Have you ever been sat in a darkened theatre, staring up at the cinema screen and thought to yourself, I wish I was in this film? Have you ever wished you could wander the streets of Hill Valley or sit in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon?

Well now you can.

Immersive cinema is redefining the audience experience and helping to change the face of cinema for the 21^st century. No longer restricted to the role of passive viewer, audience members can now become an integral part of the cinematic story, with the fictional world being built around them and reacting to their every move; immersive cinema puts creative control firmly in the hands of the audience.

One of the pioneers of these immersive cinema events is Secret Cinema; based in London and described as a “unique participatory social experience”, this innovative way of showcasing a narrative acts as a fusion between film, music, theatre and art and puts the audience at the very heart of the story.

Secret Cinema’s most recent production was an ambitious and dramatic retelling of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, set not in a galaxy far, far away but at a secretive location in East London—not that you could tell.

The immersive live-action sets, populated with actors and fans alike, make it easy to forget that you’re not actually meandering through the market stalls on Tatooine under the fierce gaze of the ever-watchful Stormtroopers, but instead walking through what is essentially an incredibly detailed film set.

Not one to miss out on an experience of this magnitude, LoveLove Films went along and checked it out for ourselves. One of our adventurers Andie  Davies said, “ This was my first time at a Secret Cinema event and at first I was unsure as to what to expect, but right from the beginning I felt like I was actually in the film—it was amazing! One minute I was on a spaceship from Earth, the next I was in the town Mos Eisley on the planet Tatoine and then I ventured aboard the Death Star!”

When asked if he would go to another Secret Cinema event in the future, the answer was an unequivocal “Yes!”—something that was reiterated by all those in the LoveLove office.

So why do audiences want this new experience?

Firstly, audiences are forever seeking new ways to experience culture and not only does immersive cinema blur the lines between fiction and reality, but it also fills the void left by an oversaturated technological world and takes the audience deeper into the story than ever before. With box office takings for cinemas in the UK and Ireland down 2.9% in 2014, perhaps now is the perfect time for audiences to embrace the next step in the future of film.

Ever since our last post on the rise of immersive cinema (which you can read HERE), the trend has continued to grow. With bigger budgets and larger-scale productions, immersive is the word on everybody’s lips right now. Secret Cinema alone has had huge success with their renditions of popular films like Dirty Dancing, Watchmen and The Shawshank Redemption, but they are not the only ones.

Theatre production companies have also undergone something of a revolution of late, with the likes of You Me Bum Bum Train and Punchdrunk helping to capture audience imaginations with their boundary-pushing Immersive shows.  It’s clear to see audiances expectations are changing, making immersive experiences the latest trend. But is it here to stay? The Lovelove Films team sure hope it is!

Star wars Secret Cinema Lovelove Films Team members

SECRET CINEMA presents STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK ran from June 4th until 27th September 2015. Visit the official site here: www.secretcinema.org