영화 홍보 장소로서의 극장 -1980~1990년대를 중심으로-

Abstract

Since the late 1990s, the form of movie theaters has significantly changed as multiplex theaters of large companies have become commonly accessible. The change in the form of movie theaters also changed the viewing experiences of films. In order to visit the theaters located in the old city centers, people encountered the downtown scenery as they were traveling to the downtown areas. The splendid theater marquees hung outside attracted people’s attention, and there once were many street vendors and ticket scalpers tempting the crowds who were gathering around the square in front of movie theaters. By estimating the crowd size in front of the theaters, people could feel the popularity of films and acquired the screening information from the marquees. Sometimes they headed to the theaters attracted to the crowd or street vendors. Until the late 1990s, many movie audiences said “theater viewing” which means movie viewing by custom. In other words, the act of going to movie theaters included a tour of the downtown and the scenery surrounding the theater building. In this custom of movie viewing, the context of location where a theater was located and its place as an independent object were important. People’s memories about viewing released movies included viewing and consuming activities in the old city centers like Jong-ro and Chungmu-ro. Also, people recognized films and the released places in an integrated way becausethe names of theaters were printed on the leaflets issued by each theater. The purpose of this study is to discuss the scenery of the theaters in the old city centers in Seoul formed the visual arcades promoting films and theater spaces. This study shows that the theaters in the past provided the expansion of the visual experiences about films, including the scenery of the ways to the theaters and the surroundings of them by focusing on the literature materials and oral records related to the theater experiences of the time.