The end of lockdown - what then?

they said cinemas were finished when we first got video players/recorders,..so stop worrying, there will always be folk who like the experience

the biggest worry for me is the amount of wmc's and pubs that will never open again, many of these already live on the collar so with every week that passes then their troubles worsen.I play in a club act and our agent fears the worst and between us all we honestly feel that theres nowhere back for the majority of them.

 

It's a long, long way behind football in that respect. You can sit in a comfy chair with guaranteed entertainment for £8 as opposed to £20-£30 for a plastic seat with absolutely no guarantee of entertainment.

 

If pubs are back open in July then the impact will be minimal as I suspect they’ll make their missing takings back by the sudden demand for ale.

 

I pity barbers. Most men in the country now own their owns clippers and are self taught barbers.

 

Most sensible thing I've read on the subject today.
Until there is a vaccine (which will be 12-18 months) people are going to catch it in large numbers. It’s how you manage those large numbers in balance with looking after the economy which is crucial in all of this.
Restrictions will have to be lifted slowly over time and some may have to be re introduced. Its going to be a long road with sadly a lot more loss to come.

 

Either the gas chamber, or a Sheffield Wednesday season ticket.

 

Have you seen the state of sone of these home cuts!?

 

Panic barbering

 

If I could have self isolated for two weeks aged 12 I would have done, my auntie fancied herself as a bit if a neighborhood hairdresser and decided to cut me and my brothers hair for an upcoming family wedding. We looked like Baldrick in Black Adder by the time she’d done ! My how we laughed when we had to face our schoolmates the following Monday. With barbers closed I wonder how long it will be before the basin cut becomes more prevalent

 

"It will all be over by Christmas!!" (that was what they said when WW1 started).

Seriously though, I think we can all 'write off' returning to normal life in 2020. Restrictions once we get BR number below 1 (I.e. on average every newly infected person passes it to less than one other and once that figure is reached the virus dies out.) will be slowly lifted, probably starting with restaurants, public spaces and shops re-opening . Italy has now got the ration down to 1:1 but needs it to fall below that.
IMHO until we get a vaccine into mass production and those most at risk have been innoculated World wide then International travel will still be restricted. I also believe, as some experts have said, that in many work sectors, work practices may have changed forever. It would be a double bonus if it illustrated that HS2 is unnecessary and the savings if it was cancelled would provide a sticking plaster over the damage caused to the economy by Covid19 (although that is probably too much to ask). We also have the spectre of many businesses failing and in some areas not being replaced with new companies.
If you look at the situation, daily lists of casualties, hospitals at breaking point, talk of a modern day land army, restrictions on movements, curfews, an invading enemy in our midst, that, effectively ,means we are at war. In war, the physical infrastructure, human and economic cost is high. We may avoid the former in this case but the last two are here, and will remain for some time after a cure is found.
One thing that has been exposed is that Globalisation comes at a cost. I don't doubt that the big players will be anxious to get back to 'business as usual' but the reliance on imports (for many countries not just the UK) globally has proved to have major weaknesses when things like this happen.
It is like the old saying...' for the want of a nail, the shoe was lost, for the want of a shoe the horse was lost, for the want of a horse the battle was lost, for the loss of the battle the war was lost !'

 

Good post. My income comes from providing DJs for weddings & to a lesser extent nightclubs. Some people are hopeful we'll be back up by August / September, but I think that is optimistic myself.

 

Yes but you can buy a decent HD projector and screen (even an electric retracting screen- forget white painted walls if you want a good quality picture) quite cheaply nowadays and a good 5:1 surround sound system with decent subwoofer. Even 3D projectors are becoming affordable (albeit still around the £1k mark) You dont even need a dedicated cinema room (who has the space these days- great if you have but not essential.
There are also plenty of internet sites like Zoom where you can buy Blurays and 3D bluray and if you are prepared to wait a few months after initial release there are bargains and boxed sets.Considering the prices for a family of 4 going to the cinema if you an afford the upfront cost say around £900 for good HD projector, £500 for SS system with sub woofer (you can get cheaper or pay a lot but £500 will get something pretty decent) and bought 40 Blu ray per annum average price £17.50 over 4 years that will have cost you average £17.50 per film.
Subsequent years (given lamps should last around 2000 hours you only have the cost of Blurays). The advantages are..
The projection quality once setup is excellent and consistent,
Surround sound is usually better than the cineplex experience as you always have the 'best seats in the house' .
You can pause, rewind, 'sprag out' on the sofa start the film any time at your convenience.
Watch the films as many times as you like since you own them

