White paper on creativity - ebla center

Chapter 7cinema). In this context, the questionarises of how much we can or mustcontribute to the formation ofaudiences’ aesthetic taste byaccentuating the Italianness of films,especially those shown in cinemas. Thepolicy of creating “Made in Italy”products cannot only be left up to thefashion and design sectors. Moreover,reinforcing domestic cinema mayproduce a “commensal effect” capableof re-launching the whole sector. Infact the history of the box officereveals that when there is a rise intickets sold for Italian films, then homevideo sales/rentals also rise fordomestic movies and more are alsoincluded in the schedules of generalistand pay-TV channels. Indeed thesuccess of Italian films over the pastfew years may even drive overallcinema film consumption (ofEuropean, American and Asian films)towards new market peaks.7.3 Clearer audienceexpectationsWhat has become clearer in ourunderstanding of audiences’ recentgrowing preference for Italian films isthe awareness that filmgoers have theirown tastes and expectations in terms ofcreativity.Until a few years ago, a ratheroutmoded vision of film consumptionsuggested that filmgoers dependeddirectly on what was offered. They notonly adapted to the tastes of producersand cinema-owners but ultimatelyallowed their choices and tastes to beuniformly shaped by currentproduction, basically becoming whatthe industry wanted them to be. Butthe fact is that the processes of filmconsumption in Italy today arebecoming increasingly refined.Audiences are more variegated (we areno longer dealing with one audience,but several audiences). People’sattitudes to viewing films areproliferating (also because of theincreasingly wide range of distributionchannels: cinema, TV, home video,computer, etc); consumption behaviourpatterns are also diversifying (peoplemay go out to the cinema or stay athome to watch a DVD, etc.). Onebackground element seems to begrowing more significant: going to thecinema is increasingly considered as anexperience and, therefore, what isdemanded of the “cinema experience”is that it is a more intense, memorablemoment in life.And it is from the perspective of thecinema experience that we can graspsome new trends.Firstly, there is the issue of how Italianaudiences experience Italian films.Surveys reveal that there is a requestfor greater “proximity” to real life.American cinema is distant from dailylife, offering big stories which do noteffectively make contact with thefilmgoer’s personal experience or onlyat an imaginary level. But whataudiences want from Italian films arestories which they can identify with astheir own, as possible or evenexperienced. The demand for greaterproximity not only concerns thestoryline, but also the setting, languageand actors. This has twofoldconsequences. A director only pursuinghis or her own expressive ends or whoWHITE PAPER ON CREATIVITY 162