Worcester Cinema Through The Ages

This is a project that has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund to research old cinemas in Worcester. Worcestershire Film Festival is the county's first ever celebration of film, happening throughout 2012.

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Just came across this from G-Tech

Birthday gift from my non-filmmaker grandparents - perfect working condition, purchased in the 1950s. - Imgur

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Pictures of Beautiful Old Film Rolls Show Classic Movies in a Whole New Light - PetaPixel

'The Unseen Seen' is a project by Austrian photographer Reiner Riedler that captures the beauty of classic cinema in an unconventional way.

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I was in Bath during the week and I wanted to make a point of seeing the Little Theatre Cinema. It's a small cinema tucked away in the beautiful city.

The Little Theatre Cinema was built by community theatre pioneer Consuelo de Reyes and her husband in 1935.

It initially functioned as a news theatre open from midday and showing hourly programmes of documentaries and newsreels. Feature films were first shown in 1939, the first two being "Peg of Old Drury" starring Anna Neagle followed by "Oh Mr Porter" starring Will Hay. The cinema thrived on local support throughout the years as other Bath cinema venues closed and in 1979 the former scenery store and lounge area were converted into a second screen.

In spite of many refurbishments to keep the cinema up-to-date with digital sound and the latest projection technology, and a renewal of the seats to give the very best comfort levels, The Little Theatre has retained the charm and welcoming warmth of a 1930s cinema, including a balcony in the main auditorium.

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At Worcestershire Film Festival, we were proud to screen The Last Projectionist, made by the Electric Cinema in Birmingham.  Many people attended the screening and really enjoyed, but for those who couldn't make it, the documentary is now on DVD!

The Last Projectionist charts the amazing history of UK independent cinema, taking a tour of some of the most magical picture houses in the world. The story centres on The Electric in Birmingham, the oldest working cinema in Britain. From its silent beginnings in 1909; to a news and cartoon cinema during WWII; a porn cinema in the 70s & 80s; then saved from demolition and restored to its art deco glory in 2004.

This fascinating, and as yet untold story, is brought to life by former staff, industry experts and customers, one of whom recounts her first visit in 1917. Accompanied by unseen archive and beautifully shot in HD,the film goes on to explore the rapid advance of digital cinema and the likely demise of 35mm film.

It is available on Amazon on the link below: Amazon

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This is the camera that was used to film 1933 King Kong.  I haven't been able to find out what it is, but it's an impressive piece of history.

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The Hive

3rd November 2012

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Worcestershire Film Festival is fast approaching!

Worcestershire Film Festival is now upon us and it's all free this weekend at the Hive 2 - 4th November. There are all sorts of films and film related workshops going on during the 3 days. To check out what's happening go back to our home page and click on the tabs above the trailer. Worcester Cinema Through The Ages Heritage Project The purpose of our project was for different generations to share memories and preserve our heritage. Older and younger volunteers working together to learn new skills, capturing our cinema going memories across Worcestershire and creating a legacy for future generations. This project will be coming to a close at Worcestershire Film Festival. We will be making an appearance during the Film Festival Weekend : * Friday 2nd 6.30 - 7.00pm: Worcester Cinema Through The Ages Film. A brief snapshot of the last 10 months we have been working together on this project, highlighting the need for older and younger generations to work collaboratively in the community and the importance of preserving and recording our diverse heritage. * Saturday 3rd November 12.30 - 1pm. Project showcase. Over the last 10 months over 80 people from Worcester and Worcestershire have contributed to the development of this project, giving us a glimpse into our cinema going habits past and present. We will be playing some of the recorded memories we have captured and letting you know more about what we have been up to. Also on display at the Hive during this weekend will be artwork from Memories of the Silver Screen a sister intergenerational project where older and younger volunteers from across Worcester have worked together, transforming their cinema memories into artwork using various mediums including : typography, stenciling, puppet making and collage to name just a few. I would like to say a BIG THANKYOU to everyone who has volunteered and supported both of these projects. Volunteers aged from 11 - 96 years have worked together to make this all happen in Worcester and Worcestershire and have made it all such a success. Lisa Owen ( Buckley ) Intergenerational Arts Project Co-ordinator Worcester Volunteer Centre

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Portrait Of A Projectionist

A film projectionist in the Labia Theatre in Cape Town, South Africa for the past 24 years, made by Philip Bloom.

