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Search forKingstanding virtual cinema project seeks backers
Friday, November 14, 2008, 08:00
The King's Visualisation Lab (KVL) of King's College London, began the project with an on-screen reconstruction of the three-finned former Odeon cinema in Kettlehouse Road.
The aim of the project in 2003 was to create an online history of cinema, but the venture stalled because of a lack of funding.
The team behind the ambitious scheme are now looking to continue their online archive if funding can be found.
"A lot of these cinemas are our heritage and are being lost and the Kingstanding cinema was one of the first of its type," said Martin Blazeby, researcher and 3D modeller at KVL.
"We wanted to create an archive of people's memories and got quite far with the Kingstanding Odeon, but one of the partners pulled out before the project took off."
KVL managed to recreate interior and exterior views of architect Harry Weedon's 1936 creation, which was built for Oscar Deutsch's original cinema chain.
The cinema closed in 1962 before reopening as the Top Rank Bingo Club and the Grade II listed building is now a Mecca Bingo hall.
Martin and his team had gone literally beneath the surface of the old cinema to try to recreate the structure in its 1930s heyday.
"We interviewed various people who remembered going to the Kingstanding Odeon Cinema. We used eye witness accounts," Martin said.
"We were allowed to go there and take paint samples to get the colours right. We found a specific style of green, Odeon green, which had been painted over when the cinema became a bingo venue."
Cinema enthusiast Tom Lennon, who grew up in Kingstanding Road, described the former Odeon cinema as an 'architectural gem'.
"I was always fascinated by that building. I love those art-deco cinemas and the design," Tom said. "They represent the golden age of cinema."
The KVL team aims to revive the virtual record of Britain' s cinema history but to do so they need backing.
Anyone interested in finding out more about the project or contributing to the cinema history plans should visit www.kvl.cch.kcl.ac.uk/odeon.html or call 01926 885 083.
The former big screen Odeon, Kingstanding has become a star of the small screen in a virtual reality art-deco cinema project. NJH111108-00004GO
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