Screenfields

Film, Jug of Pimms, Open air and Summer — can you think of a better combination than this? There is a whole different feel to watching a film in the open air when the weather is just perfect. Don’t get me wrong, I love going to the cinema and have the whole movie experience but when you are watching a film you have seen before and doesn’t require much of your attention then an atmosphere like that is purrrfecctoo!
I went for my first one last week, they were screening the good old male chauvinist Anchorman, i will have to say I am not the biggest fan of that film but it does make me laugh at several occasions. You also watch the film in dock chairs which gives it the whole holiday feel and its a good background setting to have while you are out for drinks with friends because then the film just fills the awkward silences and also you have a combined reason to laugh. The tickets were only 3 pounds which definitely doesn’t hurt the pocket a wee bit. The whole ground was packed with people and some even sat on the grass as you know ’60 percent of the time it works every time’. The sound was loud enough but my only complain would be that the screen could be bigger as the size of the spectators were definitely much bigger than you would expect in a cinema.
Verdict: If its sunny and they decide to screen some other cult film (Pulp Fiction) then I am definitely heading that way!

Summer = Screenfields.
Sadly, English summer also equals rain, wind and the occassional snowstorm. Nevertheless, when the sun IS eventually shining, Screenfields is the place to be. It’s been switched around eversoslightly this year, with the screen moved and a tiered seating system in place — the back lawn area is free (but your view is more than likely to be blocked by drinking businessmen), the front lawn £2 a head, deckchairs £4 OR a lovers deckchair £6 for two. To enter, you have to queue around the other side of the Long Bar. Fancy a drink? Well, you can enter the screening with your bar bought drinks — provided they are in plastic — but you can’t walk outside the Long Bar area. So, be prepared to duck under the ropes. This is a silly oversight by the planners.
Another change this year is the way in which films are picked. No longer are you at the mercy of the Spinningfields gods, but you get to have your vote! Two film titles are uploaded to FB/​Twitter early in the week, votes pour in, and the winner is shown on Thursday. If it’s forecast to rain, it’s called off full stop, and this is becoming a recurring theme. The other week, your choices were Jaws or Labyrinth. Despite it being played last year, the goblin king got the vote — I’m not sure whether this had an affect on the attending masses, but they didn’t exactly come in their droves. I enjoyed my additional leg room, but the lack of people did surprise me.
As did the fact that noone else seemed to know the words to Dance Magic Dance.

I’m going to talk a bit about the cinema experience as half the reason many of us will go down is for the film itself.
I was there for the same showing as Clare M and I agree with her for sure regarding the audio /​visual quality, it is not great… in fact really its quite bad — we’re in Spinningfields which is very much 21^st Century when it comes to its architecture and ambiance, all around you are glass and steel structures, towering above you like Cathedrals to capitalism and yet we’re watching a film on a screen which looks like communist North Korea would have chucked out!
If a character on screen is anywhere in a distance shot, then facial features were reduced to mere skin coloured smudges — if you squinted you could probably count the pixels. It was like watching something filmed on a mobile then uploaded to YouTube. I wasn’t expect high definition but even moderate would have been good — if we’d have been watching Nightmare on Elm Street, everyone would be commenting on what lovely smooth skin Freddie Cruger has!
Then there is the sound system, which is obviously cranked up to the max, yet unfortunately I think they may be using the old PA system from Victoria train station, shrills and screams on screen turn into eardrum popping banshee like wails and quiet scenes are filled with a constant white noise, a hissing sound that you get when you’ve turned your stereo up to 11.
The crowd — firstly I guess for commercial purposes they don’t seem to be concerned about limiting the numbers for the benefits of a pleasant experience with the amount of people crammed in on the evening I was there — I actually had noticeably less room at this «open air» cinema than I did at the old Show Case cinema I used to go to. I spent the evening folding and unfolding my legs between a smörgåsbord of camping chairs, students sprawled on the grass and cinema goers trying to find their own way out of the ironic Labyrinth which had been created by the crowds.
Then there is the crowd noise, which in fairness mostly wasn’t too bad, but naturally many people are there just sit out, have a few drinks and the fact that a film happens to be on in the background is a bonus.
One tip I would suggest is that if you are planning on going down on a sunny, mild evening — then it’s probably a good idea to get there earlier and bring your food, drink and goodies with you, as on a busy evening the queues get mighty lengthy.
So in summary, not a bad event but room for improvement!

Well, if the bods behind Screenfields, the aptly named outdoor cinema at Spinningfields, were worried about getting a return on their investment this year I’m sure they slept pretty soundly last night: amazing weather + 80’s cult film = winning combo.
If this place had rafters it would have been packed to them for last night’s screening of Labyrinth. We arrived about 20 minutes before the trailers stared to find all the deckchairs had been rented out, fortunately we were able to nab the last blanket and what seemed like the last patch of grass with a decent view of the screen.
You could tell the site was pretty much stretched to its limits — the queues to get in and for burgers/​drinks were pretty long but then I suppose it’s not really worth laying on more facilities unless the crowds are consistently this big which, thanks to the good old British summer, they’re not.
This isn’t the place for your die-​hard cinema buff: the audio-​visual quality isn’t tip top; there is a general hum of chatter; and, unless you’re pretty early/​lucky, you’re unlikely to grab a spot with an optimal view of the screen. But, if that’s going to bother you, go the Cornerhouse. The outdoor cinema creates a really nice group-​viewing dynamic — the obligatory wolf whistles and rounds of applause when Bowie appeared on screen looking particularly dashing in his mullet and bizarre skintight ensembles, and the loved-​up/​boozed-​up couples dancing during that slightly awkward song through which Bowie seems to be declaring his love for a very young (too young?) Jennifer Connelly really added to the atmosphere.
You can take your own food so make a picnic, grab a blanket and settle in.
Entry: £2
Deckchair /​blanket hire: £2