Gilbert Long is an architect who has specialized in cinemas since the end of the 1990s. Although he considers that many technological innovations are useless, he highlights the contributions of the digital screen, thanks to its image quality and the possibilities of installation of the spectators that it will allow.
Is the architecture of dark rooms important to spectators?
Non-occasional spectators are very attached to their cinema. They appreciate that he has a strong and unique personality. In this context, the architecture of the place is preponderant. It is important in the choices of insertion in the district, of urban image, of nocturnal presence, of reception… The architecture must remain modest in the face of the cinematographic work itself and above all be a tool for the exhibitor . The current trend is towards increasing the comfort of spectators, with wider seats and deeper bleachers.
How does an architectural project for rooms take innovations into account?
My approach is threefold. For the immersion, I seek the best possible relation to the image, by its size, its quality, its luminosity, but also by the geometry of the room: no spectators outside the frame, the eye from the first row to the above the bottom of the screen, no movement in front of the screen, the greatest possible head escape… For immersion in sound, I choose the best possible system: no obstacle to spatialization sound, absolute silence of the air treatment… And concerning the comfort of the spectator, I make sure that his spirit is captured by the film; he must forget the other senses and be in the best possible comfort: by the quality of the seats, but also by the thermal comfort and the absence of drafts.
The innovations that go in the direction of these three criteria should be integrated into the design of the rooms, but they are few in number. Most of the technologies bring absolutely nothing to the cinematographic work or harm its presentation, by causing physical sensations which disturb the immersion of the spectators (draught, humidity, movements of the armchairs, light reflections off the screen…). The next real innovation is the digital screen, which will offer a much better quality image (depth of colours, contrast, brightness) and will allow viewers to be placed over the full height of the image (due to the absence of beam projector). A bit like in an Italian theatre.
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