The future of film...

[Howard Shaw]

Hello,

Just throwing this up there for fun discussion. It's becoming apparent to me and anyone else? that content is the new king. Technical quality is beautiful, and RED is an amazing example of technical innovation excellence, but the big screen is dying-- slowly but surely under the weight of popcor,, chocolate and pop sales, despite Avatar. 3d? Can you say IMAX? Youtube is the looming future and/or whatever derivative of Youtube which will soon emerge-- niche viewing, content driven films are the future and every camera will soon have a sensor and a codec. Hollywood is gasping. Brad Pitt can't fill seats anymore, you can rent movies on Itunes. Content is what will really matter, not pixels. Thoughts?

 

[Liam Hall]

Content has always been king. Always.

 

[Imran Farouk]

This actually depends...
not everyone has the iMax in their house and being in the iMax is an experience to have had at least once in ones life...its truly something...
Yet the biggest thing is cost...this is why YouTube and other such internet based content providers do well because it costs nothing to sit at your computer and watch something from YouTube...
Then theres quality...
you can't honestly say that you'd watch Star Trek on youtube vs the imax....

Content is king but it also has its places...

Film will survive...until the digital world comes to the point of being able to completely replace Film (I'm guessin that'll be quite soon) but then again there will be those that still like Film...so that statement in itself is wrong...you can replicate it but you can't take it out of people...choices are there for a reason...

I can't find myself watching anything longer then 5mins on YouTube...load times are a killer...and its not always the same speed worldwide...YouTube seems to be cluttered with junk...thats the upside with Vimeo...yet when I fill it up to my 30" it just doesn't look as nice as it could...so then again I guess its all about waiting till something better then YouTube and Vimeo come along with the ability to provide quality and content without needing to pull the gun on 'freedom'...ability to create content and put it up without fees...or the ability to watch without fees...

:rant:

 

[Brad Webb]

Yet youtube has yet to find a way to turn a profit. It losses millions of dollars a year for google.

http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/14/1630239

Until online video can turn a profit, and a sizable one at that, theaters and cinemas will continue to be in business. However film prints may vanish for digital prints.

 

[Gavin Greenwalt]

I love me a big screen and some big sound.

Then again my screen at home is almost the same FOV and it's 1080p so in some ways it's better than a cinema.

As long as studios delay releases in 1080p+ the size of your screen won't matter. If you want to see the movie you'll have to go to a theater.

 

[Noah Kadner]

My projection system and sound are better at home than most regular cinema screens I've been to. However, it's different seeing a new release with an audience and having a collective experience. Though truth be told sometimes the hassle of getting tickets, high concession prices and that annoying talking guy two rows back spoils the experience. I do think theater owners need to step it up a lot or they will go the way of the pay phone.

Noah

 

[Graeme Nattress]

When I saw District9 the other week, the projector was so out of focus I could hardly read names on the end credits. Not nice, and not a way to encourage people to visit the cinema.

Graeme

 

[M Most]

... the big screen is dying-- ...Hollywood is gasping.

Believe what you want, but I guess you haven't noticed that 2009 is currently shaping up to potentially be the biggest theatrical box office year in history.

 

[Michael Hastings]

Believe what you want, but I guess you haven't noticed that 2009 is currently shaping up to potentially be the biggest theatrical box office year in history.

Is that true in real dollars not 2009 inflated dollars?

 

[Jaime Vallés]

When I saw District9 the other week, the projector was so out of focus I could hardly read names on the end credits. Not nice, and not a way to encourage people to visit the cinema.

Graeme

Same here. I finally saw it last night, and thoroughly enjoyed the film, but was horrified by the projection quality. Digital projectors must take over ASAP.

On a side note, it was cool to walk into the District 9 screen while walking past 2 huge posters for Gamer and The Informant! The RED scam has surely come a long way. :001_cool:

 

[M Most]

Is that true in real dollars not 2009 inflated dollars?

Inflated compared to what? 1962? 1980? 1990?

Dollars are dollars. If one is to claim that something is "dying," the fact that it has the ability to generate more revenue than ever in its history certainly offers considerable evidence to the contrary.

 

[Hans von Sonntag]

Same here. I finally saw it last night, and thoroughly enjoyed the film, but was horrified by the projection quality. Digital projectors must take over ASAP.

Th IBU did a scientific research on film projection. After the usual copies (neg, intermidiate, DI, etc...) the resolution maxes out at roughly 800p, even in top notch theatres. Cinema is about sound, IMO. But true 2K would be nice. The perception of the resolution depends on the viewers distance. You have to sit close to the screen to enjoy the benefit of 2K+.


Hans

 

[Michael Hastings]

Inflated compared to what? 1962? 1980? 1990?

