“The century of film has passed” Outline the benefits to both audiences and institutions of the growth of digital technology in the film industry. What are the problems associated with this technology change?

Digital technology has brought about a huge change to how the entire film industry operates. Digital technology has allowed films to be made for less money, has made films much easier to make by many more people and has allowed marketing and distribution to come a lot easier. This has also come with the ability for consumers to much more easily transport, view and share their films which is excellent for the consumer but can lead to difficulties for the film studios such as with the ease at which one can pirate films.

Until the ‘50s, films could only be viewed in the cinema. This meant that the entire revenue of a film had to come from cinema admissions. In the 1950s televisions became popular and widespread, allowing film studios to sell their films to television channels to be broadcast after the film has stopped showing in cinemas. However, the popularity of television led to a problem, that being that people may stop going to the cinema if they could watch films and TV shows in their own home. Thus, many gimmicks were developed such as an early form of 3D in order to draw people back into cinemas.

These proved to be unsuccessful though and by the late 60s VHS was available and people could have copies of films to watch at home whenever they pleased. Like television, this allowed a new ‘release window’ to open for films. Large technology companies caught on to this and began developing large televisions and surround sound systems for the home so that one could replicate the cinema experience in their own living room. Technology also moved on from VHS to DVD in order to allow better quality pictures and wider aspect ratios. These DVDs also offered multiple extras which encouraged people to buy them even if they already owned the film on VHS.

In the late 90s the internet began to become increasingly widespread and popular and was used as a marketing tool by putting adverts up on websites and creating trailers and videos for the film and encouraging people to share them in emails etc. Eventually, internet speeds became fast enough that films could be downloaded relatively quickly. This meant that film studios could sell their films as a download, opening up yet another ‘release window’ in which to sell their film and make further profits. Of course, if the film companies are allowing people to buy digital copies of their films then these copies can be copied and shared with others, leaving the actual purchase unnecessary for anybody else. This is a problem film studios have attempted to tackle by creating anti-piracy measures such as security protected files and by suing websites such as http://thepiratebay.se which host multiple pirated film files for downloading.

One way in which film studios can stop people downloading files illegally is by offering their files through easy-to-use on demand services such as Love Film, Netflix and iTunes in high-definition and on servers that can allow the consumer to download the file as fast as possible. This at least provides an experience worth paying for as illegally downloaded files are often low-quality and slow to download. Unfortunately for the film studios, internet speeds are becoming faster and faster and these days it is not difficult obtain a broadband connection which allows one to upload or download an HD movie from a file sharing site so quickly that they can watch the movie instantly as it downloads.

More developments have also been made with physical copies of films with the advent of Blu-Ray which offers extremely high-quality 1080p full-HD video and 7.1 audio. Furthermore, as Blu-Rays are generally able to hold about 50GB of data which means even more extras can be put on BDs than on DVDs, further encouraging consumers to purchase BDs even if they own the film on other media. 3D Blu-Ray discs have also been created which allow consumers to watch films in 3D and HD on their 3D-enabled TV at home. This provides the benefit to the audience of being able to bring a technology previously only available in cinemas to their home. It also encourages more people to buy the film than download it as illegally shared 3D HD files are hard to come by on the internet and tend to be huge and difficult to download.  But while the film studios profit from the sales of 3D BDs, people become less inclined to visit the cinema, as they can have the same experience without leaving the house.

But digital technology also helps with this issue, as the continually progressing technology used in films allows films to be more cinematic (and thus more likely to draw people into cinemas), cheaper to make (which allows more money to be spent on marketing, making people so excited about the film that they want to see it as soon as it comes out in the cinema) and allows for more films to be made (providing more choice to the consumer and guaranteeing a visit to the cinema to be an enjoyable experience). One way in which this has been made possible is through the increasing use of DV cameras to make films. With DV cameras, one does not have to pay for celluloid, lighting is a lot more easily managed and the cameras are more manoeuvrable. An example of where inexpensive DV cameras have been used to shoot a film to great effect is David Lynch’s Inland Empire (2006). He shot the entire film on a moderately priced standard definition Sony camcorder which allowed him more freedom with his shots and less budget pressure, especially helpful as he was literally making up the script as he went along.

CGI technologies have also helped to increase consumption of film as CGI is now cheap and extremely advanced and can draw in bigger audiences who wish to experience something that they don’t get out of real life when they go to the cinema. This teamed with cinemas such as the IMAX in which the screen fills the whole of the audience’s eyeline and peripheral vision and the audience is completely surrounded by speakers combines to make experiences that not only make audiences want to consume more film but to visit the cinema also and really immerse themselves in films. Film studios are now also able to make more money through cinemas as, with digital prints of films rather than celluloid, they don’t have to pay large amounts of money to have the film printed multiple times and distributed to different cinemas, rather they can just copy the film and send it digitally.

In conclusion, digital technology advances have led to a great deal more ease when it comes to making, distributing and watching film. While this primarily provides benefits for the audience who now find it easier than ever to watch a huge variety of films whenever they want, it can also be exploited by film companies who can charge consumers for providing this ease of use when it comes to watching films. However, copyright theft loses the UK alone about £531 million each year and this number will only grow as it becomes easier and easier to download films illegally. The battle between this and increasing ease and lack of cost involved with making films will continue to rage. It is worth noting, however, that the biggest targets to film piracy are the popular blockbusters which are made by film studios to whom a few million pounds lost does not seem very substantial.