Film Exhibition

The first moving picture was shot in Leeds by Louis Le Prince in 1888 and the first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene. In the early years of Cinema in Britain, films were all silent and meant the use of music was created by a organist who would improvise the music in relation to the mood of the scene as well as facial expressions made by the actors. By the 1920s, some cinemas even had live full orchestras playing the music until 1927 when fully synchronised sound arrived. By the time synchronised sound was brought in British cinemas half of Britain's population went to the cinema at least once a week. Alongside the main film, audiences would also watch ‘B’ pictures and newsreels as well as experiencing live entertainment on the stage. In total this combined with the film itself lasted for approximately four hours. By 1939 there were around 5500 cinemas around the UK, this meant more people could experience going to see a film, which led to the highest cinema attendance in Britain in 1946. The cinemas themselves varied in size but the majority looked like the classic theatre where people would go see dramatics productions including an upper level as well as a lower level. After this however it dipped in popularity in 1951. By the 60s cinema popularity fell to a low of 75%. After the 50s the popularity of cinema declined each year. 

Post War Poverty 
In 1947-1948, US film distributors boycotted Britain because the government proposed putting a high import duty on imported films. Due to this British cinemas had to fall back on old and poor quality films. Cinema audiences never recovered. Entertainment tax went up; audiences couldn’t afford to go to cinemas and prices of tickets increased as well as money and labour, which was channelled into house-building due to devastation of the war. Very little left available for repairing cinemas. Progressing forward from the war the 1980s played a large factor in British Cinema. Firstly, Video hire was a further blow to the cinema. There were less than 1000 cinemas open in Britain around in about 1985. Apart from that it had a slight increase. In 1985 there was a large increase of “Multi Plex” cinemas which could show more films due to it having 6+ screens to show the films on. Also the multiplex cinemas meant more people could see films due to the increase in screens. Since when film first started the technology had improved dramatically, with films now featuring film now being digital as well as surround sound and some films even being shown in 3D. However today ticket pricing for films have increased largely this also is due to films being in 3D.