Why are cinemas still important for both producers and audiences?

Cinemas have been important for both producers and audiences since the Golden Age of Hollywood (1920s-1950s) where it was more of a studio system and not creative. Many major film studios of the time such as MGM and Warner Bros, would stick to the same genre and constantly produce films. Cinema was the main form on entertainment during this period before television was invented. This system was successful due to this great demand for cinema but there were problems as directors were not allowed the freedom of creativity when creating a film as producers were in control. Also, actors were treated as property that belonged to certain studios and were bounded to exclusive contracts that they couldn’t leave.

The studio system collapsed as it lost its captive audience due to the introduction of television. But due to this collapse came the rise of independent films that were allowed to be as creative and as controversial as they liked which appealed to audiences as they desired something different. There was also an increase in independent producers, such as United Artists who became the first ‘studio’ without an actual studio in 1955. Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and Easy Rider (1969) were independent films that began what the media dubbed “New Hollywood”. The Film School Generation (part of New Hollywood) was a group of young filmmakers that changed the business from the producer driven Hollywood system of the past and created movies with more artistic values (Francis Ford Coppola was part of this new wave of filmmaking).

The 70s brought the age of blockbuster films such as Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975) and George Lucas’ Star Wars. These summer blockbuster hits had a format that appealed to many audiences and Hollywood studios could adopt to create many films like them. Nowadays, many Hollywood Studios have stuck to this “Package Unit” system of production, where independent producers work in association with a studio but not under the studio’s authority.

Cinemas are still important to audiences, although the way they view them has changed over time. For example, the ‘Hypodermic Syringe’ Theory (1920s) said audiences passively accept the messages that are ‘injected’ into them by the media they consume,  but this theory is outdated now as audiences are more active and enjoy being challenged by the media they consume and will not accept dominant readings. Stuart Hall’s ‘Preferred Reading’ Theory applies much more to today’s modern audiences as it argues that media texts are constructed so that they have an intended or preferred reading which will come from the producer’s own ideas and values. He suggested that audiences decode texts in one of four ways: dominant (agree with it), negotiated (picking what elements they like and dislike), oppositional (dislike it) and aberrant (their views go against the norms).

Cinemas remain important to both producers and audiences, even though the way films are produced and viewed has changed over time. The experience of going to the cinema and seeing any type of film is still enjoyable

The Fantasy Genre

Fantasy Genre Timeline 

• The earliest fantasy films date back to the silent film era as Georges Méliès A Trip to the Moon (1920’s) features made elements that are usually associated with the fantasy genre.
• The invention of sound films introduced fantasy films such as The Wizard of Oz (1930) that were appealing to audiences of all ages.
• The 1940’s brought several colour fantasy films produced by Alexander Korda, including The Thief of Bagdad (1940) and Jungle Book (1942).
• The 1950’s featured many films based on Greek mythology, such as Jean Cocteau’s Orphic Trilogy (which began in 1930 and was completed in 1959).
• There was a lack of fantasy films in the 1960’s apart from several Italian B-movies (e.g: Ulysses 1955) based on classical myths that were made due to the success of the ‘sword and sandal genre’ associated with fantasy films.
• The fantasy genre was mostly absent from mainstream movies in the 1970s apart from Bedknob’s and Broomsticks and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (both made in 1971). Fantasy elements were featured in cult film Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975).
• The 1980’s started a new trend in mixing modern settings and action movie effects with exotic fantasy like concepts. The modern ‘sword and sorcery’ films, such as Conan the Barbarian (1982), were a success during this decade, as well as fairy tale-like fantasy films such as The Princess Bride (1987). Terry Gilliam created a trilogy or fantasy epics (Time Bandits, Brazil and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen) during 1981-1986 which explored a new artist-driven style featuring surrealist imagery and thought-provoking plots. Jim Henson produced two iconic fantasy films in the 80s, The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth.
• Fantasy has become more popular since the late 1990’s due to successful film adaptations of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. Both these films became a commercial and critical success and the third instalment of Lord of the Rings became the first fantasy film to ever win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Due to the success of these films, Hollywood studios have created big-budget productions in the genre, for example adaptations of The Chronicles of Narnia and The Golden Compass.

Notable Directors of the Genre

Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam are two of the most notable directors that create films in the fantasy genre. Some examples of Tim Burton’s work that feature fantasy elements would be Big Fish (2003) and Alice in Wonderland (2010). The majority of Terry Gilliam’s work is that of the fantasy genre such as Jabberwocky (1977), The Brothers Grimm (2005) and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009).

Generic Elements of the Genre

Fantasy films often have an element of magic, myth, wonder, escapism and the extraordinary. They also can include adventure, the supernatural and surrealism.

Star Power Study – Tilda Swinton

Tilda Swinton originally performed in art-house films (e.g: Edward II in 1991) and this has most likely contributed to how she now tends to portray unusual characters in mainstream films. There is no specific type of film genre or role she usually goes for as she portrays such as variety of different characters in different films, some examples of the variety of characters she portrays would be the White Witch in The Chronicles of Narnia and Madame D in The Grand Budapest Hotel (where she was almost completely unrecognisable). The public and filmic image she has is unusual, not only due to her choice in film roles but because of the strange things she does, such as when she was an art installation piece in a gallery by sleeping in a glass box. Tilda Swinton is not always in the public eye and chooses to keep the majority of her personal life private and this adds to her unusual star persona.

