An original event idea is always fun to see work and Secret Cinema is a (fairly) new phenomenon which seems set to increase its appeal to a wider audience. The venues are held secret until close to the time of screening, and tend to reflect the subject of the film. Previous venues have ranged from the Royal Academy of Arts (Funny Face) to a disused railway tunnel in South London (Gus van Sant's skateboarding movie Paranoid Park) and the events aim to recreate the spirit of the movie being screened.
What a great idea. We are seeing not only "pop up" cinema but "pop up" dinner parties with celebrity chefs, but pop up bicycle events or routes too. A lIve unplanned "feel" to an event is important. This is in fact a lie of course, as someone really does a lot of planning and organisation, but the presentation is all about being very last minute and raw. For the same feeling of rawness you can buy tickets for warts and all previews of big budget Broadway shows like Spider-Man. Seeing these productions in preview gives the audience a fly on the wall experience watching the problems and stoppages during this last stage of the show before it "opens". So perhaps through the popularity of "reality" shows we are subjected to on TV, a whole new "pop up" genre is growing where the excitement and buzz comes from being involved in the live raw action and not knowing exactly what is happening until moments before, so letting people's imaginations build up before the actual event or both.
So for a sense of excitement at an event or party you are organising, or even wedding celebration you have in mind, this maybe a great way to be different and get everyone talking about it. As we have discovered it is quite simple to rent all you need for a film screening and create a Pop Up Cinema (many local Universities and Colleges have Media Centers who will rent out their equipment) and to put up a screen wherever you fancy. We are always looking for good ideas to test out for our blog and so one of us tried a film event last summer in our garden for our teenage children's after exams party - we simply moved the furniture outside one evening, hung a sheet up on the outside wall and warned the neighbours that if they heard screaming it was probably OK, as the theme was horror - it can be pretty spooky watching a horror film outside which the teenagers loved. (You might not want to choose that theme for your wedding!). It was a great success and we thought that by adding in a dress code and you could have a fantastic film backdrop to a spectacular fancy dress party. The themes are endless from Star Trekkies to Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire black tie evenings, extend these to younger children's party themes and you just may have set the latest trend.
Whatever you are celebrating its time to be creative, use your imagination and don't forget to keep it in the "Pop Up" theme and send your guests details of where, what and when only at the last minute! Over to you...for the next "Pop Up" idea.