Context = Reasons
Context involves:
-Economic
-Social/Audience
-Technology
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You're not required to think for Blockbusters, made for the masses to be entertained, due to the way we were raised on Blockbusters. The McDonalds of the film industry.
Film and food?
How is it we've come do a diet of watching blockbusters (unhealthy)
Blockbusters made as products, there to make money, but they work. Audiences pay for this, as shown by box office. Cinemas show blockbusters as they make money. These are event movies,meaning they are made for and draw in the audiences.
Used to have singular "Summer Event Movies" now we have several, showing that Blockbusters made as products work.
Audience/society behaviours change. In the 70s, cinema was the only way to see films, now, most watch things online. Films have to be designed a special way to only show in cinemas to profit fully. Not as good watching it on a laptop, compared to cinema, better visual, audio experience.
High streets are littered with unhealthy, cheap, fast food restaurant chains. Cinemas, specifically multiplexes, are filled with unhealthy, simple, generic blockbusters and are easily seen as multiplexes litter our streets. Easily profitable.
E.g. Horrors, cheap to make, very popular = profit $
Problems with blockbuster formula
Mass sfx can make it look like a video game, but not interactive, like watching someone else play a game, alienating the viewers.
"Set action pieces" - fight scenes, crashes, nothing to do with narrative. Sacrifices narrative
Blockbusters are cheapening film as an artform, now becoming "happy meals"
Are industry noticing the audiences growing distaste for "Big dumb movies"?
Blockbusters have EVOLVED all because of the context (audience, economy, technology)
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If you spend money, it will be an event. People build hype over event movies, as they get to be included in conversation. People may not like the film, but they'repair for the film ticket, so the blockbuster has done it's job.
But if we are spending to see these films, surely we should expect something better?
JAWS was the first blockbuster, therefore not being "big dumb movies", so to stop the down spiral of big dumb films, we must look back to JAWS.
Blockbusters rarely have messages, but they try. E.g. Michael Bay gives patriotism and promotes military as a good thing.
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Used to use Christmas as the event movie release time, however, it is mow used to gain consideration for the awards. The summer is a time when industry spews out big dumb movie. However, it is not always this case, some great films are released during the "summer event movie" period.
Post genre - when there's more than one genre to a film
The Amazing Spiderman - Action, Sci-fi (Lizard man), Romance, Crime Thriller
Breaking Dawn Part 2 - Romance, Horror, Drama
Films used to just fit in to genre(s) and were made for entertainment. Whereas now, films try to span across several genres, reaching across to the wider audience, gaining higher profit.
●Check to see if Stars have OSCAR nomination to see if they were a-listers
☆Star Wars started the big franchising of films, in this case, film was an advert for the toys, highly successful.
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Audience behaviour
During the 40s, people could only use the cinema for their only form of entertainment. However, the recession during the 1950s meant that people had less money to spend on buying constant film tickets, bought TVs instead, cheaper in the long run. This steadily increased, meaning the admissions declined steadily.
Technological changes
TVs being introduced in the 50s meant that cinema admissions declined. Same with the introduction of the VHS during the 80s and DVDs in the 2000s. However 3D, surround sound and various other experience enhancing tech kept people coming back as blockbusters became more promising.
Economic climate
Recession during 50s meant that people would not spend on tickets as they were too busy spending on essentials. This caused a steady decline in admissions until the spending on new technology increased.
Before JAWS, the New Hollywood existed, these films looked independent and underground. There is an overlap between New Hollywood Cinema and Decade of and Blockbusters until 1982.
New Hollywood were character driven, challenging films made by the New film directors, trained by film schools. People preffered the Blockbuster decade kind of films compared to the New Hollywood.
Star wars paved the way that films would go, separating itself from JAWS due to it's visual effects, proving it's blockbuster-ness. JAWS is considered an early prototype of the
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