Comments on: I Love Audiences.

By: Stephen Marsh

Stephen Marsh — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:58:39 +0000

Great blog.

Two things. First, maybe its just me, but the single most irritating thing about the anti-piracy adverts is the shots of an audience whooping and cheering because they’re having SUCH a great ‘experience’. If someone started doing that in a film I was watching, they’d never whoop again.

Anyway, I do FOH in an independent cinema in Kent and I think the real issue is to do with inadequate staff setups. We have ushers in every screening and, whilst its not practical for some of the multiplexes, its what we need. I know people who work at an Odeon and they don’t have to watch the film because its ‘unfair’ to sit through the same film repeatedly. That’s insane – if you don’t wanna do it, get a new job.

Being ïn-screen, we have one piracy ad (or, more often, just a card with the cinema logo and a ‘turn off your phones, no recording’ message. Its a single fair warning, not a barrage of accusations! Its FOH responsibility – only those who actually are using their phones, talking, undressing (it’s happened!) get spoken to about it. That’s just good customer service!

But hey – you ask a guy to turn off his phone and the other customers glare at you for speaking during their film

By: Guy Ducker

Guy Ducker — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:39:10 +0000

I’m afraid that it really does feel like the British film industry are weaving baskets at the moment. To be more accurate I’m expecting to see a crowd of Cinematographers, ADs and Editors huddled in the snow on Wardour St like longshoremen, holding signs saying “Worked on Casino Royale, will work for food”.

By: Adam

Adam — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:02:38 +0000

I’m totally with you on the anti-piracy front. The many and frequent cautions have a mistrust about them that, for those that go to the cinema for all the reasons they show you, is quite offputting and yet it’s a completely hollow threat to those with one leg and a parrot on their shoulder. Moreover, the days of the handheld, camcordered dvd are numbered – the biggest source of pirate dvds/torrents come from screener discs sent out to Academy members for their consideration. That these are being copied and distributed points to an “inhouse” issue – so please stop telling ME off!

It is sad to see the arse drop out of the cinema industry. I’ve had the experience muted somewhat after a decade working in them but I still get the same sensation, even if its a little burried these days, I remember from the good old days when sharing an experience in a large darkened room with a bunch of strangers. Even if the talk and rustle wrappers – its all part of the charm and something that can’t be recreated in the home no matter how large a tv, how True your HD is.

Yet alternative mediums really are changing the way people want to see their films. I cannot think of anything worse than seeing a film for the first time on my brand new iPad – but there are plenty out there who will. There’s talk afoot of geting to a point where movies are released on all formats at the same time, day & date, and when that happens I think there will be a lot more bingo halls cropping up…. See more

Its one of the reasons I can’t bring myself to hate “Avatar”. For all its considerable flaws and mediocrity – at least its getting people out of their houses. Whether the gimmick that is 3D is responsible only time will tell but, for now, it will do