Everyone loves watching a good movie every once in a while. Whether it’s a comedy, thriller, romance, or horror, there are movies out there for everyone. They’re a great way to kill time or even learn something new. Movies weren’t always like this, though. Over the course of decades, they have changed tremendously.
According to the National Science and Media Museum, movies were able to get their start through the Edison Company in 1891. They presented the prototype of the Kinetoscope, which was a device that allowed one person at a time to look at moving pictures. By 1894, the Kinetoscope was a success.
In 1895, the Lumière brothers presented the first projected moving pictures to an audience through their own device called a Cinématographe. It acted as a camera, projector, and film printer.
The first movies were only a couple of minutes long. They could be shown anywhere with a screen and a dark room. While some were silent, others had music or an outside dialogue. In 1914, several film industries were established. As movies evolved, films became longer with more stories to tell.
Before the 1930s, color for movies was expensive and the sound was not always synchronized. As movie popularity grew, more and more people were paying to watch movies which meant the quality of movies needed to be better. By the 1930s, almost every movie featured color and synchronized sound. According to the National Science and Media Museum, “The advent of sound secured the dominant role of the American industry and gave rise to the so-called ‘Golden Age of Hollywood’.”
Jumping to the 21st century, movies have drastically changed. Through advancements in technology and the rise of the internet, modern movies have taken a turn. While the camera work, lighting, color, sound, and many more aspects of a movie have improved, recent movies are different. Since the introduction of streaming services, movie theaters are not nearly as popular as they used to be. People aren’t paying to see movies when they could wait for it to be added to Netflix or Hulu a couple of months later. Tess Peel ‘24 shared her opinion on streaming services.
“It’s really sad to see a lot of the theaters we grew up going to get shut down because of all these streaming services. It’s also kind of sad that movie premieres barely mean anything anymore because there’s usually at least one streaming service that you can go get a movie on. It takes the fun out of movies now,” Peel said.
The big change happened in 2020 when the world had shut down due to COVID-19. Movies simply weren’t being made. According to Statista, 2.1 billion dollars were made in 2020 at the box office, the place where tickets are sold.
As the world started to open back up again, movie production resumed. The problem was that people started to get desperate for movies again, and the studios were desperate to be able to put something out. In the years following 2020, movies were not the quality they used to be. They felt very rushed and not as cohesive as movies are supposed to be.
“I definitely think people put more effort into movies that went into theaters when we were younger than they do right now. I feel like there was always a good new movie to go see in theaters and now it’s like just every once in a while there’ll be something worth going to,” Peel said.
In 2021 and 2022, there weren’t very many notable movies that came out. Although there was Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Top Gun: Maverick, other movies failed at the box office. According to Statista, 4.48 billion dollars were made in 2021 and 7.37 billion dollars in 2022. These are the lowest numbers the box office has seen since 1995, and tickets were less than half the price they are now. Sales were down by a decent percentage. The studios had to get back on their feet again to produce the same quality, if not better, to compare to the years prior. Anna Pramuka ‘24 enjoys watching movies whenever she can.
“Although I do feel very recently we have had some great original movies come out, in the past couple of years I’ve felt the creativity is lacking a bit. With many remakes like The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast coming out, I feel like it’s almost only for the money,” Pramuka said.
Finally in the year of 2023, the movie industry made a comeback. With releases like Barbie, Oppenheimer, and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, movie sales and quality are on the rise again. The productions, soundtracks, storylines, and actors have been at their best. More people were eager to watch these films on the big screen rather than on their phone screens or a TV. Watching movies in a theater adds to the experience.
“I have enjoyed seeing them in theaters since we weren’t able to for awhile,” Praumka said.
According to Statista, 8.91 billion dollars were made in 2023. While this is 3 billion dollars short of the years prior to 2020, box office sales are on the rise again and will soon be right on track. In order to get people back in movie theaters, the industry had to make some changes. The movie industry is entering another successful era of film which will forever impact the movies of the future.
Anonymous Quotes:
“it’s sad that all these movie theaters are shutting down bc people just go watch stuff on streaming services instead of going to the theater rip regal interstate parkway”
“I wish there was a one streaming service with everything and not 10 different ones with a few good movies on each.”
“Most modern movies seem to be based on being flashy to bring in the audience and less on genuine entertainment. There are certainly still great movies being released, but it feels like they put Quantity over Quality, hoping that one lands well with the audience.”
“I think it has gone downhill for the most part but there are a lot of hidden gems that you have to watch to know that they are good.”
