Looks like an error in that part of the rendering?
I would imagine the old safety curtain was permanently removed in the strip-out along with the rest of the asbestos-containing materials. It’s not apparent if what’s rendered is supposed to be a curtain or simply a projected image?
Alas, the proscenium end is just too dark in this picture to make out much. It looks like the ceiling has been altered, with a “kink” just behind an overhead line array speaker.
HowardBHaas: As I’ve noted elsewhere on CT—Odeon Birmingham Broadway Plaza and Odeon Orpington—it seems that at least some of Odeon’s own brand premium large format “iSense” auditoria do include moveable masking.
Not sure what the impact of AMC’s ownership will be in this respect; mostly they seem to be implementing their “recliner” strategy, as well as their press releases mentioning concessions offerings. One would also imagine that the agreement with Dolby for UK Dolby Cinema sites also may be connected to AMC ownership. (Furthermore, AMC majority shareholder Wanda also has many Dolby Cinema locations built or in the pipeline in their own cinemas.)
As the new screen location appears to be behind the proscenium still, and the organ being kept in particular indicates the project’s objectives in relation to the continuity of heritage aspects, hopefully tabs and moveable masking will be reinstated—if not, at least the laser projection will yield low black levels for non-“scope” format content. Certainly letterboxed “scope” format images are, if not ideal, acceptable over in the IMAX with Laser auditorium across the square.
LARGE_screen_format: Good news! I suspect it will be the “downsized” version for “multiplex”-sized IMAX venues rather than the original system intended to replace 15/70 projectors in classic “Grand Theatre” venues (and similarly scaled new builds or conversions.)
As a new build, it might just be one of the best IMAX/PLF screens in the country—technically speaking, of course.
The refurbishment cost £6.5m and was delivered in a 20 week construction programme. The design was “in brand” with bespoke elements, including an “acoustic timber” ceiling in the foyer.
The page includes a number of high resolution photos of the foyer and lobby areas, the iSense auditorium, and another auditorium.
From these photos, the iSense auditorium boasts JBL rear speakers, and the screen appears to include moveable masking.
The other auditorium seems to have retained old KCS rear speakers, presumably kept from the original installation, which seems like penny pinching given the sums involved in this project.
This aside, it looks like a very good place to see a film.
The high-level banner on the LSQ facade currently advertises “Halloween,” with “AT CINEWORLD LEICESTER SQUARE NOW” in red letters at the bottom.
Perhaps Cineworld have finally figured out a way to put their brand name on the front of the building so that it can actually be seen from the other side of the square!
An academic article authored by Alexa Raisbeck, this contains a potted history of cinemas in LSQ and some photos of auditoria and exterior, paying some particular attention to the Empire Leicester Square.
Whilst I share the author’s concerns over the potential impact of redevelopment on the place of Leicester Square in the cinematic world, the topic seems rather odd when major investment has been made over the past few years into the flagship sites.
It should be noted that the article contains a number of errors, many of which could have been rectified simply by reading through the relevant material and comments posted on Cinema Treasures.
The film was shot on a combination of 16mm, 35mm and 65mm (IMAX/15 perf) film, as an intentional aesthetic choice.
In an IMAX with Laser venue with a 1.43:1 screen, it would be shown in 2.39:1 “scope” ratio, except for the scenes shot using 65mm IMAX cameras, which would “open up” to 1.43:1. All images for an IMAX version of a release usually go through IMAX’s DMR (Digital Media Remastering) process, the details of which do not appear to be public, but include noise reduction and colour grading (adjustment.)
This process is done in collaboration with the filmmaker; e.g., regarding Skyfall, Roger Deakins himself posted the following online:
“I did not like the look of the IMAX dmr process, which enhances contrast and saturation, so I insisted we timed our own version. Everyone seemed quite happy with the results.”
The use of noise reduction, one imagines, would be less aggressively used or not used if the image is supposed to look coarse grained!
(“DMR” originally was to allow for “blow ups” of 35mm to 15/70 IMAX so that the image quality would be acceptable on a classic “Grand Theatre” IMAX screen.)
So, you would see a potentially “enhanced” image, see the “IMAX” scenes in full height rather than cropped to scope, as they would be in non-IMAX venues, and get the benefit of IMAX with Laser projection system (including superior black level performance than Xenon-lamp projection, and the other benefits of a purpose-built IMAX, such as confirming to their auditorium geometry so that you’re sat sufficiently close to the screen, etc.)—but obviously 16mm (!) source—or 35mm for that matter—in particular will constrain the quality achieved on screen.
