Lights Camera Action

Hi you lovely cinema goers,

In this instalment of V I in the City I want to share with you my experience of my cinema trip a few weeks ago.  It was date night and I didn’t want to just do the usual thing we do, go for food and then the pub! I wanted to spend some time talking and getting cozy with the hubby without either Dylan climbing all over us or being in a noisy bar full of drunken people. Which let me tell you the whole bar scene now for me is not what it used to be. I still enjoy an evening out but I know my limitations now. I know what I am comfortable with and what I am not, more so then before my sight loss. 

Anyway back to the cosying with the hubby. I suggested the cinema as we get to watch a film we want that doesn’t involve yellow animated characters or talking animals. I mean I love them films too, but sometimes you need a little adult entertainment. We chose to go and watch Bad Boys 3, We are fans of the first two so wanted to give it a try. I mean we had a little nagging that they may be as old if not older then us now and would it work or would it be sad! We have been to the cinema a few times since my sight loss. All with the kids, we watched Spider-man Far from home, Star Wars Rise of Skywalker, toy story 4 and Jumanji Another Level. There are a few others but I could be here all day listing them. They all have been audio described. What’s that I hear you say, What is Audio description?  Audio Description is a pre-recording of a film that describes to the viewer what is happening. For example “Captain America catches Thor’s hammer and swinging to the right collides with Thanos giving a mighty blow” or “Buzz light year hung to the frame of the window as the camper-van sped down the road” and so on! This is a great and accessible way for me to enjoy the film along with everyone else as I can still hear the film along with the description. So I laugh in the same places and cry at the same sad points so no one would know the difference. I have had people literally sat next to me in the cinema saying “how can she be watching the film that’s not good!!”  If they had been brave enough to approach me and ask how I was watching the film I would have told them. Instead they jumped to their own conclusions. I guess that is just one of the barriers that we face, people’s confidence in asking what they would like to know. 

So off we went to the cinema on date night to watch Bad Boys 3 and I had only just realised on our last visit that we could claim a free ticket for a carer who came with me.  Fortunately, I have an amazing family and a friend network so I get to take one of them with me and they get a free ticket. With the cost of the cinema these days I bet I will have peeps lining up to join me in a great movie. I don’t think you can beat the silver screen, the smell of the popcorn and the big comfy seats. When we got to the cinema we had to ask for the manager at the kiosk to verify the assistants ticket (I think ‘assistants ticket’ sounds better) I think my husband was a little shy about this. I think he looks at it as “I’m her husband not her carer! It’s great for whoever is with me as the cinema is so expensive these days and I do need assistance. When you get your ticket you also have to ask for a set of audio headphones, this is how you listen to the audio description during the film. So next time you see a person or people sat in the cinema with headphones on don’t laugh or judge now you will know why they have them. Sometimes they can be a little crackly and loose signal when you lean to one side but if you straighten up it comes back on. 

We had a fab night and the film was a little disappointing but the experience left me in awe of technology again which without I wouldn’t be able to have these experiences and feel included. I just want to say a big thank you to the movie world and the cinemas that make it possible to have this experience.  

Enjoy your next cinema trip people, grab a big bag of popcorn and sit back and relax.

Sending love.

Nina x