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When is fast too fast?
Jan. 26th, 2006 09:33 amIt use to be that if there was a movie you wanted to see then you saw it in the theater if you wanted to see it at all. With the advent of television there were cries that this would be the death knell of the motion picture. Vaudeville did die but the movies lived on because they were the only game in town for films. Films use to run for months in a theater. The better ones would be in an area for over a year. Then TV started to run films. The Wizard of OZ was a television staple for years. Along came cable which was showing movies shortly after they were out of the theater. This is going to kill movies theaters was the cry.
Then about the same time came the VCR and Betamax vs. VHS debate. Sony sort of screwed up on that one not allowing it for a general format but that is another column. The dire predictions that this would be the death of movies and television rang in the air. Copyright issues also were brought forward since anyone could now tape something off the TV. But the movie studios discovered a gold mine that they didn't know they had. They could release their backlist on VHS tape and get a second wind for their movies. A movie went from the theater to video to cable to network. Also the theaters could still claim that they had the big screens and the clarity you couldn't get from video tape.
Then came the laser disk format which did OK but not great. It was seem as another source of income but not much for the movie studios. It was the surprise advent of the DVD format that changed everything again. This time Sony was sensible and went for the majority format. Once DVD players dipped below the $300 mark the sales of disks exploded and the movie studios found another source of revenue that outstripped anything they got from video tape.
Now things are going from theater to DVD to cable to network in a much shorter time. Again we are hearing about the death of the local movie theater especially with the advent of the plasma screen TV which seems to be as big as some movie screens. To add to the mix there is a small independent film that is trying something new. Bubble is being billed as "the first film from 2929 Entertainment to be released simultaneously on DVD, in theaters and on TV, will make its debut on Jan. 31 [2006]." So it will hit all mediums at the same time. It is an interesting experiment. (Hi Martin). Again there is a lot of crying and gnashing of teeth over this move. Considering that the DVD release of the film is getting so close to the theatrical opening, I see this as the logical conclusion to this pattern. I have heard people ask me if a film needs to be seen in the theater or can they wait for it to appear on DVD or cable. There are movies that I wanted to see in the theater that I ended up seeing on DVD because the film was in and out of the theater so fast. The movie theater will weather this too. I think seeing film in a movie theater is part of the American experience that will never go away. Of course I am betting someone said that about Vaudeville too.
I am grateful for both the movie houses and the DVD.
Then about the same time came the VCR and Betamax vs. VHS debate. Sony sort of screwed up on that one not allowing it for a general format but that is another column. The dire predictions that this would be the death of movies and television rang in the air. Copyright issues also were brought forward since anyone could now tape something off the TV. But the movie studios discovered a gold mine that they didn't know they had. They could release their backlist on VHS tape and get a second wind for their movies. A movie went from the theater to video to cable to network. Also the theaters could still claim that they had the big screens and the clarity you couldn't get from video tape.
Then came the laser disk format which did OK but not great. It was seem as another source of income but not much for the movie studios. It was the surprise advent of the DVD format that changed everything again. This time Sony was sensible and went for the majority format. Once DVD players dipped below the $300 mark the sales of disks exploded and the movie studios found another source of revenue that outstripped anything they got from video tape.
Now things are going from theater to DVD to cable to network in a much shorter time. Again we are hearing about the death of the local movie theater especially with the advent of the plasma screen TV which seems to be as big as some movie screens. To add to the mix there is a small independent film that is trying something new. Bubble is being billed as "the first film from 2929 Entertainment to be released simultaneously on DVD, in theaters and on TV, will make its debut on Jan. 31 [2006]." So it will hit all mediums at the same time. It is an interesting experiment. (Hi Martin). Again there is a lot of crying and gnashing of teeth over this move. Considering that the DVD release of the film is getting so close to the theatrical opening, I see this as the logical conclusion to this pattern. I have heard people ask me if a film needs to be seen in the theater or can they wait for it to appear on DVD or cable. There are movies that I wanted to see in the theater that I ended up seeing on DVD because the film was in and out of the theater so fast. The movie theater will weather this too. I think seeing film in a movie theater is part of the American experience that will never go away. Of course I am betting someone said that about Vaudeville too.
I am grateful for both the movie houses and the DVD.
