3D craze hits Canterbury's Cinema

"3D...the technology of the '80s, but hey, it's now!" - rants Wooldor Sockbat, a fictional character in the popular "old school" 2D animated series Drawn Together.

To a certain extent, the statement is true as early 3D technology has been existing in the motion picture industry for over 20 years. Today, the big difference is that movies are no longer converted to a three-dimensional format, but shot with the help of special 3D cameras and watched with the new polarized glasses.

With his blockbuster "Avatar", James Cameron paved the way and 3D re-entered the mainstream cinemas across the world. UK's Odeon chain informed that they have installed 3D projectors in many of its cinemas. The new project will deliver 3D images at a resolution of 2K (2,048x1,080 pixels).

If up until now movie fans had to take a trip to cinemas in Ashford -or even London- to watch a 3D motion picture, Odeon is the first movie theatre in Canterbury that offers this great visual experience.

Joanne Holmes, the cinema's duty manager talked to me about the major shift to three dimensional movies.

How did your clients receive the news that Odeon will be screening movies in 3D? Have you noticed a significant increase in ticket sales?
Yes, definitely. It is perceived as being a very good experience, everybody knows about it in Canterbuy and our attendance has shot up. We struggled a little bit, as we got our 3D screens installed this year, at the end of March, so we missed out on all the Avatar crowd. We played it in 3D for only a week but even so, it was performing very well, if you consider it's been released for 3 months.
Do you think 3D movies represent merely a trend or, soon, every cinema across the UK will have embodied the technology?
I am positive it will take over the world, because it's a totally new visual experience and totally unlike the traditional red and green 3D. You can't even compare it to that. The new real 3D is fantastic to watch, things are flying at you, everything is a completely different dimension than what it used to be.

Besides movies, is Odeon screening any sporting events?
Other cinemas in the chain are, but not in Canterbury. It's quite difficult for us because there are only two screens. Showing sporting events means that we would have to lose a film.

Some cinemas inform people beforehand that headaches or nausea might actually occur while watching a 3D movie. Have you received any complaints about this so far?
None at all, no one ever complained about being unwell afterwards or during a movie.

Environmentalists have expressed their worries towards millions of plastic 3D glasses having been distributed worldwide. What is your policy on recycling them?
Up until very recently we had recycling bins. We also show ads on the screen encouraging guests to recycle their glasses. As of today, we're moving towards guest ownership glasses whereas they own them and will be encouraged to bring them back for further showings and pay a reduced ticket, which is the ultimate option in recycling.

Can you give us a tip on the 3D movies that are to be screened in this cinema, in the future?
Well, a lot of animated features. Toy story 3 is going to be huge, massive! Other that that, we'll be playing Shrek in 3D towards the latter part of the year and the new Resident Evil that I expect to be a quite similar experience to Avatar.

Cameron is PM, what do students think about it?

By Sam Smith, Jamie Feltham and James Crouch

So it’s official; David Cameron is in, Gordon Brown is out and the first coalition government since the 70s is here. We’ve been speaking to students on the Christ Church campus to find out what they make of our new Prime Minister.

"I think he could actually be quite a good PM, I think we have to move on from the Labour government and I don't think anyone can deny that the country has gone back in the years since Blair and Brown have been in charge."

"I like him, but I'm a little bit cautious about where he is going to take the country."

"He's just a top man."

"I don't really think much of David Cameron."

"I'm not sure at the moment, because what I thought of him last week is not the same as what I think of him this week. So the verdict is out.

"I'm disappointed that Gordon Brown still isn't in office."

"I like him, not massive fan of the coalition government, but I;m a bit of Tory boy, so hopefully Cameron will do well."

"I think he tries too hard to be relevant to other people, he calls himself "Dave", doesn't really suit him, no-one really likes him, and I think he's really just a posh boy."

Unsurprisingly, opinion seems to be divided when it comes to our new PM. Like it or not, Cameron is here to stay, for a while at least, with his new deputy PM Nick Clegg and their coalition government. Only time will tell how successful they will be in getting along, and how well they will do in running the country.

C4 Rugby in a new dimension

By Nicolas Verdier

Two months after the end of the season and with just a few weeks until the end of the academic year, I caught up with Sam Clark, the newly elected president of Christ Church Men’s Rugby Club.

“This year was great but the other members of the committee and I want to take the club to a new dimension,” declared the Sports and Science student.

On the field, this season was brilliant for the 1^st XV and the 2^nd XV, with both teams finishing second in their respective leagues. While the seconds won the Varsity Trophy for the second year in a row against local rivals from University of Kent 13-7, the first team lost in a close game 7-13.

“The results on the pitch have been great even if we should have won both leagues but we now want to improve off the field. We are looking at bigger and better sponsorship deals. We are also about to sign a deal regarding the kit with Samurai,” he precised.

The new three-year deal will lower the cost of the membership each year for the players. They would have to pay for their kit in their first year but would pay only the membership the following two years saving around £100.

Sam Clark is also looking for a new coach in order to strengthen both squads to win the leagues, Varsity and for a good run in the Cup for the first team.

With new sponsors, a stronger squad and a highly organised new committee, C4 Rugby has got all the cards in hand to have an amazing academic year 2010-2011.

Lounge on the Farm 2010

by Josh Gray

Lounge on the Farm is Kent's most well known, and newest festival. Created in 2006 and based at Merton Farm; the amount of visitors has steadily but greatly increased from a thousand in it's first year, to a modest five thousand in 2009.

