7 film industry experts on the power of the big-screen experience

Freelance film writer and interviewer Scott J. Davis canvasses thoughts from several leading filmmakers on the impact of the cinema experience and how it continues to shape their lives in profound ways.

“The thing that the theatrical experience gives you is that you have the subjectivity of being in somebody’s head and having a visceral experience like you’re on a rollercoaster ride but you’re also sharing it with other people – there’s nothing else that can do that.” This is what Christopher Nolan, director of Oppenheimer, told Cineworld about his love of the big-screen experience and why it means so much to him, his movies, and society.

Nothing beats the excitement of sharing those few hours in a room full of strangers coming together for a common love of movies as they share in all the latest and greatest technical big-screen advances.

I remember the buzz of lining up for a paper ticket to see films such as Masters of the Universe, Back to the Future: Part II, Jurassic Park, Titanic, or Batman Forever back in the day and the thrill of sitting back and experiencing those films in a cinema for the first time will never be matched, not even by a 100-inch television with the best surround sound.

As we approach National Cinema Day (scroll to the end of this post to find out more), we asked several leading filmmakers why it is so important to them and how it helped shape their careers thus far.

Luna Carmoon – Writer/director of Hoard

"Cinema is a religious experience, divine even..."

“The cinema is my church. It is truly the canteen of escape, a sacred space that I feel as the world heats up will have its second renaissance. It’s also somewhere that I've worked and scrubbed, and served hotdogs, which was my favourite part.

"I enjoy the blockbuster experience (I adore 4DX) the screams of joy, the thrill of knowing that people are squealing, squirming and tearing up. The knowledge that people can likewise respond to my own painted worlds is heartening. I equally love my solo pilgrimages to the cinema, that feeling that if only the film industry felt like how I feel: alone in this holy space of someone else’s brain on this mountain of fabric that brings me the feeling of contentment like no other. A religious experience, divine even.

"Aren’t we lucky to do this? Aren’t we so, so lucky that while the world is moving outside in this darkened vacuum we are home? I love cinema because in the words of the great Colin Farrell, 'It’s my breakfast, lunch and dinner…'”

Michael Mohan – Director of Immaculate

"It's a surge in dopamine production that makes us feel fantastic"

“The neuropsychological perspective on watching a film in a packed theater is the easiest way to encapsulate my love for cinema. The mirror neuron system ignites inside your Ventral Premotor Cortex and Inferior Parietal Lobule, making laughter contagious. This effect is bolstered by our limbic system, which facilitates emotional contagion and amplifies the emotions we perceive around us.

"That's why we're more likely to cry in a movie theater than at home on our couch. Additionally, the Locus Coeruleus releases norepinephrine, heightening cortical arousal and sharpening our attention in ways that don't happen at home. This is why horror films feel so much scarier. All of which results in a surge in dopamine production that makes us feel utterly fantastic.”

Daniel Kokotajlo – Writer/director of Apostasy and the upcoming Starve Acre

"For the same price as a pepperoni pizza, you get to experience something that took years of effort by dozens, if not hundreds, of people"

“We need ways to escape the house — places where we can tune in without distractions and enjoy something new, together.

"For the same price as a pepperoni pizza, you get to experience something that cost millions to make and took years of effort by dozens, if not hundreds, of people. Plus, you get to see it in a place with the most advanced entertainment equipment available on Earth. It’s epic, glorious, immersive, and unlike anything else. Let’s reignite the magic of cinema before it’s cheapened and erased.”

Dave Norris – former projectionist and Screening Room Manager at Universal Pictures International

"There was always a certain anticipation as the lights dimmed that this might be the best movie ever made"

“When I was about 5 years old, I was first taken to the cinema. As a child I loved the whole experience and the more I went, the more I appreciated it. To me, there was always a certain anticipation as the lights dimmed and the curtains opened that this might, just might, be the best movie ever made about to unfold before our eyes.

"I probably didn’t plan to make cinema and the film industry a career, but I guess it was pretty inevitable and over those 32 years working as a projectionist in Leicester Square (44 years and counting in the industry as a whole), I’ve always tried to put on a good show to try and pass on that sense of anticipation to the audience.

"Now working for a major Hollywood studio and dealing with movies many months (sometimes years) before they are shown to the public, that anticipation has never left me – I could be about the show the best movie ever made.

"Thank you cinema, for everything you have given me – I hope I’ve given just a little back.”

Rhys Frake-Waterfield – Writer/director of Winnie-The-Pooh: Blood and Honey 1 and 2

"Being able to see reactions live is invaluable as a filmmaker"

“The theatrical experience is impossible to match at home. The visuals and sound in an auditorium allow the audience to watch the filmmakers work exactly as they intended. We’re a social species, so share these experiences with your friends and not in isolation.

"Also, by supporting cinema and in particular the smaller independent productions, you’re helping build careers and improve the quantity and quality of future films. Being able to see reactions live is incredibly valuable as a filmmaker, too, such as evaluating jump scares, you get to see what worked for the masses and what didn’t.”

Phil Hawkins – Director of Robin and the Hoods

"There's nothing like watching a movie collectively with strangers"

“Call me an optimist but I don’t think the cinema experience will ever die. Yes, it has its challenges and will probably have to evolve to stay relevant but there’s nothing like the cinema experience and the collective viewing of a movie with a bunch of strangers.

"A film’s qualities are heightened in the cinema. Comedies are funnier, horrors are scarier… the audience is an active participant in the film itself. It’s also a haven of distraction-free viewing (one hopes!). I still remember watching Jurassic Park on the big screen and that became a seminal moment for me in wanting to make films. Would it have had the same effect on the TV at home? Who knows. Probably not in 1993 though!"

Prano Bailey-Bond – Director and co-writer of Censor

"Cinema is a transcendental place where we can put everything aside and go on a journey"

“When you love films, as in really love films, the cinema is one of the best places in the world. There's something so magical about seeing a film on the big screen – you're transported to another place, another time, you're in the shoes of another person altogether. I love it when I come out of a cinema and, for a little while, the world feels different – maybe I notice details, sounds, and people, more sharply.

"I remember seeing Under the Skin (2013) in the cinema, and when I came out I felt like an alien who had just landed on Earth. It was amazing! The cinema is a transcendental space. It's where we can put aside everything else, and go on a journey in the hands of a filmmaker. And in a world where our attention is being constantly vied for, the big-screen experience is more important than ever for us to become truly immersed in a story.

"I think all filmmakers want their work to be experienced like that – I certainly do.”

Watch the following Cineworld highlights video in which several other leading filmmakers wax lyrical about the importance of the big-screen experience and how it shaped their careers.