I found one great article from the manager of the cinema who I was referred to when I emailed the cinema. After reading the article it answered all my questions regarding the cinema. I highlighted key parts of the article:
'The cinema takes its commitment to its locals and regulars seriously, and Wendy is sure that the area itself has helped the Picture House develop its particular character.
‘Hyde Park’s amazing,’ Wendy says. ‘It’s got a great history of musicians and artists who worked here and people who engaged in political dissent and social organisation. We work with the Hyde Park neighbourhood forum quite a bit to try and make sure we’re working with our local community rather than against it. We want to do more of that, basically.’Wendy talks about ‘the next hundred years’ a lot. Seeing as the Picture House has nearly seen the credits roll on its own story a couple of times in the past, she’s keen to secure the future and maintain its place as a central part of Leeds life, just as it was when it first opened in 1914.‘It seems like a crazy time to open with the war and everything, but despite that we were completely central to people’s average week; we were a fundamental way of people finding out what was happening at the front, being distracted from the war to propaganda films and patriotic dramas and escapism,’ Wendy says. ‘We were really key in people’s social calendar.’
The event I wanted to celebrate was the next stage in this brief, the events are as follows:
- Opening of the cinema in 1914
- 'Their Only Son' being the first film showed
- Morale boosting dramas aired during WW1
- Leeds City Council saving cinema from closure in 1989
- In 1959 a live elephant was outside the cinema to promote the showing of 'The Big Hunt'
All are very diverse events which have helped shape the cinema and the people around it but I needed to focus on one. Therefore feedback was required to help my decision making and the two most well received events were morale boosting dramas aired during WW1 and Leeds City Council saving the cinema from closure in 1989. Peers did believe that all events had a positive affect on the city and people of Leeds but the two I highlighted had lasting affect.
Morale boosting dramas aired during WW1 were aired for the entire war and as 6,000 men from Leeds enlisted it would have provided many families in the area with comfort to see morale boosting dramas and news reels. As this event lasted from 1914-1918 it made my peers more enthusiastic as its a perfect opportunity to celebrate the morale boosting dramas but also the opening of the cinema in 1914. 'It kills two birds with one stone' was one peers feedback as it celebrates two events in one idea he believed, potentially developing this idea has its pros and cons though. One good thing that would come from including two events within one, is that it truly shows the impact the cinema has had on Leeds and especially during them dark times for country. Yet having two ideas within one may cause confusion and go away from the original aim of the poster, to be celebratory.
As I mentioned another event that received positive feedback was Leeds City Council saving cinema from closure in 1989. The Picture House is now owned by Leeds City Council as part of the Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House Limited. This independent company within the council is dedicated to preserving, and securing the future of Leeds most historically and culturally significant venues. If it wasn't for this landmark event then the cinema wouldn't be here today, and since the 1989 the cinema has continued to provide entertainment to the people of Leeds. The beautiful grade II listed building (granted listed in 1996) would most likely have been knocked down. And the city of Leeds would have lost one of its great institutes and Hyde Park wouldn't be the same without its iconic cinema located in the heart of the student area. Therefore my peers think this is most critical moment in the history of the cinema.
'The fact that the council saved it because it is one of Leeds most historically and culturally significant venues says it all really' I and my peers also discussed about how the council saving the cinema also helped save some beautiful architecture and cinema features you never see today. Personally I can only compare Hyde Park Picture House to Tyneside cinema in Newcastle, as both have original features but Hyde Park Picture House has it all. Such as an ornate balcony and external box office, and its the only remaining gas lit cinema in the United Kingdom. Some of peers had never seen a historic cinema such as this before moving to Hyde Park, so it just shows that keeping the cinema open back in 1989 has a lasting affect as its still crucial to the discovery of cinema 27 years later in Leeds.
After mulling for a few days on what event to choose to celebrate, I chose Leeds City Council saving the cinema from closure in 1989 as the event to celebrate. Just from personal opinion and peer feedback I think this idea has the potential to show everything which is great about the cinema in one poster.
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