SMART CINEMA INDUSTRY
We hear about a smart cinema in Bristol promising to transform our understanding of how audiences actually engage with and respond to films
auditorium looks much like any high-end screening room. But beneath the surface is a sophisticated audience monitoring system that records viewers’ biometric responses to what they’re watching and hearing, including heart rate, physical movements and brain activity. Researchers from the universities of Bath and Bristol are using the facility to analyse everything from immersion and attention to synchronised emotional responses across an audience, building a picture of how viewers connect with a story as it unfolds. This information, it hardly needs to be said, could have a huge impact on the craft of filmmaking; ultimately informing commissioning decisions, editorial choices and even production strategies. The first film to undergo audience testing at the Smart Cinema was RENO , a short science-fiction drama produced by Lux Aeterna and directed by Rob Hifle, which had a private screening in April. Exploring humanity’s relationship with advanced technology, it feels like an appropriate test case. “As a director, having the chance to audience test RENO in the Smart Cinema is truly invaluable,” says Hifle. “It’s not just about refining the film; it’s also about connecting with viewers, understanding their reactions and ensuring that our story resonates. This experience will undoubtedly shape the final cut in ways I can’t yet imagine.” The Smart Cinema forms part of MyWorld, a major creative technology initiative that’s designed to connect the west of England’s production sector with emerging research and development. Financed through the UK Research and Innovation Strength in Places Fund, this £30 million project brings together partners from across academia and industry in order to explore the future of content production, distribution and audience experience. Based at The Sheds, an experimental production and research space at Bristol’s Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus, the wider programme encompasses everything from virtual production and immersive live performance to next-generation streaming infrastructure, AI tools and audience analysis. RENO itself was also shot at MyWorld’s VP studio using
WORDS NICOLA FOLEY
F ilmmakers are no strangers to rooms, questionnaires are handed out, focus groups dissect everything from pacing to character arcs and edits, in turn, are shaped. Sometimes, the changes are relatively minor, like introducing a musical number earlier to orientate audiences more quickly in the world of the film, like with La La Land . Sometimes they’re major, causing entire endings to be reshot after lacklustre test screening responses (see Fatal Attraction , Little Shop of Horrors , Get Out and countless others). Sometimes, audience feedback arrives much later than you’d like: with Sonic the Hedgehog – who famously received a complete, very costly, redesign after the first-look trailer sent the internet into meltdown – as a case in point. But what if filmmakers and studios gauging audience feedback for a vibe check on how a film is landing. Rough cuts are shown in screening could see exactly how an audience was reacting in real time? What if, instead of after-the-fact feedback, they got in-the- moment data on how an audience was physically and emotionally responding to their work? That’s the promise of the Smart Cinema, a unique research facility in Bristol. Seating 35 people underneath a 4K Christie laser projector with Dolby Atmos sound system, at first glance the INTO THE FUTURE The Smart Cinema is taking a fresh approach to test screening by monitoring audience reaction in real time
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