The Impact of the Movies and Our Time Spent in the Dark

There is something special about the movies.  The time we spend together in the dark, being taken on a journey of emotion and imagination is magical.

From the original night at the movies brought to us by the Lumieres Brothers in Paris, where in 1895 they charged a throng of curious movie goers a few francs to see 10 short films of 50 seconds each to a mega 3D summer blockbuster at the Imax Theater, we still head out to the movies

This December we have the honor of presenting our   program to over 1,000 people.  As with all of our presentation platforms, the WHY WE LOVE THE MOVIES is constantly morphing through our dynamic design process so that it is unique in each of its offerings.  But what draws people to spend their hard fought time to immerse themselves in an evening of movie stuff?  It might not surprise you that there are really only a few reasons.  Here are a couple:

• STORY –  Movies are driven by the ancient art of storytelling.  In fact, the movies may be the ultimate medium to deliver a tale.  Films can appeal to the main conduit of brain reception, the visual.  They can add auditory appeal through music and dialog.  They can connect everything into a seamless flow of story.  Now I appreciate all forms of story, from the campfire to a novel, but there is something mystical about how a story comes together in a movie.
• EMOTION – Ahh, the expression of the arousal of our nervous system – emotion.  Fear, anger, joy, sadness, funny and suspenseful are just a few of the emotions film can play with.  Movies set moods.  They can make us shift in our seats, grip the armrest with Hulk like strength, bury our head in our partners shoulder, plug our ears and belly laugh.  Movies are the playground of emotion and it keeps us coming back.  My favorite of these is ANTICIPATION.  Hollywood is an expert at instilling anticipation.  From the preview trailers to wondering what’s around the next corner, movies mine the richness of anticipation.  We go to the movies because we “feel“.
• CONNECTIONS –  We connect with movies.  One of the reasons we can all remember key movie lines is because that film connected with us.  We watch certain movies over and over.  Why?  CONNECTIONS.  We will surf through our vast universe of entertainment TV channels and you will stop on certain movies no matter how far along they are and watch the rest.  Why?  CONNECTIONS.  We can spend hours talking about our favorite or worst movies and start a heated debate by making a list (I know this from experience!).  We intuitively connect with movies.

So there you go, a bit of the content from the WHY WE LOVE THE MOVIES  program.  I hope we have a chance to share it with you someday.  It is a labor of love.

Until then, I’ll see you at the snack bar – popcorn and real Dr. Pepper, please.