What factors affect cinema attendance? Refer to a range of
examples/evidence in your answer. 422 words
One would
imagine that in times of economic hardship and recession cinema attendance
would drop due to the expense of tickets and concessions. However, in the UK we
have experienced many recessions and times of hardship and the cinema
attendance figures are often either not seriously affected or they increase.
The BFI claim that ‘After the Wall Street crash of 1929, cinema admissions
jumped 58% on the previous year and history has shown a similar reaction in
most times of economic downturn ever since.’ It would seem that ‘the current
economic crisis seems to have fuelled audiences with the understandable desire
to escape and be entertained.’ Cinema attendance figures are largely made up of
people under the age of 21, who are arguably less affected by the economy as
they are generally unemployed anyway, especially under 16s.
In 2011,
there was a dip in the cinema attendance with the fewest
tickets sold since 1995 and
revenues that dropped 4.5% from the previous year. However, it is recognized that
one of the main reasons for this was that the movies released at this time were
just not enticing enough. It is estimated that around 30 remakes and sequels
were released in 2011; perhaps the dip in cinema attendance was due to a lack
of fresh material on the screen. The Chief of Universal, John Meyer, admitted
at that Universal make ‘a lot of shitty movies’ when explaining their box
office flops, ‘Cowboys and Indians’, ‘The Wolfman,’ and "Land of
the Lost". Cinema attendance, therefore, is most certainly affected by the
simple factor of lack of quality in the cinema releases, and innovated ideas in
film.
Cinema
attendance for specific films can be affected by age certificates. As
mentioned, one of the cinema’s biggest audiences is teens. Therefore when films
are released with 18 certificates, the industry misses out on a large audience.
Films such as ‘The Woman in Black’ were very successful by keeping a lower age
certificate in a genre that is generally aimed at a slightly more mature and
less frightened audience. The younger age group (12-14) took advantage of the
opportunity to see a tension building, spine chiller at the cinema which would
not usually be available to them. This helped it to reach number one at the UK
box office, especially as it ran over the schools half term holiday. Similarly,
some films were released in two versions with a 15 and 18 certificate, such as
‘Bruno’ and ‘paranormal activity’, allowing a wider audience and increasing the
cinema attendance.