Theatre’s performances of Phedre, are supposedly more emotionally engaged in the production than those who were actually there. Read the full story here.

And, moving outside of London and up to Edinburgh, live performances of the Traverse Theatre’s Impossible Things Before Breakfast, part of their Fringe programme 2010, are to be simultaneously broadcast into Picturehouse cinemas around the UK.

I love this blurring of the boundaries between theatre and cinema and the mixing of audiences. Not least of which because of the two very different experiences of one event this allows. I like the idea that I can choose to see the show ‘in the flesh’ at the Traverse Theatre, or ‘on the screen’ down the road at the Cameo cinema.

At the other end of the film chain, Ridley Scott has announced plans to crowdsource a new documentary called Life in a Day via YouTube. Upload your footage of a moment in your life on 24 July for a chance to be part of the film. Anyone whose footage does make it into the final feature will be credited as co-director. Find out more here.

What is this? A cheap way to make a film whose profits will stay firmly out of the pockets of those who contributed the footage? A unique chance to shine on the big screen without having to bash your way through a long line of industry gatekeepers? An honest attempt to give everyone the chance of being a star and have a snippet of their story seen on the big screen? Maybe all three.

From an industry point of view, the equally interesting factor will be the free screenings of this film on YouTube. Surely cinema figures will stay buoyant as the project is so unique, but what will viewing figures reach on YouTube? And what seeds for the future of film exhibition does this plant?

Ever more interesting times and ever more challenges and opportunities for cinemas.

Football on the big screen and fifty top films for 2010

What was watching football in a cinema really like? It was easier to get a ticket and the seats were more comfortable according to this Guardian article. And there was the added bonus of a happy ending for England.

Alternative content such as this is touted as integral to the future of cinema. However, the news that the Movie House Cinemas chain is to bring ticket prices for 3D down to the same level as every other film is a sign that the novelty value is already wearing thin. And in order to maintain an audience, 3D films have to be treated the same as every other. Audiences don’t want to pay extra, this article argues and if 3D is to survive this time, other cinemas should be paying heed and following suit. Especially now that 3D is migrating over to the small screen on a mobile phone near you.

The most noteworthy news story for me this week is the opening of the first HMV Curzon cinema in Wimbledon. If this partnership proves successful then you can expect state of the art cinemas to be rolled out at other HMV stores. Multiplex chains and independents alike should be concerned.

For those who like to plan their cinema visits far in advance, the Times online has published a list of the top fifty films most likely to dominate the UK box office next year. Surprise, surprise the 80s rule and you can expect remakes of 80s classics alongside adaptations of TV shows from the decade. Read more here.


The final story this time harks back to birth of cinema in the UK as a campaign is launched to revive an old cinema on London’s Regent Street – now a lecture theatre for the University of Westminster – where pictures first moved before British eyes.

3D and The Unsung Joe

I’ve been so engrossed in the Tour de France these past three weeks that I’ve neglected this blog. So now it’s all over and while the riders are getting wasted in Paris, my focus is back on the world of cinema.

The news that’s caught my eye this week is that Real D are bringing a 3D cinema to a big London hotel. The screening room at London’s May Fair hotel will soon be converted to digital and ready for 3D action. This is set to be one of the most luxurious 3D screens in the UK. And this conversation comes on the back of a 400% increase in European cinema screens converting to digital.

My other news story of the week is that 80% of the UK’s online population visited a social networking site in May 2009. And they were not just young Internet users. The over 55s made up 67% of this figure. These statistics, and the mind shift they represent, is proof to me that you can’t separate the world of digital cinema from the bigger picture of digital development.

However, without doubt the best cinema discovery I’ve made in a long time is The Unsung Joe. A fascinating blog following the lives of those bit part actors from the darling days of cinema and just what else happened to them before they died. Brilliant reading.