Huge TVs are all well and good but when not switched on they are just a great big black, dust attracting rectangle sat in your living room. A large screen filling your vision gives the truly cinematic experience. You dont need the new expensive 4K (UHD) projectors as the HD gives a good picture and 4K doesnt allow 3D films to upscale to UHD anyway. Accessories i.e. glasses for 3D are either passive or active depending on projector but they can be bought for around £30 for a two pack (active) or less for passive on t'internet. We have a number of 3D blurays, Several Marvel universe ones, The Walk, and there is a lot of content out there on You Tube and you can connect most projectors with more than one HDMI input to a TV as well as the Blu Ray player.
For me the cinematic experience and atmosphere of sitting in a big auditorium with hundreds of people like theatre died with cineplexes and multiple smaller screen half empty auditoriums often with variable quality picture/sound as the projectionist has been replaced by automation . My last truly cinematic experience of being in a packed auditorium experiencing the audience reaction to event on the screen was the first Jurassic Park film so that shows how long ago it was. That atmosphere has long gone

 

I realy really hope things work out for you. I find it incredibly sad that hard working people like yourself who have taken risks i.e. gone down the enterpreneurial route could be face with losing everything they have worked hard for.
IF you can hold on I think the entertainment business and thing like weddings etc will take off with a vengeance with people fulfilling postponed plans and others simply wanting to celebrate the dark times we are going through. The best of luck to you and family, work associates and friends.
Any further news on any help from Government schemes for self employed and small businesses?

 

Hi mate. Not really. I could furlough myself as a director, but that would pretty much mess up any recovery that you are talking about. It's a competitive business to be in (as are most industries), so being sat on my hands is not really ideal. It will all depend how long it goes on. If I'm wrong & others are right & we're back up say in September than hanging in will have been the right decision, if it's longer, other options will need to be looked at. I'm just trying to focus week by week. Obviously decisions are going to be made eventually on the infection rate, as mentioned earlier.

Weddings and parties are booked on optimism, so if people think things will be lifted in August they may make a booking in June for a date in say October. If you are not trading in June, then you lose that to someone else.

 

I play in a club act and our agent fears the worst and between us all we honestly feel that theres nowhere back for the majority of them.[/QUOTE]
A knew a knew thi from somewear.

 

Sh it all ort place.

 

Oops thought it said panic babbering.

 

Weddings and parties are booked on optimism, so if people think things will be lifted in August they may make a booking in June for a date in say October. If you are not trading in June, then you lose that to someone else.[/QUOTE]
Clouds, silver linings etc. This might sound a bit grim / bleak but people usually have wakes for the deceased, with these being banned there's going to be lots of memorial gatherings at some time; as these are likely to be a wholly different atmosphere than a wake, there maybe opportunities to provide respectful and tasteful entertainment.

 

There is a reason I'm seriously considering growing my hair again for the duration of the lockdown...

 

I disagree that atmosphere hasn't gone anywhere. I've had that atmosphere with many films in recent years.

Also couldn't disagree more about surround sound meaning you always get the best sear. Sure it means ONE person gets the best sear but because of the size of a living room and the limitations of a home set up compared to a cinema set up it means that whilst the person in the best chair gets great sound those on the sofa get a terrible sound and orna terrible view.

Home projectors are good but to really work you need black out blinds that truly black out. Let light in and the picture quality goes down.

Hd on a massive projector as opposed to UHD? The bigger you go the higher the resolution you need or the picture quality suffers. Simple physics says that X amount of pixels stretched over a bigger area will not look as good.

Being able to pause it isn't a bonus for me it's a big negative. When I go to the cinema that's what my whole attention is on. I can't pause, I can't rewind if I miss things. If I'm st home I can be an hour into a movie and think who is that actor in the background? Its bugging me. Let me just pause for a second and Google it. 15 minutes later I've found out not only the actors name but discovered that Gordon Owens local shop is ripping people off and that Biglil is being all soppy again. By the time I unpause it it takes me a good 5 minutes to get back into it.

Then there's the chair comfort. My sofa is comfy don't get me wrong but i can lay on it or lounge on it and get TOO comfy. I've been known to fall asleep watching a really good movie or even just lose concentration a little bit. At a cinema you're upright, you've got plenty of room and it's to be fair pretty comfortable these days but you are upright and concentrating on the film in front of you.

There's nothing wrong with a film at home or a big TV or projector but in my opinion going to the cinema is a completely different experience that you just can't get at home.