How Movies Will be Shown in Theatres, in the Year 2525

I have those weird ideas on the back of my mind for quite some time.
Hereby, I would like to share my possibly pessimistic expectations about how films will be shown in the future.

In my view, it will bear resemblance to those soulless TV reality shows in which the public has its say about who performs well and who doesn't.

What is known today as alternate endings consisting merely in a novelty feature will be considerably developed.
Big budget movies will not only bear alternate endings, but full-fledged alternate versions.

Prior to the release of the film, these extended additional twists will receive an equal amount of attention from the studios. It won't be necessary to wait for the Blu Ray (or whatever media storage format the future will offer) to see what the Authors had in mind in that respect.

We will be given the opportunity to vote in theatres so that the majority can decide which character(s) they despise the most receive the harsh treatment. Each seat's armrest will be equipped with a console connected to a computer in the projection room.

Once the vote is cast, the computer will change whatever was going on to the audience preferred sequence.
If too few people hit the buttons, the film will be show in its original version.

Thanks to our vote, some protagonist or the other will get

• Killed (in case of a thriller)
• Injured (in case of an action flick)
• Dumped by his girlfriend (in case of a romance)

and so on

In case of a sequel, the statistics are exploited.
It's the surviving character, be it a good or bad guy, who gets billed again not necessarily the big star.

Experiments may be conducted as to the votes also influencing the length of the planned sequels : Viewers have at their disposal a "joker" type of option. They can call for Godzilla, chemical weaponry outburst, nuclear holocaust when the film drags on, and they can't stand it anymore. Sequels are to be shortened consequently.



Your thoughts ?

I remember my first dose.

But really, it sounds almost like a movie in itself. Hmmm, brb, making a movie.

I feel like i've read this idea in a story or book or seen it in a TV Show. The "Choose Your Own Adventure" version of movies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_movie

The world's first interactive movie was Kinoautomat (1967) which was written and directed by Radúz Činčera. This movie was first screened at Expo '67 in Montreal. This film was produced before the invention of the laserdisc or similar technology, so a live moderator appeared on stage at certain points to ask the audience to choose between two scenes. The chosen scene would play following an audience vote.

Click to expand...

Hat tip to Walter Jon Williams, who wrote about Kinoautomat in his book The Fourth Wall.

See also the 1985 Broadway musical Drood.

It is neither a new idea, nor the future/death of cinema.

Nice Zager & Evans reference, though.

Sounds fun to me! I loved Choose your Own Adventure as a kid. Though there is no way this will become mainstream for movies anytime soon. Video games on the other hand... Mass Effect... Awesome!

geminigod said:

Sounds fun to me! I loved Choose your Own Adventure as a kid. Though there is no way this will become mainstream for movies anytime soon.

Click to expand...

Of course it won't be anytime soon. It will be 513 years from now.

I heard that Coppola, for his last film called Twixt, made several screenings where he was editing himself the movie based on the reaction of the audience in the theater. That would be the ultimate faneditor's dream if you ask me!

I think this could be fun as an alternative movie going experience where the audience is entertained but simultaneously taking part in a massive social psychology experiment through their votes.

As far as "art" goes, though, it is hard to imagine that a Beethoven's 9th could ever be created through mass consensus. Visionaries are unique individuals who are masters of their craft, not amateur groups. And most great works of art had a visionary at the helm with authoritarian control over the final product.

1) I don't think the audience would need to vote. It should be able to sense things. Are they smiling? Are they sweating? Heck this could be the matrix where it is just projected into your retina/brain anyway. You could consciously interact with eye movements. So now we have two options, crowd sourced decision making and individual custom movies. You could see a movie with two different crowds (old people, die hard fans, casual families, kids etc) and have completely different experiences. If you book your tickets in advance you should be able to pick with which type of people you want to watch the movie.

Secondly) I think sometimes it needs to trick you. Let's say you are watching a twist movie. It should detect which way you think the movie is going, and then go a different way. This would work great for horror movies. It can anticipate when you are going to jump and then come early/late giving you a bigger scare.

3rdoff) There needs to be a random dice roll involved. Let's say I watch back to the future 10 times. Maybe one time Doc doesn't get the line strung up in time and Marty misses the bolt and never makes it back. This would keep movies suspenseful no matter how many times you have seen them. Maybe 1/15 times The Six Sense is just a dream.

L4stly) The movie should learn. After the first showing it should show in improved version. The feedback from the second version should improve the third so on and so forth. You could see the same movie two weeks apart and have completely different experiences.

In the year 2525 all movie theater`s will have been destroyed by the Bailey`s: flying robot killing machines, three babes will stand in the Bailey`s way:

^Man, I loved that show. Even have the complete series on DVD.

Just found out that Master of horror William Castle used a vibrating device tied to the seats armrests for one of his screamers :-D :
The Tingle (1964)
With the help of shills among the audience, viewers were supposed to overreact during the most terrifying scenes (basically, by screaming in terror when the monstrous worm was appearing).
This type of buzzer (and possibly other props) was used in some theatres, but not others as discussed here.
It appears to be merely a primitive form of live feedback, but I think it fits the discussion nicely. Additionally, it may bring some of you to watch a lesser-known late 50s horror entry (just don't hold your breath about Vincent Price performance in it).

Screaming out loud was described by Castle as the only way to get rid of the tingle, as if it was an actual threat.

I saw The Tingler on the teevee when I was just a wee tot. I don't remember much but I sure remember the climax when they pull the giant creature out of someone's body. I didn't need any buzzer or shills in the audience (watching alone might have been worse). I was right creeped out for a good long while, nightmares & all. Now that I think of it, the movie was an ancestor of Alien. Those sublimated rape/parasite flicks will nab you every time.:-?