It's become quite the hot-button issue in cinematic circles.
What to do about people who bring their electronics along with them when they
go out to the movies and then fire these devices up mid-film.
Just late week at the Toronto International Film Festival,
Alex Billington — the blogger behind FirstShowing.net — actually dialed 911
in the middle of a screening of "The Sacrament." All because the film
critic seated directly in front of Alex refused to stop using their cell phone.
Was it an over-reaction on Billington's part? Certainly not to the million of
middle-aged-and-older moviegoers who consider their local cinemas to be sacred
spaces. Temples of popular art, if
you will. Which is why so many theaters around the country now run those
"Please Turn Off Your Cell Phone" ads right before the main feature.
But if you were to talk to exhibitors in private about this
very same issue, they'd then tell you that they have very mixed emotions when
it comes to the use of electronics inside of their movie theaters. That —
while they want to try & keep their older patrons happy so that they'll
keep coming back — these theater owners also worries that they're deliberately
driving away the next generation of movie-goers. Those tweens, teens and young
adults who go everywhere with their iPhones & iPads and just can't bear the
idea of being disconnected for the relatively short running time of your
standard feature film.
This is why — at CinemaCon 2012 — Amy Miles, the CEO of
Regal Entertainment, proposed what was once unthinkable. Rather than letting an
entire future generation of film-goers potentially slip through exhibitors
hands, Miles floated the idea that if a theater were showing a movie that
appealed to a younger demographic they should then actually relax their rules
in regards to cell phone use & texting.
And The Walt Disney Company? They're also encouraging film
fans to bring along their electronics the next time they go to certain Disney
movies. Not because the Company wants these people to text and/or use their
cell phone while they're watching this film. But — rather — because Disney
wants them to look at these library titles in a whole new way thanks to Second
Screen Live.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc.
All rights reserved
"Over nearly 90 years now, Walt Disney Studios has produced a number of
beloved motion pictures, movies that many people have already watched over
& over & over again," explained Dave Hollis, Disney's executive vice
president in charge of motion picture distribution. "And with our Second
Screen Live system, what we're looking to do is get movie-goers to use their
iPads & tablets in a way that they can have this brand-new communal
experience which actually enhances their enjoyment of a movie that they already
know & love through the use of interactive games and sing alongs. Not to
mention discover neat bits of trivia or learn things about this Disney movie
that they may have not known before."
When Hollis and I talked a few months back about Disney's Second Screen Live
initiative, he readily admitted that this technology-driven movie-going
experience would probably not be everyone's cup of tea. Which is why the
Company was going to take great pains — prior to each presentation of this new
interactive experience — to make sure that film patrons know exactly what
they're getting themselves into.
"For some people, being stuck in a theater where you're surrounded by all
these people who are using their iPads & tablets would obviously be kind of
a disturbing experience," Hollis said. "But for the film fans who are
open to this sort of communal experience, who look forward to interacting with
& competing with other members of the audience while watching one of their
favorite movies, Second Screen Live can be a lot of fun."
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
Or at least that's the people said who took part in the proof-of-concept tests
for Second Screen Live that Hollis & his team put together last year. Which
is when Disney created an interactive version of "The Nightmare Before
Christmas
" and then encouraged iPad users to bring their devices along to
the theater so that they could then take an active role in a special screening
of this Tim Burton movie. And those who actually took part in this test
reportedly just raved about how being able to use their electronics while
"Nightmare" was being screened actually enhanced their enjoyment
& appreciation of that motion picture.
"We got the same reaction from exhibitors earlier this
year when we screened the interactive version of 'Nightmare' at CinemaCon in Las
Vegas and then encouraged these folks to bring along
their iPads. The exhibitors immediately saw the potential. How — for a certain
group of movie goers, those tweens, tweens and young adults who just can't live
without their iPhones & iPads — this could be the type of next generation
movie-going experience that these viewers could really, really respond
to," Hollis continued.
That said, Hollis also wanted to stress that The Walt Disney Company is not
looking to give every single film in the Studio's library the Second Screen
Live treatment.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
"We're being very careful about which movies we consider for an
interactive makeover. In the cases of 'Nightmare' & 'Mermaid
,' these were
films which already had very strong fan bases. So there was already a
ready-made audience out there – people who already loved these movies, knew
them inside & out, who then might be open to experiencing these movies in a
different way," Hollis explained. "Then when you factored in these
films' scores, which allowed us to incorporate sing alongs as part of the
communal experiences that we wanted to offer at these Second Screen Live
presentations, it was kind of a no-brainer."
So while some cinema purists might tell you that this limited engagement of
"Second Screen Live: The Little Mermaid" is the beginning of the end,
me personally, I prefer to think of what Disney is doing in those 16 theaters
around the country starting today as kind of a bold experiment. A way of seeing
if there is actually a way to bring these two technologies together to create a
new coherent entertainment experience.
More to the point, how is what Disney is now trying to do with Second Screen
Live any different from what all of us do at home anyway? When we sit in front
of our televisions with a tablet in our lap & our cell phones within reach
and then multi-task our way through mounds & mounds of media.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
Your thoughts?