Update: Construction of the “glass box” balcony feature has started, with metalwork (steel beams and profiles for a floor deck) now overhanging the front wall. It may still not be much to look at, but it shouldn’t be too long before the “Cat B” fit-out of the foyers is initiated…
These speakers are intended for sound reinforcement applications rather than cinemas—I suppose the Royal Albert Hall is a big, multi-level, place to fill! (Besides, I’d be surprised if cinema speakers are available to rent for “event” applications?)
There is an odd quote in the article which says “‘Of course the film is not recorded in 7:1…’” — not quite sure what that means—perhaps that Atmos is among the sound formats available for the theatrical release, or perhaps it’s simply an error?!
As 5.1 and 7.1 are mentioned, and among the sound formats for the theatrical release of the movie was a 7.1 mix, I’d assume the latter is what was used.
The 11 weeks figure cited is presumably for fit-out only; it seems like a pretty straightforward job, with ample internal space, excellent access, and away from neighbouring properties.
(By “straightforward,” of course, I mean relatively speaking! As I mentioned on its CT page, according to an article in Cinema Technology Magazine, as many 80 workers were on site in a single day for the Vue West End refurbishment.)
Thinking about it, having pleated fabric to floor level makes no sense, being too exposed to potential wear or outright damage. I expect it will be an acoustic wood product.
LARGE_screen_format: The early figures given for the projected cost were ~£10-15m, the actual cost of works has not been disclosed AFAIK. However, without knocking the building down and starting again, there are physical constraints.
As mentioned, the screen is marked as the same size as previous on the submitted licensing application plans, with horizontal viewing angles marked also. Revisiting the plans, given the positioning of the stalls' front row, I can’t see how a new screen could be placed ahead of the proscenium.
The screen is shown, however, as being moved to the front of the stage house compared to the existing. (c.f. 2015 licensing plans.)
The emphasis of these works, besides presumably essential to work to keep the OLS intact for the forseeable future, seems to me to be the creation of a luxury facility, including a “Royal Box” and other features (VIP rooms, keeping the stage, etc.) to cater to special events and premieres?
Perhaps you could think of it as being a “preview” of Dolby Cinema pending installation in a site that more readily allows for a larger screen and better optimised auditorium geometry, whilst keeping those who would like to hear the old “Dutchess” Compton organ happy? :–)
The Cineworld (Empire) Leicester Square IMAX is, as previously discussed, as near a “no compromise” PLF giant screen as it could be, both in size and auditorium geometry—(strikingly so) given the building’s history and physical constraints. I imagine it, and the Superscreen, will remain the only auditoria equipped with giant screens* in the heart of London’s West End—and equally, no cinema will be able to compete with the OLS as a premiere location?
(* Per the Giant Screen Cinema Association’s giant screen specifications. Whilst the IMAX of course exceeds requirements, strictly, the Superscreen actually misses out width-wise by ~1m, not being quite 70ft. wide—however, the auditorium’s geometry does place all seating under one screen width away from the screen, and otherwise the auditorium’s geometry, projection and sound should all fall within specifications.)
moviebuff82: The Odeon Leicester Square is always worth visiting but purely technically it might not be better than your local, in terms of acoustics, seat positioning relative to the screen, and screen size, which might well remain ~48ft. wide.
Good to finally get some idea of what the auditorium will look like, and interesting that it will branded as “LUXE.”
From a “heritage” standpoint, with so much missing—ceiling, and the splay walls/proscenium—indeed, all of the stage end—of the auditorium missing it’s really difficult to see what’s been (or being) restored?
It looks like the ribbed plasterwork on the circle sidewalls is being kept, presumably extending across the ceiling. I’m assuming that stretched fabric over acoustic absorption is used from there to the screen.
What looks like wooden panelling from stalls level up towards circle level is shown—possibly pleated fabric as certainly the cavity under the balcony should be heavily acoustically treated. For those who wish to see the flying ladies back, I’m thinking this could curve upwards as before to form that feature.
Not sure what to think! I suspect that, what appears to be a new darker colour scheme, will go down like a lead weight here… but renderings can be misleading!
On the bright side, the “glass box” feature on the LSQ facade looks like a fantastic addition and place to dwell before a movie.
Addendum: The Walnuts Shopping Centre multi-storey car park ticket can be validated at the cinema; however, this only covers 3 hours, which for longer features particularly seems insufficient given possibly eating in the foyer and getting to the auditorium before the programme starts.
