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Video Cassettes for Cinema

1978 , Norwich (Norfolk)

Cat no. 106366

Anglia Television report on the installation of a new video cinema.

Technological advances herald a new future for cinema exhibition in Britain, as the ABC Cinema in Norwich installs a video system in a new 74-seat screen. Anglia Television correspondent Paul Barnes begins his report by contrasting the bulky, complicated 35mm film projectors with the compact, relatively simple U-matic video cassette system, displayed via back-projection onto a new plastic screen. Barnes interviews cinema manager Brian Waters, who talks about the reasons for the experiment, using cheaper but 'not inferior' video equipment which can be installed in smaller spaces and in towns and villages without cinemas. Barnes expresses gratitude to film companies for allowing their films to be transferred, suggesting there is no end in sight for 35mm film projection ('you might say by 2050 or something, but not at the moment'). The report concludes with Barnes's claim that, although there is no change in seat prices for this cheaper system, the 'patron really doesn't know any difference - when they see it, it's just like a cinema so they're prepared to pay a cinema-priced seat'.

Featured Buildings

ABC Cinema (formerly Regent, later Cannon), Norwich

Keywords

Cinemas; Entertainment; Exhibition; Film; Motion picture; Technology; Video

  • Production company : Anglia Television

  • Presenter : Paul Barnes

Manifestations

Video Cassettes for Cinema

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