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James Cameron: Theater Experience Key To Containing Piracy (torrentfreak.com)
Director James Cameron says that the key to containing movie piracy is preserving the theater experience as something special. He made the remarks when reporters asked him about his views on Sean Parker's upcoming streaming service Screening Room which will reportedly allow users to watch a new movie on the same day as its theatre release. From a TorrentFreak article: Cameron believes that having first-run movies in the home will stop people heading off to the cinema, the place where filmmakers can really showcase their art and take the fight to piracy. "The biggest hedge against piracy is still the sanctity of the viewing experience in a movie theater -- when it comes to movies," he says. "With The Walking Dead or something like that, that's not what you're selling, but if we're talking about movies and theatrical exhibition, keeping it great, making it a special experience, is still the biggest hedge against [piracy]." Interestingly, Cameron also says that even if piracy somehow became legal and download speeds were drastically improved, viewing content outside the theatrical setting would still come up short. "You're still watching [movies] on a small platform, and it's not that social experience," he explains.
How will screaming kids, sticky floors and overpriced snacks help them stop piracy?
I do not think he means to contain piracy, but more to maintain profits in the face of piracy.
The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
I don't want a movie theater to be a social experience. Consider: ... people-watching (and yelling).
* The rotten parents who bring their too-young children to adult films.
* That ridiculous moron in the row behind you who can't get off their cell phone for 5 minutes.
* The 10-year old who won't stop kicking your chair.
* The guffawing dimwit who laughs like a throat-cancer riddled donkey and does so incessantly.
* Paying $12 bucks for crappy popcorn covered in artificially flavored cottonseed oil.
* The gang-bangers who decided that the parking lot is a hugely entertaining place to spend some time
I've not been to a theater film in 8 years and I've no plans on changing that.
Right now, many homes have theatre setups that produce a far better experience than the theatre. Big screen TVs coupled with good surround sound systems are ubiquitous, the furniture is usually more comfortable, and you place yourself in the optimal viewing position. You have full control of the volume level, the start time, and can pause for bathroom or snack breaks. You also get to chose who you share the experience with.
The ONLY selling feature theatres have left is that impatient people can't wait, and insist on seeing it in theatre because the studios refuse to release it anywhere else until they've made their fortune in the theatre.
If people can get the movie at home, without the ridiculously long wait, theatres are doomed.
First: North Branch MN, outside the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area, to the north about an hour. It's rural. Instant service at the counter. They ran the soda fountain behind the counter, which was in tune. The popcorn was great. Theater was clean. Floor not sticky. Movie was fun to watch with the 10 other people in the theater. Good sound and video.
Second: White Marsh, MD, within Baltimore County and about 10 minutes from the Baltimore Inner Harbor. Had to wait 12 minutes for tickets because of a line. No explanation for the line. Then, skipped the popcorn because there was a 20-25 min line for that. This particular theater has a rewards program, meaning that one of the popcorn lines is reserved for people who pay an extra fee. Came out a half hour into the picture (chick flick, wasn't for me, so I found the trip out more interesting than listening to the movie) and still waited 5 mins for popcorn. Stale. Got a drink too, but had to dispense it myself. Drink machines were all sticky and semi-functional - some of those new Coke machines that are supposed to be so great - but are always out of service for one reason or another. Once in the movie, floor was sticky. About 15 people in the theater this time, more or less. Other patrons had BO and were leaning so far back in their seats it was hitting my knees, so I had to move. People talking during the movie - seems to be an ethnic thing in Baltimore, talking over the movie. Unpleasant theater experience overall.
#2 is more like my other recent experiences than #1. Makes a great argument for home theater. Sorry, Cameron.
HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
20 years ago it was cool. There's new things now. People get more jazzed about the experience of showing up at a pokemon gym and finding hundreds of others there.
Pokemon, as lame as it is, is honestly a superior experience. You show up. There's a bunch of people there who you share an interest with. You can talk, or you can just leave if they annoy you. It's like all the good parts of going to a movie without the overhead of feeling trapped with these annoying people because you paid good money to be there. It also doesn't come with the risk that the movie will be crap and you'd rather just have it on in the background while you did something you want to do.
http://www.fathomevents.com/ I subscribe to their newsletter, and I regularly see movies, tv shows, and specials in the theater that I wouldn't ordinarily be able to see with the "full theater experience". Recently it was Batman The Killing Joke, Doctor Who episodes, Shakespeare birthday celebration, etc. I paid about $12.25 per ticket (for three people) and bought about $30 worth of theater concessions. For Killing Joke we had a group of ten people and we all had a great time, and the entire event was sold out with such demand that additional nights and showtimes were added. so yes, for certain things, I will leave my widescreen monitor and go for the theater experience.
