CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

1. Background of Study According to Dewan Film Indonesia (1994:7) the first Cinema in Indonesia was built in December 1900, the first class ticket was 2 Gulden (silver) and the second class was 2.5 Gulden. Another rules in ticketing was by dividing the price into 3 classes. The third class, known as “goat class” was the cheapest.

Started at Gambir open field (now, Monas), the building was a warehouse with a wall from gedek (plaited bamboo skin) and iron roof. Named as Talbot (taken from the owner’s name), it moved from one city to another when the movie season ended

There was another Cinema known as De Callone (name of the owner) in Deca Park. Known as “misbar (gerimis bubar)”, an open Cinema, De Callone was a starter of Capitol Cinema in Pintu Air. Back then, the movie showing was silent. Sometimes, they put music together with the movie but it didn’t match.

Decade 1950’s was the golden period of Cinema business. The competitors of Cinema were drama, human Wayang, Ketoprak, etc, which technically was below the standardization of cinematography technology. Compared to the organized cost of drama and the rest, Cinema cost was cheaper because it only repeated the movies again and again (Haris, 1992:19).

In 1951, Metropole Cinema was built in Jakarta. It was supported with 1.700 seats capacity, had vacuum and blower ventilation, 3 floor building, dance floor, and swimming pool.

Competition got higher by time. In 1955, Indra Cinema in Yogyakarta, supported the Cinema with shops and restaurants to fulfill their costumer’s (viewer) needs. Majestic Cinema in Bandung paid attention with their viewer’s needs of safety. They divided the seats into 2 rows, men and women (Haris, 1992:28).

In the new political era, Cinema business grew fast, both the Cinema facilities offered and national