Due to the recession that was happening in throughout the 70s, cinema attendance decreased drastically because people were unable to afford cinema prices. Film industries (specifically Hollywood film makers) attempted to market and re-introduce people to cinema. Because the recession was so great in the 70s, it was mainly teenagers who could afford to go to the cinema which gave film makers the opportunity to create the hype around films and their new releases. In 1985, Hollywood film industries created the multiplex cinemas which was a place where large-scale Blockbuster films would be showcased. Multiplexes were mainly built in places like shopping centers to attract a large audience and primarily to make a profit. This new creation and its results ended up devaluing films, but due to their increasing popularity, young audiences still continued to attend, leaving independent cinemas to become less important and noticeable. The technology involved in production and film-making in the late 70s was improving/becoming more developed in these newly-introduced Hollywood Blockbusters which attracted a large scale audience. The film that launched this craze was Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (released in 1977); the special effects created by George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg contributed largely to the film's success because these elements in a film had never been seen before. This created spectacle and further pushed audiences to desire Hollywood Blockbusters. When the recession hit, people were reluctant to go to the cinema and watched films in their own homes on televisions, causing a decline in cinema attendance. Video piracy became more common throughout the late 1970s which damaged the film industry greatly; the lack of people going to the cinema meant film-makers lost large amounts of money. In 1982, ET was the most pirated film of all time - this devalued films and the principal of going to the cinema was rarely followed/appreciated.
The 1970s recession had a large impact on cinema attendance; the higher prices. Because of the three day week people were working due to lack of power and resources, cinema was one of the few leisures available and the prices were raised due to economic conditions.
Distribution contributed to the decline of town or city center cinemas in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In order to help promotion of new Blockbuster releases, the film industry sold a vast amount of merchandise, created many public posters and advertisements to appeal to the audience. By doing this, the audience were "buying" into the whole cinema experience, not just the film. The multiplexes which showcased these Hollywood Blockbusters was the most accessible place to buy merchandise, which contributed to the profits being made from Hollywood Blockbusters. This led to the decline of town or city center cinemas in the late 1970s and early 1980s because these cinemas did not have the resources/could not afford such large-scale merchandise to promote the films they're showing, causing them to lose popularity. Another factor that led to the decline of town and city center cinemas was that people were watching films on their home televisions instead of paying for the cinema. This was mainly due to the recession in Britain at the time because people could barely afford cinema prices, but it also created a hole in the film industry and led the downfall of cinema attendance. The 1970s British recession also affected cinema attendance because of the three-day-week due to lack of power and electricity, this damaged cinema economically because they could no longer showcase their films for as long as they usually would. Developments in technology also contributed to the decline of town or city center cinemas in the late 1970s and early 1980s; VHS and VCR made is easy for people to illegally pirate films and watch them at home instead of going to cinemas.
The heavy marketing and advertisements of Blockbusters brought back regular cinema attendance - hype was also created due to all the advertisements. Many teenagers were attracted to this and bought into the franchise of the film, along with the new multiplex cinemas that were now available. Star Wars: A New Hope was one of the first Hollywood Blockbuster films to be released that had large amounts of special effects - this caused it to be an event movie due to the large spectacle that had never been seen before. Despite the recession that was still going on, people (mainly teenagers) attended the cinema and purchased merchandise. Small town and city center cinemas were neglected because teenagers were buying into the franchise and were attending multiplex cinemas instead. Hollywood film-makers decided to built multiplex cinemas to make more money and so they would have a place to showcase their Blockbuster films - these were a huge success financially. The technology development of these multiplex cinemas also led to the decline of town or city center cinemas because the better quality of sound and special effects appealed to the younger audiences more.
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