How to Thrive Among Pirates

[Triple Zero]

[...] I was in China, in part, to answer this simple question: how does the China film industry continue to produce films in a land where everything seems to be pirated? If no one is paying the filmmakers, how (why) do they keep producing films? But my question was not just about China. The three largest film industries in the world are India, Nigeria and China. Nigeria cranks out some 2,000 films a year (Nollywood), India produces about 1,000 a year (Bollywood) and China less than 500. Together they produce four times as many films per year as Hollywood. Yet each of these countries is a haven, even a synonym, for rampant piracy. How do post-copyright economics work? [...]

http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2010/04/how_to_thrive_a.php

[Triple Zero]

Bollywood is likewise supported by air-conditioning. Few Indians have aircon in their homes, fewer own air-conditioned cars. Mid-afternoon in the summer you really don't want to be anywhere else except in a cool theater for several hours – which is why Bollywood films can go on forever.

[Jasper]

That explains it perfectly.

My usual method of surviving amongst pirates is to seed generously.

[Cramulus]

Interesting points, especially the conclusion about changing gears so that the movie theater experience is the real thing being sold. where air conditioning brings in the crowds in humid countries like India, over here in the west we'll have to rely on 3D and other high tech developments to convince people it's a better idea to watch it in theaters than to wait for it on the pirate bay.

I haven't watched it yet, but I just DL/d Capitalism: A Love Story. I wanted to see it when it was in theaters, but I couldn't justify paying for a movie which is about fighting capitalism. 

[Jasper]

I've heard the argument of "movie experience" before in the PNW, where getting out of the heat is really not an issue, interestingly.  Those people might be full of shit, or they might just like huge screens and gigantic surround systems.

[East Coast Hustle]

they might just like huge screens and gigantic surround systems.

This. I'll happily pay $15 for a brain-bending sound system and some sick 3D visuals.

[BADGE OF HONOR]

Even better to bring your own booze.

[Triple Zero]

reading further, :

Milk the uncopyable experience of a theater for all that it is worth, using the ubiquitous cheap copies as advertising. In the west, where air-conditioning is not enough to bring people to the theater, Hollywood will turn to convincing 3D projection, state-of-the-art sound, and other immersive sensations as the reward for paying. Theaters become hi-tech showcases always trying to stay one step ahead of ambitious homeowners in offering ultimate viewing experiences, and in turn manufacturing films to be primarily viewed this way.

I agree and I disagree at the same time.

Seriously that 3D immersive bullshit is just not worth the money and they are looking in completely the wrong direction.

When I went to see "burn after reading" in a small cinema in Utrecht, there was this guy from the cinema that stood up in the first two rows, where nobody sits anyway, and started talking about the Coen Brothers's career and such. It was just two minutes, a few random trivia in the movie that I would not have caught otherwise and it made the experience have so much more depth than any 3D glasses could do.

Also you should have these totally pretentious fluffy exit-cinema bars at the cinema where people also can hang around and be all literary and cultural even when there's no movie playing. Because it is important to also service the need of those who feel they must hang around and be all literary and culural and shit.

[Cain]

Yeah, I don't see 3D being viable for too long (someone will create a home version of it sooner or later anyway) but the general thrust is in the right direction - give people things they cannot get at home.  A massive screen and awesome sound system is part of that, but more can definitely be done.

[Cramulus]

3D HD TV - it's actually already on the way

http://www.geek.com/articles/consumer/directv-to-launch-hd-3d-channel-20091229/


now if only they had a 30 foot tall screen channel

"the home IMAX"

[Shibboleet The Annihilator]

Poorly done 3D makes my eyes itchy. Went to see Alice and my eyes itched like a motherfucker. They were fine with Avatar though.

[BADGE OF HONOR]

One of the best moviegoing experiences I ever had was in San Francisco, at an old-school theater.  Instead of previews there was a guy playing an organ, which when the movie started slowly sank into the stage with the guy still playing.  It was awesome.

[Rumckle]

I heard that the Prince of Nigeria likes local cinema.

Also, I agree with paying to see the 3D, unfortunately my local cinema doesn't have 3D. 

Oh, and I saw the Sony 3D TV in one of their stores, and really, it is terrible, you can't really tell the difference between it and regular TV.

[Triple Zero]

One of the best moviegoing experiences I ever had was in San Francisco, at an old-school theater.  Instead of previews there was a guy playing an organ, which when the movie started slowly sank into the stage with the guy still playing.  It was awesome.

that sounds great


and yeah TTM I agree that the visuals in Avatar were a lot better than Alice (did that movie ever just simply not deliver .. ) but the whole 3D "experience" in general ... after half an hour my mind simply seemed to "forget" it was 3D and it might just as well have been a crisp but flat regular cinema projection. only during the insane depth perspective of those dragon flying scenes later on I realized again "hey yeah I can see depth", but on the whole it really doesn't add very much IMO. I care a lot more about the quality of the visuals themselves, if they are beautifully designed (which Avatar was, which is TBH the only great thing about the entire movie), than whether they have 3D depth.

although I am withholding completely writing off the 3D thing before I have watched a 3D movie without subtitling. I tell you now, whoever figures out that in a 3D movie the subtitles should be placed at a z-depth aligned with the actor's mouth, like speech bubbles, in order to not completely smash any suspension of disbelief. whoever will figure this out is the next (or current) Tarantino (I dunno I see Tarantino doing it, it fits the vintage style typography he often employs).
anyway possibly when the next Ice Age movie comes out (which will undoubtedly be in stereo 3D), they'll have a children's afternoon version that is dubbed in Dutch probably. even though I hate dubbed versions, I gotta check the 3D without subs, just for science. and I recently realized that of all those new 3d animated cartoons with a zillion DVD sequels, Ice Age is in fact the only one that manages to stay somewhat funny.

[Rococo Modem Basilisk]

Also you should have these totally pretentious fluffy exit-cinema bars at the cinema where people also can hang around and be all literary and cultural even when there's no movie playing. Because it is important to also service the need of those who feel they must hang around and be all literary and culural and shit.

I'm not sure if this is intended to be sarcastic, but taking it literally, I agree with it. If you have a big screen TV and surround sound speakers in your living room, the only reason to go to the movie theatre is to be social in a distinct setting. Sitting in a dark room with strangers and staring at the back of their heads is not particularly social, but eating with strangers in a familiar yet not-too-mundane place after a shared experience *is* social.

If nothing else, it might influence all the couples who go to the movies just to neck in the back row to start talking to one another as well.