And so as another year draws to a close it is time for me to try and look back over the previous 12 months to see what has changed, what were the big stories and see what the future may hold.
There was the continuation of a number of new cinemas opening across both in the UK and across the world. Not as many as may have been in previous years, but still a consistant number of additional screens.
Also continuing in the background was the number of stories relating to cinemas making the changeover from film to digital or those who were struggling to find the money to do so. The digital conversions were still a relateively large number of the stories which were seen.
New Technology
There were two real big technology stories through out the year – High Frame Rates and Sound. With the Hobbit being released in December with a 48fps frame rate there was a whole year for people to talk about it and assess the various test screenings and footage which were going on at different events across the world. It is still early days to know exactly what people think about the new format.
The other major development was around sound – 90 years after it was first introduced! BARCO’s AURO and Dolby’s ATMOS were both busy developing new immersive sound processes.
Along with the above new developments, all the projector manufacturers were bringing out new smaller models of DCP projectors; with several of them experimenting with new forms of light sources, either lazer or multiple smaller lamps.
Theatre Management/Chain Management/Key Management systems developed by a number of different companies were beginning to be rolled-out in urnest.
However, the amount of 3D content and news seemed to have reduced significantly and seemed to have just become part of the norm.
2012 was also the year when Projection Mapping became popularised after it was used to great effect on the side of Buckingham Palace during the Diamond Jubliee concert and on the side of BBC Television Centre.
Digital
There were still many many stories about the changeover from film to digital, many of them as a result of America’s conversion. Early on in the year, a petition started about saving 35mm, originating in America.
Ownership and Openings/Closings
There were a number of cinema takeovers during the course of the year. Two of the most significant was the Vue takeover of the Apollo chain and then the December news that Cineworld had bought the Picturehouse chain.
Complaints
2012 appeared to be the year when complaints about cinemas started to become more vocal than perhaps they have been before, most notably was the rant to Odeon on Facebook during the August bank holiday which went viral and saw several hundred thousands comments and ‘Likes’ about the post. While this was the most public complaint there were no end of similar comments on cinema chain Facebook Pages and other places, especially in more recent weeks while the weather has been colder it has been noticeable complaints about the heating not working.
Century of Cinemas
In more cheerful news, there were a number of cinemas who celebrated their centenary during 2012, along with the release of the film “The Last Projectionist“.
Ongoing Stories
A number of stories continued in the background, that of the fate of the cinema in Ealing, the former Odeon in Bradford and the EMD in Walthamstow. All of these cinemas have a different story to tell. And they all will continue to be stories that will run in 2013.
Ticket Sales v Audience Figures
There were a number of positive stories about the ticket sales which were seen in the UK, several about the increase in 2012 to the year before, although if you look at the number of actual admissions to cinemas during 2012 for most of the year it was down on previous years. It was ‘Skyfall‘ which actually helped to pick up the number of tickets sold.
And in Other News
The BFI published its five strategy entitled “Film Forever”, and the first silent film for several decades, “The Artist“ won an Oscar. Theresignificantly more Pop-Up and Community Cinema events happening around the country than in previous years as the equipment becomes easier and cheaper for people to use.
2013 Preview
I think 2013 will continue to see more of the same. While the UK is pretty much fully converted to Digital there are still a number of countries who are still in the process of making the transition. High Frame Rate debates will continue, especially with the 2nd and 3rd instalments of The Hobbit and Avatar sequels due for release, and long with this more more will be seen around the laser light and sound system technologies. I am fairly sure that the number of complaints about and to cinema will continue to rise.
Keep Up To Date
And don’t forget that you can keep up to date with the news on the Mad Cornish Projectionist website in a number of ways, from automatic newsletters, to RSS or via Twitter and Facebook.
Credits
Finally, apart from myself going through and selecting the news stories, I would like to thank Vicky Mansfield who also helps considerably with the cutting of the news stories each week which helps no end in the production of the news.