However, an additional hour is currently £1, so it isn’t too bad.
(N.B. Sunday all-day parking is currently £1.)
The NEC 4K Xenon-lamp projection in the ISENSE auditorium was not far off that achieved by IMAX’s proprietary dual-projection systems (which actually work differently for their 4K laser projection system, with one projector being fed a more detailed image than the other, due to the impossibility of stable sub-pixel alignment at 4K) in terms of being a detailed yet smooth image—but still, the IMAX systems appear to be superior.
The NEC NC3240S is the only Xenon-lamp 4K DCI-compliant projector currently shown on NEC Display Solutions' site—presumably this is the model installed for the ISENSE auditorium.
On sections of fast motion, sometimes odd artifacts could be seen, somewhat reminescent of the early single-chip single-speed “colour wheel” (consumer-grade?) DLP projectors.
Whilst the programming of content and lighting was very good through trailers/adverts onto the main feature, after the feature ended, it took, IIRC, maybe 30 seconds or more for non-sync music playback to abruptly start, and the house lights to be raised.
Visited Odeon Orpington today to see “First Man” in the iSense (Screen 4) auditorium. The movie was disappointing, but intelligible and watchable.
This cinema was built as part of an extension to “The Walnuts Shopping Centre,” which, put politely, is a secondary location. The centre is partially covered; access to the cinema is outdoors, and opposite is a branch of “Poundland”! Value retailers can be places to find products at competitive prices, of course—but it is not a glamorous setting for a cinema.
However, all is forgotten on entering the cinema, via a small lobby onto escalators to the first floor main foyer. The foyer and lobby areas look better “in person” than in photos I’ve seen to date—they are bright and clean, but the added touches—such as the blue concealed LED lighting—add the necessary sparkle. All of the blue LED strips seem to have been placed in extrusions, the result being very even light output, competitive with cold cathode strips, rather than the patchy effect sometimes seen.
Due to tiredness, I found myself buying a large Coke Zero, for which I was charged, IIRC, £4.30(!)
All staff were friendly and efficient.
As mentioned in a previous post, the cinema was the subject of a Cinema Technology Magazine (as it was then known) article, September 2016 issue; the previous link no longer works—however, this issue has been reposted.
A minor quibble: when trying to book tickets, on proceeding to card payment, the website returned. Unfortunately, on reattempting the booking, the seats that I had selected were still shown as unavailable; therefore, as I preferred centre-row seats, I had to select seats in the next row (i.e. closer to the screen,) and as this happened several times, the final seats booked were closer to the screen than the original selection.
Fortunately, these seats turned out to be, if on the low side, a suitable distance from the screen—however, I had hoped to sit further back, in order to be in or near the “sweet spot” for the Dolby Atmos sound system.
Entering the iSense auditorium and being seated, the impression was that, although decoratively a “black box” auditorium, I had entered a “real” cinema—one that had been thoughtfully designed. Whilst the screen (nor auditorium width) was not on quite the same scale, it almost felt like I had entered a modern version of the Odeon Marble Arch! (N.B. The screen is ~49ft. wide, and was sufficiently large, but not in the “giant” category as found in the BFI IMAX or Cineworld (Empire) Leicester Square IMAX.)
The row spacing provided fairly generous legroom, and the black “leather” seating was clearly of a very high quality; however the lack of “rocker” capability, I thought, made them slightly uncomfortable, and the seating is not as wide as I would have liked.
The ceiling lights use a “honeycomb” design and are not too bright or distracting when lowered for the main feature, and they were gradually dimmed, IIRC, through the adverts and trailers.
Where adverts and trailers were in scope format, these suffered from being “letterboxed;” however, if I’m not mistaken, moveable masking is installed, and the screen definitely opened up for the main feature to full width, making full use of its height.
A Dolby Atmos trailer was played before the main feature.
Picture quality was very good; the screen is slightly curved, and tilted upwards, and as far as I could tell did not have the curved “chamfered” corners that many “floating” screens suffer from. Brightness was sufficient, and the calibration/alignment seemed excellent, with accurate colours and almost perfect geometry with no, or virtually no, “smiley face” barrel distortion towards the bottom of the screen.
However, the black level was not comparable to laser light source projection (nor high-end OLED TVs), and there was a fair degree of clipping of low level detail. Further, the expanded gamut potential of such systems was, of course, not on display here, either—a shame that the cinema was built on the cusp of the wider rollout of laser light source projection.
