MB

I don't know where to put this.

I've been looking in to mobile cinema lately and found this really useful. I don't know whether anybody else is interested in doing something like this:

http://www.madcornishprojectionist.c...bilecinema.php

It would be interesting to hear if anybody has any experiences of mobile cinema - good/bad - in any capacity.

Edward G

MB.
I'm in the West of Ireland. I run a film club and and this week, our "competition", the "Cinemobile" a 100-seater state of the art mobile cinema is here! I am going to visit it this weekend and will post a review for your info.
Regards,
Edward G.

I'm as mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore!

MB

Oh great! I have lots of questions!

You don't have to answer them all..

The local cinema closed a while back and it really has been extremely detrimental to the community. The Odeon multplex has no direct bus route or train route to get to it - so the people who cannot drive are not going.

Last week I drove my daughter forty minutes to get to see a film...or it's half an hour in the other direction (but I find myself combining the trip with shopping now) Most people are just not doing it. It's madness..

We are a medium size seaside town set in a large rural community with lots of diddy villages and hamlets and two other medium size towns without cinemas. We are half hour from a major city - but the older people without cars and families with young children hardly ever travel in - so I think they might be my target groups.

I'm not sure about the teenagers - they do travel to the city - but, I suspect the village teens might appreciate it.

I'm trying not to go on too much..

The main issue I'm curious about right now is fairly recent releases - is it ludicrous to suggest you could get your hands on them? Because this is where I think people are really missing out.

I want a cine-mobile! Although I picturing a van and an unsteady screen, I'd really like to see what is available. The biggest thing I have driven though is my Zafira and I am forever taking the wing mirror off - so a bit dubious about the bus license - but could try.

Your club sounds fascinating - do you have a website?

Steve Crook

Check out the wonderfully named "Flicks in the Sticks". They used to live at the Arts Alive site but that's undergoing refurbishment.


Flicks in the Sticks tour around rural communities in Hereford and Shropshire, showing films wherever they can, in any way they can. Some might be shown from "proper" film, some from projected DVD.

We used them to show Gone to Earth in the village of Much Wenlock where it was filmed so many years ago (1949/50). We had put ads in the local paper asking if anyone had been in the crowd scenes or if their relations had been and asking them all to come along. So many people turned up that we packed out the parish hall and had to have two screenings!

Reports and pics

Steve

MB

Thankyou Steve

That is an interesting idea - choosing a film as a 'theme' for an event, putting up an exhibition and contributions from the public.

And you had the place packed out - was that through word of mouth or general advertising?

I also liked the idea - I read here a while back, of outdoor cinema - in the park etc. We have some wonderful parks locally - I could imagine that being a real treat.

homeguard

Brilliant.

Regards,
HG

Steve Crook

It was mainly just the ads and articles in the local paper and then word of mouth from those that brought most of them. Not just from Much Wenlock itself (a small market town) but from the surrounding countryside. Many of them had heard that a major feature film had been made in the area - with a big American star, Jennifer Jones. There had been a documentary made a few years before we did this and that might have re-awakened some interest as well.

I took along some things like posters, stills and lobby cards for the exhibition but they did a pretty good job by themselves. Oh, I also took along Michael Powell's son, Columba (as seen in Peeping Tom). He enjoyed himself and many people spoke to him about their memories of his Dad.

A lot of villages and rural communities do have a thriving arts group. If you can tap into that, they can be a big help.


There have been similar sorts of things with other films. Like screening A Canterbury Tale in Canterbury itself. Shown on a wet Thursday morning but there were still about 300 people that turned up. Maybe that was helped by John Sweet and Sheila Sim (Lady Attenborough) being there.


I've seen A Matter of Life and Death screened in the courtyard of Somerset House in London. The screen was 3 or 4 stories high and there were about 2,000 people. If I hadn't already been in tears, as I always am at the end of AMOLAD, then the standing ovation from 2,000 people would have done it for me

That was on a balmy August evening and was superb. But outdoor events do of course depend on good weather.


I think it does help a lot to have some sort of connection between the film and where it's being shown. Maybe that it was filmed nearby, or at least that a few scenes were. But if the films good enough, they will come

Don't automatically assume that people, even teenagers and kids, will only want to see the latest films. They will often like older films as well.

Steve

cinemal

Free of charge, I have for many years been providing film shows for charitable and benevolent associations.
My regulars include senior citizen organisations History and Heritage Societies, residential / nursing homes and a number of different Railway Groups.
This is mostly on 8mm and some 16mm film. I have a few screen sizes, depending on the venue, ranging from 5ft to 16ft wide.
I took over from my father about 40 years ago, he used 9.5mm in those days. Mobility problems mean I have had to reduce the number of shows I am able to give, but I haven't given up completely yet.
regards,
Mal

MB

Thankyou Cinemal - and you are in a rural area too..

I have sent a few emails today concerning this.

cinemal

I' m happy to share my hobby with as many people as possible,it can be very rewarding (not finacially) but I also get the occasional 'curve ball' thrown at me.

I was asked to show some 8mm railway films to a GWR society in a local social club. The Elmo GS1200 is a great projector but this show was booked for 2.00pm on a bright June day.
I asked about black-outs; no problem they said. Small windows, quite high up with lined curtains.
I turned up on the day to discover the curtains had been taken down for washing the previous evening, the first time in a couple of years!
Luckily we found a small committee room that saved the day. It was a good job I took two screens as the big one wouldn't have fitted. Then there was the 'perfect' venue until...
Mal

picture show

The other form of Mobile cinemas,as we knew them,during wartime,were vans that would pull up in some pub carpark,open up the back to reveal a small screen with a hood around it,to keep off the light..

You would gather around and they would show public information films.

A subject that might need more research,but fascinating all the same.

Steve Crook

There's often an interesting bit of "muddling through" and "make it up as you go along" when you show films in unusual places.

We once showed Michael Powell's Luna de miel in the church in the Somerset village of Ashbrittle. That's where the chap who restored it lives and he has a pair of Cinemascope projectors. He's also a church warden there which helped when it came to getting permission to screen it in the church and to getting blinds made to black-out the windows.

Steve

Tom Bancroft

I also remember the medium sized mobile cinema vans that toured the various districts of Manchester in the immediate post-war years showing comedy shorts interspersed with public information films and war footage.

Protecting against diphtheria was one item and promotion of the vacination arrangements was covered and also dental care.

I think projection was from behind the screen because I don't remember any equipment being on view. The van was tall enough for the screen to be at a height for everyone to see (even kids) although we were all standing on the same level. It used to be parked just inside the gates of the local park on a regular basis and drew a sizeable crowd.

Haven't there been a couple of US style 'drive-in' movies presented around the country in recent times. Seem to remember something at the "Trafford Centre" a large shopping mall on the outskirts of Manchester.

"I want to be a sailor - sailing out to sea"

batman

We had a couple in the car park of our local Asda .... Grease was one, I can't remember the other one. It was good fun but they had loads of complaints from other residents.

I wish I had claws.

martomry

My Father designed and built mobile cinema vans ( with full 35mm equipment) which were used by the Conservative Party, Milk Marketing Board and the AA amongst others, during the 40's and 50's, for British films Ltd, Balham. So far I have been unable to find anything on the net relating to this. Is there anyone who has any info/pics ? He also exported cinema equipment to many African countries, including Nigeria during the 50's/60's