Questions and Answers - Multiplexes/Cinema Attendance

When was the first Multiplex in the UK?
The Point, Milton Keynes, was the UK's first multiplex and opened in 1985.

What was cinema attendance like in this time?
Cinema attendance was relatively low during the 80s, and even in the late 60s and 70s.

What films were being played in the new Multiplexes (name and year)?
The Breakfast Club (1985)
Who's That Girl (1987)
Godzilla (1985)

How were these Multiplexes encouraging audiences to go to the cinema?
Newly converted multiplexes were big, spacious and had new screens which delivered films with a high quality compared to flea pits  Multiplexes main audiences were teenagers as they are the most likely age group to go out and visit the cinema. They attracted them by many attractions such as fast food, free parking, and making the films look interesting.

Where are these Multiplexes built instead of the High Street and why?
They are usually built in out-of-town sites close to motorways that allowed plentiful space for surface car parking and offered fast food outlets/shops/other attractions for their target audience.

What had happened to audience leisure patterns that meant 'Flea pit' cinemas lost popularity?
VHS was introduced allowing people to watch films and rent them at home. People were reluctant to spending money due to recession, and preferred to stay at home to watch a movie.

What advantages did Multiplexes offer cinema audiences and film distributors over Fleapits?
Multiplex guarantees a larger audience due to more screens, with a higher sound and picture quality, whereas flea pits are run-down and have very little quality.

What reasons was cinema attendance low?
As technology is developing very quickly, people are finding ways of illegally downloading films online and watching them for free instead of having to pay high cinema ticket prices.

Fleapits & Multiplexes

How multiplex cinemas saved the British film industry 25 years ago

Technology:
several-screens-in-a-shed phenomenon
the point - with ten screens, the UK's first true multiplex, had arrived
start-of-the-art technology (made an impact on British market)
Cannon opened the second British multiplex at Salford Quays in December 1986, and between 1987 and 1991 around 500 new screens sprung up nationwide
The multiplex is currently pupating, waiting for it's next phase of evolution, as digital projection and 3D arrive.

Economic:
copious free parking space
a vast array of snacks on sale
The point sold 2m tickets in its first two years

Social:
Mid-80s - cinema attendance was in the doldrums (low)
The impact the Point had: "You couldn't move in the foyer on a Saturday night. There were so many people there waiting for shows to start."
increased choice of films (impact on British market)
a miracle in a climate that had seen the national cinema attendance drop to just 55m by 1984 (the peak had been 1.6bn in 1946)
new screens sprung up 1987-1991, by which point British cinema admissions had risen to 100m.
The Point was the beneficiary of a push to revive the UK film industry: 1985 was declared British Film Year, and a PR campaign was launched on behalf of cinemagoing.

Cinemas and Cinemagoing: More screens, more choice

In the early 1970s, the circuit cinemas in the smaller towns and suburbs began to be subdivided into three-screen 'film centres'.
Many Odeons were inexpensively converted into 'triples', without closing, by blocking off the rear stalls and subdividing the space into two small cinemas.
These provided poor sightlines and tiny screens had sound penetration problems.
ABC cinemas closed for conversion into three auditoria - new screens - greater capacities.

Technology:
60s/70s - low cinema attendance due to further television channels and arrival of video (enabling renting of films)
1985 - new ten-screen 'multiplex' cinema*
Modern generation of multiplexes - large screens in large auditoria, state-of-the-art sound systems, stepped seating and generous leg room.
'Premier screens' charge higher prices for more luxurious seating, private bars and other extras.
From the late 1990s, the range of titles reduced as several prints of major attractions are shown in different auditoria with staggered starting times.

Economic: 
Cinemas became dependant on sales of food

Social:
Late 60s/Early 70s - attendence continued to decline because of high ticket prices, and widespread of feeling that cinemagoing was no longer a fashionable activity.
Annual admissions reached a low of 54m in the 80s - half the figure of 5 years before.
* 1985 (info cont.) - ten-screen multiplex attracted over 100m within first year. Many attractions such as fast food for their key audience, teenagers.