The Clarus XC screen installed is suitable for polarised 3D, as well as 2D, and this was a 2D presentation. Uniformity seemed pretty good; but the end credits revealed that, for my seating position, the centre to bottom edge of the screen was brighter than the rest.
The sound system (specifications in previous post) was excellent, with good timbre matching between the fronts, rears, sides and overheads. It was clean and bright sounding, with plenty of headroom, reaching high sound pressure levels without strain, including right down to the bottom octaves. However, it did seem to be playing at slightly less than reference level.
Acoustics were also very good, affording excellent dialogue intelligibility and imaging; poking the sidewall stretched fabric on entry suggested generous acoustic absorption had been fitted underneath, and certainly sidewall reflections appeared to be highly controlled.
A couple of minor quibbles; the fronts did seem to be slightly peaky in the mid-high range, and the noise floor was on the high side, and could clearly be heard in quiet moments—in fact, it was louder than the inaudible HVAC system! Absolutely no leakage could be heard from the other auditoria.
Kudos to whoever calibrated the system; they have done a first class job!
The auditorium’s temperature was fairly consistent throughout, although I didn’t quite feel that the fresh air intake rate was as high as I would have liked.
Toilets were clean with some veneered finishes, and down-firing Dyson hand dryers are fitted.
A massive thumbs-up for this premium cinema no doubt aimed at the leafy suburbs nearby.
A planning application for the development is available on the website of the London Borough of Bromley — the relevant documents are “PROPOSED FIRST FLOOR PLAN,” “PROPOSED SECOND FLOOR PLAN-PROJECTOR LEVEL,” and “PROPOSED SECTIONS AA AND BB RETAIL AND CINEMA OPTION.”
The iSense auditorium (Screen 4) is marked “Screen 1” on these plans.
Dimensions as estimated off drawings (scales are conveniently included):
iSense Auditorium: ~16.2m (width) x ~22.5m (depth) x ~8.5m (floor to false ceiling height.) (≈53ft. x74ft. x 28ft.)
iSense screen width (as drawn): ~15m (≈49ft.)
Main foyer/concessions: ~17m x ~23.5m. (≈59ft. x 77ft.)
PhilipWW: The cinema was totally refurbished by Empire Cinemas, and 4 of the 6 original auditoria were subdivided. The 2 auditoria that were not are now the two IMPACT screens.
The “Existing Upper Level Floor Plan” which is available among the documents the above-mentioned planning application, and it shows the “Downtakings,” with the screens being marked for removal.
Additionally, to summarise notes on that drawing: all raised floors, blockwork as marked (subject to confirmation by structural engineer), ceilings inc. grid/tiles/lights, and all services inc. duct, pipework, etc. were to be removed.
I suspect ~1.9:1 screens are used to make auditoria look like a Digital IMAX?
joeswin: Thanks for the link.
Looks like an error in that part of the rendering?
I would imagine the old safety curtain was permanently removed in the strip-out along with the rest of the asbestos-containing materials. It’s not apparent if what’s rendered is supposed to be a curtain or simply a projected image?
Alas, the proscenium end is just too dark in this picture to make out much. It looks like the ceiling has been altered, with a “kink” just behind an overhead line array speaker.
HowardBHaas: As I’ve noted elsewhere on CT—Odeon Birmingham Broadway Plaza and Odeon Orpington—it seems that at least some of Odeon’s own brand premium large format “iSense” auditoria do include moveable masking.
Not sure what the impact of AMC’s ownership will be in this respect; mostly they seem to be implementing their “recliner” strategy, as well as their press releases mentioning concessions offerings. One would also imagine that the agreement with Dolby for UK Dolby Cinema sites also may be connected to AMC ownership. (Furthermore, AMC majority shareholder Wanda also has many Dolby Cinema locations built or in the pipeline in their own cinemas.)
As the new screen location appears to be behind the proscenium still, and the organ being kept in particular indicates the project’s objectives in relation to the continuity of heritage aspects, hopefully tabs and moveable masking will be reinstated—if not, at least the laser projection will yield low black levels for non-“scope” format content. Certainly letterboxed “scope” format images are, if not ideal, acceptable over in the IMAX with Laser auditorium across the square.
Thanks to all for the heads up.
The joint Odeon Cinemas Group/Dolby press release went out via Businss Wire:
London’s Glittering Home of the Premiere Returns: ODEON Luxe Leicester Square to Reopen Following Multi Million Pound Luxe Upgrade and Introducing the UK’s First Dolby Cinema.
