Cineworld Cinema - Hemel Hempstead

LARGE_screen_format on November 4, 2018 at 5:02 pm

There’s no page as yet for the soon to open Cineworld, Watford so I’ll just post it here. Open to the public on 14th December 2018 and will not only have IMAX with Laser (only the third UK cinema to have it) but also ScreenX (only the sixth cinema in the UK to have it).

https://www.cineworld.co.uk/blog/cineworld-watford-opens-this-december

https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/17197542.cineworld-watford-to-open-with-new-270-degree-screen/

Can’t, hardly wait to visit…

Zappomatic on August 7, 2018 at 9:43 am

Regarding cinemas with identical screens, Cineworld West India Quay has two floors of five screens stacked on top of one another which all match the one above/below, except for screens 1 and 6 (screen six was constructed as a Virgin Cinemas deluxe screen with huge legroom and an additional entrance into the now disused upper bar, but fitted out by UGC with the the same seats and decor as the other screens).

LARGE_screen_format on August 6, 2018 at 9:51 am

It would appear that Empire Cinemas like to round numbers up with regards to seating capacities that each auditoria contain. In some cases such as the IMAX screen by quite some margin (numbers quoted online were 278 or 281 when in fact it only has 210 + 1 Disabled seat!).

So I went through the laborious task of clicking through every performance of all movies being shown until I had seating layouts of all 17 screens and counted them manually.

These are the correct seating capacities per screen.

Screen 1: IMAX – 210 seats + 1 Disabled Screen 2: Superscreen – 272 + 6 Disabled Screen 3 – 185 seats + 5 Disabled Screen 4 – 160 + 2 Disabled Screen 5 – 153 + 2 Disabled Screen 6 – 50 + 2 Disabled Screen 7 – 110 + 2 Disabled Screen 8 – 109 + 2 Disabled Screen 9 – 105 + 2 Disabled Screen 10 – 77 + 2 Disabled Screen 11 – 81 + 2 Disabled Screen 12 – 78 + 2 Disabled Screen 13 – 76 + 2 Disabled Screen 14 – 76 + 2 Disabled Screen 15 – 63 + 2 Disabled Screen 16 – 78 + 2 Disabled Screen 17 – 105 + 2 Disabled

Total: 1,988 + 40 Disabled

Perhaps an Admin could edit the Overview one last time with regards to seating capacities?

LARGE_screen_format on August 5, 2018 at 3:52 pm

From my notes here’s just a handful of cinemas (there’s plenty more I’ve not listed) that have two or more identical auditoria.

Six different auditoria at Cineworld, Hemel Hempstead have the same number of seats as at least one or more other screens.

Cineworld, Enfield has four authoria (Screens 2,7, 9 & 12) that each have 13 rows x 26 seats.

Empire, High Wycombe has three screens that each have identical auditoria layouts plus the same number of seats. Screens 3 & 4 are the largest. Screens 2 & 4 are medium sized. Screens 1 & 6 are small sized. Screens 7 & 8 which were added many years after the original six were built are tiny with very few rows.

Cineworld, High Wycombe – screens 1 & 7 are identical in number of rows and seats followed by screens 3 & 6.

Cineworld, Sheffield – Screens 6 & 8 both have 18 rows x 33 seats.

CF100 on August 5, 2018 at 2:14 pm

LARGE_screen_format:

Screen 3 was originally to be an identical version of Screen 2 (IMPACT: Blue) which has 185 seats. Cineworld obviously rebranded Screen 2 to Superscreen. Screen 3 however is not a Superscreen.

Looking at the booking pages on Cineworld’s site (if I haven’t miscounted!):

Screen 2 (Superscreen) – 11 rows of seats, max. 20 seats/row, total = 185 + 5 disabled.

Screen 3 – 10 rows of seats, max. 30 seats/row, total = 272 + 6 disabled.

(Today’s 20:30 performance of “Ant-Man and the Wasp” is in Screen 3.)

CF100 on August 5, 2018 at 1:40 pm

LARGE_screen_format:

Trying to think of cinemas which have two literally (internally) identical auditoria?

