Andyheard's Weblog

Some four years back I had spent some time working projection booths at an 11 screen multiplex in the UK and a one screen in New Zealand. I guess you could say it was my trade. Working with 35mm film, the whirling of the machines in operation, making up of new releases, the lights and the films themselves. There is nothing quite like that noisy, industrial but magical arena!

And then it happened. The introduction of the DVD to your multiplex. I remember when I left the large multiplex they had just installed their first fully digital screen. A marvel of technology for sure but what was wrong with the 35mm? I know the replies I’d get from this… “It’s cheaper”, “More efficient”, and, God forbid, “It’s better quality”. These are the reasons I’d expect to hear from lazy fat cats. Yes, ok, it may be cheaper to produce a DVD then to buy in a print, but are the audience aware that when they come into the cinema these days they have roughly a 50:50 chance that the film is on DVD? I recently went in a 9 screen projection booth in our great capital and four of the screens were digital! Now, I don’t know about you but I don’t want to paying £10 to sit and watch a DVD that I can buy and keep in two months time and watch in my own home, with a 40″ HDTV and a surround system. I go to the cinema for that grainy, scratched and cigarette-burnt print. I love that. Isn’t that the cinema experience? I guess I’m a purest at heart and there is nothing that can be done about the speed at which technology advances and takes over. It will be a sad day for the industry when the only skill you need to be a projectionist is to be able to press play on a DVD player

Don’t even get me started on 3D!