This is the same release but includes two high resolution renderings; alas, the auditorium is not included.
Still no view of the proscenium so it remains to be seen if tabs and masking are reinstated.
The release also reaffirms that the Compton organ will remain intact.
All is looking good though I’m still not sure what colour the sidewalls/ribbed plasterwork will be from these renderings?
Let’s hope the cinema does reopen for Christmas 2018 as stated…
LARGE_screen_format: Good news! I suspect it will be the “downsized” version for “multiplex”-sized IMAX venues rather than the original system intended to replace 15/70 projectors in classic “Grand Theatre” venues (and similarly scaled new builds or conversions.)
As a new build, it might just be one of the best IMAX/PLF screens in the country—technically speaking, of course.
NBDA Architects' Case Study on Odeon Luxe Birmingham Broadway Plaza.
The refurbishment cost £6.5m and was delivered in a 20 week construction programme. The design was “in brand” with bespoke elements, including an “acoustic timber” ceiling in the foyer.
The page includes a number of high resolution photos of the foyer and lobby areas, the iSense auditorium, and another auditorium.
From these photos, the iSense auditorium boasts JBL rear speakers, and the screen appears to include moveable masking.
The other auditorium seems to have retained old KCS rear speakers, presumably kept from the original installation, which seems like penny pinching given the sums involved in this project.
This aside, it looks like a very good place to see a film.
kistra: No probs, you’re welcome! :–)
Or, more precisely, cantilevers over the pavement, within the property boundary.
The BFI IMAX is available to hire via Headbox.com, starting at a mere £6200.
Included in the above-linked page is a gallery of high resolution (if not having sufficient depth of field!) photos.
The high-level banner on the LSQ facade currently advertises “Halloween,” with “AT CINEWORLD LEICESTER SQUARE NOW” in red letters at the bottom.
Perhaps Cineworld have finally figured out a way to put their brand name on the front of the building so that it can actually be seen from the other side of the square!
Photo uploaded.
“Extinguishing Spotlights: the Uncertain Future of Cinematic Heritage in London’s Leicester Square”.
An academic article authored by Alexa Raisbeck, this contains a potted history of cinemas in LSQ and some photos of auditoria and exterior, paying some particular attention to the Empire Leicester Square.
Whilst I share the author’s concerns over the potential impact of redevelopment on the place of Leicester Square in the cinematic world, the topic seems rather odd when major investment has been made over the past few years into the flagship sites.
It should be noted that the article contains a number of errors, many of which could have been rectified simply by reading through the relevant material and comments posted on Cinema Treasures.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1213641/technical?ref_=tt_dt_spec
The film was shot on a combination of 16mm, 35mm and 65mm (IMAX/15 perf) film, as an intentional aesthetic choice.
In an IMAX with Laser venue with a 1.43:1 screen, it would be shown in 2.39:1 “scope” ratio, except for the scenes shot using 65mm IMAX cameras, which would “open up” to 1.43:1. All images for an IMAX version of a release usually go through IMAX’s DMR (Digital Media Remastering) process, the details of which do not appear to be public, but include noise reduction and colour grading (adjustment.)
This process is done in collaboration with the filmmaker; e.g., regarding Skyfall, Roger Deakins himself posted the following online:
“I did not like the look of the IMAX dmr process, which enhances contrast and saturation, so I insisted we timed our own version. Everyone seemed quite happy with the results.”
The use of noise reduction, one imagines, would be less aggressively used or not used if the image is supposed to look coarse grained!
(“DMR” originally was to allow for “blow ups” of 35mm to 15/70 IMAX so that the image quality would be acceptable on a classic “Grand Theatre” IMAX screen.)
So, you would see a potentially “enhanced” image, see the “IMAX” scenes in full height rather than cropped to scope, as they would be in non-IMAX venues, and get the benefit of IMAX with Laser projection system (including superior black level performance than Xenon-lamp projection, and the other benefits of a purpose-built IMAX, such as confirming to their auditorium geometry so that you’re sat sufficiently close to the screen, etc.)—but obviously 16mm (!) source—or 35mm for that matter—in particular will constrain the quality achieved on screen.
Update: Construction of the “glass box” balcony feature has started, with metalwork (steel beams and profiles for a floor deck) now overhanging the front wall. It may still not be much to look at, but it shouldn’t be too long before the “Cat B” fit-out of the foyers is initiated…
A photo has been uploaded.
