George Lang: Technology can never replicate the theater experience

As film lovers gear up for the June 8 kickoff of the 11th annual deadCenter Film Festival, the mainstream movie industry is in upheaval over how people experience films. The movie studios are currently in a battle with the National Association of Theatre Owners over how quickly the studios can run a movie through premium video-on-demand services. It is a fight that could dramatically change not just how and when people first experience movies, but where entertainment dollars ultimately land in Hollywood.

DirecTV currently has a pilot program called Home Premiere, in which a few recent Sony releases such as “Just Go With It” are available for home viewing 60 days after their initial theatrical release for $29.95. Compared to the usual theater-to-home video window, which is four months, this gives viewers with high-end home theater setups who do not appreciate the communal experience of theatrical viewing the opportunity to go it alone — just them, their surround speakers and Adam Sandler. 

In April, more than 20 major film directors such as James Cameron, Robert Zemeckis, Peter Jackson and Kathryn Bigelow, signed a protest letter against the rapid-release video-on-demand services. They see it as compromising the movie experience, and these directors, most of whom are geared toward high-end visuals and immersive cinematic experiences, argue that 52-inch home video screens do not deliver their films as they designed them.
Everything is changing in television, and while the networks worry about how to make money in the time-shifted world of digital video recorders and TiVo, instant-viewing services such as Netflix and Hulu Plus could shift the paradigm once again. Now, the film industry is looking at a similar sea change.
But events such as the deadCenter Film Festival make me believe that the communal experience of theatrical viewing will not die as long as bright, emerging moviemakers create films that elicit thought and encourage discussion. At last year’s festival, hundreds of people showed up in downtown Oklahoma City to sit in the middle of the street, watch “The Birth of Big Air” and speak to the film’s subject and producer, Mat Hoffman and Spike Jonze. I remember one young woman who was nearly speechless and reduced to tears by the prospect of talking with Jonze, one of the most forward-thinking American directors working in film today. It was inspiring and even a little thrilling to see people so moved by the experience of great films.
I am, by my taste and possibly my nature, a slave to technology and a rabid pursuer of the “new new thing,” but I hope we never lose sight of this particular feeling.
I still remember the discussions I had with people after seeing films in theaters over 10 years ago — these were people who I ran into by chance and we were moved to lengthy and loud exhalations of thought by films that spoke to us.
This is the shared experience of seeing the innovative, insightful, funny and meditative films at deadCenter. It cannot be had for a $30 download and a few lonely posts on Twitter or Facebook. This is something that technology can never replicate.

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