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Frightfest 2015

Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 1:15 pm
by Alex J
I'm not sure how viable this is, but I thought on Saturday that it would have been good to have had say a week's gap between the line-up announcement and the ticket sale day so that people can review the films on offer and choose the screen that best suits them, allowing them to make themselves available for their preferred disco films (that are now not repeated) at times when the main screen films are not so enticing.

Sorry if this sounds a bit off given the problems people had with the online booking and in some cases missing out on the festival altogether - I do have sympathy for them, particularly as I can envisage a year when there may not be enough tickets for all of the sleepy queuers and who knows what apocalyptic scenes will ensue then..... I sincerely hope that all of those who have had problems online will a) get a ticket to the festival and b) will have any overcharging problems satisfactorily resolved, as it's not a nice situation for the individuals nor the organisers nor even VUE.

Re: Frightfest 2015

Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 2:46 pm
by zappa fan
I agree with you there Alex. New format would have a few bumps to over come.

Maybe a chart with running order posted on-line and given to people in the q next time round could have helped.

Must be a nightmare to arrange an event like this.

Re: Frightfest 2015

Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 2:56 pm
by DJBenz
Alex J wrote:I can envisage a year when there may not be enough tickets for all of the sleepy queuers and who knows what apocalyptic scenes will ensue then...
I can see that happening within the next couple of years TBH. Especially if the number of weekend passes stays the same. Maybe next year it'll be six screens? We can hope. :)

Re: Frightfest 2015

Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 6:18 pm
by Alex J
Re-reading my post it seems a little more alarmist than intended, albeit there is a salient point about demand.

However, I think we need to put our faith in Ian & co to keep a close eye on demand and how it increases each year (and given the online / phone problems this year then an even larger increase in the sleepy queue next year than usual can be expected) and come to an appropriate arrangement that ensures day 1 demand is met (be this through additional screens or a solution "outside the box").

The FF Boys haven't let us down thus far, so we should keep faith that they will continue to do so - no pressure then!!!

Re: Frightfest 2015

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2014 10:12 am
by husky1
Generally speaking things went well, I agree that the ticket problems were out of control but the guys kept going and did get it sorted, yes there were hickups but that's always the case with a new setup.

I have heard some say they wont be attending next year. Their loss.
Lets wait and see what happens, we will still be in the sleepy q again and just enjoy the experience.

Re: Frightfest 2015

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2014 11:36 am
by DavieT
After the whole ticketing saga and the move to smaller screens this year I was bit apprehensive but thought I'd just see how it all panned out.

Happy to say that overall I thought the new format worked pretty well. I was in Screen 5 which although not Empire 1 was a decent size with a good screen and sound and the layout looked as if you could get a reasonable view even if your seat was at the far edges of the seating. I might have felt different if I was in the smallest screen - the Arrow Screen - but thats why I avoided it and went for the larger screens

The thing I didnt like that much about the Empire was the restricted lobby, no where to sit, too noisy, huge queues for the toilets and mass crush of bodies on entering and exiting the cinema. I know many people have said that this added to the feel and vibe of the Festival for them but for me its always been more about seeing a good selection of movies in a comfortable environment. The staggered start times of the movies in the three screen really helped with the traffic flow and after the crush to get tickets for the Disco screens on the first day things calmed down and was much easier. Bar area worked very well.

Good selection of movies this year - best line up for the last few years I thought - apart from that stinker that was Shockwave ....

As demand seems to go up every year I dont think it would be workable having all one screen again. I know someone's mentioned Odeon Leicester Square but beware the seats in the stalls downstairs are hard and cramped and I dont think I could spend 5 days in them!

Well done to the organisers for all the hard work and dealing with the issues that came up. Sort out the ticketing problems for next year and the Vue will be an allround winner .

Re: Frightfest 2015

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2014 12:19 pm
by MrsBBC
Alex J wrote: Sorry if this sounds a bit off given the problems people had with the online booking and in some cases missing out on the festival altogether - I do have sympathy for them
Many of us bought Festival Pass tickets well in to August

Re: Frightfest 2015

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2014 1:02 pm
by hingethunder
DavieT wrote: Happy to say that overall I thought the new format worked pretty well. I was in Screen 5 which although not Empire 1 was a decent size with a good screen and sound and the layout looked as if you could get a reasonable view even if your seat was at the far edges of the seating. I might have felt different if I was in the smallest screen - the Arrow Screen - but thats why I avoided it and went for the larger screens
.
I can confirm this- I was right at the side, in one of the front few rows, and the view was fine.

Re: Frightfest 2015

Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2014 4:50 pm
by HairyMart
My first time at FrightFest, previous venture to London for a film festival was way back in 1990 for Shock Around the Clock, and felt the use of the three screens with staggered start times worked really well, even being sat in what was commented on as the "second worst seat in the cinema" front row, one from the left. Running the films from around 11am to 1.15am was just about the right length to keep the sleep levels up and to avoid accidently napping

Re: Frightfest 2015

Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2014 5:39 pm
by daveroughcut
How about a Discovery Screen pass? A lot of people prefer to spend their time in the Disco screens why not give them the option to spend a weekend there? Just a couple of rows to test it out. And it could reasonably free up a seat or two in the main screens.

Or a main screen minus disco option that's cheaper?

Or room in a hotel with your pass?

Oh I've gone too far.

Re: Frightfest 2015

Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2014 6:12 pm
by hingethunder
Interesting idea ... I'd probably go for a Discovery screen weekend pass if there was also the option to get some tickets for main screen films, in the same way main screen pass holders get tickets for disco films. Not sure how it would work with the two different Discovery screens but a good idea anyway!

Re: Frightfest 2015

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 10:50 am
by BabyJaneHudson
hingethunder wrote:Interesting idea ... I'd probably go for a Discovery screen weekend pass if there was also the option to get some tickets for main screen films, in the same way main screen pass holders get tickets for disco films. Not sure how it would work with the two different Discovery screens but a good idea anyway!
I think this is a great idea - Disco Passes with main screen movie options and visa versa. The Disco screen films seem to tickle my fancy more than the main screen offerings so this would suit me down to the ground. I was thinking after buying my tickets this year that Disco passes would be a cool idea.

As far as purchasing individual tickets online and printing them at home - F**KING AWESOME! :D Sooooooooo much easier :green: I always sit at the back as its the best view for me so I don't need to get tickets in a massive hurry unless I get another festival pass. Last year :twisted: I had a total nightmare with festival passes and didn't come at all for 2014. Way too stressful.

The system this year is 100% better than 2014 so great work to all involved for putting this into place. Not sure how the Festival Pass peeps faired, but I hope they didn't have too much of a nightmare this time around. Hopefully next year a group of around 12 of us are coming and we are going to have to organise our arses big time...no correction I will have to organise everyone elses arses big time so we can all attend. Im thinking festival passes will be a lot easier. The option for pass holders to be able to book Disco tickets is another fantastic addition so THANK YOU !! We may take advantage of that for 2016. We'll see how many movies stand out. Only 3 have really grabbed my attention this year (Worry Dolls, III and Jeruzalem) and thankfully they are all on the Friday and do not clash 8) If the same goes for next year and there aren't a whole host of movies I want to see, then Im sticking with the Individual ticket option.