This is a CG rendered shot of the refurbished/altered auditorium from Odeon’s website.
https://www.odeon.co.uk/cinemas/leicester_square/105/ now redirects to https://www.odeon.co.uk/cinema/odeon-leicester-square/. Presumably the former was a placeholder page that should never have been seen, since, AFAIK, no press release was issued, nor was there any media coverage, nor was the page linked to when selecting “Odeon Leicester Square” as a cinema option from elsewhere on Odeon’s site,.
Lest anyone reading this has not seen the posted renders:
OLS Refurbishment Rendered Images.
LARGE_screen_format:
“Spectre Thrills at the Royal Albert Hall” – Audio Media International.
These speakers are intended for sound reinforcement applications rather than cinemas—I suppose the Royal Albert Hall is a big, multi-level, place to fill! (Besides, I’d be surprised if cinema speakers are available to rent for “event” applications?)
There is an odd quote in the article which says “‘Of course the film is not recorded in 7:1…’” — not quite sure what that means—perhaps that Atmos is among the sound formats available for the theatrical release, or perhaps it’s simply an error?!
As 5.1 and 7.1 are mentioned, and among the sound formats for the theatrical release of the movie was a 7.1 mix, I’d assume the latter is what was used.
The 11 weeks figure cited is presumably for fit-out only; it seems like a pretty straightforward job, with ample internal space, excellent access, and away from neighbouring properties.
As a comparison, Empire Walthamstow also took 3 months to fit-out.
(By “straightforward,” of course, I mean relatively speaking! As I mentioned on its CT page, according to an article in Cinema Technology Magazine, as many 80 workers were on site in a single day for the Vue West End refurbishment.)
Re: Bond premieres at the OLS—
Licence to Kill – 1989.
Exterior Shot of Large Format Advert on Facade.
GoldenEye – 1995.
Tomorrow Never Dies – 1997.
The World Is Not Enough – 1999.
Casino Royale – 2006 (Empire Leicester Square and Odeon West End also.)
Quantum of Solace – 2008 (Page features a photo of the facade with “ROYAL WORLD PREMIERE” banner, and links to other exterior photos.)
N.B. Not all of the above are “world” premieres.
“Die Another Day,” “Spectre,” and “Skyfall” all premiered at the Royal Albert Hall.
Contract GF Holding has a case study on the cinema’s refurbishment and expansion.
Photos are included, oddly, one being of the IMAX auditorium (not related to those works?) yet none of the new auditoria, including the XPlus Laser.
Thinking about it, having pleated fabric to floor level makes no sense, being too exposed to potential wear or outright damage. I expect it will be an acoustic wood product.
LARGE_screen_format: The early figures given for the projected cost were ~£10-15m, the actual cost of works has not been disclosed AFAIK. However, without knocking the building down and starting again, there are physical constraints.
As mentioned, the screen is marked as the same size as previous on the submitted licensing application plans, with horizontal viewing angles marked also. Revisiting the plans, given the positioning of the stalls' front row, I can’t see how a new screen could be placed ahead of the proscenium.
The screen is shown, however, as being moved to the front of the stage house compared to the existing. (c.f. 2015 licensing plans.)
The emphasis of these works, besides presumably essential to work to keep the OLS intact for the forseeable future, seems to me to be the creation of a luxury facility, including a “Royal Box” and other features (VIP rooms, keeping the stage, etc.) to cater to special events and premieres?
Perhaps you could think of it as being a “preview” of Dolby Cinema pending installation in a site that more readily allows for a larger screen and better optimised auditorium geometry, whilst keeping those who would like to hear the old “Dutchess” Compton organ happy? :–)
The Cineworld (Empire) Leicester Square IMAX is, as previously discussed, as near a “no compromise” PLF giant screen as it could be, both in size and auditorium geometry—(strikingly so) given the building’s history and physical constraints. I imagine it, and the Superscreen, will remain the only auditoria equipped with giant screens* in the heart of London’s West End—and equally, no cinema will be able to compete with the OLS as a premiere location?
(* Per the Giant Screen Cinema Association’s giant screen specifications. Whilst the IMAX of course exceeds requirements, strictly, the Superscreen actually misses out width-wise by ~1m, not being quite 70ft. wide—however, the auditorium’s geometry does place all seating under one screen width away from the screen, and otherwise the auditorium’s geometry, projection and sound should all fall within specifications.)
moviebuff82: The Odeon Leicester Square is always worth visiting but purely technically it might not be better than your local, in terms of acoustics, seat positioning relative to the screen, and screen size, which might well remain ~48ft. wide.
antovolk: Many thanks for the heads up!
