Cinema Survival: Compare the ways in which Cinema City and Vue/Odeon attract audiences

Mainstream and independent cinemas attract audiences in different ways. It is now harder for all cinemas to get as much attention from an audience because of many reasons including the recession, DVDs, download and piracy. Another main reason for this is the invention of TV. Since the 1950s cinema audiences have decreased because of all the different channels, and films shown on television.

Vue and Odeon Cinemas are both mainstream cinemas, which means that the films they show are also mainstream. They include a large amount of cinema screens and almost a full schedule. This attracts all audiences from and age, gender or class because the films shown are so varied, and bound to suit almost everyone’s preferences. Odeon cinema and includes curtains, atriums and cut-outs, which adds to the “Hollywood” experience. This helps to attract audiences, as it gives everyone a fairly glamorous feeling. Vue and Odeon work to increase their audience’s by giving customers voucher that give money of the next film, which helps to keep them coming back. Also, the cinemas are both placed in the city and are easy to access with car parks not far from the area. Since the major release of Avatar, mainstream cinemas have recently put a lot of the screenings into 3D. The amount of new technology is definitely helping to improve the audiences.

Cinema City attracts audiences in similar and different ways. The fact that it is an Independent cinema means that they show mostly independent films and they get subsidy for showing European films by the company Europa. Cinema city also has a completely different environment. Instead of normal cinema seats, the screenings contain sofa seats and allow you to take wine and refreshments into the film. It also includes a restaurant area where you can eat meals, so it offers a bigger range of things to do other than watch films. Also some days they have screens for people to play video games, and occasionally hold opera evenings where the cinema is connected up to an actually opera show. These factors are important for cinema city, as it attracts a wide range or audiences. Similar to Vue and Odeon, Cinema City is located in the city centre, therefore is easy to get to, and has a small car park just around the corner.

In conclusion, the entire experience of the cinema is definitely worth it especially with all the new technology and other things involved. Although Independent and mainstream cinemas have different ways of grabbing the attention of their audiences, I think both ways work, and are very effective.

Preliminary Task

Preliminary task questions

What planning did you do? How was this useful, and how did you change from your planning?

When planning our preliminary task we created a storyboard in order to plan out which shots would come where and to help us plan out a storyline. I think this was an effective and useful way of planning, as it allowed us to remember exactly what are intentions were throughout the making of it, and reminded us of the different angles we wanted to use.

What camera skills have you developed? How confident are you with using cameras? And has this confidence changed during the project? Give details of specific camera skills/techniques you have developed and include areas where you lack confidence or need to improve?

I have developed the skill to establish the difference between camera angles, and how to use them. I feel quite confident when using a camera because I have my own, therefore am quite used to it. However I feel as if I have improved the way I control and use it. Now that I am aware of the different shots and angles, I can use the camera more effectively.

What editing skills have you developed? How confident are you with using the editing program? Give details of specific editing skills/techniques you have developed, and include areas where you lack confidence?

I had never used the program we used to edit our film, so the techniques we used were quite new to me. However I found it reasonably easy to adapt to it. The skills in editing that I have improved on are the ability to crop the clips and move them about in order for the film to run smoothly. I think I need to improve slightly when using the program, to make it easier for myself to navigate around and be able to edit correctly.

Prelimary Task Planning

Changes in Planning

We decided to change the location of the cellar, because it was located out of the city therefore was difficult for our actors to reach the village. Also we found that the lighting in the cellar was quite dark so it made it more difficult to film. To avoid this problem we decided to film this scene in my garage which is also a location for one of the other scenes. To make the scenes look different, we changed the furniture around and tried to add a different atmosphere. Also the other garage scenes were flashbacks, so we are planning to change it to black and white which will also give the different scenes seperate effects. 

Findings for Research Project

Marketing

How do you find out about the films you want to watch?

I asked 10 people both of my questionnaires, and the results showed that half of them find out about films by viewing trailers at cinemas. So therefore this is the most popular answer. The other ways that some of the interviewees learned about films was from Word of mouth, Internet Adverts and Magazines.  Which meant that from the group of people that I asked none of them heard about films from Posters, Radio, TV trailers more than any other. I also found that the people that heard about films through cinema trailers were on average younger than those that answered differently. This suggests that people of a younger age visit the cinema more often.

Which of these do you think is most effective?

For this question, most people again gave the answer of Cinema Trailers. For those that gave a reason said things such as: ‘They give the most information, and more of an insight to the film itself’ and ‘They show the best parts of the film to draw in the audience’.

Do you think your occupation or affects the films you watch? Or how many?

Most people said that there work did affect how many films they watch but not necessarily the type of films. All but one of the people that were in education suggested that the amount of work decreases the amount of films they watch.

Do you think your lifestyle affects the films you enjoy?

About half of the people said that there lifestyle doesn’t affect the films they enjoy at all.  Although most of the people I asked were probably from the same sort of culture and similar class. So their lifestyles probably weren’t all that different from one another. However I found that the ones that said it did affect them were the ones of an older age. Maybe this could be because they have had more experience of older films, or perhaps because they have young children.

Exhibition

How do you normally view films?

Half of the people I asked said that they usually view the films they watch on DVD.  Two people answered Cinema, and TV and one person answered Internet. Both the people that said they watched films in the cinema were both at college/sixth form. This suggests that this could be one of the reasons they go to the cinema more often, maybe because they are close to the city, or perhaps because it’s a good way to get together with school friends. The reasons for watching films on DVD varied. For example ‘If it’s on DVD you can watch it as many times as you want.’ And ‘it’s easy and possible at any time of the day.’

When do you usually watch films?

Most people said that they watched films in the evenings or weekends. This suggests that for anyone who is in education or employment, this is their only free time, as the person who was in no education or work put the answer ‘whenever’.