Iii) Movies

Nickeldeon (1905)

The first Nickeldeon opened its doors a century ago, showing short films around-the-clock for working-class audiences at minimal prices

Palace theatres (1914)

Created by Roxy Rothapfel, these theatres provided an opera-like environment for cinema viewing at affordable prices

AMC multiplex (1960)

The number of multiplexes in suburban shopping malls mushroomed, giving viewers greater choice while reducing costs

AMC megaplex (1995)

Megaplexes offered every blockbuster and provided spectacular viewing experiences in complexes as big as stadiums, at a low cost to operators

NB Hollywood has had an uneasy relationship with technology

"...they hated television. They went to court to outlaw the VCR. These days, they have to contend with digital piracy, Internet distribution, and TiVo boxes. They are keeping a wary eye on the user-generated content on YouTube and the dazzling new videogame players from Microsoft and Sony..."

Marc Gunther, 2006

On-line streaming (2013)

On-demand movies, on-line (Napster, Sam, Netflix, etc)

Streaming

Netflix is the dominant player in streaming. It was founded in 1997and began streaming in 2007. It wasn't until 2013, with a series, House of Cards, that it took off. In 2018, it had around 137 m. paying subscribers; of which 73 m. Are outside the USA and operate in 190 countries. there are other channels like Amazon, Prime, HBO, BCC, Disney, etc but Netflix dominates

"...Netflix is the Coca-Cola of the audiovisual industry...... it accounts for 15% of all Internet bandwidth worldwide and recently surpassed Disney to become...... who most valued media company in the world..."

Jo Ellison 2019.

Netflix has an uncomplicated mandate to entertain. They have so much of everything and don't have a particular line or objective or goal to push. They are willing to experiment with new formats and genres that previously were regarded as too niche; it has broadened our interests/tastes, eg Finnish crime drama (Deadwind), etc; encourages smaller independent films. They have stimulated more productions, eg BBC (UK), Channel 4 ,Sky, etc are all making more dramas. They are a tech company that is very research and data focused, using algorithms to determine Netflix content based on viewing tastes. some of Netflix shows like The Crown, Wild Wild Country, etc have inspired fashion designers.

Netflix has had around 4 separate business models in its short life. In 1997 it started its business focusing on DVD sales and rental by mail; in 1998 it just focused on the DVD rental business. Then, in 2010 it changed its business model to subscription-based online streaming services. While in 2012 it became a media service provider and production company (Wikipedia 2020)

Before Covid-19, there has been renewed interest in celluloid. Until relatively recently films were projected from reels, ie a spool of celluloid run in front of a projector to bulb throwing images onto a screen. It was mainly in 2 forms, eg

i) 35mm (standard theatrical presentations)

ii) 70mm (larger, more detailed presentations most popular in the 60s and 70s)

Now most films are stored and played from hard drives.

However, there is a push back to celluloid as it

"...just the nature of how film is seen on screen; its image clarity, its colour palette, the sound is just something that is very different to digital..."
Paul Vickery as quoted by Daniel Curtis, 2017

Also showing a film in a cinema is a different experience that cannot be easily replicated at home.

NB This renewed interest in celluloid has helped revive Kodak as an organisation that provides celluloid.