Dollars are dollars. If one is to claim that something is "dying," the fact that it has the ability to generate more revenue than ever in its history certainly offers considerable evidence to the contrary.

Doesn't make sense: If industry did 3 billion in 1973 and 11 billion in 2008, 1973 was a better year because in 2008 inflated dollars that 3 billion would be 14.4 billion.

I'm guessing that somewhere in the past 40 years there were better years in terms of real dollar revenue.

 

[Chris Pickle]

When I saw District9 the other week, the projector was so out of focus I could hardly read names on the end credits. Not nice, and not a way to encourage people to visit the cinema.

Graeme

I love taking my son to the movies. We have a great time. But I despise the horrible conditions in most theaters, even the new ones. I saw District 9 and it looked horrible. Print was a mess, out-of-focus, the screen was stained, and it spilled over the edges of the screen. This was at a new mall mega plex. Honestly, the film looked like it was shot on Beta. Heart breaking.

And! this happens all the time. I think more than 50% of the films I've seen this year were out-of-focus or other problems. Terminator had a massive green scratch across the entire film.

And what's with the deal with people talking out loud. When did that become socially acceptable? My son and I saw Ice Age 3D and some parents let their kids run up and down the aisle. And they weren't quiet about it.

It's really messed up. Plus I worry that digital won't help since it too can be out of focus.

Chris

 

[Dan Hudgins]

Remember when?

Remember when?

It's really messed up. Plus I worry that digital won't help since it too can be out of focus.

I remember when people would put dress cloths on to go to the movies, and there were ushers with flashlights because the actually turned the lights OFF during the movie, and to police for kids running up and down the isles.

Last move I went to started off in semi-focus, then some nitwit from the candy counter went into the booth, twisted focus one way then the other and left the focus worse than it was, for the next two hours of the movie!

Not only do you need content, you need to have presentation. Without a staff (at all ends of the movie making process and exhibition) that cares about what the experence is, movies are doomed.

Prints that are sent off for scrap are sometimes scratched intentionally making a big long green (etc) scratch down the center, one can wonder if that print was supposed to not be in a theatre?

Will digital projectors be mantained well, or will the optics get smokey and the image washed out like an old video projector in a bar?

Will they industry people blame the audience for the empty seats, like a bad teacher blaming the students for "not learning"?

 

[M Most]

Doesn't make sense: If industry did 3 billion in 1973 and 11 billion in 2008, 1973 was a better year because in 2008 inflated dollars that 3 billion would be 14.4 billion.

I'm guessing that somewhere in the past 40 years there were better years in terms of real dollar revenue.

I really don't know what you're trying to prove here. A statement was made that "Hollywood is gasping" and that "the big screen is dying." I responded by saying that the statement is quite a bit of a stretch when one considers that the box office through only the first 8 months of the year is already almost $7.5 billion. I stand by that statement, regardless of how many mathematical nits you want to pick.

 

[J. Eric Camp]

Even if you want to split those hairs.

I just looked back through the Gross Box of every year since 1980 and then looked up the corresponding inflation rate for that year versus 2008 ( as current as I could find.) And yes, this is a goodly year. We certainly are not seeing a decline let alone a drastic decline in attendance.

 

[Gavin Greenwalt]

Even if less people go to the cinema. The number of people on earth keeps going up. Even niche markets will have an audience of several million in a decades time especially if you include an emerging middle class around the world with deepening wallets.

 

[Steve Sherrick]

To the point about lack of quality in theaters, this has lot to do with the forcing out of union projectionists and replacing them with managers/popcorn kids, etc. It's a shame. Projection is a craft, like many other aspects of our industry. I believe it should be with digital projection as well. Maintaining equipment, making sure standards are being adhered to, as well as an understanding of motion pictures should remain part of the projection process. I've had a few managers look at me with blank expressions when I've tried to explain to them why there was a technical problem with the projection, whether it be visual or sound. I'm sure they have a million other problems to deal with, but to a customer expecting to see the movie properly, should that be our problem?

I'm hoping the theaters recognize the importance of technical competence as it relates to getting people in seats, especially as home theaters improve and people have more and more choices for entertainment.

 

[Joseph Ward]

Discussion about film vs digital or going to the movie theatres?

Content is king, my hope is that quality is coming back. Story, character development, good acting, etc. I appreciate all kinds of movies even the bad ones, but enough of over the top CGI and special effects, at least until a few years. These things goes in cycles, I guess. The 1970's had a lot of down beat realism, the 1980's big spectacles, 1990's realism again, 2000's spectacles again. Sure this is an exaggeration but the real problem maybe in the price for admissions.

The price for tickets are too high, especially if you are going to take out a date or family. Why not mix it up a little and have cheaper prices for low attendance movies, or almost out of theatres. Or have some random specials or freebies with the tickets like free small popcorn. Double features, anyone!