Lights. Camera. Action.
Although actually that should be “darkness”, “projector”, “silence” the fact that the first cinema experience of 2020 last Friday was the movie TENET means I’m allowed a little “inversion” (go see the film to understand that reference).
Don’t worry, I’m not about to critique the movie, despite the fact I really enjoyed it. No the purpose of this blog is to reflect on what a wonderful experience going to the cinema was.
Firstly let me get the COVID-19 basics out of the way. Vue (the cinema chain I frequent) has gone to great lengths to ensure social distancing, a clean environment and if a bug bear of going to the cinema was other people then, with reduced capacity, you’ll find no one immediately in front, behind or next to you other than your party and everyone wears masks. It felt safer than the grocery store oh and tickets were around half the cost of pre-pandemic.
So what’s new ?
Sitting down, in complete silence, darkness and without a single distraction - that’s what was ‘new’.
Over the last half-decade and twice as much during COVID-10 “lockdown” we have eulogized about streaming services. Netflix could do no wrong. Our ability to binge in the comfort of whatever we wanted to wear, in whatever room in our homes and most of all whenever and for however long just made it the go-to entertainment service.
But Friday reminded me of the following benefits of cinema;
big screens and surround sound is magical
having no control over starting or stopping the performance beyond turning up or leaving means you clear your schedule fully
no temptation to stop, rewind or check on your ‘second screen’ about the scene you’ve just watched
no alerts, calls, messages, posts, emails, likes to interrupt you, not even a walk to the fridge and back
the trailers
the excitement of being able to talk about the film just watched
Although not quite a ‘live’ performance this cinema visit was a reminder that sometimes the more traditional ways of consuming media are infinitely better. We may adapt quickly to changed circumstances but a couple of hours in a cinema seat was worth multiple box-sets.
Go to the cinema if you can.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Izatt is a brand consultant living in London and founder of Mission Critical, a highly focused and curated weekly briefing for time poor and information hungry decision makers and THE FIRST, a monthly briefing containing 31 inspirational insights. Mission Critical is a digital product delivered via his Estonian Consultancy business.
You can email Mark here and read about his recently published book ‘Mission Critical - 101 tips to survive and thrive at work in the office, on the move and at home’.