The only one I can think of is Screens 5 and 7 in Vue West End, where they are vertically stacked; you can overlay the plans of on top of each other. The only difference is that the splay wall fire exits either side of the screen are a bit further forward in Screen 5. Otherwise, the only difference is the differently arranged sidewall decorative LED strips.

(Oddly enough they had slightly different seat counts before the 2017 refurbishment.)

Were any changes made to the IMPACT Blue auditorium post-Cineworld acquisition? It’s not clear whether the Screen 3 fit-out was as specified by Empire or if Cineworld made changes?

(Reply con’d):

Everything is more or less on one (ground) level with the exception of a few steps into some of the smaller screens.

http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/24766/photos/197756 shows a sign with “UPPER” and “LOWER” levels marked on it?

(Thanks to anunfortunateevent for uploading numerous photos of this cinema.)

I am always interested to learn more about cinemas.

OK, I shall start adding floor area information, starting with Vue West End. :–)

On the subject of auditoria sizes and shapes, in an ideal world what are the best proportions for IMAX and non-IMAX screens?

Yikes, that’s a difficult question!

Ideally the content should be created, e.g. framed, so that it’s designed for the target relative viewing distance.

“Classic” cinemas layouts are perhaps 1.5-2x screen distance away, plus given a “scope” ratio screen, achieve far less than the vertical angle implied by the basic IMAX criteria (centre seat of last row no more than the screen width away from the centre of the screen.)

My bias is towards sitting closer to the screen, so IMAX criteria would seem to be fairly optimum to create an “immersive” experience extending well into peripheral vision (ignoring “VR” content and other IMO misguided attempts to “break the fourth wall.”)

Acoustics need to be considered—the obvious “solution” (!) would be to build the auditorium within an anechoic chamber somewhat larger than the screen width/height with “floating” stretched fabric walls/ceiling used to form false ceilings and walls.

It would have one luxurious seat on mechanically raised platform accessed via a catwalk over the anechoic chamber material below, which would otherwise by hidden with more “floating” stretched fabric to form a false floor.

Mid to high frequency sections would be strongly directional dispersion-wise, with the single seat on axis. The seating position could be set to 0.5x screen width as default, but as well as being vertically moveable, would also be moveable forwards and backwards, to allow sitting closer or further away from the screen; the angle of the mid/high frequency sections would be automatically altered to match the seating position (and time/level alignment also altered automatically.)

Another option would be a wavefield synthesis-based audio system.

Naturally, it would have a colour-changing lighting system using cold cathode (neon) strips, à la the old Empire 1. ;–)

CF100 on August 5, 2018 at 1:21 am

LARGE_screen_format:

Hadn’t really noticed that the large sheltered entrance to this cinema looks to be empty inside. The glass area certainly isn’t to allow daylight into the foyer area as it’s artificial light only inside and there’s not much of that!

Do you mean that it looks empty from outside?

Can’t remember the layout of what it was like back then. I’m guessing from the planning application that you linked to that four auditoria from the original site layout were sold and changed into one or more restaurants which now exist on either side of the cinema as you face the entrance from the car park. Then the cinema was extended further back within the complex.

Here’s what I’ve found so far:

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Change of use planning application.

(N.B. Seems to be some minor changes in a further “non-material amendment” application in relation to floor levels and bin area.)

According to the plans:

• The existing two nightclubs (“Lava”/“Ignite”), situated to the right of the cinema’s main entrance, were converted to 5 new restaurant units.
• “JJ’s Bar” to the right of the cinema’s main entrance was converted to restaurant use (currently a Frankie & Benny’s.)
• The bowling alley behind the two nightclubs was converted to cinema use.
• The four screens on the left side of the cinema’s main entrance were converted to restaurant use; external openings and new finishes, including wooden (“western red cedar”) cladding, added to NW elevation (i.e. the external wall if one approached the cinema’s main entrance, turned left instead of entering, and then right.)
• Pizza Hut to the left side of the cinema’s main entrance is currently a Prezzo (no idea if unit expanded into the space formerly occupied by the cinema.)
• Remaining area previously housing an “Aqua Splash” pool, ice rink, and green bowls reconfigured, and decorative changes to the entire main frontage (including removal of cold cathode/neon signage! :–()

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Empire Cinemas – Hemel Hempstead Development Update-August 2015.

