Imagine going to the cinema to watch a blockbuster movie only to find that the screen is not working. It is hard to imagine that anyone would stick around to watch a blank screen.
That is exactly what Sam Williams is asking people to do in what Sam claims is a World’s first on March 27th as he teams up with the Odeon in Llanelli to show the film Tomb Raider without pictures. Yes you did hear correctly, without pictures.
Sam’s idea is to give people the same sort of experience he goes through when watching films as he is registered as blind. Most large studios provide an audio description of what is going on on screen for partially sighted and blind people so in effect what you are hearing is the soundtrack of the film at the same time as someone describing what is going on on the screen. This is often the case for the deaf or hard of hearing when subtitles are used.
Over 2 million people in the U.K. live with sight loss with 9 million people living with a hearing loss. That is a whopping great big audience for film producers..
Sam’s idea is to not only raise awareness but to raise money for the Llanelli Visually Impaired Bowls Club of which, he is a member. The screening is on March 27th at 7pm. Tickets are priced at £20 and a substantial amount of that money will be going towards helping the bowls club. Sam said that the film company Warner Bros had shown an interest in what he was doing and that the Odeon in Llanelli could not have been more helpful.
The screening will be held in one of the smaller rooms holding 82 people. If you don’t want to go along but would still like to support the cause you can contact Sam on 07427 380829
You can watch our interview with Sam here:
Sam’s Special Screening from Llanelli Online on Vimeo.