Independent Film Case Study – Little Miss Sunshine

• Michael Arndt came up with the initial idea. He wrote the first draft in three days between May 23-26 in 2000. From the initial draft, he made approximately 100 revisions over the course of a year and requested input from family and friends. He originally considered directing the film himself due to his concern of the story being “just too small and ‘indie’ to get any real attention from Hollywood”.
• The directors were assisted by casting directors Kim Davis and Justine Baddely who had worked with them on previous music videos. The directors had initially settled on Greg Kinnear to portray Richard Hoover. For the character of Sheryl Hoover, they considered several actresses before deciding on Australian actress Toni Collette. They chose Abigail Breslin to portray Olive Hoover through an audition when she was six. Paul Dano was cast as Dwayne. Alan Arkin was cast as Edwin Hoover although he was initially considered too young for the role and ended up winning an Academy Award for his role. The role of Frank was originally written for Bill Murray, but there was studio pressure for Robin Williams. However the directing duo chose Steve Carell for the role a few months before filming began, but the producers of the film were worried that he was not a big enough star and didn’t have much acting experience.
• The directors of the film were Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris who are a married couple. Before directing this film, they had only ever directed music videos for bands such as R.E.M. and The Smashing Pumpkins.
• Michael Arndt originally wrote the script in 2000 and it then spent years in various stages of pre-production until principal photography began on June 6, 2005.
• Filming began in 2005 and it took place over 30 days in Arizona and southern California, with scenes shot in keeping with the chronological order of the script. Michael Arndt re-wrote the ending to the film six weeks before the film’s release at the Sundance Film Festival, and this was filmed in December 2005.
• Post-production was completed four days before its screening on nine screens at the Sundance Film Festival, where it had its premiere.
• Once the film premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2006, several studios bid on the film. Fox Searchlight Pictures won by offering $10.5 million, plus 10% of all the gross revenues. This deal occurred less than a day after the premiere and was one of the biggest deals made in the history of the festival. Fox Searchlight Pictures distributed the film in America and internationally.
• The film initially opened in seven theatres in the U.S. in its first week earning $498,796. On 29^th July 2006, it earned a $20,353 per-theatre average gross. It had the highest per-theatre average gross of all films shown in the U.S. every day for the first 21 days of its release and in its third week of release it entered the list of top ten highest grossing American films for the week. It remained in the top ten until the 11^th week of its release. Internationally, the film earned over $5 million in Australia, $3 million in Germany, $4 million in Spain and $6 million combined in the UK, Ireland and Malta. It has had gross receipts of $59,891,098 in the U.S. and $40,632,083 internationally for a total of $100,523,181.

How Film Distribution Is Changing – Is This A Good Thing ?

Film distribution is always changing as the consumer market grows. In the late 1970s, the video rental market began to attract the consumer market and a video rental window of nine to twelve months from the first release was put in place. However, half a decade later, this window was brought down to six months. This was until the late 90s when the introduction of the DVD caused it to be reduced to four months. And this is still decreasing, for example, Universal attempt to release ‘Tower Heist’ just three weeks after its theatrical premiere (however this attempt was unsuccessful).

The increase of digital technology and the grow of video piracy has led to tensions between distributors and exhibitors (the cinema chain). This is because due to video piracy many distributors want the DVD release of the film to come quicker and so is cutting down the time the film is released in cinemas and the gap between them. This is causing tension between distributors and exhibitors as usually cinemas will negotiate the rights to show the film by either bidding or more commonly by percentage. Bidding requires the cinema to agree to pay a fixed amount for the right to show the movie but few distribution companies do this anymore. Percentage involves the distributor and exhibitor to agree on several terms such as, the percentage of the box office, the amount of house allowance and the length of engagement (showing the film – this is usually four weeks). However, since some distributors are trying to cut down the period of the film’s theatrical release, in order the release the DVD or digital version, this is could cause a loss of money for cinemas. This is why concessions are now so expensive because without the profits generated from concessions then cinemas could not afford to stay in business.

The digital revolution has caused the media platforms films may be released on to expand. For example, cable and satellite TV and on-demand services (Netflix, Blinkbox, LoveFilm). Digital distribution of films has the potential to save money for film distributors as it is cheaper than printing the film for the DVD release. The tradition film release window format is changing and this is mainly due to the rise in internet viewing and the increase of impatient consumers that aren’t paying for content and instead watching/downloading films online for free. Online film privacy is a serious problem for distributors and filmmakers and it’s the main reason for distributors wanting to release the film as soon as possible and cutting back the period the film is shown in cinemas.

I believe film distribution will keep changing as technology continues to develop and this is not a bad thing. However, I enjoy going to the cinema and I hope in the future that the theatrical release of films will not disappear completely due to the problems distributors are having.