MUSA JIBRIL
It is not easy to be cooped in the room for weeks or months on end. Unfortunately, that is the new world order. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, isolation, quarantine or lockdown meant everybody is sequestered behind the door.
When will our world return to normal? Not until a vaccine is found for the virus codenamed COVID-19. Until then, the world as we use to know it is now but a mirage. Schools closed. The market now regulated. Beach, bars, clubs, amusement parks, eateries, all favourite hangouts are now off limit, so is any form of get-together. All the activities are central to our nature as a social being. All we are left with is the home, a nest with a minimum function. Psychologically, it is a tough call. After a couple of weeks, everyone, almost driven to nuts by boredom, yearns for the old world.
What can we do?
The option is limited, mostly heavy diet of TV. Kids have comfortably turned into couch potatoes. Not only kids, even adults. TV contents, series and movies provide an escape from the tedium of being locked up in the home for days on end. But as good as, some found in it a tincture of sadness: nostalgic for the good old days when going to the cinema was their grand idea of a good time.
Many families have somehow been able to simulate the cinema experience at home, swapping the faceless crowd for family members.
For many, so far, the experience has been exhilarating. Take the Omimi-Okoro family for example.
“It’s been beautiful. It draws us close as a family. Everyone participates: one suggests a movie, another downloads, another transfers into the laptop and someone volunteers to make us popcorn or banana cake,” says Ufuoma, Omimi-Okoro, a lawyer.
This way, the family watched over 20 movies together at their usual viewing time of 10 pm.
“We love thrillers and animation and a touch of action,” says Ufuoma. “Some like horror, but I don’t; so we stick to the other genres.”
She adds: “TV wouldn’t provide food on the table but it sure provides entertainment. My favourite movie right now is The Gentlemen. It’s a thriller that helps one think, like a chess game, think way ahead.”
The Olamijus are another family also binging on films. Oretola Olamiju, the paterfamilias, concedes that “watching series and movies have helped to break the boredom.” More importantly, it has helped to enhance what he describes as “family time.”
“I have had a great deal of fun spending more quality time with my children; I can’t remember the last time I have had this much family time,” he says.
Series are the family’s favourite. “My children are a big fan of comedy and are hooked on the Johnsons and Flatmates. I have since gotten hooked too. Personally, I am a big fan of Restaurant Impossible and Cheap Eats on Real Time channel on GOTV MAX.”
Unlike the Omimi-Okoro family, viewing time for the Olamijus is essential morning or afternoon. “As soon as I am done with my basics in the morning, I tune and switch in-between channels to watch my favourite series and dramas.”
Today, the most readily available entertainment for the world comes from the screen. The world is watching more TV than before; that is an obvious fact; what is not obvious is that cinema fans are nostalgia for the big screen with its spectacular surround sound. They wish the can have it right in their home.
A cinema in the home is considered a luxury by many but shown by the COVID-19 situation as essential.
Sanya, an investment consultant who has one in his Ikoyi apartment, says: “If you can afford to build a house, then it should be part of your plan. I have one since 2018. Sometimes, when I am bored, I move my couch into the room and watch movies, football matches and CNN news. It gives me pleasure to no end, you know, this gigantic wall-length screen and perfect sound. When visitors come around, it is the perfect treat in my home.”
A few weeks ago, I had an introduction to Triangle, a technology company that describes itself as committed to “improving how people live and work with technology.” In brief, the company builds smart homes or office.
For a layman, a smart home can be simplified as a home where from your phone, you can control everything in your house: lights, blinds, doors, music. The whole stuff that transforms the home into a setting you see in Sci-fi movies. An automated home. The company also do the office version, from work space to the board rooms to video conferencing systems. Smart technology is their forte and that includes the home cinema.
I had an eye-popping experienced at the office, the Triangle Place.
I had innocently walked into this posh, nice looking office only to be told that it is “an experience centre where people can come and have a feel of these technologies before they buy them.”
I was guided round the office. “If you want to set up a very nice office, you can come and see how an office can be done in the best way. We have a cinema right next door just like most of our clients have private cinemas in their houses, where they have projectors, screens and all. This way, I’ll show you the experience.”
That was it. I had the most immersive cinema experience of my life. from that moment, I was sold on home cinema.
When I met the troika that runs the place – Kehinde Anyioluwa, Olayinka Odejaiye and Kingsley Duru – my interest was on how to get private cinema into residences.
Triangle has done that for some private homes in the country. In its 18 months of existence, the firm has executed iconic projects, like the Mike Adenuga Center at Alliance Francaise, Ikoyi – a 150-seater auditorium equipped with the latest electronic gadgets: projection, screen, sound system – Eko Atlantic luxury homes and several luxury flats, where everything, lights, blinds, music, power and security is automated.
According to Anyinoluwa, it takes about two to six weeks to install a cinema, depending on the scale of the project. “The size of the room will determine the size of the screen. There are some engineering design measurements that determine what size of screen you put in a room,” he informs.
The crunch question: How much does it cost to have a private cinema installed in homes?
“You don’t need to break the bank,” says Odejaiye.
Duru supplies: “When a technology comes out anew, it could be very expensive, but when it goes to the midmarket, it becomes accessible to everybody.”
It is not farfetched to say that private cinemas are luxurious projects, I points out. “We are constantly tracking and looking at how we can tailor it to make it affordable to the average Nigerian,” insists Duru.
He argues that the market is expanding and more people are becoming able to afford the project.
So what good does one derived from a having a cinema under his roof? Only someone who owns one can tell. Denis Agaba, a real estate professional tells you why it was important for him to have a private cinema.
“Given the crazy traffic situation in Lagos, coupled with the high crime rate, there are times you yearn to just spend the evening at the cinema, but the reality on the ground simply discourages you from taking the risk. So, with private cinema, we simply recreate the feel of a commercial cinema in our home. We have a top viewing day: Saturday evening. We start at 8 pm, before then, we would have settled for the two movies for the night by Friday evening. We prepare popcorns, French fries, smoothies, all sorts, and we enjoy ourselves. I have a large family, six kids of mine and three cousins and sometimes we regularly have visitors, plus myself and my wife.”
The 56-year-old considers his big screen handy during this lockdown period. “It is our saving grace. Our big movie night remains Saturday. Guess what, the kids have abandoned watching the small screen.”
For him: “It is a way of rewarding yourself if you have the means. You might think it is a luxury, but one day you will find that it is essential, like in this period of lockdown.”