The cinema boss who made room for a Vue

Economic:
The great depression of 1929 ushered and the repeated in the 1970s, 80s and 90s.
UK box office grossed £1.05bn in 2009.
Data shows cinema attendances held up in the recessions of 1974 to 1976, 1980 to 1982, and 1990 to 1993.
Vue has saved billions of dollars processing and transporting the 35mm prints into digital projectors.

Technology:
Cinemas have been showing many basic forms of 3D films since the 1920s.
The leap of digital 3D began in earnest with the release of Chicken Little in 2005.
Vue has 68 cinema sites - 654 screens across the UK - state-of-the-art digital projectors to replace 35mm film.

Social:
Many industry executives feared the downfall box office grossings "many people were nervous"
People have scaled back on buying cars and holidaying abroad, and spend more on activities at home. Recession leads to an "increased demand in escapism as a psychological response".
Cinema attendance was the high-water mark for 2004 - 176 million, but in 2006 it was in the doldrums.
C.A was boosted by the success of Slumdog Millionaire and the latest Harry Potter movie, then Avatar.

Cinema Attendance Notes

Cinema Attendance:
There was a gradual decline in the 1950s, before a dramatic drop throughout the 60s and 70s.
Why did the cinema decline so rapidly in 1960s, 70s and 80s?
- Growth of TV Ownership. People could watch films or other television for free.
- With growth of car ownership, people had greater choice of less traditional entertainment.
After 1970s, the growth of VHS and video rental, nearly killed the cinema industry. It now became fashionable to stay at home, rent the movie of your choice and save the money of going to the cinema.


Since 1984, Cinema attendance has grown so strongly because:
- change in culture preferences: people like the opportunity to get out of the house and enjoying a film without distractions
- even though the price of the cinema has increased above inflation, demand has continued to rise due to rising incomes.
- growth of the multiplex cinemas which are easily accessible by car and also offer a wider choice of films.
- new technology such as digital screens and 3D screens have offered new dimension
- cinemas have benefited from the growth in the movie market as DVD sales and online films have grown even faster than cinema attendance.

More notes on Cinemas and the movie market:
- the three major UK exhibitors cineworld, odeon UCI, and Vue account for over 70% of the total box office receipts and 60% of screens.
- the rest of the market is smaller multiplex operators and independent, non-multiplex cinemas (less than 5 screens)
- greatest earning film is Skyfall (over £100m) beating Avatar into number 2, and Toy Story 3 in third.

Cinema Attendance (cont):
- During the 1930s and 40s cinema was popular because there was no TV, internet or games consoles.
- they went as escapism from the war and hear news about it.
- high employment also played a role.
- late 40s/early 50s attendance began to fall due to television ownership

Skyfall lifts cinema attendance in 2012:
- ticket admissions were up 24 per cent in october and 36 per cent in november, as Skyfall became the first film to rake in more than £100m at UK cinemas

Blockbuster Homework Notes

Task 1 - 
Question 8. Describe the rise of Cineplex and the resulting changes to film distribution:
Cineplex has risen from the 70s and 80s, and was known as the decade of blockbuster hits, and publicity campaigns, of new technology such as CGI and special effects, which appealed to a wide audience. Previous trends such as "the buddy film", "the vigilante film" and "the disaster film" began to fade away in the film industry during the mid-70s.  They were replaced with slasher films, space operas, youth films and slap stick comedies. Many film-makers remade films, by referring to old, original film ideas and including their own material. In some cases, parodies or comic send-ups were made. Others simply reused the exact plot of an old film, and modernized it completely. This has made films become boring and repetitive, therefore people are becoming reluctant to going to the cinemas as they know that the story will be the same. On the other hand, people are falling into the trap of thinking that they are going to see this amazing, original and new film, when they are not.

Question 9. Discuss the phenomenon as a contributing factor in the rise of the blockbuster:
The factor that contributes the rise of the blockbuster is CGI and Special Effects, as technology is developing everyday and many film makers are being benefited by this as their films will look more exciting. This will entice the viewer to go to the cinema and watch these high quality explosions and 3d effects. This means that the film will make a higher profit as more people will have paid money to watch the film in the cinema or buy the dvd.

