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Topic: Paramount kills off 35mm in the US
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Scott Jentsch
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1061
From: New Berlin, WI, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 01-21-2014 09:48 AM
There's a danger in being stuck in thinking that showing movies is about the medium and not the content and the experience.
Sure, there are fans of the medium of film, just like there are fans of vinyl records, that have justifiable reasons and emotional reasons for doing so. However, the mainstream industry shift from vinyl and compact cassette did not kill the music industry, and even the shift from CD to downloads have not done so. Probably the biggest threat to the industry is lack of compelling content and, to a much smaller extent, the willingness of the industry to compromise the quality of its product by using dynamic compression, et al.
One could argue that the movie industry is doing what it needs to do to keep the theatrical market alive and viable. Without the switch to Digital Cinema, it's not unreasonable to say that the entire model could have become financially unfeasible to continue operating, and the studios would just transition the marketplace directly to home video releases.
Doing so is a marketing challenge, and the studios have the budgets to overcome that challenge. Public perception can be changed very easily and it wouldn't take much time (maybe a few years at most) for the studios to cut the theatrical middle man altogether and not have a net-negative effect. People will always want to watch movies, especially good ones. Whether they see them in theaters first is a choice, and it's up to the studios as to what choices they are going to offer to their market.
I see this final step as a favor to the theatrical exhibition industry, as I think without it, the industry would not have a future. It's going to be very painful for those theaters that are having trouble making the transition, but Paramount's decision should not be a surprise to anyone.
By and large, I do not think most people draw a distinction between film and digital cinema. They come for the movie. It's the theater's job to give them the best experience they will ever have watching that movie, which will keep them coming to the theater instead of waiting for it to show up on home video.
Making that experience enjoyable, starting with a flawless and impressive presentation and ending with that intangible good impression and feeling of happiness that they chose to go to that theater, is the core business to be focused on.
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Jim Cassedy
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1661
From: San Francisco, CA
Registered: Dec 2006
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posted 01-21-2014 12:01 PM
quote: Scott Jentsch
There's a danger in being stuck in thinking that showing movies is about the medium and not the content and the experience.
Actually, from what I've been seeing, its more and more about selling popcorn
and candy. The "program" itself is of little, or no importance.
I give the exhibition industry as we know it about another 15-20 years before
it collapses due to: 1) exhibitor indfference 2) aleternate sources of content delivery.
Oh sure- - there will still be some 'movie houses' around, just as we still have
theatres that give live stage performances in large cities. But by & large, the
cinema exhibition buisness, with the exception of some special venues, will be gone.
Even I've been slowly shifting my focus away from cinema to doing large
screen venue projection at conventions and trade shows. And since here in
San Francisco, those are all "union gigs", I've been making a crapload more money.
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Jim Henk
Master Film Handler
Posts: 364
From: San Diego, CA
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 01-21-2014 12:28 PM
quote: Jim Cassedy
I give the exhibition industry as we know it about another 15-20 years before
it collapses due to: 1) exhibitor indfference 2) aleternate sources of content delivery.
Let's not forget reason 3) More and more frequent upgrade costs to the digital projector technology will sooner or later make it unprofitable to run a theatre, even for the chains. (I'm just thinking sooner...)
15 to 20 years? I think that's being wildly generous. I think even 10 years is giving the benefit of the doubt. As I've said before, I still believe that the studio's end game has, for years, been to become the sole exhibitors, and that for only short runs, basically as teasers for the wildly profitable streaming market where they control all runs of everything, and take all the profit, cutting out all middle-men. And the gullible exhibitors have been playing right into their hand, right along, often cheering them on.
I believe this also explains why they are deliberately destroying other media in their libraries. (70mms ordered destroyed, etc) It seems to be the only explanation that's consistent.
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 01-21-2014 01:51 PM
quote: Louis Bornwasser
Note that TITLES are rarely advertised and that marquees are gone; no profit in that.
In that case, it's a case of back to the future. As a postgrad student in the mid-90s, I came across the results of a big survey that a big British theatre chain (Granada) did of its customers in 1946. One of the questions was "Why did you choose to come to this theatre, this evening?" (tick one). There were about 20 possible boxes to tick. The top ten had nothing whatsoever to do with the movie they'd come to see: they were things like comfortable seats, heating/air conditioning, program finishes in time for the last bus home, it's within walking distance from home, I like the organist, my friends come here so I do, etc. etc. Movie-related reasons (I want to see this specific movie, I like the star of the movie, I like movies in color, etc.) were all in the bottom ten.
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Mike Blakesley
Film God
Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 01-21-2014 06:37 PM
Wow, some of you guys are pessimists. But, the movie industry has been dying ever since the TV was introduced, but somehow it keeps managing to stay alive.
As for theaters doing everything possible to provide a great experience.....that's a fine goal and one we should all strive for, for sure. But there is a giant group of people who WILL NOT go to the movies no matter what we do. Which is really too bad... we get occasional customers who say they "haven't been to a movie in 20 years" and they often come out with a huge smile on their face saying "That was SO GOOD!" and you get the feeling they will be back.
I have a niece who has a bunch of kids and lives 20 miles out in the country, so they don't come to movies often at all. She came and saw Frozen, and on the way out she said "It really is so much better on the big screen!"
On the other side of the coin I had an old lady tell me the other day that she never comes to movies because "The screen is too god-damn big!" (I've never had THAT comment before!!)
I wish there was a way to convince more of the dedicated couch sitters to give us a try.
quote: Louis Bornwasser
Note that TITLES are rarely advertised and that marquees are gone; no profit in that. I'm surprised that trailers still exist.
I can see the reason for this. There's no need for marquees when you have 20 or 25 movies playing. The trick is to get people to YOUR cinema and in the door, so all you need is a sign saying where you are. People have already been advertised to on TV and in the social media, and every big movie is playing basically everywhere, so there's no need for the multiple titles being on the marquees like there used to be.
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Justin Hamaker
Film God
Posts: 2253
From: Lakeport, CA USA
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 01-22-2014 02:36 AM
Joe, I have to disagree with that point.
Last night I spent two hours after closing re-adjusting the position of one of my projectors. In this auditorium the right edge of the screen was cut off by the port window. As a result the image had to be shifted to the left so proper the screen file crop matched what was cropped by the port window. As a result, this picture was just slightly off center. There probably wasn't a single customer who ever noticed this, but I knew it was the case, so I decided to fix it.
I moved the projector forward on the pedestal by about 1½", and also took the opportunity to square it to the screen (it was off by maybe 1/8-1/4"). The end result was my picture was no longer cropped by the port window, so I could center it on the screen. It also gave me a more even focus across the screen. The focus wasn't bad before, but best average left the corners out of focus by 2-3 clicks (using the NEC DCC fine adjust).
This also moved the lens closer to the 3D disc, so it probably takes up about 25% less area on the disc.
And then I redid all of my screen files.
I made these changes knowing full well there probably wasn't a single customer who would ever notice. Even someone who did digital equipment installs probably wouldn't have known without putting test patterns on the screen. The reason I took the time to do this was because I knew it could be better. The effort won't sell a single extra ticket. And it likely will not have one customer thinking "this looks better than last time".
For what it's worth, this screen was done by a third party before I was completely ready to do installs myself. I assisted with the install and learned enough to to do 8 other screen without the third party.
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