Horror & SciFi Erotic Nudes
I used to love going to the theater but it sucks now. It's too expensive, too crowded, and I don't want to watch 15 minutes of product endorsements followed by 20 minutes of spoilers for upcoming films before they get around to showing the feature.
Mr. Cameron, you say you want to "preserve the theater experience as something special" but it hasn't been "special" in twenty years. It's the entertainment industry's version of going to the airport. It's only a matter of time before they start adding backscatter body scanners and abusive TSA (Theater Security Agency) officers.
"Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
In the 70s the theater often times had much better visual and sound quality than what people had in their homes even expensive setups, Starwars and other movies just weren't the same on vhs or with commercials as it was in the theater. Today however even a cheap home theater can rival the experience when watching those movies digitally remastered on dvd or bluray commercial free.
My son likes to go to movies in the park... they are outdoors a lot of teens show up but the movies are from the last couple years not first showings and the cost is only $5 and popcorn and soda will only run you $5 much cheaper than the theater.
In the spring and fall when it's real nice outside we sometimes pull out the projector and set it up on an 100 inch screen in the back yard, watches the newer released dvds, and BBQ.
We've been telling the industry for years what's wrong with the " Theater Experience " but none of you seem to listen.
If you want folks to start going to the theaters again, you're going to need to step up your game or find yourself going extinct in the not too distant future.
You need to set your rules, and enforce them.
Folks chatting / texting on their damn smartphones mid show ? They need to go. Manager up and boot their ass from the theater.
The five year old heathen Mom or Dad brought with them who is running up and down the isles screaming mid show ? They need to go. Like ten minutes ago.
The employee who cranks the theater audio system up 10db past the threshold of pain ? Yeah, they need to go.
The nearsighted one who can't seem to understand what the f*ck focus even is ? They need to go.
Clean the damn place.
Most theaters are downright disgusting with the amount of trash and general filth you expect me to tolerate while in your facility.
I feel like I need a round of immunization boosters or a Biohazard suit when folks ask if I want to go out to the show.
Fix your damn gear.
That annoying ass ground hum coming from one of your speakers ? FIX IT.
The distortion coming from another speaker because of +10db guy above ? FIX IT.
Seriously, you're going to have to put in a SUPREME EFFORT to keep me from waiting for the home release. I have total control over everything mentioned
above when I wait and watch it at home.
The theater owners and employees I rely upon to ensure a positive theater going experience have failed miserably over the past decade or two.
Read that again. MISERABLY.
If you industry types don't get your shit together you may as well shut the lights off now and call it a day.
We won't miss you.
I know a lot of people don't like the theater, but I appreciate Cameron's sentiment: If you want people to give you money, give them something nobody else can. It's the same argument I make to people who call me a "bad consumer" for buying used cars. If car companies want me to buy a new car, they need to offer me something that I can't get out of a used car. Unfortunately, The car fundamentally hasn't changed much since Ford's time. Sure, they added fuel injection, A/C and newer sound systems, but there's really no innovation. I buy a new computer every few years, but that's because new computers do stuff my old one couldn't. If his recommendation for fighting piracy is "Offer something that pirates can't provide", I'm all in.
Alamo Drafthouse.
They server beer, kids are not allowed, and they will boot your ass out if you talk or whip out your cell phone.
Of course he has to say something about piracy, being so heavily vested in the film industry. But all the things you guys and gals are mentioning (I hope) is exactly what he's talking about. Just as you explain, who in their right mind would want to go to a movie theater instead of staying at home when it's $12 for the ticket. Plus super high prices for everything else, gross floors, inconsiderate people, etc. In fact, we SHOULD blame the theaters some, as it is quite obvious they are simply resting on the movie industry's policies of allowing them fist dibs at movies. Forcing those who desire to see the movie to endure their BS practices. However, I have noticed an uptick in theaters who have done a 180 to this. Around here, we have quite a few theaters that are no more expensive than the crappy, run of the mill places, and they offer nice leather reclining seats, food and drink service including full bar, online ticket sales with seat reservations, etc. And they WILL boot you if you don't turn of your phone or keep your trap closed. And when you don't feel like you are being bent over with no other choice but to abstain, it IS kind of fun. Hopefully it will catch on more.
You can never compete with piracy on price, so you compete in other areas.
