FunkyAlfonzo said:I think its rubbish that the movie studios force the people selling their products for them to end up as overpriced hotdog stands just to survive. Is there nothing that can be done about it?
Well, if you wanna get down to brass tacks, it's the CONSUMER that is forcing the prices to be so high. The more money they spend to make movies, the more money they have to charge to break even. There are about two or three really commercially succesful films a year that didn't have massive multi-million dollar budgets such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Look at it this way: A CD is relatively cheap to produce. You have to pay the musicians, the producers, the technicians, the studios etc. The total number of people required to make a CD is miniscule compared to the total number of people required to make a quality motion picture. Sometimes HUNDREDS more people. Each one of them expect to be paid for services rendered. Movies are STILL cheaper than CD's.
Also, if old reels are so cheap, how come more classic movies don't get shown? Surely some of the independent, small release films could be shown really cheaply on a smaller screen a bit more regularly?
Even though old films are cheap, they aren't always a draw. To make a movie, even an old movie, worth showing in a theater, you need to be able to get enough people to come see it.
For example: This past halloween I ran a weekend special showing of The Blair Witch Project. The cost to rent the print for two nights was $150, with no money going back to the studios. Whatever we made at the box office, we kept. I then had to keep my theater open for three extra hours each night to run the movie. I had one concessionist, one (union) projectionist and two other managers for each night. Even at $5 a ticket, we were barely able to recoup the rental cost. We made even less in concession sales.
This is why we do not do things like this more often.
Oh and the person that was talking about subliminal advertising making you want popcorn... I think they pump the smell of popcorn into the room during the adverts/trailers to make you want it. Sneeky!
Actualy, we kind of do. It's not "pumped" into the auditorium per-se, but the smell of fresh popcorn does permeate the entire building. That's because we make so damn much of it. Unfortunatly, if even one kettle gets scorched or the smell of over-cooked popcorn immediatly over powers any fresh-popped smells... and the customers notice every time.
Otherwise there is no subliminal advertising. Our in-theater music network advertises our concessions, as do pre-show slides, but that is far from subliminal.
adios,
Steve