Melbourne has an abundance of spaces, places and cinemas. Ever wondered if the abandoned building next door might make for an excellent viewing arena for a brilliant film?
Melbourne has an abundance of spaces, places and cinemas. Ever wondered if the abandoned building next door might make for an excellent viewing arena for a brilliant film? Blow Up Cinema did, and they’re bringing film into the present by taking movies out of the cinema and into the spaces that represent them .
Creator of the concept, Gus Berger, in collaboration with Red Hot Shorts, brings his knowledge from working with ACMI to create a new project that will be running from this month.
"The idea is to bring a new experience to seeing great films," explains Berger. There will be a mix of new and classic films. The Banksy film,Exit Through the Gift Shop, which will also present the official DVD release, was recently screened in 1000 Pound Bend. At the time, the Sweet Streets Award exhibition showcased urban and street art at the gallery space. When the exhibition ends, 1000 Pound Bend becomes its usual warehouse space, and the perfect setting for Reservoir Dogs, the second film to be shown by Blow Up Cinema. As Berger says, the project "immerses the audience into a different space, physically and emotionally and that space reflects in some way the atmosphere of the film."
Like many of the arts our culture is formed upon, film is coming into the 20th Century in a thoroughly modern way, with more than special effects and 3D. It’s becoming as immersive as installation art, dances that change with each performance, and performance art that breaks down the ‘fourth wall’ to use space and audience as part of the experience. Pop-up cinema is a continuation of the endeavour to bring art into the publics’ lives and into the current and future world. Blow Up Cinema uses screening spaces to emulate the world the film presents, making that world more believable and giving audiences another option rather than the cinema or the living room to experience films, allowing them to gain meaning from their contexts, not just the images and sounds from the screen. "The idea now is to take our pop-up cinema into these unusual, yet ideal venues for the films," explains Berger.
It’s not all about the shock of the new, though. Berger wants to reintroduce some older concepts as well, such as running a few shorts films before the main attraction and "maybe even a short interval".
Film is seduction: it ends before your eyes, the lights go up, and whether you’re at the back with the screen like a portal into space or at the front with your eyes stretched wide to take it all in, you’re still being thrown abruptly from the film experience as you move towards the exit sign. The experience of the cinema is something unique – paralysing, perhaps, but in some way it’s still a big part of filmic culture and understanding.
Instead of excited rants on the way from the cinema to the car or train, Blow Up Cinema allows viewers to continue their conversations about the film in the screening space, or to talk about whatever they want. Berger explains, "Some of us like being able to have a drink whilst watching a film and being able to remain in that setting afterwards to talk about the film or to talk about anything really – just not being kicked out as soon as the film finishes."
It sounds just lovely. Surely the choice of venue will be a great conversation starter.
Blow Up Cinema will be popping up in nearby spaces and starting from Saturday October 9. For more information, please visit blowupcinema.com.au