Good to finally get some idea of what the auditorium will look like, and interesting that it will branded as “LUXE.”
From a “heritage” standpoint, with so much missing—ceiling, and the splay walls/proscenium—indeed, all of the stage end—of the auditorium missing it’s really difficult to see what’s been (or being) restored?
It looks like the ribbed plasterwork on the circle sidewalls is being kept, presumably extending across the ceiling. I’m assuming that stretched fabric over acoustic absorption is used from there to the screen.
What looks like wooden panelling from stalls level up towards circle level is shown—possibly pleated fabric as certainly the cavity under the balcony should be heavily acoustically treated. For those who wish to see the flying ladies back, I’m thinking this could curve upwards as before to form that feature.
Not sure what to think! I suspect that, what appears to be a new darker colour scheme, will go down like a lead weight here… but renderings can be misleading!
On the bright side, the “glass box” feature on the LSQ facade looks like a fantastic addition and place to dwell before a movie.
Addendum: The Walnuts Shopping Centre multi-storey car park ticket can be validated at the cinema; however, this only covers 3 hours, which for longer features particularly seems insufficient given possibly eating in the foyer and getting to the auditorium before the programme starts.
However, an additional hour is currently £1, so it isn’t too bad.
(N.B. Sunday all-day parking is currently £1.)
The NEC 4K Xenon-lamp projection in the ISENSE auditorium was not far off that achieved by IMAX’s proprietary dual-projection systems (which actually work differently for their 4K laser projection system, with one projector being fed a more detailed image than the other, due to the impossibility of stable sub-pixel alignment at 4K) in terms of being a detailed yet smooth image—but still, the IMAX systems appear to be superior.
The NEC NC3240S is the only Xenon-lamp 4K DCI-compliant projector currently shown on NEC Display Solutions' site—presumably this is the model installed for the ISENSE auditorium.
On sections of fast motion, sometimes odd artifacts could be seen, somewhat reminescent of the early single-chip single-speed “colour wheel” (consumer-grade?) DLP projectors.
Whilst the programming of content and lighting was very good through trailers/adverts onto the main feature, after the feature ended, it took, IIRC, maybe 30 seconds or more for non-sync music playback to abruptly start, and the house lights to be raised.
Errata: AFAICT the capitalisation for “ISENSE” is either all-capitals or all-lowercase, rather than “iSense.”
A few photos have been uploaded.
Visited Odeon Orpington today to see “First Man” in the iSense (Screen 4) auditorium. The movie was disappointing, but intelligible and watchable.
This cinema was built as part of an extension to “The Walnuts Shopping Centre,” which, put politely, is a secondary location. The centre is partially covered; access to the cinema is outdoors, and opposite is a branch of “Poundland”! Value retailers can be places to find products at competitive prices, of course—but it is not a glamorous setting for a cinema.
However, all is forgotten on entering the cinema, via a small lobby onto escalators to the first floor main foyer. The foyer and lobby areas look better “in person” than in photos I’ve seen to date—they are bright and clean, but the added touches—such as the blue concealed LED lighting—add the necessary sparkle. All of the blue LED strips seem to have been placed in extrusions, the result being very even light output, competitive with cold cathode strips, rather than the patchy effect sometimes seen.
Due to tiredness, I found myself buying a large Coke Zero, for which I was charged, IIRC, £4.30(!)
All staff were friendly and efficient.
As mentioned in a previous post, the cinema was the subject of a Cinema Technology Magazine (as it was then known) article, September 2016 issue; the previous link no longer works—however, this issue has been reposted.
A minor quibble: when trying to book tickets, on proceeding to card payment, the website returned. Unfortunately, on reattempting the booking, the seats that I had selected were still shown as unavailable; therefore, as I preferred centre-row seats, I had to select seats in the next row (i.e. closer to the screen,) and as this happened several times, the final seats booked were closer to the screen than the original selection.
Fortunately, these seats turned out to be, if on the low side, a suitable distance from the screen—however, I had hoped to sit further back, in order to be in or near the “sweet spot” for the Dolby Atmos sound system.
