Tops on my list of “75 Problems With The Film Industry These Days” is that there is no way to justify the price point for movie tickets. Which doesn’t mean I am opposed to paying for them — I do pay and I see it as almost a political act. By buying movie tickets, I am voting with my dollars for the culture I want. But I know that many people out there aren’t at all like me. If people see the movies as just another entertainment or leisure time activity, it is very hard to justify the price. (when we compare it to other “values” – not clear on “values” not sure needed).
I do think there is a solution to this dilemma though. We have to restore the values to film that are truly UNIQUE to film. It’s easy to say, but what does it really mean? Since cinema’s unique value has generally been neglected in most current aspects of film and its infrastructure, we are really talking about enhancing the value of cinema, of making the experience more than a movie — even if we are essentially returning to what it always has been, will be…
I recognize that there are those out there who bristle at using economic terms as a primary descriptive for an art form and a pure pleasure. Get over it. It’s an expensive endeavor that is difficult to deliver to a widely dispersed and ill-defined audience. And the support system is changing and in need of great help. Burying your head in the sand and not facing the time we are living in, is to dig the grave for the art, the business, its creators and collaborators, even for the culture overall. Let’s find the path out of here I say. The pain of the present exceeds the fear of the future. But it starts with taking stock of what we’ve got.
Most filmmakers recognize the need to try to do more with their movies these days, to try to make them more of an event, or to extend their reach beyond the form into more of a cross platform experience. That said, there is still a lot more work we can do to increase the value of the traditional cinema experience. The steps needed to enhance the value of movies start with examining just what the core value of cinema is. Before you can improvise, you should acknowledge the fundamentals — and we need to do that with cinema’s unique qualities. We can take it beyond this list, but it’s a place to start.
- IMHO the greatest value cinema has always brought is community aka social capital. This is not to say that this is beyond pleasure, but something that is unique to the form. Cinema is a tool to organize community. Movies help people to connect. Can this connection — and the odds thereof — be increased?
