Social, economical and technological factors have influenced the decline of cinema attendance throughout the years of the 1970s to the 1980s. These factors had an effect on the production, distribution and marketing and exhibition aspects of cinema. After the war, town and city centre cinemas, also known as flea-pit cinemas experienced a major decline in attendance. One reason for this is that they were not refurbished, and therefore an audience would not want to experience these conditions. Another factor could be the impact of a recession, piracy, technological factors such as the introduction to VHS and VFX and the youth audience.
The recession meant that the public no longer had a disposable income to spend on leisure items and the time to socialise. This therefore resulted in a decline in attendance to town and city centre cinemas. The recession influenced major factors that link to the decline of flea-pit cinema attendance. One was the introduction to VHS.
The introduction of home video became a fashion and a trend to watch films in the comfort of one's own home. Families could watch films together and more than once, meaning that this was cheaper and more economical. The introduction of VHS therefore lead to the decline in cinema attendance, having a major effect on town and city centre cinema's profit and income. This therefore resulted in the cinemas staying in their 'flea-pit' run down state, as they did not have the money to refurbish the cinema.
However, the introduction of VHS impacted the exhibition aspect of the cinema. The new technology of VHS led to a rise in piracy. This had a profound effect on town cinemas. Not only were people not attending cinemas to see new films but buying them to watch at home, they were now illegally purchasing these videos. As a result film production companies and town cinemas were not gaining any profit. A key example of the extent of piracy at this time was the film E.T, which was the most pirated film in 1982.
In the UK, Milton Keynes was the first location of the multiplex cinema in the UK. It was successfully run by film production companies from America. These production companies only distributed their own blockbuster films in these cinemas. The blockbuster was hyped up and seen as an event movie in which became a trend that a large audience wanted to see. Flea pit cinemas therefore could not showcase these films and therefore these independent cinemas suffered as a result. These multiplexes showcased blockbusters, which incorporated a range of VFX. At this time VFX were new and exciting to an audience, and encouraged people to watch the film at the multiplex cinema to gain the full experience, rather than from home video. This was successful for the increase in cinema attendance to multiplexes and as a result made flea pit cinema attendance decline rapidly.
Multiplexes were located on the outskirts of towns, near motorways and usually in shopping malls. This meant that the cinema experience became a part of the shopping experience, devaluing the ideology of the cinema. The location of the multiplex cinemas largely appealed to the new audience; the youth audience. Although the recession was still in tact, the youth audience had a disposable income, due to having no bills and liabilities to pay, they also had the time to socialise. The majority of the new audience already hung around in shopping malls on weekends, therefore the placement of new multiplexes drew and attracted this market easily, increasing attendance and profit to multiplexes. Blockbuster advertising created a hype and a fashion around the film, making it an 'event movie'. Due to the multiplex location, merchandise could be sold in a range of stores and services.
The youth audience, combined with the location of the multiplex guaranteed a large audience. The youth audience is and was very perceptible to the works of advertisement; buying into the event movie and blockbuster as a fashion and becoming competitive amongst one another. Whilst the location of the multiplexes already held an existing footfall; increasing the likeliness of attendance.
The fact that film production companies owned these multiplexes gave them the opportunity to advertise their own other films before the exhibition of the film the audience member gone to see. This created a vicious circle; blockbuster films advertising other blockbuster films in multiplexes. This encouraged the audience to return back to the multiplex rather than the independent, town cinemas. This of course, resulted in a decline in flea-pit cinema attendance and an incline in multiplex cinemas.
As a result of the introduction to VHS and piracy, the town and city centre cinemas saw their attendance plummet. The rise of the multiplex resulted in a further decline in attendance figures as these cinemas were easier to get to, their location guaranteed a larger audience due to the existing footfall in the shopping mall. Multiplexes showcased a number of blockbuster films (which the flea pits did not) and at a range of times, (whilst the town cinemas still had one single screen.) The large audience that the multiplex attracted also effected the town cinema, as this audience was already hanging around in shopping malls, as well as having a disposable income to spend on the cinema. Film production companies had the control over where their films were distributed, as these production companies owned multiplex cinemas, they showcased these films at their own venues and restricting showcase in independent cinemas. As a large dominant audience wanted to see these blockbusters compared to the films that were being shown in the town cinemas, this led in a major decline in the attendance to the town cinemas and an incline in attendance to multiplexes, resulting in flea pits being ruled out as the competition for multiplexes.
The most influential factor that led to the decline of town or city centre cinemas in the late 1970s and the early 1980s, in my opinion is possibly the influence of the recession. From the recession, other factors formed; for example if there was no recession, families may not have bought the VHS and home video. There also would not have been as greater target towards the youth audience.
Although, it is also arguable that the rise of the multiplex is the most influential factor that lead to the decline of the flea pit cinema attendance.
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