This year however is coined to be bigger and better! Last year LotF introduced, "you say they play", this is a competition where the general public vote for which local acts who they wish to see play at the festival. Last year twelve bands won this opportunity and this year thirty-six lucky contestants have the chance to win! LotF continuously sticks to the fact that they only try to promote local acts and local produce at their festival whilst at the same time producing a mind-blowing spectacular weekend. This is probably one of the factors which has enabled them to win "Best UK festival 2009".

During the past 4 years some of the UK's most well known acts have made appearances on the main stage, featuring Super Furry Animals, The Noisettes, Ellie Goulding and the Mystery Jets to name a few. Although the acts aren't quite on par with larger festivals such as Reading and Leeds, Glastonbury, V Festival etc, it is slowly making a name for itself and perhaps it will only be a short time until it's one of the national festivals.

According to the founders, Lounge on the Farm was an idea initially created in 2004, when the founders first met in the center of Canterbury watching a band play in a flat bed lorry. They decided amongst themselves creating a festival that supports local bands would be a great thing to do, they exchanged numbers on 'the back of a pack of fags' and started work on what would be Kent's most successful music festival, and in six years time one of the most famous festivals in England

(Moving on to some swift promotion! My band Zephyrus has been placed up for nomination, so if you can vote for us here it would be fantastic, thanks!

Canterbury Goes Eco in Climate Fair

by Joe Gustafson

Global warming is becoming a bigger and bigger issue and recently Canterbury has decided to get in on the act by hosting is first climate in Canterbury in High Street this weekend on the 15^th May. Organizers Greenpeace have managed to bring 35 stallholders for a market that extends from C&H Fabrics up to the clock tower.

The market stalls will have a variety of products available to the public such as organic bread, pedal powered smoothies plus a variety of other environmentally centered products. Members of public will also be able to enjoy some of the exhibits that have been set up alongside the market. The exhibits include electric motorbikes, electric skateboards, road trikes and ecological builders.

Organizer of the fair and Canterbury Greenpeace coordinator John Halladay has been speaking ahead of the fair ‘What I really intended to do was put something together to show the people of Canterbury there are a lot of organisations, groups, charities and so on who are still taking positive steps to try and reduce their carbon output and therefore contribute to the fight against climate change’

Halladay also spoke of his inspiration to bring this event to Canterbury ‘We got the idea for the climate fair towards the end of last year. I had been in Copenhagen at the climate summit trying to make the marches there a success, but it all fell to pieces. I came back determined we should continue to fight somehow, keeping climate change in the public eye. I thought quite a good way to do it would be to bring it onto the streets in Canterbury.’

It seems as though the climate fair will prove very popular for people of all ages in the city of Canterbury but the most pressing matter is making people aware of the threat that climate change can have upon our planet.

A festival with a difference

By Alex Dodds

Summer is fast on approach, and it’s the time of year that students and young people adore…festival season. However, things could be a little different from crowd surfing and getting beer thrown all over you, as this year sees the return of the walking festival.

This event has been increasing in popularity over recent years and is gaining more and more followers. The festival lasts a total of 12 weeks and has been given the fresh new title “Explore Kent”. The aim of the activity is to show local residents what is on their own doorsteps and the beauty that is to be seen in Kent. And with the ash cloud expected to halt even more expeditions abroad this year, something like this is exactly what is needed to fill the void. Senior project officer for Explore Kent Rebecca Hoffman said “We know it won’t appeal to everyone, but families, groups of friends and people wanting to meet others will really enjoy it. “It really is an underestimated activity. There are stunning guided walks around the coastline and countryside for a range of abilities for different types of people”.

The festival went underway just over two weeks ago in Sturry Road, Canterbury and kicked off with a family fun day. There was a total 900 people that attended, with 150 of those attendees joining in with the walks.

This revolutionary festival has also been aimed at tackling some of the severe health problems that the country is experiencing at the moment. Obesity and depression are at the forefront of this. The Explore Kent teams have worked closely with NHS officials in order to carry out research about the beneficial effects of walking. Rebecca Hoffman explained, “Prevention is easier than cure. This activity is extremely important in maintaining good health. It makes people feel better mentally so they can tackle their problems head on.”

Local hero still pursuing his dream

by Alex Dodds

It’s hard to believe that it’s been four years since a marquee erector from Whitstable swapped the seaside for the X-Factor stage, in an achievement that saw a man become a local hero. This man is of course Ben Mills.

After just missing out on the £1,000,000 recording contract with infamous judge Simon Cowell, Ben hit the studio and crafted his debut album ‘Picture of You’, but unfortunately it didn’t do as well as hoped. His new album ‘Freedom’ however, has been 3 years in the making and he’s been showcasing his new material in numerous gigs up and down Kent. This culminated in one big show at the Gulbenkian theatre in Canterbury, which received a terrific turnout and good reviews from critics. Ben has received praise on his unique voice, and also that he could be the new Rod Stewart of the music world.

On the new album, he has worked with the Mark Owen of Take That fame and a writer that has previously worked with the incredible talent that is James Morrison. Ben’s self-penned songs are really honest and beautiful and would probably shock some of his critics.

Ben is now set to headline at the Bands of the Belmont in Whitstable. This will be a nice treat for his supportive local fans that have given him so much encouragement in his career. He will be making copies of his new album available to purchase here. It will first be released locally and then be taken nationally too see if it can gain a place in the official UK album chart.

Below is Ben's original X Factor audition: