Film Exhibition

• The exhibition is the retail branch of the film industry- it involves the public screening of a film- not the production or distribution- the exhibitor sells the experience of the film- ‘theatrical’ refers to the experience of viewing a film at the cinema
• Other forms of film exhibition is known as non-theatrical- this is a shift to home viewing and more recently portable devices
• The early days- films were silent and it was usual to have a live musical accompaniment- going to the cinema became a new social craze
• Full synchronised sound arrived in 1927-1929-by the 1930s half the population of Britain went to the cinema at least once a week. Alongside the main film, audiences would also watch ‘B’ pictures and newsreels- there was also ‘live’ entertainment performed on stage- it lasted a total of 4 hours
• 1940s- Main source of mainstream news- in cinemas you’d have news reports
• By 1939 there were 5500 cienmas in Britain- the highest cinema attendance ever was in 1946
• Looking at the cinema admission rates in the UK, the number has slowly declined since the late 1940s- reasons for this: television sets had risen from 5 million to 11 million sets between 1955 to 1961, in 1945 there were only 15,000. Post war poverty- prices went up, cinemas not repaired, inner-city cinemas had less of an audience. US film distributors boycotted Britain because of an import duty, British films were of low quality. 1980s- Video hire became available
• The rise of multiplex cinemas- first opened in 1985, out of town sites with easy access by car, huge choice of 8, 9 or even 12 different screens- improvements in technologies like Dolby, surround sound, digital film, 3D- people were prepared to pay more
• Family ticket 2D- £29, Family ticket 3D- £37.20- ticket prices have steadily increased over the last 10 years. Cinema turnover has increased to £1300m in 2010