Académique Documents
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Study Notes
Unit G322 Section B
Audiences and Institutions
Part 7
Exhibition
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While not scaling the heights of 2011, when The King's Speech and The
Inbetweeners Movie were to the fore, 2012 proved another good year for British film,
with Skyfall receiving strong support from The Woman in Black and The Best Exotic
Marigold Hotel:
Top ten British films at UK and Ireland box office 2012
1.Skyfall (Sony Pictures): 101.0m
2.The Woman In Black (Momentum): 21.2m
3.The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (20th Century Fox): 20.3m
4.The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists (Sony Pictures): 16.7m
5.The Iron Lady (20th Century Fox): 9.6m
6.Nativity 2: Danger In The Manger! (eOne Films): 9.1m
7.Salmon Fishing In The Yemen (Lionsgate): 6.0m
8. Anna Karenina (Universal Pictures): 5.5m
9.The Sweeney (eOne Films): 4.5m
10.Dredd (Entertainment): 4.4m
With the release of Tom Hooper's Les Miserables very early in the year, British film
agains looks like it will be a strong feature of 2013 box office.
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3. Local Marketing
The exhibitor's role is important in promoting a film at a local level. The distributor
and exhibitor work together to maximise the audience for a film. The cinema manager
draws up a marketing plan which includes press advertising, local promotions and
competitions.
Conversely, cinema managers receive marketing information which keeps them
abreast of the distributor's efforts to promote a film. This document tells the cinema
managers what is happening and ensures that a film is, at any one time, efficiently
promoted at a local level by that cinema manager. The cinema manager can be
promoting a lot of films, films currently showing and those still due for release. This
could easily come to ten or more in one week.
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5. Local press
The most common form of marketing
that the exhibitor will undertake is to
buy space in local newspapers to
advertise the films they are screening.
This space can be in free newspapers
and trade papers or ones which are paid
for. These advertisements will often
appear on the day of the films'
changeover which is usually a Friday,
as many chains do between 30-60% of
their business during the weekend
period. Research shows that
advertisements in local newspapers are
one of the key ways in which people
find out about films screening at their
local cinema though since 1997 this
has been overturned by the increasing
availability of access to the internet.
7. Trailers
The trailer often plays in the cinema around six weeks before the release of a film and
continues to play until the film opens in the cinema. The trailer aims to raise audience
awareness of a film by fixing the film title in their minds. It gives an overall
impression of the film to its potential audience making sure that the audience is aware
of the stars particularly where their names will help to sell the film. A trailer should
create the desire to see the film when it eventually opens.
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However, the location of new multiplex cinemas has also led to the development of a
more family-catered audience who are attracted to the nearby shopping or leisure
facilities as well as to the cinema itself.
As the cinema's image has changed and become more up-market with high-grossing
films, the price of cinema seats has reflected this change and risen dramatically. It can
cost 16 or 17 to see a film in central London and yet cinema audiences continue to
rise. Can you think of any reasons why this is so?
If the reasons are not purely economic, then the image of cinema going must surely
play a part. The multiplex complexes are popular despite often involving a good deal
of travelling beyond local public transport. We must now consider whether the
cinema-goer is as interested in the facilities surrounding the cinema in which the film
is seen as in the actual film on the screen.
A good, well publicised film will still draw large audiences, but faced with a poor
cinema showing a good film, and a stylish cinema showing a selection of average
films, the general public may well opt for the more pleasant up-market surroundings.
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Most of the screens in the UK are owned by one of the major cinema chains. Vue,
UCI/Odeon or Cineworld.
The cinema sector is still in some turmoil at present with two major chains having
been sold in the last 10 years (Warner Village Cinemas was bought by Vue cinemas in
2003) and up to three others available for sale.
(May 13, 2003) Vue International Cinemas, the developer and operator of state-of-theart-cinemas, today announced its acquisition of the Warner Village Cinema chain in the
UK. The purchase of 36 Warner Village sites nationwide boosts its number of multiplex
cinemas from 6 to 42 overall with a total of 384 UK screens
The advent of digital cinema may change this landscape somewhat, but no-one is yet
making the necessary investment in digital projection equipment and distribution
systems. The UK Film Council are supporting independent cinemas' acquisition of
digital technology.