To quote:

“Following the acquisition of an additional 35000sq ft of space, construction and fit out of Phase 1 (9 of the 17 NEW screens) is well under way and on track to open on Friday 9th October. At which point the current 8 Screens will close and be demolished.”

I guess this actually means that 4 screens were converted to restaurant use, and the area occupied by the other 4 was reuse to house new auditoria?

Incidentally, the above link states the IMAX screen size to be “18.3m x 10m” (=60ft. x 32.8ft.)

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Using Google Earth’s “Historical Imagery” function for aerial photo views, the building footprint today is essentially the same as it was in 1999. The two large rooftop chiller units above the cinema, presumably located above the (escape?) corridor between former Auditoria 7/8 and former Auditorium 6(/back of house areas behind former Auditorium 5,) seem to have been replaced with numerous smaller units.

(As an aside, air conditioning plant tends to be located above corridors, and not above auditoria, to help prevent structurally transmitted vibration from being audible in the auditoria.)

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Reply to be continued…

CF100 on August 3, 2018 at 10:47 pm

LARGE_screen_format:

Would you happen to know the size of the current 17-screen Cineworld, Hemel Hempstead?

No—although Cinema Treasures' description mentions the acquisition of “35,000sq.ft.” when Empire Cinemas redeveloped this location. (I’m slightly confused, as a planning application dated 2015 only mentions the removal of four auditoria?)

Looking at a planning application dated September 2016, specifically, the area marked in red on the “Site Location Plan,” the plan area is approx. 34,000sq.ft.

Obviously, this wouldn’t necessarily be equal to the gross area of the cinema demise, not least since there are likely to be multiple levels (e.g. booths)—but I guess that’s a reasonable ballpark figure for a “flat” layout of auditoria—though not sure what the layout is at Cineworld Hemel Hempstead?

Also, would you happen to know of any other multiplexes in the UK that are of a similar size (40,000 sq ft)?

Not off the top of my head, but (+/– say ~10%) it’s a pretty typical size—there really would be too many to list?!

To put these sort of dimensions into some sort of context, a typical retail park unit occupied by PC World (not the “Currys PC World Megastore” format) would perhaps be something like 15,000-20,000sq.ft—so you could imagine that ~40,000sq.ft. wouldn’t be unusual for a multiplex?

Overall area figures are interesting—well, at least for those possessing a similar temperament to myself (if anyone?—LOL)—but I think what you really want to know is the width, height and depth of the particular auditoria (and perhaps foyers, lobbies, etc.) that have captured your attention?

(If you are interested, I have some “published” figures and estimates which I could post, but it might be better if I did this on the respective pages for each cinema.)

CF100 on June 11, 2018 at 7:47 am

LARGE_screen_format: Thanks for the link!

CF100 on June 9, 2018 at 6:09 pm

Thanks again for taking the time to share such a detailed reply.

You’re welcome, thanks also for your long reply. :–)

My friend who I visit in that area can’t stand trailers (I’ve always enjoyed watching them myself, after all, it is often based on the strength of a good trailer that I decide if I wish to watch a particular movie at the cinema or wait for the home release)

I do find it odd that someone would flat out refuse to sit through trailers? In my view there should be a whole sequence of “pre-show” elements extending from the entrance (or even before the entrance), through the foyer… and the trailers would certainly form part of that sequence. At least they’re all on YouTube in good quality these days…

That link to the Empire cinema in Ipswich is awesome. Wish all cinemas offered something similar online as it reveals so much more information than what can be found on the majority of their websites. Let’s face it most seem to merely be a portal for online bookings and very little else!

It’s great, I particularly like the “Dollhouse” mode where you can see the whole complex in 3D.

