Cinemas to meet film festival standards
Renovations at H-110 will bring the cinema up to film festival standards.
Renovations to both the J.A. DeSève Cinema and the H-110 Alumni Auditorium are in full swing. With improved audiovisual, sound and lighting technology, the facilities — located in the J.W. McConnell (Library) Building and the Henry F. Hall Building respectively — will provide users with increased options and flexibility.
The lobby area of H-110 will also benefit from a fresh new look
With the DeSève scheduled to open at the end of September, courses with the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema have been relocated to the D.B. Clarke Theatre in the Hall Building as well as the Maxwell Cummins Auditorium at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
Construction in H-110 is expected to wrap in the spring of 2014. Passersby will notice a temporary wall set up in the atrium of the Hall Building for the duration of the work.
The renovations are designed to bring both cinemas up to film festival standards. According to Katie Gilkes, cinemas manager in Instructional and Information Technology Services, representatives with the Fantasia International Film Festival have already expressed interest in hosting additional screenings and events at the revamped theatres.
“To have two large cinemas that are up to these high standards, directly across the street from each other — that makes us unique in Montreal,” says Gilkes.
Here’s a look at some of the changes:
- The theatres will go fully digital with new projectors and screens that meet DCP standards (the standard convention accepted worldwide for distributing and projecting movies in a digital format).
- The sound systems will be vastly improved with new panelled (acoustic) walls and surround speakers.
- An energy-efficient LED lighting system will allow for much more control and flexibility as different areas of the cinema can be lit simultaneously, including the podium, stage and audience.
- New seats will be equipped with self-storing writing tablets as well as plug sockets to hook up electronic devices such as laptops and cameras.
- Numerous wireless access points will be added to the room.
- Additional wheelchair-accessible space will be allocated.
- New carpeting and podiums will be installed.
- Side and bottom movable screen masking will be added. This enhances the definition of projected images at various aspect ratios.
- A forward-thinking cabling schema will be installed, allowing for an audio and video feed at multiple points in the room. This means the space can better accommodate webcasting, event recording and simultaneous translation directly from the projection booth.