A year living social trends: Outdoor Cinema – We lived it. We loved it.
The Rooftop Film Club believe that ‘great films deserve great locations’, and they certainly lived up to their promise of providing an iconic city backdrop. We were in the centre of busy Shoreditch with a panoramic view and a stunning sunset. I’d made it; here I was, little old me, living it large in the big smoke, pretending to be a hipster, in my new start-up job.
So I hear you asking, what’s this outdoor cinema gig you’re going on about? Well, this month we had the hard job of living our latest social trend, ‘outdoor cinema’. The search interest in outdoor cinema has more than tripled since 2012 with consumer interest (expressed through Google search) showing us that July is the month to go. We looked at the data and the clear winner in creating social conversation volume was La La Land, raking in 180 mentions in our 3 month sample. So of course (for educational purposes only) we went to experience it for ourselves in one of London’s well-known open air cinemas.
We booked in to watch the film at Queen of Hoxton’s rooftop cinema and we were pleasantly surprised with the visit. They transformed the usual rooftop bar setup into a deck chair filled outdoor cinema within 10 minutes. Before we could even pick up our bags to find a seat, Anne-Catherine (the organised German) had already pushed past half the crowd in order to secure the perfect spot. In all fairness, they were actually pretty good; pleasurable distance from the screen, right next to the bar and easy access to the exit for when the boys decided they’d had enough of the ‘soppy rom-com’.
You’d expect that being in London town, under a flight path, we wouldn’t be able to hear the film above the outside world noise. Our fear was thankfully unfounded. On arrival we were kitted out with state-of-the-art wireless headphones, allowing us to enjoy the film completely distraction-free.
The film was thoroughly enjoyed by all (boys included), it’s easy to see why it is still so popular months after being released. The pool-party scene seemed to be the communal favourite, where Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone cross paths once again. She’s flirting with him while he’s playing keyboards in a cheesy costume with a tacky cover band. Her lip-sync to the song she’d requested, “I Ran”, was undeniably one of the films most enjoyable scenes.
The outdoor cinema experience in itself was something to remember. With a barbecue grill, cocktail bar and one of the nicest roofs in Shoreditch. We all enjoyed the experience and I’d genuinely look to go again. So if you’re tall, dark, handsome and preferably under 25, I’d be more than happy to accompany you 😉