Empire Cinemas have generally been better than others at posting auditoria details on their site but they’re still very patchy. Their site used to have an excellent 360deg photo of Empire 1; I found the file from the page source and downloaded the software needed to view it. :–)

I’ll see if I can manage to take a photo of the very large rear IMAX speakers so you can perhaps identify the exact type/model. They are the largest surround speakers I can recall seeing in any auditorium recently, perhaps ever

Thanks, that would be great. :–)

I did walk into the IMAX screen at Cineworld, Stevenage after watching Justice League in 4DX there just to see the size of the auditorium. It is probably the smallest IMAX screen I’ve seen and certainly not one I’d pay to watch a movie on!

Not sure how big the Stevenage IMAX is? It does get into the difficult question of what makes an IMAX an IMAX. Obviously absolute screen size is part of it but it’s also about the geometry of the auditorium and in particular relative distance to screen width and height from seats.

IMAX and OMNIMAX Theatre Design – March 1983 SMPTE Journal.

Looking forward to checking out the new IMAX screen at Cineworld, Watford in a few months. The only other two IMAX screens in the UK that I wouldn’t mind checking out at some point if ever in the areas would be Vue, Manchester Printworks (previously owned by Odeon) and Cineworld, Sheffield which is the only other current IMAX with Laser in the UK other than Cineworld ‘Empire’, Leicester Square.

Of the IMAX formats the only one you’re missing is OMNIMAX—I went to one in the US a couple of times.

According to an article in the Hollywood Reporter, the new IMAX with Laser system—aimed at smaller auditoria—costs $600,000-700,000.

Just stumbled across this article outlining the possibility of a new cinema/restaurant complex in Hemel Hempstead town centre:

http://www.hhs.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Article-on-New-Cinema.pdf

Couldn’t see any date mentioned or whether these possible plans have since been scrapped after Empire Cinemas spent £7m totally refurbishing what was old Odeon 9-screen cinema on the Leisure World (now renamed to Jarman Place) site?

Hmm, where was the £7m figure from?

Planning Application Received August 2017 (Granted.)

Having estimated a 90ft.+ wide screen for the Auditorium 1, with an almost 9000sq.ft. auditorium, I checked satellite imagery of the existing site, and based on this the scale on the floorplan I’m looking at (Proposed Second Floor—the third link marked “Proposed Floor Plan” in the planning application documents page) is out by a factor of 2!

With this corrected scale, the proposed Auditorium 1 I’d estimate to be a slightly more than 14m deep by 14m wide, giving a possible screen width of 45ft or so in a 2000sq.ft. auditorium. I counted about 140 seats, with larger seats in the last two rows.

Given that it doesn’t seem to have anything much in the way of a unique offer in an already well-served catchment area, it’s hard to see this scheme as viable at this stage?

Spoke to Andre Mort a bunch of times in the past as he often spent time visiting the UCI Wycombe 6 (now an 8-screen Empire cinema) site which was my local cinema for many years.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that Empire Cinemas had some technical facilities there for testing/configuring new gear, etc. Would you be kind enough to share anything interesting he said to you? :–)

CF100 on June 7, 2018 at 6:28 pm

LARGE_screen_format:

As there were originally plans to build two IMPACT screens, each would have had another monicker to differentiate them, Blue and Red. AFAIK that’s all that these two colours meant. There was never any IMPACT Luxe signage that I saw.

Ah! That makes sense—it was IMPACT LUXE that, now that you mention it, I had been thinking of as far as luxury seating goes. (I hadn’t read the Cinema Treasures text.)

As for sound quality, I was deeply disappointed with the Dolby Atmos system in IMPACT Blue.

Thanks for your thoughts on the sound system in that auditorium. I wasn’t really thinking of Atmos in terms of rear/overhead use, so much as particularly an overall clean uncoloured sound, including the screen speakers as they use a number of ribbon tweeters rather than the usual horn-loaded mid/high frequency sections which are prone to colouration.

The rears also use this configuration:

Empire Cinemas Ipswich 3D Tour – Select “Floorplan” – They can be seen in any of the IMPACT auditoria photos but most clearly in the second IMPACT Luxe photo—line array of cone drivers with line array of ribbon tweeters in front.

I’d imagine a similar installation in the Hemel Hempstead Superscreen?

Now either the sound mixers on each of these movies have chosen not to use the overhead channels or the volume level has been set far too low?

Use of overheads does depend on the film and sometimes it does seem that the Atmos mix is an afterthought, plus it’s an aesthetic choice whether to place too much strong directional audio rather than ambience away from the screen.

They look similar to photos of IMAX Kappa(?) speakers at Cineworld ‘Empire’ Leicester Square that were in one of the links you posted.

Those are IMAX’s “Project Kanga” speakers; it’s very difficult these days to find any information on them—there are a few links still floating around the web but they lead to pages which no longer exist (and can’t be retrieved from web.archive.org either!)

They were intended for full size IMAX “GT” auditoria.

Most of the smaller IMAX Digital auditoria seem to use what looks like a scaled down version of them; not sure if they’re the IMAX “MPX” speakers that were IIRC originally designed around the same time for the “MPX” 15/70 system designed to fit into retrofitted venues.

Image of auditorium with smaller IMAX rear speakers.

The back row in the centre section is slightly behind these speakers and as they are front firing you totally miss out on hearing most, if not all of the sound.

Alas this situation is far from unique, and it’s perhaps surprising that it should those seats should be considered acceptable for IMAX presentations (or in THX certified auditoria for that matter.)

The old Empire 1 (the THX certified system from 2006) actually had two seats of rear speakers, one at booth level, the other on the rear wall underneath the ceiling below booth level, with the two sets time aligned.

Even then, sitting right at the back of the circle/stadia would have been a highly compromised location.

You can’t even see the speakers from there as the ceiling above you must be the floor of the projection booth above. Not a very good design imo hose seats should be heavily reduced in price or simply should not exist.

Although IMAX and others like to claim wide sweet spots, there are inevitably plenty of seats which are totally useless for anyone seeking the best presentation quality possible.

I always pre-book centre of row seats and never at the very back of the auditorium. However, many patrons just don’t know or apparently care. ;–) This can become particularly irritating if you happen to be attending a screening with such individuals as rolling eyes tends to be their response when it is indicated to them that the sound would be ruined in their choice of seats. :–(

A more serious problem is very odd shaped rear arrays, e.g. where some rear speakers are placed on the rear wall and others on top of an entrance/exit area protruding into the auditorium! In such conditions there’s no “sweet spot.”

the leather seating in the IMAX auditorium still have Empire Cinemas embroidered into the backs.

Good grief. They were changed from “EMPIRE CINEMAS” to “PEPSI MAX / IMAX” logos in the Empire Leicester Square IMAX not long after opening! Cineworld do seem to suffer from corporate interia at times.

How much of Empire Cinemas' interior finishes remain in the various auditoria?

CF100 on June 6, 2018 at 6:15 pm

LARGE_screen_format: Thomas Anderson (“Benefical owner” of Empire Cinemas) holds a couple of patents on auditorium geometry.

Cinema structure and a method for constructing a cinema structure.

IMAX Corp. also holds patents on “theatre geometry.”

Therefore, I’m not sure if Cineworld’s Superscreens “can” be the “same” as IMPACT auditoria, excepting the ones they’ve inherited from Empire Cinemas. Certainly most (or all?) “premium large format” auditoria I’ve looked at have the last row considerably further away from the screen in relation to the screen’s width.

Not sure exactly what “IMPACT Blue” means? My impression was that it related to luxury seating vs. the “regular” “IMPACT” screens.

Christie adds Vive Audio Excellence to Luxury Empire Cinemas Screen.

The above linked press release is about the Hemel Hempstead IMPACT screen (as it was then), it looks like Christie Vive line array speakers were installed, so your views on the sound quality achieved would be of interest?

Also, notice it says “The IMPACT screen uses Empire Cinema’s patented IMPACT design…”

Zappomatic on September 3, 2016 at 6:06 pm

Now operated by Cineworld.