a quiet night in?

The introduction of television affected cinemas greatly. After the end of World War II the number of cinema tickets sold every year reached 1,635 million. This steadily declined to just 54 million tickets sold in 1984. Cinema attendance was then affected by the development of the multiplex, which has encouraged people to visit the cinema more frequently. Attendances rose again, leveling off at around 160 to 170 million from 2004 onwards.

Some smaller cinemas have struggled to stay in business in recent years. Many city centre cinemas have closed, and those that stay open are large multiplex cinemas on the outskirts of towns.

Cinema Discussion

Look at the cinema attendance statistics. Chart the attendance figures each year. Try and figure out what has affected increases and decreases in the figures.

some issues to consider....

  • Home cinema technology has vastly improved and come down in price.
  • IMAX and 3D films are becoming more common
  • DVDs (better quality than video) and Blu-Ray DVDs are coming down in price
  • Sky, cable and freeview offer better choice than traditional terrestrial television (hundreds of channels compared to five)
  • Cheap and fast Internet access allows people to download films
  • Cheap and fast Internet access offers an alternative leisure activity. People can play games and chat online instead of meeting at the cinema
  • Multiplex cinemas offer more choice but depend on the majority of cinemagoers having cars.
  • HD (High Definition) technology is being researched and developed. Some trials have made the audience sick from the motion. Is there a limit to the definition amount of information that our brains can handle?
  • Future technology such as 3D projection or 3D televisions
old cinema cinema in the past

Cinema Technology

Many cinemas are installing digital projectors. Previously film production companies and distributors had to spend thousands of pounds making a 'print' to project in each cinema screen. The print, large reels of plastic film, was very heavy so it costs a lot to ship them to cinemas. These have to be spliced together (the ends of the film on different reels get stuck together) at the cinema to show the whole film. A two hour film is actually made up of six 20 minute reels, spliced together on one big reel.

Digital projectors now mean that it isn't just the big movie production companies that can afford to show their films at the cinema. Distribution costs are lower so small production companies or even individuals can show their films at cinemas, provided, of course, that the cinema likes it! This means there is a wider variety of films that cinemas can show to audiences. It does cost cinemas a lot of money to install digital projectors though, and there is debate as to whether they are better quality. However, there has been pressure put on cinema chains to buy and install digital projectors as certain films have only been released in a digital format by companies who want to reduce their distribution costs.

The digital projectors also improve access for hearing impaired cinemagoers. It costs a lot of money to make and distribute prints with subtitles for the old projectors. It costs very little in comparison to make and send a CD to cinemas once the subtitles have been typed in and the timings worked out. These subtitles can then be superimposed onto the film or displayed separately. In America the subtitles are displayed backwards on a scrolling LED display below the projector at the back of the cinema. Members of the audience can then watch them by borrowing a mirror on a stick that slots into their seat, showing the text the right way round in the mirror. This means people with hearing impairments can go to any film showing at the cinema instead of having to wait for specially subtitled showings of films.