I pay for movies and music from Netflix, Amazon, red box, etc. because the service is better. They're instantly available, I'll never get a bad torrent, never have missing subtitles or the wrong song mislabeled. I pay for games through Steam, GoG and Humble for similar reasons.
I'll gladly spend the money if the service is worth it, and I'm clearly not alone. Right now, this is where movies are failing. There's nothing of value provide by a theatre that's drastically better than watching at home.
The seats aren't any more comfortable than my couch, and the viewing angles are very hit and miss in the theatre. The food isn't any better than what I can whip up at home. The audio/visual, while certainly bigger, doesn't push an appreciably better quality than my home setup. And, perhaps most fundamentally, the quality of product on screen has declined dramatically.
Why the hell would I go see Ghostbusters or Star Trek in a theatre, when I already have a BETTER Ghostbusters and Star Trek on the shelf at home??
If James Cameron wants to get butts in seats, they need to fix both problems. Make better movies, and display them in better theatres. Then, maybe, you can combat piracy with "The Theater Experience."
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For the first time in many many years, I went to the cinema to take my daughter to see the pet movie that just came out. I basically wrote it off in my head as cash spent to keep her quiet for a few hours.
But because I did it in a rural theatre, and not the ones in the city, it was very different.
It was dirt cheap to buy an entire "box" to ourselves in the theatre. I could book online in seconds. I did so, and then spotted the served-food section. I added on some popcorn and chips and other things. In total, for me and her in a private box, it came to less than I would pay for a child ticket in my own local cinema.
We arrived, and there was nobody there. We grabbed tickets and walked straight into the theatre, no waiting around. A guy led us to our box. We had four seats to ourselves, an unobstructed view to the entire screen.
There was barely anyone else in the theatre so no distractions. We still had the usual shite of tons of adverts but I was talking so didn't care. The food was brought to us and we were left alone when the movie started. We could hear, we could see, there were no disturbances, we had our own little table. It was great. The film, however, wasn't. But the experience is the best I've ever had in a cinema.
However, that just doesn't scale. I realise that.
I don't pirate. I have loads of purchased content on Amazon (including Prime), Google Play, etc. as well as my own library. Because it's one-click, play anywhere, download for offline, share with family. It's simple. The biggest problem is price online (£7.99 for Ghostbusters II, the original Terminator, etc.? Fuck off).
But if you could combine decent prices, decent content (even old movies at the right price) and the experience I got from that cinema, I'd go every week.
As it is, before that, I went for The Imitation Game (personal hero, movie was worth the money, the cinema wasn't). Before that? I can't even remember. Probably the original Independence Day.
Fix the experience, it doesn't cost ANYTHING to do that, fix the shit on show (including old re-runs at really cut-down prices if you want to fill the cinema in the week and weird hours, and empty screens on the evening), but also scrap crap adverts, horrible people in cinemas, stupendous prices, and utter shite "remakes" (everything post Aliens in that franchise, for instance, Mr Cameron).
Fuck the 3D. Fuck the Dolby super-whatever-sound. Fuck the "movie start time is 15 minutes after the time on the ticket" (literally, just tell me both, I'll still be there on time to get my food and beat the queues, but won't feel cheated), and fuck the "this movie won't be out on DVD until a year after it's never been played in a cinema" shite.
Decent theatre, decent management of it, nice and easy, and a half-decent price. How can it cost less in a rural theatre to a city theatre, when national minimum wage applies to most of the staff?
Outside of that, online availability everywhere, for the same (decent) price that drops over time, and isn't (like a recent Ghostbusters rental) butchered with all the original music cut (probably for contractual reasons, but fuck that shit), within a decent time of the movie being released.
The most obstacles you insert between me pressing play or buying a ticket and watching the movie throughout unhindered, the more people will go elsewhere.
10-20 years ago, beforem torrenting moveis was a thing, comercial movie theaters essentially committed a slow suicide.
Extra-high ticket prices.
"Popcorn smell" pumped into the ventilation system (the chemical is known to cause lung damage).
At least ten minutes of commercials preceding anything else.
Commercials playing while you are waiting to the movie to "begin"---I mean by that, commercials during seating time.
10–15 minutes of previews that I don't need to see again.
No "good" seats left if you are smart enough to come in 30 minutes "late" to the film.
An extra charge for assigned seating, just in case you don't like being forced to watch commercials.
Crying babies.
Idiots on their cell phones – the whole movie through.
And so on.
I will go to art-house theaters because they have no bullshit. They also usually play great movies. Big-chain commercial theaters? Less than 10 times over the past 20 years.
The asked for it, and they got it.