Essay Question: How Overall Trends Link to Personal Experiences

Decline in UK Cinema Attendance

• Frequency of cinema outings
• 3 or 4 visits to the cinema a month 
• Imax
• Yes, once

Ways of media consumption

• Other ways to consume media 
• Streaming - convenience on the go

Piracy

• Refers to the unauthorized duplication of copyrighted content that is then sold at substantially lower prices in the 'grey' market. 
• Effects 
• 30% of the UK population are involved in piracy 
• Costs the UK industry £500m a year 
• Cinemas are losing £220m a year 
• Affects independents more than the big 6 
• Ways the industry responds to piracy 
• Phase out of DVD and Blu-Ray 
• Main blockbusters as soon as they're released or wait for DVD
• Main block buster as they are released
• Piracy perspective
• Inevitable, unavoidable, unhelpful but unstoppable

Essay

The movie industry is an industry containing ever changing trends due to a variety of factors, including changes to technology as well as different tastes and preferences that people have which greatly changes the way in which the cinematic world is shaped. These trends have a large effect on me and my personal experience of the cinematic universe. 

Firstly, due to the uprising of Netflix, blockbuster has taken a massive hit due to the increased convenience of being able to watch movies and TV series from the comfort of your home or on the go as a matter of convenience. This takes away the added costs presented by going to the cinema, including factors such as petrol, cinema tickets, movie snacks and more. In 1946 after world war ii the rate at which people went to the cinema reached a climax with a recorded 1.6 billion record of admission tickets. This is due to people needing to maintain high morale, therefore many movies were created in order to sustain the morale of the people and sustain the patriotism they upheld. However, cinematic sales plummeted exponentially to less than less than 100 million ticket sales in 1985. Although improvements in technology, such as the introduction of IMAX, meant that movies were increasing in mimesis and therefore providing realism that is greatly needed to enhance the experience achieved by viewers, sales never rose to their climatic 1.6 billion again and with the introduction of Netflix providing further negative effects to blockbuster. This specific aspect hasn't had such a great effect on me due to the fact that I continue to go to the cinema on average 3 or 4 times a month. This is due to the fact that I have grown up with the habit of going to the cinema as a means of relaxation and enjoyment of a film on the big screen. I have been to see a film in IMAX which I found to be an enjoyable way to watch the film and I believe that this has had an effect on the increase in popularity that blockbuster is beginning to see. 

Furthermore, advancements in technology have also seen negative effects on the rate at which cinema is being used. This is due to the fact that in the UK in 2011, an estimated 77% of viewers claimed they watched films on their TV, which is compared to the mere 3.4% who claimed to watch movies in the cinema. This statistic shows how the effect of technology has caused people to be more likely to watch TV at home than in cinema, due to the previously mentioned Netflix, as well as variations such as amazon prime. These two in particular are accessible through a variety of mediums, such as Xbox and PS3, with the addition on a side purchase they are also available on TV and they are available on laptops and smart phones. Due to having movies so readily accessible from so many widely used outlets, the popularity at which cinema is used dramatically decreases. I myself am a follower of this trend whereby despite the fact that I frequently go to the cinema, movies that I wish to watch are very readily accessible on TV with the addition of 'on demand' from sky for example. This means that if there is a specific movie that I want to watch, it would be a simple search then I would be able to watch the film, as opposed to needing to buy the DVD then watch it that way. 

Finally, one of the most dangerous and widely known trends that blockbuster has to face and has major issues from in terms of having extremely low revenue is the use of piracy. This relates to the illegal creation or consumption of media through viewing that isn’t paid for. An estimated 30% of the UK are involved in known piracy which costs the UK film industry £500 million per year and costs cinemas £220 million per year. Industries are beginning to phase out DVD and Blu-ray sales due to the ease of access to the content which is easily copied. Seeing as most people watch TV at home as previously mentioned, this can have two effects. Firstly, it could cause an increase in the amount of people that go to the cinema due to the accessibility of wanted movies no longer being available on DVD presenting the need to go to the cinema instead. However, it could also rapidly increase piracy due to people using piracy as a means to watch the movies that they want to now that DVDs are no longer available. Personally, I don’t buy DVDs I prefer to see movies when they come out as opposed to waiting 6 to 8 months to see the film on DVD. This way I am able to follow the already built excitement of the film that has been generated and therefore am able to watch the film when it comes out as opposed to waiting for the hype to die down and potentially have the plot ruined. Piracy, in my opinion, is something that is inevitable and will be around no matter the extent at which industries are willing to try and limit piracy. That being said, it is something that is causing massive damage to the movie industry which puts a lot of people's jobs at risk for those who don't pay for movies.

To conclude, trends within the movie industry have a massive effect on the way we consume media. In the future there will be further advancements in technology that will further fluctuate the popularity of blockbusters, but could also increase the harm done by piracy.