I came across this fascinating documentary the other day.  Philip Bloom is a well regarded documentary maker and has captured this amazing story of a projectionist in South Africa.  He speaks from the heart and it's a story that will ring true with many of the people we have spoken to throughout our Worcestershire Cinema Through The Ages project.

You can find out more on Philip's blog

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Bromsgrove

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St. John's Library, Worcester

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Kidderminster

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Bromsgrove

There’s not long left now until the Worcester Film Festival, and much of the last year has been slowly leading up to it.

The past several months that I’ve been working on the project have passed with remarkable swiftness, and it leaves you wondering just what you’re going to do come November. Find a new project, I suppose.

On Saturday we went to the Artrix in Bromsgrove for one of the last film roadshows, after Redditch and Kidderminster. There was going to be one in my hometown of Great Malvern this weekend but it had to be cancelled. Much of what was on show at Bromsgrove I had seen before, though it was in no way diminished by that, as many of the short films on show are truly excellent. The biggest addition was an hour long talk by Hollywood storyboard artist Tony Chance, who talked about his experiences working in hollywood on movies like Mission Impossible and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, as well as showing off some of his artwork.

Afterwards we grabbed him for a few minutes to interview him about his own cinema memories, and he revealed that one of the earliest films he saw was Mary Poppins, which is still his favourite film. After the interview, me and my partner spent some time taking photos of him.

Before long it was time to head upstairs and give our own talk, running people through what the cinema heritage project did, why it mattered and what it’s given us. We’ve definitely improved the talk over the last few roadshows. Over the last few months, it has been a pleasure to work on this project, and seeing it through to it’s conclusion will be a proud achievement.

James Eagle is a Photographer, Writer and Actor. If he were any good at those things, he might be considered a bit of a renaissance man. He spends his time looking after his pet beard, and trying to work out what it is he actually wants to do with his life. photographs:

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Not long now till Worcestershire Film Festival in November......

Cinema Through The Ages Heritage project has been busy over the last few months. We are off to The Artrix in Bromsgrove tomorrow http://www.artrix.co.uk/Cinema/Bromsgrove-Film-Roadshow/1383 to record lots of lovely local cinema memories. Thanks to everyone who was involved in the Kidderminster Roadshow at St Georges Church and The Boars Head last month. It went down really well and we got some great memories about going to see films at The Empire, The Grand and The Futurist to name a few. The editing team have been hard at work going through the many interviews and recordings we have taken over the last few months to transform the cinema memories into audio we will use for our online album. Go to Worcesterfilm http://audioboo.fm/users/114651/boos to listen to the ones we have edited so far. We met up with and recorded Ron again last week who was a projectionist in Worcester in the 50's & 60's at The Odeon, The Gaumont, The Northwick and The Odeon in St Johns. He made us laugh with lots of stories, including the time Jail House Rock came to The Scala in Angel Street but had to be taken off after about 4 days of showing as the hoards of teenagers who took over the cinema each time the film was played had rocked their seats right off their hinges!! We will be telling everyone about our experiences during the last few months and the public will be able to hear some of our best bits, so come along and check it out at Worcestershire Film Festival, The Hive November 2 - 4th.

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A poster from the Apollo Cinema, Worcester's first specific cinema in 1912.  This poster is little later than that, printed in 1916.

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Here are a few photos of the Regal Cinema's projection room.  I love the way they publish these photos as many people would never see the marvels of a room like this.

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Here's a video trailer for our Redditch Film Roadshow.  It's a completely different style to our Kidderminster one, but it does feature some audio captured with our cinema heritage project.

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Well, this an interesting find.  This is a music video from a jazz band called Aimua Eghobamien, it's a good track, but here's the thing.  It was filmed in what used to be the Northwick Cinema!

It was made last year (2011) by director Nick Bartleet based in Malvern.  He approached the new owners of the Northwick, Grays Antique Furniture dealers and they agreed to do an overnight shoot, taking about 17 hours.

Worcester News wrote an article at the time.