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Author
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Topic: The Future Of Cinema
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Graham Ritchie
Film God
Posts: 4001
From: New Zealand
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted September 24, 2006 03:55 PM
As many members of the forum live in different countries I was wondering if you would like to share your thoughts on "Going To The Movies". Your likes and dislikes, do you go often, or not at all. Does the Multiplex" have a future? or will in time be replaced with downloading {legally} or DVD,
As some have pointed out cinema screens have been getting smaller, while home entertainment such as Plasma etc are getting bigger. So where does that leave the cinema owner, its easy to find fault with the Multiplex, but whats the alternative.
These days its not economic to have just one large screen and seating to accommodate numbers that in many places dont exist.
Last week I visited a local cinema, the staff were friendly and efficient, the seating was comfortable, and the picture and sound was very good. But, there was only three of us in the cinema, which makes me wonder where its all heading, it used to be an event, a sharing experience, a night out, something special, what happend?. It certainly does not help that many films are not up to much, but where does that leave the cinema owner do they simply not invest or pull out altogether.
Times are changing are we are going to become nations of anti-social couch potatoes, sitting in front of our large TV (I hope not).
Whats your thoughts ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
Graham.
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Knut Nordahl
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 173
From: Norway
Registered: Dec 2005
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posted September 25, 2006 05:17 AM
quote:
Last week I visited a local cinema, the staff were friendly and efficient, the seating was comfortable, and the picture and sound was very good. But, there was only three of us in the cinema, which makes me wonder where its all heading, it used to be an event, a sharing experience, a night out, something special, what happend?. It certainly does not help that many films are not up to much, but where does that leave the cinema owner do they simply not invest or pull out altogether.
For me the experience is certainly that the seats are comfy and everything you say. There are many multiplex cinemas in the city where I live but I just don't bother as much any more. The ticket is close to 13 USD now, and a night at the cinema would easily cost you about 35 USD with transport and stuff for two adults. None the less I do not think that is THE ultimate factor.
For one thing I have a feeling that almost everyone above 60 have issues with the sound levels in the cinema, and they more or less don't like the surround feeling.
As a member of the younger generation I may not understand that, but I find it stupid not to listen to them, and make every cinema into a certified THX what-ever, so they won't have a place to watch a flick.
Browsing through the film pages I couldn’t see many films I HAD to see, and I right now I would actually like to see some old stuff on the big screen. Films from the '50, '60, '70, '80 and so on. the old block busters, but no one are showing that. I would gladly pay to se Hitchcock or some early Spielberg.
In fact I propose:
"The future of cinema is
-Back to the future!"
Hehe - That would be cool.
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Steve Klare
Film Guy
Posts: 7016
From: Long Island, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted September 25, 2006 11:52 AM
As much as it pains me to admit this, I don't see digital projection being the death of traditional cinema, and its coming is pretty much inevitable. Maybe not tomorrow morning, maybe not even 10 years from now, but someday.
It may well be that right now the images aren't as good, and the true costs aren't as low as projected film, but this is a medium that's still evolving and the shortcomings will become less and less with time.
We should also be sensitive to the fact that for most people who don't spend their spare time sizing up the latest print they just got, the differences in quality aren't as apparent. I've seen some hideous looking stuff projected on the screen at the local theater which looked just fine to the people I was with. (so help me!: Green, Fat Scratches you could drive a bus through!)
Let's say this much though, when the day comes that the only difference between the digital image projected on the 8 foot home screen and the 50 foot theatrical screen is the crowd and the cost of a ticket, theatrical cinema will really be in trouble unless they are willing to do what they've done before and innovate.
When the first tube TV sets started showing up in homes in the 1950s, people started predicting the death of cinema (sound familiar?). How the "Movies” stayed in business was to offer people what they couldn't have at home (at least not yet..). All of a sudden there was cinemascope, and stereophonic sound and a lot more color.
What could a "Movie" be like in 50 years? How about three dimensional without glasses? Perhaps dynamic and interactive with the audience on some level so it's different every time.
I think the short term problem is a lack of good stories to start with. How many more recycled 1960s TV shows can we stand? As much as I love CGI animation, if I hear about one more computer animated film about fuzzy animals behaving badly I'll scream! Surely there must be something more this medium can do!
-all this plus sequel after sequel and remakes of movies that should never have been made in the first place!
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All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...
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David Kilderry
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 963
From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted September 28, 2006 07:27 AM
Hi Graham,
When the first suburban multiplexes were built in Australia in the mid 1980's they were all 8 - 12 screens. Later in the mid 1990's 14, 16 and 20 screen locations were built, these also often contained various concepts: Gold class with louge seats and food and drinks, Europa with arthouse films and large screen concepts like Mega screens and V-Max etc.
For years, even back in the 1980's, various companies with IMAX ran 35mm presenations on the IMAX screen as an alternative revenue stream. They simply used part of the IMAX screen with the top and bottom blank. This was due to the different aspect ratios. The image was generally grainy, a little dull and had low resolution.
Some Omnimax screens even did this like Perth in Western Australia.
D-Cinema, as 2K electronic projection is called in the biz, will continue its slow roll-out worldwide. There have been electronic screens co-existing with film for decades now and that situation will continue. There will still be 35mm screens for many years to come.
The studios will continue to keep reasonable theatrical windows for their DVD releases, as without this launch platform, the DVD's simply don't sell. This has been proven over and over again. Currently the average window is 4 months, this may collapse a little further as there are fewer and fewer 2nd run cinema locations in the world.
David
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Joerg Polzfusz
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 815
From: Berlin, Germany, Europe, Earth, Solar System
Registered: Apr 2006
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posted September 29, 2006 07:48 AM
Hi,
IMHO the future of cinema depends on several factors:
1) Advertising:
In the 80s there was an annoying amount of ads for latest movies here in Berlin: print media, tv, radio, ... . As a result everyone could tell you the newest releases from last week, this week and next week by heart. Now the total amount of ads has increased - but movies aren't advertised anymore. Instead everyone now knows the latest DVD-releases and the fact that the tv-channel VOX is going to air "walker, texas ranger" for maybe the 30.000th time... . As a result, I don't know what's new in the cinemas and hence won't visit them!
Another point that falls into "advertising": Why should the average cinema-goer waste his/her time on going to the cinema, when the complete film will only be available on DVD? Just look at the newest releases: Nearly every second DVD claims to have at least 20min more scenes than the cinema-version and hence to be the only version that the director wanted?
2) Schedules:
In the 80s, every film have been shown for several weeks (or even months) in the city-center's cinemas. Then the same (now worn out) prints have been shown at a reduced price in the outskirts. Hence you had at least more than a month to watch a film.
Now every film starts with more than 100 copies only for Berlin and is shown in all cinemas at the same time - but only for a week (or at best two)! Hence I already missed several films I definately wanted to see on the big screen only because I didn't have any time in that week.
(Of course advertising for a film that'll only be shown for a week doesn't make sense, too -> see 1)
3) Quality:
a) Content:
Of course there are a few exceptions (Batman begins, inside man, incredibles,...). But the average hollywood-movie now seems to be a sequel, prequel or a remake. Just take a look at all those madagaskar-clones that are out now: in the wild, over the hedge,... . That's boring! I even don't want to see such stuff on TV! So why should I waste any money on going to a cinema?
b) Visual:
At first they stopped shooting on 65mm-negatives, then they stopped doing 70mm-prints, now they stopped using the negative for the film at all - nearly all films are now "straight to video" (at 2k resolution) with some of these videos eventually blown up (at a poor quality) to 35mm-film.
c) Aural:
You might think that the new digital surround-systems hav elead to a better quality. But they didn't. In the 70s every film had the music, the dialogues and the sound-fx at the same volume level. But then they started to mess things up. Hence now the music is twice as loud as the dialogues and the sound-fx are three times as loud as the dialogues. Therefore the cinemas either set a convenient max. volume (that leaves the specators to not hear the dialogues) or set a volume where the dialogues are loud enough, but with sound-fx now louder than a starting Boeing 777. As a result I'm permanently adjusting the volume when watching a DVD with a newer film - but unfortunately you can't do that in a cinema.
In other words: The major studios/distributors have to change a lot. Otherwise the cinemas won't survive.
Jörg
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Graham Ritchie
Film God
Posts: 4001
From: New Zealand
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted September 29, 2006 09:25 PM
Thanks David
We live in the city of Christchurch on the South Island. The city is small compared with Melbourne, and in the last 10yrs cinema screen numbers have more than doubled. Hoyts and Reading are the main ones, but even with extra screens everyone is showing the same films, which, unless you are a Garfield fan isin't up to much.
Where they make there money here, is during the school holidays, which we are into at present. But even that depends on the weather, if its fine the cinemas are quiet, everyone is doing something else, if its wet they are flat out. Its a strange business that depends on the weather to make money. Hoyts built the biggest screen in NZ here in Christchurch, it was big (to big) ideal for 70mm but not 35mm the gauge they use, to many prints these days dont make the grade for quality large screen presentations.
Also a lot of the seating is to close to the screen, it used to be known as the front stalls (cheap seats).In this case I dont feel bigger is always better.
Last year we did have prints that were exceptionally sharp. King Kong, Narnia, and The Worlds Fastest Indian, with much of Narnia and Indian filmed here in the South Island.
The last time I had to sit in the front row of a movie was "Braveheart" having to lean backwards, look up to the screen and constantly move my head to keep up with the action wasen't a lot of fun, Mel Gibsons famous line (Freedom) had a very appropriate meaning when leaving the cinema. ![[Smile]](smile.gif) Last year I was persuaded by one of our cinema staff to go along to a live show he was involved in, a small local production of the musical "Oliver" we were very surprised, it was great, and for four months it ran every night to a sold out audience, the talented actors many unpaid from a local school were amazing.
The next day back at the cinema I concluded that people are rapidly loosing interst in cinema, and that they were prepared to pay three times the cost of a movie ticket to go to live show than sit through TV show remakes.