The world's first digital cinema network will be established in the UK over the next 18
months. The UK Film Council has awarded a contract worth 11.5m to Arts Alliance
Digital Cinema (AADC), who will set up the network of up to 250 screens. AADC will
oversee the selection of cinemas across the UK which will use the digital equipment.
High definition projectors and computer servers will be installed to show mainly British
and specialist films. Most cinemas currently have mechanical projectors but the new
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network will see up to 250 screens in up to 150 cinemas fitted with digital projectors
capable of displaying high definition images. The new network will double the world's
total of digital screens. Cinemas will be given the film on a portable hard drive and they
will then copy the content to a computer server.
(BBC News Feb 2005)
More recently, Cineworld snapped up the arthouse cinema chain Picturehouse, owner
of the Ritzy cinema in south London and the Phoenix in Oxford, in a deal worth
47.3m. The deal unites two very different cinema chains, with Picturehouse's films
catering for an older, more highbrow audience while Cineworld's mass-market
multiplexes tend to attract 18- to 24-year-olds interested in the latest 3D blockbusters.
Cinemagoers at the Clapham Picture House, south London, on Thursday night did not
welcome the news. Rachel Smith, who lives locally and takes her children to the
cinema, feared it would become less independent. "I think it's awful," she said.
"Cineworld is big and faceless and cold. The Ritzy and the Picture House are not like
that at all. The staff have really good film knowledge and are warm and personable."
The multiplex giant, which runs 80 cinemas nationwide, stressed nothing would
change at Picturehouse under the new ownership. It pledged to run Picturehouse as a
separate entity, with all 750 staff staying on. But Cineworld's financial clout will
enable the indie chain, Britain's biggest independent, to open 10 cinemas from 2014.
The news coincided with the opening of Picturehouse's 21st cinema, The Duke's at the
Komedia cabaret venue in Brighton.
The deal includes the distribution arm Picturehouse Entertainment, which launched in
2010 with the 200,000 grossing My Afternoons With Margueritte and the bittersweet
comedy Liberal Arts, which was released recently.
The UK cinema market is now dominated by three players Odeon & UCI, Vue and
Cineworld which control 70% between them. Private equity-owned Vue bought a
rival, Apollo, for 20m in May while the financier Guy Hands bought Odeon and UCI
in 2004 and merged them to create Britain's biggest operator. Picturehouse had sales
of 30.3m last year and a pretax profit of 2.5m. Bowcock believes the acquisition
will create value for Cineworld shareholders. "It's profitable, there is demand for it.
The population is getting older and people are spending more money on leisure time."
Cineworld, which employs 4,000 people, has raised 16m by issuing new shares to
fund the deal, and Goleby has put 1m of her money into the share placing. City
analysts said the move made sense for Cineworld. Investec analyst Steve Liechti said:
"This looks an interesting move into the high value, older demographic,
individual/arthouse cinema market and adds a new growth segment. We believe
Cineworld can add material value to Picturehouse given its balance sheet strength and
buying power."
Q2. How significant do you think this consolidation of the exhibition market
into 3 big players will be to audiences? What will it allow exhibitors to do?
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3D films have existed in some form since 1915, but had been largely relegated to a
niche in the motion picture industry because of the costly hardware and processes
required to produce and display a 3D film, and the lack of a standardized format for
the business. Nonetheless, 3D films were prominently featured in the 1950s in US
cinema, and later experienced fleeting popularity at various points during the 1960s,
1970s and 1980s.
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What makes modern digital 3D different from its previous incarnations is first of all
the technology. Digital technology allows the right eye/left eye images which create
the stereoscopic effect to be matched perfectly in every frame. Previously even slight
imperfections in this process, inevitable in the 'hand-matching' that was necessary
with 35mm 3D, meant that the brain had to work harder to make sense of the two
images, leading quickly to tiredness and even nausea on the part of the viewer.
Second, it is probably not unfair to say that the creative people behind earlier 3D films
were at best journeymen within the industry. Modern digital 3D has attracted the
foremost creative talents of our age - James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, Peter
Jackson, Martin Scorsese amongst them.
Finally, previous interest in 3D was generally prompted by a cinema sector
experiencing pressures and urgently looking to find new ways to attract audiences to
the big screen experience. While there is no room for complacency, the current
cinema sector is comparatively buoyant - the drivers of 3D are as much creative as
they are economic.
