Thursday, 26 April 2007
What does digital projection offer in the way of the "future" for cinemas?
Digital film means a variety of movies being screened on the same screen on the same day, Tinseltowns films are set to get more showings too. Overall it will offer a whole new sense of reedom and amazing flexibilty not available before.
Why is 'Hollywood' driving this technological change?
The hollywood studios stand to make the most and the biggest savings which they can in turn pass on to thier cinemas to make them better. By the end of last year Hollywood confirmed that its number of screens last year (335) had almost trebled to 849. This is predicted to rise to a staggering 17,000 in a few years.
Why has there been a slow take-up?
The change over has been so slow for many reasons; concensus is very important.Alot of communication has been involved and practise to trust the model- this has taken longer than most people thought.
Plus....Although the digital film is much cheaper in the long run it is intially costly, as is any big change. The equipment used to run reels during a film will not work with digital therefore new equiptment will need to be brought on a large scale. Plus it is a little more complicated and this can be rather intimidating and offputting for those that have been in the industry for years. It is also a worry that cinema will lose its traditional values and the features that we love, maybe we should keep it as it is? The quality of film will not be much better with digital.
Plus....Although the digital film is much cheaper in the long run it is intially costly, as is any big change. The equipment used to run reels during a film will not work with digital therefore new equiptment will need to be brought on a large scale. Plus it is a little more complicated and this can be rather intimidating and offputting for those that have been in the industry for years. It is also a worry that cinema will lose its traditional values and the features that we love, maybe we should keep it as it is? The quality of film will not be much better with digital.
What are the advantages of digital projection for the consumers?
Digital film is an easier form of film. Once clipped into place it is simply uploaded to a server and is one click away from being projected. Scratches, fluff, smudges etc will not be seen; so a higher quality finish and a lower chance of small blemishes being shown. However the main advantage is that digital film is so much cheaper in the long run. Printing costs are astronomical and with these eliminated budding directors have more of a chance to get their work out there. Another cost saving factor is that it would be cheaper to protect from piracy as the indusrty spends about £3.2 billion trying to tackle it. Going digital means films can be encrypted before hand and therefore be harder to copy.
Testing out my case study
General terms related to new media technology:
Push technology-Producers choose our technology for us. For example in the same way that cinema pushes new releases at us.
Pull technology- this offers us more choice. We can pull the content we want from the media. Satellite television is a good example of this, we can flick between programmes and settle on something we want to watch.
Hot media- those that do a good job of extending to our senses (cinema with its high definition).
Cold media- those that have a lower quality of extending to our senses, like telephones (not brilliant quality of sound and no facial interaction).
Key terminology related to my choosen technology:
CGI- computer generated imagery-used for visual effects a to obtain a higher quality.
Push technology-Producers choose our technology for us. For example in the same way that cinema pushes new releases at us.
Pull technology- this offers us more choice. We can pull the content we want from the media. Satellite television is a good example of this, we can flick between programmes and settle on something we want to watch.
Hot media- those that do a good job of extending to our senses (cinema with its high definition).
Cold media- those that have a lower quality of extending to our senses, like telephones (not brilliant quality of sound and no facial interaction).
Key terminology related to my choosen technology:
CGI- computer generated imagery-used for visual effects a to obtain a higher quality.
Why do media industries need to continue to update new media technologies?
Why do media industries need to continue to update new media technologies? [45marks]
New media technology is an area of extreme competition and rivalry. In order to stay on top a media needs to continually be adapting their products and improving them to grab new consumers attention and to maintain their current consumers. These days there is opportunity for allsorts of new ideas and products to find their way onto the market, including cheaper brands etc that can make a name for themselves on the web for example, It is important that the media in question , for example music takes these into account and tries to provide or match them. This can be seen with the Ipod. When first introduced it had dominance in the market and was the best now lots of other companies (Philips, sony etc) have introduced their own, very similar devices. Ipod has had to upgrade itself and become multimedia to maintain its reputation, It now plays music and movies.
The fact that Ipod has done this has almost started a trend ; everything has gone multimedia. It has many advantages, For example it has brilliant marketing potential and increases profits for both parties. Antoher example of this is with sony's new dame 3.0. The game combines gaming with the internet to create a game which can be played live, with a stranger or your friends if they own the game. It is like a chat room.
Also a product is a product, in order to continue to make money on top of the intial product you will need to make new versions, bigger, better versions that the consumers want to go out and buy. Your target being to create an irresistable new product everytim, ensuring you won't go bust. If a new product is not possible attachments and accessories are another idea.
New media technology is an area of extreme competition and rivalry. In order to stay on top a media needs to continually be adapting their products and improving them to grab new consumers attention and to maintain their current consumers. These days there is opportunity for allsorts of new ideas and products to find their way onto the market, including cheaper brands etc that can make a name for themselves on the web for example, It is important that the media in question , for example music takes these into account and tries to provide or match them. This can be seen with the Ipod. When first introduced it had dominance in the market and was the best now lots of other companies (Philips, sony etc) have introduced their own, very similar devices. Ipod has had to upgrade itself and become multimedia to maintain its reputation, It now plays music and movies.
The fact that Ipod has done this has almost started a trend ; everything has gone multimedia. It has many advantages, For example it has brilliant marketing potential and increases profits for both parties. Antoher example of this is with sony's new dame 3.0. The game combines gaming with the internet to create a game which can be played live, with a stranger or your friends if they own the game. It is like a chat room.
