When we met Per-Ingvar Tomren last year, we knew we were in the presence of a tried-and-true cinema fanatic. Visiting from Norway, Per-Ingvar and his pal Raymond had made the trip to work on a film, watch The Hateful Eight in 70mm and catch as many movies as possible at the New Bev. We could tell that he was one of our people and when he sent photos of his newest project, we immediately knew we had to share. We’ll let him give the back story:
Per-Ingvar writes “In December 2015 Raymond Volle and I went to Los Angeles both to work on our new movie and to see The Hateful Eight. Raymond had never been to L.A. before and I hadn’t been there since 2004 when I went there to see Kill Bill: vol. 2 – and back then I had unfortunately never heard about the New Beverly Cinema. I first learned about this awesome theatre when Tarantino bought it in 2007, so I started reading more and more about it – and have been dreaming about visiting ever since. It sure is one of those mythical places for a movie geek like me.
So after traveling for about 20 hours we decided to go to the New Beverly our first night in Los Angeles, and it was such a phenomenal experience. It was awesome to finally watch great movies on 35 mm again, surrounded by people who really care about film. It truly brought back the magic of cinema that I remembered from when I was younger. Both the wonderful people who worked there and several of the regular audience made us feel right at home at the cinema from day one. The New Beverly is everything I’ve always fantasized that a perfect movie theatre should be, I totally fell in love with the place and the people.
Whenever we weren’t working on our movie or watching The Hateful Eight on 70 mm, we would just go to The New Beverly and watch the films they were playing. After being at the New Beverly, those ordinary theatres were really disappointing. One of the definite highlights on our trip was when we were put on the guest list, and got to see Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair at the New Beverly. I’ve been dying to see this version of Kill Bill ever since I first heard about it, and to finally get to watch it, on Tarantino’s own glorious 35 mm print at his own cinema no less – sure was a dream come true for me. We’ve missed the New Beverly every day since we had to go back to Norway, and sure hope to go back there soon.
When we needed to make a prop board game for our movie, we had to figure out what the object of this game should be. And that the players should go from our hotel in L.A. to the New Bev to watch a screening of Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair seemed like the most natural choice for us. Making it both a more personal prop and also a small homage to this terrific cinema. Another pivotal event on our trip, was when we got to be present when Tarantino got his star on the Walk of Fame, so we decided to make the squares on the board into small Walk of Fame stars with the names of cast and crew from Kill Bill. There are so much small details on this board game that it took me several hundred hours to make. The people I painted inside the cinema are less than two inches tall, so their faces are only about a quarter of an inch and, unfortunately, I don’t have the skills, eyesight or rock steady hand needed to do these beautiful people justice – so I was very relieved when I got feedback from them that they were pleased with the result – that sure meant a lot to me. It was kind of fun trying to paint the popcorn machine, the program on the door, the tiny Kill Bill posters (that I also folded before gluing in the windows, to make them more authentic) and all these other microscopic details. At least so far this is the prop we spent the most time and effort on making, and we think it’s going to be a cool piece in our finished movie.”
Model work and painting by Per-Ingvar Tomren
with assistance by Ann Kristin Berg
Photos by Raymond Volle
And be sure to bookmark Per-Ingvar’s website at www.asterion.no