It is recognised that 3D is not right for every film, but where it is fully embraced by
the Director and done well, it can offer a truly fantastic experience. A key tipping
point for 3D cinema was with the release in 2009 of James Cameron's Avatar, the
highest grossing film of all time, earning almost $2.8 billion worldwide.
3D technology of course costs money for both the film maker and the cinema to offer
the experience. This is generally reflected in an uplift on ticket prices for 3D films
which enables the industry to continue making more 3D films and bringing them to
UK and global audiences. In terms of market share, in 2011, 47 films were released in
3D, taking circa 231.5 million at the box office, circa 22 per cent of the total annual
UK box office for 2011.
At the end of September 2012, the UK cinema sector had 3,368 digital screens
(around 88 per cent of the total UK screen base) with 1550 of these screens being
capable of offering 3D.
b. Digital cinema
The advent of digital cinema offers the opportunity to enhance the cinema-going
experience in terms of picture quality, more diverse programming and in offering
audiences the chance to experience cutting-edge digital 3D. The transition to digital
cinema in the UK is now approaching completion. At the end of June 2012, there
were 3,216 digital screens - around 84 per cent of the UK screen base - of which some
1,535 were 3D-enabled. While the benefits to the cinema-goer will become
increasingly apparent, it remains the case that the key financial benefits from these
developments accrue to the distributor.
Distribution of films is currently via 35mm celluloid prints, which are expensive to
produce and to transport. Digital technology offers the opportunity for the distributor
to produce and transport copies around the country (via the internet or satellite) at a
significant cost saving. Against that, while as systems develop these are likely the
come down to a degree, the costs for many cinema exhibitors of converting their
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cinema will remain prohibitively expensive. The CEA therefore strongly believes that
it is the studios and distributors, rather than the exhibitors, who should meet the bulk
of the costs for this transition.
In the US and Europe, various third party organizations have proposed financing and
installation plans to exhibitors, backed by agreements with the studios. Under these
plans, the third parties raise the necessary finance to buy and install digital equipment
in cinemas, with the studios over time paying "virtual print fees" (VPFs) to the third
parties for the use of the equipment.
From the outset of the transition, the CEA (Cinema Exhibitors Association) was keen
to ensure that as many of its members as possible were able to make the transition to
digital, should they so wish, without experiencing financial hardship. As a result the
Association The Association therefore supported the establishment of the Digital
Funding Partnership (UK) [DFP(UK)] a grouping of small and medium-sized
operators brought together to negotiate the best possible funding deal to support
digital conversion.
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1. Multiplex
A North American concept, the first UK
cinema opening in Milton Keynes in
1985 owned by the American MultiCinema Corporation (AMC).
The UK cinema market continues to be
dominated by three major exhibitors;
Odeon UCI, Cineworld and Vue. In total
they account for over 70% of the total
market box office and provide over 60%
of the total screens in the UK. The rest of
the market is represented by smaller multiplex chains and independents which tend to
operate non-multiplex cinemas (less than five screens).
This situation has remained largely constant because of the significant barriers to
entry, both through acquisition and organically. The rate of new cinema openings has
been falling in recent years, partly due to the limited number of new retail and leisure
development opportunities and the long time it takes to bring developments to
fruition. This has been exacerbated more recently due to reduced funding for
developers in the present financial climate, though confidence has started to improve.
Cinema attendance is quite resilient in the economic and consumer environment. The
low price of going to the cinema compared to other forms of leisure and the desire for
escapism have remained key attractions. Underpinning the overall success in the last
few years has been the strong line-up of films, the ongoing conversion to digital and
the growth in the number of films released in 3D format:
Q3. Find out more about Vue, Odeon and Cineworld cinemas who owns
them?
The multiplex cinema is a new building situated on the edge of a large conurbation or
city and houses between eight to fifteen screens. The US distributors determined that
cinemas should be located close to large shopping centres, restaurants and other
leisure pursuits (bowling, ice-skating rinks etc.) to attract as wide a potential audience
as possible. Easy access and parking for cars, an opportunity to combine a cinema
visit with a shopping spree and a meal out has changed the concept of cinema going
and seems to have been fundamental to the success of the multiplex. It has turned
cinema going, literally, into a 'family centred' activity.