Also a product is a product, in order to continue to make money on top of the intial product you will need to make new versions, bigger, better versions that the consumers want to go out and buy. Your target being to create an irresistable new product everytim, ensuring you won't go bust. If a new product is not possible attachments and accessories are another idea.
Friday, 20 April 2007
Digital film- opportunity or threat?
Taken from a lecture by Lord Puttnam.
Lord Puttnam thinks the music industry took the digital change badly with a 'head in the sand approach'. Not dealing with the change has meant that are less processes in place to deal with illegal activity. He thinks the film industry should learn from this and make sure it doesn't end up with a similar fate .
“One of the lessons of digital technology is this; once the genie is out of the bottle, no matter how hard you try, you can’t get it to go back in. You can hire the most expensive lawyers, you can create the best anti-copying mechanisms you can lay your hands on, but the choice and flexibility offered by digital technology are simply too attractive to consumers. If people want something badly enough, digital technology enables them to get it – legally or illegally.”
The best way to tackle this is to offer consumers a range of products they want at a price they want. Illegal copying will never be completely eliminated but it can be reduced and avoided if the industry deal with the problem head on. If not they may end up like the music industry and their response to competition like napster.
The development of broadband could also be aided by the online distribution of films (promoted by the goverment).
“Movies could act as a locomotive which pulls other services behind it, services which offer significant and lasting benefits to society as a whole.”
As said in my previous post Lord Puttnam mentioned that digital distribution would dramatically decrease distribution costs , in terms of prints etc. E.g the blockbuster 'Troy' cost £16 million to screen across the world.
However digital film has not quite caught on yet, there are only a handfull of digital screens in the Uk it is more of an American thing at the moment. The problem is, who pays for this significant change? As honestly it isnt going to change the viewers enjoyment or produce a much higher quality?
CGI is also set to lose in this change:
“Computer Generated Imaging is tremendously skills dependent. And it is here that the UK excels. At present, UK-based post-production companies such as Framestore and Cinesite are among the world leaders in digital effects – it is precisely because of their expertise in ‘digital effects’ that the Hollywood studios often choose to place the whole of the post-production phase of their movies in this country, even when they are actually shot on far cheaper locations, such as Romania, Hungary or Morocco.
This is why the UK training strategy (involving the UK film council) is so important. So long as a significant cost saving can be offered and a high level of skill we can expect big films to be continued.
I understand that the digital effects sector already has to import people to meet the demand for skills. In the long-term that is simply not sustainable.
“If we don’t invest in the necessary talent, then we will see an outsourcing of digital work to territories that combine a far lower cost base with comparable or eventually even better skills. Think of the way India has invested in the ICT sector and gained a comparative advantage – you don’t need that much imagination to see the same thing happening in digital effects."
Click here to see relevant links
Lord Puttnam thinks the music industry took the digital change badly with a 'head in the sand approach'. Not dealing with the change has meant that are less processes in place to deal with illegal activity. He thinks the film industry should learn from this and make sure it doesn't end up with a similar fate .
“One of the lessons of digital technology is this; once the genie is out of the bottle, no matter how hard you try, you can’t get it to go back in. You can hire the most expensive lawyers, you can create the best anti-copying mechanisms you can lay your hands on, but the choice and flexibility offered by digital technology are simply too attractive to consumers. If people want something badly enough, digital technology enables them to get it – legally or illegally.”
The best way to tackle this is to offer consumers a range of products they want at a price they want. Illegal copying will never be completely eliminated but it can be reduced and avoided if the industry deal with the problem head on. If not they may end up like the music industry and their response to competition like napster.
The development of broadband could also be aided by the online distribution of films (promoted by the goverment).
“Movies could act as a locomotive which pulls other services behind it, services which offer significant and lasting benefits to society as a whole.”
As said in my previous post Lord Puttnam mentioned that digital distribution would dramatically decrease distribution costs , in terms of prints etc. E.g the blockbuster 'Troy' cost £16 million to screen across the world.
However digital film has not quite caught on yet, there are only a handfull of digital screens in the Uk it is more of an American thing at the moment. The problem is, who pays for this significant change? As honestly it isnt going to change the viewers enjoyment or produce a much higher quality?
CGI is also set to lose in this change:
“Computer Generated Imaging is tremendously skills dependent. And it is here that the UK excels. At present, UK-based post-production companies such as Framestore and Cinesite are among the world leaders in digital effects – it is precisely because of their expertise in ‘digital effects’ that the Hollywood studios often choose to place the whole of the post-production phase of their movies in this country, even when they are actually shot on far cheaper locations, such as Romania, Hungary or Morocco.
This is why the UK training strategy (involving the UK film council) is so important. So long as a significant cost saving can be offered and a high level of skill we can expect big films to be continued.
I understand that the digital effects sector already has to import people to meet the demand for skills. In the long-term that is simply not sustainable.
“If we don’t invest in the necessary talent, then we will see an outsourcing of digital work to territories that combine a far lower cost base with comparable or eventually even better skills. Think of the way India has invested in the ICT sector and gained a comparative advantage – you don’t need that much imagination to see the same thing happening in digital effects."
Click here to see relevant links
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