In the essay, ‘Leaving the Movie Theatre’, Ronald Barthes presents us how the movie theatre attracts people. There is an inconceivable magic in the theatre s that lead people watching movies. The structure of the movie theatre is basically the same, with a combination of a big screen, large amounts of seats and lighting. Why there are movie theatres which are specifically for watching movies? How these part of combination in movie theatre work to attract people? We will discuss more below.
There is inseparable relationship between movie and movie theater. The first movie ‘Arrival of a train at LA Ciotat’ made in 1896 by The Lumière brothers. It is just a short,50 second silent film which simply present the motion of a train entered LA Ciotat. The Lumière brothers did not expect the reaction of the audience. They were scared by this virtual image as they thought there is a real train coming at them, so they screamed and ran to the back of the theater. Hellmuth Karasek, a German journalist said that this film ‘had a particularly lasting impact; yes, it caused fear, terror, even panic.’ (Hellmuth Karasek,1896). Of course, it was rarely happened nowadays, but we can consult in this case that the theatre can make people substitute into the movie, either in the main character or the environment.
But how? The structure of the movie theatre is just like the drama theatre except the big black screen. This structure of the theatre only has one purpose, to let people feeling real in the movie. The dark environment created by the lighting, the big screen, the 7.1Surround sound and even 3D, 4DX technology in the theatre make the audience only focus on the only lighted screen. These upgrade the sense of the audience about the movie and most important, they can know more about what the director want to present, either the hidden message or just the effect. That’s the attraction of movie theatre.
We can watch movie now in the Internet. It is more convenient and affordable in price, but the movie theatre is the best place to watch movies, isn’t it?
Wong Tin Chi, UID 3035476727
Movie theaters have evolved along with the film industry to provide something more than what you can experience at home or on a mobile electronic device. You have given a great example by the Lumière Brothers to argue your view that movie theater is best place to watch movies. It would be extremely interesting if you create a counterargument with someone who prefers the opposite to strengthen your opinion. Great effort in looking beyond the text and finding examples.