The number of screens can range from 12-15, and in some cases up to 25, such as Star
City in Birmingham. However, this `megaplex', which boasted shops, restaurants, a
tattoo bar and screens that were to be dedicated to art house and Bollywood fare, has
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Q4. Although audience choice was a central part of the success of the multiplex
what actually have multiplexes allowed exhibitors to do?
Summary of UK cinema admissions and the number of screens in operation
1985-2002
Admissions
(million) (1)
Total Number
of screens (2)
Number of Multiplex
Screens (3)
1985
72
1,251
10
1995
124
1,969
683
2011
176
3,760
2,833
Each screen of the multiplex has a different seating capacity so that the exhibitors can
cater for very popular mainstream films with a large audience attendance alongside
lesser known art house or specialist films with a limited audience.
These multiplexes have allowed a range of films to be shown, usually with different
start times, and allowed customer choice to be central to the visit to a multiplex.
Sophisticated sound and image technology has been installed into these multiplex
cinemas which offers the audience a more exciting experience.
2. Multi-Screen Cinema
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Q5. Find out more about these art-house chains? How are they different from
the multiplexes?
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Community Cinema
The screening of feature films in the UK is not limited to cinemas belonging to the
major cinema operators. There is a thriving sector of voluntary providers which make
a wide variety of films available to local communities which are often underserved by
the commercial operators. This sector is often referred to as community cinema.
Members of local communities are generally more involved in the programming of
such cinemas than their commercial counterparts. Screenings of films in this sector
are in venues such as village halls, mixed arts spaces, independent cinemas and the
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like.
Conclusion
There are many forces that come together to shape the pattern of what ends up on UK
screens. Some of these arise from the practices of film distribution as a complex
monopoly that holds the balance of power over exhibitors whilst also marginalizing
independent distributors. At the same time, intense competition between cinemas
means that most multiplexes prioritize the same titles, whilst ignoring others. Whereas
this has been found to maximize admissions, the policy has also had the detrimental
effect to cinemas of raising their film hire costs. For film viewers, the most notable
effect of these economic pressures has been the failure of the escalating number of
cinema screens to significantly expand their viewing choices.
The UK Film Council sought to breach the barriers faced by exhibitors and
distributors who wish to make available a wider range of quality filmmaking. In 2002
it acquired a 17 million budget to promote niche product in the UK. Part of this was
made available to distributors for the marketing of specialized films. Enhancing
awareness of alternatives to the mainstream helps to increase its attractiveness to
cinemas and the public alike. The bulk of the budget has been allocated to cinemas
themselves, in order to create a virtual circuit of digital art house screens in both
multiplexes and small independent sites around the country. In May 2005, the Film
Council named the 209 sites that would benefit from the installation of 238 digital
screens, which would be devoted to more specialised (i.e. non-Hollywood), classic,
and foreign language movies. This process is currently well underway and is due for
completion in 2006.
The adoption of digital projection reduces the cost to distributors of striking and
shipping film prints. This makes viable the provision of specialized product to a larger
number of cinemas. This will be a boon to the art houses that already rely on such
films but who often find it difficult to obtain them on or close to the release date when
public awareness and demand is generally at its highest. At the same time, the
obligation of participating multiplexes to play specialized product will increase its
geographical provision outside the metropolitan areas in which most existing art
houses are located.
Publicly funded government intervention, administered by the UK Film Council or
the BFI may indeed prove to be the only way of sustaining the availability of niche
product to audiences across the UK. There is great optimism that the emergence of
high-specification digital projection will make a tangible difference in the near future.
In the meantime, though, the dominance of film exhibition by multiplex chains shows
every sign of engendering an increasingly homogenized experience of cinema going
for most audiences.
Q6. What are the BFI doing to help promote niche films to UK
audiences?
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Q7. Exhibitors are the route to customers. All film makers think
carefully about how their production decisions affect the exhibition
sector. What do you look for in a cinema?
Q9. The exhibition sector in the UK has grown rapidly but now is a
period of some consolidation. The advent of digital technology is
raising some interesting issues for the relationships between
producer, director and exhibitor. What do you think might happen in
the future?
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