Task 2 -
How Jaws spawned the modern blockbuster:
- Jaws was the film that made Spielberg
- It would become the first film ever to gross over $100 million at the Box Office giving him A-List director status, only at the age of 27.
-It is directly responsible for the genesis of the Blockbuster and the Hollywood Summer movie mould as we know it today.
- It marks the true beginnings of Spielberg as we have come to know it.
- It has all the hallmarks of a Spielberg film: the everyman, the father/son relationship and an iconic score from John Williams.
-Jaws taps into one of our most primal fear - the fear of the unknown
- The Jaws poster gives us the feel of a lurking predator.
-The mechanical shark had many technical difficulties.
- Jaws changed how major Hollywood studios treated the release of their large-scale productions.
- Product tie-ins and colossal advertising became the norm for large studio pictures.
- As production costs began to rise, instead of original and exciting material, studios didn't want to take risks so they have endless sequels, remakes, reboots, and adaptations.



Jaws - The First Blockbuster? Arguements:
- very different from blockbuster movies as it has a sense of place, character driven, no special effects, rubber shark didn't appear much and wouldn't work 100% of the time

Star Wars was more of a typical Blockbuster:
- star wars changed a generation 
- people wanted to marry some of the stars
- hype/excitement to buy it on DVD

- The Jaws creature and comparatively tiny young swimmer became iconic in the 70s and was seen everywhere: t-shirts, pin badges, posters, billboards, book shops etc.

Context groups:
Star wars: 
- M&Ms (tie-ins)
- Special Effects (technology)
- got money from sales of star wars action figures and toys (economic)
- terrible Star Wars merch:
christmas album
scarf
perfume
ear muffs
cardboard cut-outs
books
bath products
tongue pop
playsets for action figures

How Star Wars changed the business:
captured imaginations (social)
official fan-clubs - waiting outside for new releases(social)
society became sinical
teenage cruising

The high concept movie: every film we see has a formula and small details are changed, such as character names and locations, as films have been told in thousands of different ways.
High concept films are:
-easily recognisable/digested
-one-line pitch
-instant iconography
-consumer appeal
-easy marketability
-star-name
-the plot can be summed up in one or two sentences
- a simple title tells you most or everything you need to know about the film
-based on an idea that breeds easy-to-sell marketibility: tie-in pop music, soundtracks, star vehicles and franchises, consumer goods and dominant, impact-inspired themes.
They introduced cinemagoers to bite-size movies.

Summer Blockbusters Info

Summer Blockbuster	How much spent on production	Director/s	Director’s other films	Other films stars are associated with	What they made at box office	Is it in the top 50?	Rotten tomatoes rating
Avengers Assemble	$220 million	Joss Whedon	Much Ado about nothing, and serenity.	Robert Downey Jr: Zodiac, Iron Man, Sherlock Homes	$623.2 million	Yes	8
Brave	$185 million	Brenda Chapman and Mark Andrews	The Prince of Egypt	Billy Connolly: The Last Samurai, The Boondock Saints, Lemony Snicket’s A series of unfortunate events Emma Thompson: Love Actually, Nanny McPhee, Sense and Sensibility	$ 535.2 million	No	6.9
The Amazing Spiderman	$230 million	Marc Webb	500 days of summer	Andrew Garfield: The Social Network, Never Let Me Go Emma Stone: The Help, Easy A, Zombieland	$753.2 million	No	6.7
Men in Black III	$225 million	Barry Sonnerfield	RV, Wild Wild West, Adams Family	Will Smith: Hancock, I am Legend	$624 million	No	6.1
Total Recall	$125 million	Len Wiseman	Live Free or Die Hard, Underworld, Underworld: Evolution	Colin Farrell: Total Recall, Phone Booth, In Bruges, Alexander	£198.4 million	No	5
Prometheus	$130 million	Ridley Scott	Alien, Kingdom of Heaven, Body of Lies, American Gangster	Micheal Fassbender: Inglorious Bastards, 300, X-men	$403.3 million	No	6.9
The Bourne Legacy	$125 million	Tony Gilroy	Duplicity	Jeremy Renner: The Hurt Locker, Avengers Assemble, Mission: Impossible – ghost protocol	$276.1 million	No	5.9
Dark Knight Rises	$250 million	Christopher Nolan	Memento, The Prestige, Inception	Christian Bale: The Prestige, American Psycho, The Dark Knight	$1.08 billion	Yes	8