Mock Exam 1- The Rise Of The Blockbusters

What factors led to the decline in cinemas in towns and city centres in the late 70's and early 80's?

 During this time there were social, economic and technological factors which resulted in the decline of cinemas. In Britain there was a large recession, causing people to stop going to the cinema as much as the price was increasing because of new technologies. As people began to purchase their own VHS recorders and televisions, they didn't need cinemas for the news. The more people that didn't need cinemas meant that the studios weren't making as much money which is why they created multiplexes to offer more activities and things to do to encourage people to visit cinemas.

To also encourage audiences they began creating ideas which would appeal to a variety of people, mainly teenagers. Teenagers became the main target audience because the recession had left adults with debt and therefore their priorities were the essentials. The teenage generation resulted in having more excess money, so more to spend on the cinema. To encourage them into the cinema they created films which would appeal to them. During the summer the blockbuster jaws was released, the trailer showed included violence and showed the film was wet on the beach allowing the teenagers to relate.  The effects of the violence from the shark appealed to teenagers as they had not seen anything like this before, as it was said to be very realistic. 

 As Technology was progressing, the production of films were becoming more expensive to compete with the film studios which were using special effects. The large production budgets caused publicity, making films into spectacles which in turn made the films events. Event movies make people come together to have the experience of a new technology, increasing cinema attendance, however to put the suitable technology in cinemas to play blockbuster movies made from Hollywood film studios costs a lot for small independent cinemas. The film studios in Hollywood, created multiplexes to play their own blockbusters with the suited technology this meant that people were more likely to visit a multiplex than an independent cinema as it gave them more choice of film. The first multiplex built in England was in 1985 in Milton Keynes.

 When multiplexes arrived they took the audience which would have previously attended independent cinemas which decreased cinema attendance but increased in multiplexes. Star Wars is the main example for an event movie, because the majority of their production budget was spent on technology for FX. These FX would only be plausible in multiplexes, as they provided bigger screens and better sound systems.