LU Cinema, situated in Bowland, re-opened on Saturday 22nd October, after being refurbished with a new digital projector and ticket booth, totaling at £100,000.
The newly equipped cinema celebrated its make over by opening with a week of showings of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, which gathered a total of 400 students that week.
LU Cinema President, James Clewes, sees more potential in the campus cinema. “We are working on getting fridges to sell refreshments on a regular basis. There is also a slight possibility of 3D, however, it’s early days” going on to explain that it “would cost tens of thousands” of pounds but would “be the same quality as normal cinemas.”
Replacing the 35mm projector, Clewes explained that the new digital projector produces a visibly clearer image and is much easier to train new projectionists on. This alters training, which previously took roughly two terms, to only a few hours, which has increased the number of staff working for the cinema.
The cinema now has ten people available to project, rather than the two available at the start of the year.
Further plans to enhance the cinema are being considered, such as repainting the white walls to create a more effective black out, and investing in poster boards to improve advertising.
A new ticketing system is also set to be trialed next term in order to fully utilize the ticket booth.
At the moment, the cinema projector is used in lectures, which Clewes said has created some technical difficulties for lecturers, the cinema and ISS. There are plans to provide a separate projector that will be more suitable for lectures, along side the cinema projector, to avoid any problems.
Prices for tickets, £3 or £2 with a purple card, will stay the same despite the revamp, due to the fact that the university paid for the refurbishment. Clews went on to comment that “we [LU Cinema] just want to provide an alternative form of high quality entertainment without having to go out drinking.”
Bowland Senior Common Room [SCR] are particularly pleased with the outcome of the new cinema. Joseph Thornberry, member of the Bowland SCR told SCAN that he “can say that I’m delighted that Bowland has this fantastic facility on its doorstep and we look forward to welcoming cinema-goers to our terrific new bar.”
