Projection Room: Big Screen, Bigger Experience

A version of this article originally appeared with our mates at Pulse Media. Just to let you know.

In March, the film industry was dealt a crushing blow as the pandemic shut nearly every cinema in the world, derailing what was set to be one of the highest performing years on record in the space of a single week.

As the UK cinema business was ordered to close on the evening of March 20th, there was a lot of uncertainty in the air. The latest Bond film, No Time To Die, had been delayed to November just a week before (after tickets had initially gone on sale for the original April release date), and as the lockdown creeped in, nobody was sure when doors would be reopened to those screens, and the smell of popcorn would drift out in to the foyers of the major chains.

But away from the politics of the industry, something this writer knows all too well thanks to many years of cinema-dwelling, people genuinely missed that big screen experience during the lockdown. It’s often imitated, but it certainly can’t be duplicated.

Cinema has been around as a shared communal form since the early 1900s, and it has certainly evolved a lot since then. From the picture palaces of the 1930s, to the arrival of multiplexes, and now reclining seats, bigger sound systems, self-service elements, and alternative content, cinema has evolved wherever it could to appease audience demand. This includes when TV arrived in the 30s, when home video prompted the lowest admissions on record in 1984 (54 million people), and now with the rise of streaming services, and ‘day and date’ digital releases.

While these are genuinely unprecedented times, the industry body known as the UK Cinema Association – who represent all of the operators in the country – have provided a lot of guidance to both staff and customers about how things will run in the age of COVID-19. Pick and mix might be gone, so are the hot dogs, but cinema has never been about the food. It’s always been about what has become known as the 3 S approach: the best seat, screen and sound.

On July 4th, the first 15 or so UK cinemas reopened in line with the latest easements of coronavirus regulations, more followed on August 21st, and most cinemas were back open by the 26th of that month, in time for Christopher Nolan’s newest tentpole release Tenet. While they weren’t as busy as usual through the reduced capacities in place due to social distancing, the shared opinion of both staff and customers were the same: it is amazing to have the ultimate form of escapism back. As a certain cinema chain found out in a study last year with University College London, just two hours in a cinema is enough to equate to a light workout, such is the nature of that shared communal experience and the heightened emotional response to sitting in a darkened room, enjoying some of the most well-crafted stories Hollywood – and the independent scene – have to offer.

Nothing beats switching off those phones, sitting back with a cup of tea or a carbonated soft drink and truly relaxing for a few hours. Some elements have changed because of those two key words – “COVID-secure.” With the number of movies still to come in 2020, including Wonder Woman 1984, as well as next year’s frequently delayed Bond, Black Widow and Dune alongside the cathartic experience of welcoming classic movies back to the big screen, there is a lot of optimism ahead. And while Cineworld have bowed out for now, most cinemas are still open for the time being - so they really need the support.

If you haven’t already headed back to the movies, you’re going to be spoiled for choice. Now, if you’ll excuse me, seat D9 awaits, the lights have just dimmed, and the trailers are about to begin.