Entering the iSense auditorium and being seated, the impression was that, although decoratively a “black box” auditorium, I had entered a “real” cinema—one that had been thoughtfully designed. Whilst the screen (nor auditorium width) was not on quite the same scale, it almost felt like I had entered a modern version of the Odeon Marble Arch! (N.B. The screen is ~49ft. wide, and was sufficiently large, but not in the “giant” category as found in the BFI IMAX or Cineworld (Empire) Leicester Square IMAX.)
The row spacing provided fairly generous legroom, and the black “leather” seating was clearly of a very high quality; however the lack of “rocker” capability, I thought, made them slightly uncomfortable, and the seating is not as wide as I would have liked.
The ceiling lights use a “honeycomb” design and are not too bright or distracting when lowered for the main feature, and they were gradually dimmed, IIRC, through the adverts and trailers.
Where adverts and trailers were in scope format, these suffered from being “letterboxed;” however, if I’m not mistaken, moveable masking is installed, and the screen definitely opened up for the main feature to full width, making full use of its height.
A Dolby Atmos trailer was played before the main feature.
Picture quality was very good; the screen is slightly curved, and tilted upwards, and as far as I could tell did not have the curved “chamfered” corners that many “floating” screens suffer from. Brightness was sufficient, and the calibration/alignment seemed excellent, with accurate colours and almost perfect geometry with no, or virtually no, “smiley face” barrel distortion towards the bottom of the screen.
However, the black level was not comparable to laser light source projection (nor high-end OLED TVs), and there was a fair degree of clipping of low level detail. Further, the expanded gamut potential of such systems was, of course, not on display here, either—a shame that the cinema was built on the cusp of the wider rollout of laser light source projection.
The Clarus XC screen installed is suitable for polarised 3D, as well as 2D, and this was a 2D presentation. Uniformity seemed pretty good; but the end credits revealed that, for my seating position, the centre to bottom edge of the screen was brighter than the rest.
The sound system (specifications in previous post) was excellent, with good timbre matching between the fronts, rears, sides and overheads. It was clean and bright sounding, with plenty of headroom, reaching high sound pressure levels without strain, including right down to the bottom octaves. However, it did seem to be playing at slightly less than reference level.
Acoustics were also very good, affording excellent dialogue intelligibility and imaging; poking the sidewall stretched fabric on entry suggested generous acoustic absorption had been fitted underneath, and certainly sidewall reflections appeared to be highly controlled.
A couple of minor quibbles; the fronts did seem to be slightly peaky in the mid-high range, and the noise floor was on the high side, and could clearly be heard in quiet moments—in fact, it was louder than the inaudible HVAC system! Absolutely no leakage could be heard from the other auditoria.
Kudos to whoever calibrated the system; they have done a first class job!
The auditorium’s temperature was fairly consistent throughout, although I didn’t quite feel that the fresh air intake rate was as high as I would have liked.
Toilets were clean with some veneered finishes, and down-firing Dyson hand dryers are fitted.
A massive thumbs-up for this premium cinema no doubt aimed at the leafy suburbs nearby.
A planning application for the development is available on the website of the London Borough of Bromley — the relevant documents are “PROPOSED FIRST FLOOR PLAN,” “PROPOSED SECOND FLOOR PLAN-PROJECTOR LEVEL,” and “PROPOSED SECTIONS AA AND BB RETAIL AND CINEMA OPTION.”
The iSense auditorium (Screen 4) is marked “Screen 1” on these plans.
Dimensions as estimated off drawings (scales are conveniently included):
iSense Auditorium: ~16.2m (width) x ~22.5m (depth) x ~8.5m (floor to false ceiling height.) (≈53ft. x74ft. x 28ft.) iSense screen width (as drawn): ~15m (≈49ft.) Main foyer/concessions: ~17m x ~23.5m. (≈59ft. x 77ft.)
According to an article in a local newspaper, the screen in the iSense auditorium measures 15m x 6.2m.
Swindon Interiors' fit-out case study.
PhilipWW: The cinema was totally refurbished by Empire Cinemas, and 4 of the 6 original auditoria were subdivided. The 2 auditoria that were not are now the two IMPACT screens.
The “Existing Upper Level Floor Plan” which is available among the documents the above-mentioned planning application, and it shows the “Downtakings,” with the screens being marked for removal.
Additionally, to summarise notes on that drawing: all raised floors, blockwork as marked (subject to confirmation by structural engineer), ceilings inc. grid/tiles/lights, and all services inc. duct, pipework, etc. were to be removed.
I suspect ~1.9:1 screens are used to make auditoria look like a Digital IMAX?