Thursday, January 18, 2007

The Movie Audience

With movies going to DVD and download so quickly, I am always interested to see who shows up in the theaters. I'm a bit of a people watcher. Sometimes this makes the audience I see a film with, as interesting as the film! The type of film, time of day and location of the theater have a lot to do with who attends. I often go to the weekend matinees. In the early afternoon in RI, I am joined by active seniors. At the weekend matinees in and around Boston, it is mostly middle aged people, often couples or groups of friends.

I attended a discussion panel last spring, that spoke to how we consume film. The director, Steven Soderberg, made an interesting observation. He said that as long as people date, they will still go to the theater for movies. I was happy to see that this was true at the recent screenings I attended of Pan's Labyrinth and Children of Men. Young couples in their late 20s to early 30s made up the audience that watched these fine films with me. I'm glad to see people in the theater when there are so many options for home viewing.

2 comments:

2 Dollar Productions said...

I know all these new ways to consume cinema combined with the abundance of ever-increasing TV sizes has spelled doom for theaters in some peoples eyes, but I don't think you can replicate the experience (which can be good or bad) of actually going to the theater.

And I wouldn't want to either.

On a side note, I can't wait to see Pan's Labryinth.

Linda said...

So true. Yesterday there were people in the audience of Little Children who were related to someone involved with the film. They cheered during the credits and were so pleased and proud. Can't see that in my room!