Home Cinema
Real Movie Experience
At Beyond the Invisible we are uniquely positioned to offer you the ultimate movie experience. One of the founders Simon Scotland previously worked in the UK film industry line producing films. These ranged from the low budget cult classic Leon the Pig Farmer, to the highly successful Sexy Beast staring Ray Winstone and Ben Kingsley. In his role in the film process he was responsible for all aspects of the film production from the initial concepts to the final delivery. Because of this we fully understand the care and attention that goes into making a feature film at every stage of the process and we are determined to honour this in the audio and visual reproduction in your cinema.
Cinemascope Widescreen Projection
Most TV programmes are now broadcast in 16x9 widescreen format which corresponds to the shape that all LCD and Plasma screens are made in. However most feature films are shot in a wider format often referred to as Cinemascope. If you watch one of these films on a standard projector and movie screen you will see black bars top and bottom of the image. Not only is this annoying it actually is reducing the size and quality of the image you are watching by nearly 30%.
For the real cinema experience you need a Cinemascope widescreen with a projector that is capable of producing these true widescreen images at high quality.
This is achieved using the same principle that is used when a Cinemascope film is shot. The picture on the above shows how a Cinemascope image looks when using a standard projector. You notice the black bars which are effectively wasted resolution. So the image is squeezed as shown below.
Squeezing the image uses the full resolution of the projector. Of course the squeezed picture is in-correct so a special lens is placed in front of the projector which stretches the image out to fill the widescreen with no annoying bars.
You can still watch widescreen TV using this projection system. The special lens automatically slides away and masks come in left and right on the projector screen just like the curtains in a real cinema when they show films or adverts that are not in Cinemascope.
When combined with a Kaleidescape movie server this system is completely automatic. It knows when the film is Cinemascope and automatically adjusts the screen and lens to suit.
Movie Sound Experience
The image on the screen really is only half of the experience. When a movie is made, weeks and weeks are spent on the sound. Every line of dialogue is recorded without background sounds. These are then layered onto the film during the editing process. Footsteps and other sound effects are added with performers recording these sounds live to the projected image. The musical score is composed with a musical theme being created for each character and then these are interwoven into each scene. Once all these elements have been recorded several weeks are then spent mixing all of these sounds together and ‘placing’ them precisely in surround sound so they appear to be coming from the right place.
To recreate this in a residential cinema requires careful selection of equipment and attention to detail in the decorative finishes. The dark velour seating and carpeting on floors and walls of a commercial cinema is no accident. The dark colours prevent light reflecting off the walls and distracting you from the image on the screen. The soft furnishings absorb some of the sound and stop echoes even in a partially full cinema. These ideas must be translated into a residential environment. Here whilst the fabrics and finishes will be more opulent the underlying result is the same acoustically treating the room for the best sound reproduction.
There are some true specialists in the world of home cinema speakers. Again these take their cues from the commercial cinema arena. When you have visited a cinema you may have noticed speakers on the walls but never at the front of the cinema. This is because they are installed behind the projector screen. This enables the screen to be as wide as possible. The speakers you see around the side of the cinema are also relatively small because there are large subwoofers that handle the bass notes and effects that you can’t see. Again these are usually placed behind the screen. So in our design for a home cinema we choose speakers that are designed specifically for this purpose. The front left, centre and right speakers are designed for dialogue and mid range notes which are then supplemented with sub woofers for the low notes. Around the sides and back of the cinema special surround speakers are used which mimic the many speakers you would find in a commercial cinema.
A high quality cinema processor decodes the information from the movie disc and then works out which sound should go to which speaker. High quality amplifiers then amplify the sound to the speakers.
Where should you sit?
Everyone has their favourite seats in the cinema, however there are guidelines which determine the most comfortable place to sit. This is based on the width of the screen and states that the best position is one with a viewing angle of either 30 or 36 degrees depending on whether you trust the boffins at the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers or THX! We recommend that the best seat of the house is placed around this position. This doesn’t mean other seats will get a poor view – it just won’t be as good. The seating position also helps us determine the ideal size of the screen for the cinema. This may not be the absolute largest that can be squeezed in.
Find out more
In order to see how we could work together on your project please contact us.
Design & Installation of Home Cinemas
