Why are cinemas still important for both audiences and producers? What could go in this essay? Audience divisions – demographic in Huntingdon and elsewhere Cinema exhibition and the differences between the multiplex and the art house How the attractions of the internet compete with cinemas Cinema exhibition compare to home viewing Response to the stimulus Discussion of the advantages and disadvantages Cinema as a social practice The cinema as ‘promotion’ for future dvd/streaming/etc releases Word of mouth Stars/spectacle/etc on the big screen

Improving a point In Huntingdon there isn’t an art house cinema so people have to go to the multiplex and see mainstream films. Huntingdon is a small town with a mostly white audience, there isn’t an art house cinema. It’s demographic is largely a mix of the upper middle class and working class. Cambridge is a short drive away and has an art house cinema, which widens the choice of films for those with their own transport. Those without have no choice but to go to the multiplex and see mainstream films.

Some people who like going to an art house may not be tempted to go to the multiplex. Going to the cinema is a social practice and the environment of an art house is different to a multiplex. An art house, such as the Picture House in Cambridge offers… whereas the multiplex in Huntingdon… Audiences associate themselves with the sort of environment they like, so the exhibition of wider films in a multiplex may not actually encourage an art house audience without offering changes to the front of house. Improving a point

Using your own case studies/experience The switch to digital projectors opens up the possibility of showing material other than films. Like concerts. The switch to digital projectors opens up the possibility of showing material other than films. For instance, the Cambridge Picture House has offered live satellite transmitted interviews with directors before a screening and live screenings of opera or ballet from New York. This is designed to draw in an audience of the B/C band in addition to the traditional C/D demographic and offers an aspect of cinema that challenges the attractions of the internet in the home environment.

Your turn. Improve this: Item 3 suggests a business model of exhibition that does away with cinemas altogether. I suggest that this is likely/unlikely because…