onionbagblog

A couple of months on from our last Moving Image catch up and much has happened behind the scenes for the independent community cinema for Wivenhoe and the Sunny Colch surrounds. Moving Image took a short break over the May Fair and Jubilee weekends, but a new schedule has now been announced taking the cinema group through until the end of the summer months.

But first - what of the activity taking place behind the fancy film projector itself?

Ahh - funny you should ask. Thanks to a *shhh* successful Big Society funding application, Moving Image now has a state of the art HD BluRay projector firmly installed down at the Philip Road Centre in Wivenhoe. Cinema Rooms overs in Chelmsford were able to offer a generous discount.

As Moira from Moving Image explains in the podcast below the JVC X-30 HDMI projector [phew] is now physically in place at Philip Road, making Moving Image appear to be part of the furniture in the Essex County Council owned building.

listen to ‘#Wivenhoe #Wittertainment with @wivmovingimage - developing #hyperlocal film in #Colchester and surrounds’ on Audioboo

Elsewhere and we touch upon the challenges of staging community cinema in an old school building, and how the brilliant black out curtain is holding up as the Sunny Colch sunrays [sort of] compete with the BluRay action.

The hyperlocal collaboration with Film Colchester is also explored. Moving Image is supporting the Colchester Film Festival taking place in October, acting as one of the venues in which local filmmakers will be able to showcase their talents.

But it’s not all about BluRay, black out curtains and making connections around the town. What of the cinematic action itself?

Once again, it is worth stating that these are the Golden Days of Moving Image. We look back on the recent run of films, which saw The Artist attracting a capacity crowd for the local screening, with sadly a few people having to be turned away.

Zelig [hurrah!] The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo [uewww] and Wuthering Heights [Gawd help us] are also discussed.

But of course the main point of any podcast action with the ACE Moving Image is to look ahead to the future schedule.

HONK! Exclusive [yeah, yeah...] coming up…

Moving Image will be screening the following films over the coming weeks as part of its commitment to developing independent community cinema:

16th June, The Descendants

23rd June, The Woman in Fifth

30th June, A Dangerous Method

7th July, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

14th July Cinema Paradiso

All films are shown at the Philip Road Centre in Wivenhoe, with an 8pm start time. Entrance is £4.50 for members, with non-members made welcome with a £6 admission fee. Annual membership for Moving Image is a bargain price of £10.

As for the future of moving Image? There will be another short break for the summer holidays (not that kind) and the tireless volunteers will start to build upon the findings of the recent Moving Image survey.

Some reassuring - and sometimes surprising - results were uncovered.

When asked:

What would improve your cinema experience at Moving Image?

…there were no leading man eyebrows being raised when 58% of respondents stated improved comfort. As Moira mentions in the recording, this is also something that is being explored, in the unlikely setting of… Alresford.

What are your favourite kind of films?

…came up with:

Classic (68%) European Cinema (65%) World Cinema (65%) Comedy (62%) Art films (59%) …all the way down to Horror with 4%. An encouraging 34% of respondents stated that they attend Moving Image monthly. The core audience is there, and as The Artist demonstrated, it continues to build.

Ahh, but what future films would you like to see screened? The Iron Lady, Chariots of Fire and A Dangerous Mind are all name checked. Some poor deluded un-cinematic type stated Purple Rain.

Yeah, but Baby I’m a Star.

Or something.

And finally, further suggestion, comments?

Weekday showings, double bill on Sundays and more comfort once again came. Our survey said UH-UH when it came to the question of themed nights and dressing up. And thank the chuffers for that.

And so with the Moving Image second birthday approaching after the summer months, the independent community cinema for Wivenhoe and the surrounds of Sunny Colch continues to grow and develop. It’s a tireless task for the volunteer team, but as The Artist proved superbly, the rewards are there for the taking when it works.

Action!