Screen Machine - Take Two

A brand new mobile cinema service, Screen Machine: Take Two - the next generation 80-seat, fully air-conditioned mobile cinema, took to the roads across the Highlands and Islands on 15 April 2005. The mobile cinema received support of £428,000 of National Lottery funding through the Scottish Arts Council.

For details of the touring schedule of Screen Machine 2 and the films being shown visit the Screen Machine 2 website.

The premiere screening of Screen Machine: Take Two took place in Lochgilphead, Argyll, with the family favourite ‘Valiant’.  Screen Machine: Take Two’s circuit will tour to 20 or more communities including new sites across the Uists and North West Sutherland.

Hi-Arts, the arts development agency for the region, commissioned the new machine and has been taking cinema to the region’s most remote communities since 1998.   The agency has been reaching communities with the much loved Screen Machine mobile cinema service - which was also funded with the support of National Lottery funding through the Scottish Arts Council.  Screen Machine: Take Two is set to take the mobile cinema experience to a new level.

To create Screen Machine: Take Two, the French company ‘Toutenkamion’*(literally translating as ‘Everything in a Truck') have used the tried-and-tested ‘Cinemobile’ design.  The first Cinemobile was built by the company nearly 20 years ago and is still on the road in France today.  

The new machine can be set up in just one hour.   This swift set up time coupled with its flexible design adapted for the Highlands and Islands (to meet the particular requirements of the regions’ roads and ferry crossings) would potentially allow Screen Machine: Take Two to visit a different location each day.  This will almost double the number of venues across the region that the mobile cinema could serve regularly.

Inside the new mobile cinema, audiences will see a wide range of improvements from the original Screen Machine I, including more comfortable seating, a larger screen and the latest surround sound processors.

Accessibility has been greatly improved for Screen Machine: Take Two with:

• wider aisles
• facilities for subtitling
• a high-contrast colour interior to aid those with visual impairments
• more headsets for audio-described screenings and
• full accessibility with wheelchair positions centrally located towards to the rear of the auditorium. 

Screen Machine: Take Two will introduce The Booth - a convenient new method of ticket booking for audiences.  The online ticketing service was developed by HI~Arts with the support of National Lottery funding.

The Booth was launched in November 2004 and will provide Screen Machine audiences with the facility to book tickets online for cinema screenings.

Iain Munro, Head of Capital at the Scottish Arts Council said: 'The original Screen Machine has been a huge success, providing high quality cultural experiences for people across the Highlands.  We are now delighted to be supporting Screen Machine 2, which will be able to reach more communities and on a more regular basis, allowing even more audiences to enjoy the full cinematic experience.'

Alyson Hagan, Acting chief Executive of Scottish Screen, welcoming the launch of the new vehicle said: 'The Screen Machine is an amazing mobile cinema as it allows people who live in remote areas, with no easy access to regular cinema, the chance to see a varied programme of films right there on their own doorstep. It is wonderful that there is now a second Screen Machine available to tour, meaning that even more people in the rural parts of Scotland get that exciting experience of "going to the pictures".'

*Toutenkamion specialise in custom-built vehicles, including mobile recording studios, restaurants and travelling galleries. 

Supported by the National Lottery through the Scottish Arts Council.