Reading through everyones comments has been interesting whatever the future holds the cinema business will have to wake up to survive, time will tell!.
Graham.
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Mike Peckham
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1461
From: West Sussex, UK.
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted September 30, 2006 01:40 AM
Graham
A bit off topic I know, but as you are from Christchurch... I was there in January and came across a shop selling cine equipment, there were examples of all gauges including a lot of 8mm stuff. Unfortunately I only got to peer in the window as it wasn't open (probably just as well as there's a limit to what you can put in a back pack), but it was great to see so much cine equipment, all in one place .
I guess you would know of the place?
Also, King Kong had just been released when we were there so it was appropriate that we watched it in NZ! We even got to see some of the locations on our trip around the south island, the "The River Queen" was also released about that time, we watched that in Aukland, it was good to see a NZ themed film whilst we were there but haven't heard anything about it since, not so sure that it had a big impact on the world cinema scene?
Mike ![[Cool]](cool.gif)
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Auntie Em must have stopped wondering where I am by now...
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Tom Photiou
Film God
Posts: 4837
From: Plymouth U.K
Registered: Dec 2003
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posted September 30, 2006 03:36 AM
Hi Mike and all,
Have to say my visits to the local are far and few between, mainly,for me,due to the lack of good movies, my last one was war of the worlds and i enjoyed it very much, the multiplex in Plymouth is a very large one, also because it is on a site,(10yards across from where i work) with a large pizza hut, mega size gym,and some pubs and clubs, all with free parking so as you would imagine, this 15 screen cinema is a very busy one. Its only around eight years old and its opening was an event covered by local TV showing us its mega modern sound system and most importantly, its state of the CINE projectors, however, so far to date the old ABC cinema in the city centre is still going strong and attracts large audiences. Not too sure about the future but fortunatly, like the multi plex, the old cinema has just had a lot of pubs, resturants and a very large Travel inn built across its street. The surrounding area for a cinema really can be the make or break after all, to be able to go for food, to the gym or to the pub with freinds or family then go and see a movie is what people want for a night out these days.
The Warner (or Vue as it is now) multi plex has the added bonus of the younger generation being able to go tho the "flicks" then at 11pm-mid-night literally walk next door and straight into the club.
The future for cinemas "out of the way" may well be bleak unless the entire town is a very quite one where the cinema is the only place to go but i suspect there is no such place.
When i was in Florida a few years back i noted the Virgin Cinema in downtown Disney was advertised as a 100% digital projection cinema,i have to say, unless i knew that, i would never have guessed as the quality was top notch,
One thing we sometimes forget is that if Hollywood starts dishing out crap and pathetic re-makes and corny sequels, as it seems to be doing, then the future will certainly be bleak. Hollywood and other film studios must produce the goods to draw the crowds in, And before someone gets up the pole, i know there are some good movies around but they are few and far between, The cinema audience will always go to see a good movie but will stay away from rubbish.
One of the things that appears to be helping get people back to the cinema again is that they are waking up & realising that Pirated cheap DVDs simply ruin a good film and the correct place to view them is indeed, the Cinema. I dont know about you chaps, but where i work im pleased to say, the hoards of sado's that use to offer shed loads of cheap pirated films on DVD before there releases has now totally died. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
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Paul Adsett
Film God
Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted October 01, 2006 09:17 AM
I will go to the cinema if there is a film worth seeing. Unfortunately, in the last 9 months I have not seen one film advertised that would appeal to me. Not only that, when you get inside, they usually have the sound so high that it literally hurts your ears, and inevitably there is some moron sitting behind me munching on a 2 gallon container of popcorn or yacking on his cell phone. So the whole cinema experience for me is one of diminishing pleasure.
Contrast that with my home theater where I can sit in peace and quiet in a comfortable seat, and enjoy pristine projection and sound of Super 8 films and DVD, and see the kind of films that made Hollywood great.
NO comparison!
With the advent of HD DVD and the availability of large screen displays at affordable prices, I think the conventional cinema is probably enetering the ending years of its life. I think in 10 years or so you will see Hollywood making feature films for direct release on DVD and pay TV satellite and cable systems.
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The best of all worlds- 8mm, super 8mm, 9.5mm, and HD Digital Projection,
Elmo GS1200 f1.0 2-blade
Eumig S938 Stereo f1.0 Ektar
Panasonic PT-AE4000U digital pj
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Joerg Polzfusz
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 815
From: Berlin, Germany, Europe, Earth, Solar System
Registered: Apr 2006
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posted October 05, 2006 04:03 AM
quote:
I daresay it will be over come as piracy now runs into billions per annum.
Yes, but IMHO piracy WILL GET WORSE when the video is released on the same day: You can copy a DVD in a few minutes at home without having to take a camera to the cinema. Not to mention that the copy from the DVD/HD-DVD/BD/whatever will be much better than all those "screeners" with the added ambient noice, the ringing cell-phones, people standing up in front of the camera, ... .
(... and the German c't-magazine has already found some ways to copy a bluray-disc when playing the BD on a PC...)
Just my 0,02€
Jörg
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