Written by Toria Rhodes (Cinema Supervisor)
Hello cinema lovers! Welcome to the first of a series of monthly articles that will be appearing in the Orcadian, alongside the Phoenix Cinema’s weekly film schedule. These articles, along with additional entries, will be collected into a Phoenix Cinema blog where we will be giving you a unique insight into all things cinema. Ever wanted to know how a cinema actually works? What goes on behind the scenes, how do we choose what films get picked? Ever wonder what the people who work in the cinema’s favourite films are? Then this could be the blog for you!
Each member of the Phoenix team will be contributing. Some posts will be informative, some fun, some will take a deeper look at certain films or genres, including films coming up that we’re excited about, and others might be more personal – we want to share what we love about cinema, and are hoping there are fellow film fans out there who’ll find this interesting.
To kick things off I wanted to talk about what I personally want from a cinema experience. Hopefully you can relate.
Film is my favourite artform, it is one of the most diverse, accessible, and can be truly beautiful. And it all boils down to the most important factor – I want to feel something. Some days it might be as simple as feeling entertained, having a couple of hours away from the pressures of everyday life to be swept up in a good story. Other times it can be a much more powerful experience.
The world is a huge place, but you can feel close to people and places you would never usually get to see through the power of the big screen – there’s nothing like that feeling when the lights go down, and you’re transported into another reality. I don’t mind if I laugh or cry, feel happy, sad or even angry – every film is a unique experience and as long as it has made you feel something, or think about something that you weren’t thinking of before, it’s an experience that is worth something.
And watching a film in the cinema is totally unlike watching them at home. There are less distractions (keep your phones away people!), and the darkness, the big bright screen and surround sound that you can physically feel in the intense moments all add up to something magical that you just can’t quite replicate anywhere else. And that shared experience of knowing that you’ve just watched the same film as those others is very special.
You’ll never laugh as much watching a film on your own as you will in a packed auditorium filled with other people also laughing, or get that emotional jolt seeing everyone jump at the same moment of a thriller, or when you all come out teary eyed after a weepy… Some of the best conversations we have are with people about their take on a film – and the realisation that it may be completely different to yours – and that’s okay!
Over the next few weeks the Phoenix will be host to dinosaurs, a flamboyant French gay water-polo team, The King himself Elvis, and we will be going to infinity and beyond and catching up with the Minions. Whatever your preferred genre, there’s hopefully something for you.
The Phoenix Cinema is now more accessible than ever before, and you can keep up with what’s on via our the Orcadian, our website, Facebook and Instagram pages. Watch out for our Meet the Projectionist series on social media – we’ll be introducing you to each member of the team and letting you know why we love the cinema. Pease let us know why you love it too!