Digital Technology and the impact on Institutions and

Audiences

The Impact of Digital Technology

Revolutionised the modern world (not just film)

Revolutionising production, distribution, marketing, exhibition (consumption of film)

Films are now cheaper and easier to make, cheaper to distribute, and 3D/Imax Cinemas are enhancing the viewing experience

NDT and the Audience

NDT has allowed audiences to become ‘produser’ – producers/uses of media

“Conventional research methods are replace – or at least supplemented by new methods which recognise and make use of people’s own creativity, and brush aside outmoded notions of ‘receiver’ audiences and elite ‘producers’.” Gauntlett

What is NDT from an audience point of view? Web2.0 Social Media

The NDT Audience

Active users of the mediaAudience ‘Fragmentation’ – this makes it

hard to reach everyone (360 degree branding is to surround us with the produce across all form of media – eg)

The need to use convergence – A) - technologies coming together, eg, a mobile phone B), media industries are diversifying so they produce

and distribute across several media eg newspaper

Audiences and Institutions

The relationship has changedRather than keeping the audience together

institutions are trying to ‘trigger engagement’ in a variety of ways

Push Media vs Pull MediaPush = institutions push media at usPull = we choose want media we what and in

what form

The Long Tail and the The Film Industry

The Long Tail theory can be applied to the film industry in terms of how films are distributed.

i.e. The Head is a high street film retailer such as Blockbuster.

The Long Tail is an online film distribution service such as Amazon.

The Film Industry

This means that high street shops (the Head) that sell films are gradually becoming less popular due to the restrictions they experience in terms of shelf-space.

Internet retailers (the Long Tail) do not experience this as they do not have a physical shop. Their unlimited space shelf allows them to provide for niche markets, increasing their customers as they have a wider variety of products.

For example…

The Head may contain: Cinema chains such as Cineworld, Odeon; film retailers such as HMV, Blockbuster etc.

The Long Tail may contain: Internet sites such as Netflix, YouTube, LOVEFiLM etc.; iTunes etc. Due to the growing accessibility of the Internet, more and more films are being downloaded online rather than bought in the shops.

Head Long Tail

Impacts on the Film Industry

Advantages DisadvantagesFilms are more available online, increasing views and popularity.

Illegal downloads i.e. Putlocker, Sockshare, 1channel.

Facilities such as film forums allow customers to give feedback, helping the film industry to improve.

High street shops lose sales as customers resort to online purchases.

People can narrow down their choices of film via filtering services.

Those without internet access are limited to only films that are in shops.

Customers can see what films are similar to those that they like, broadening target audiences for other films.

The atmosphere of going to the cinema is lost.

NDT and Production

New technology used in AvatarThe Hobbit? Frozen? Other case studies?Digital Cameras – cheaper, cleaner, easier to manipulate

but????HD – higher quality3D – spectacle, hard to pirate, hard to produce at home,

new Imax - spectacle, hard to pirate, hard to produce at

home, new CGI – achieve the impossible, exciting, creativeSynthespians? (term coined by Randle and Culkin –

used for extras which are costly)

NDT and Distribution

Digital Distribution will transform the film industry more than any other technological advancement

Key Point Cheaper Quicker Simultaneous global release (cuts down piracy) Great Potential and Great Danger

Advantages

Digital Data Files can be broadcast/downloaded by satellite (fast)

Via satellite reduces the risk of film prints ‘going astray’, reduce piracy

Film stock is heavy, hard to work with and fragile

Film needs specialist handling, digital does not

Quality remains consistent over multiple screening

Multiple copies for the price of one!

Disadvantages

Audience attitude to the internet being ‘free’ (think Napster, LimeWire, BitTorrent)

Marketing becomes way more importantQuality?The ‘Experience’Production Companies are always one step

behind technology so could they lose total control of their product?

NDT and MarketingThe use of NDT in marketing has made a

huge difference to society.There are now viral advertisements to

promote products.Apps on phones for games or latest

information – the possibilities are endlessThe internet- you can find anything.http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=R55e-uHQna0

NDT and Exhibition

Better quality of image because it is digital (???)

More flexibility for Exhibition and for the audience

Cheaper to runDisadvantage – change over to digital, 3D,

HD, iMax is very expensive!!!!The Digital Screen Network is helping

British cinemas change over

What do we mean by proliferation of hardware or content?

What does proliferation mean?

So how does this relate to the film

industry?

‘. . . a rapid and often excessive spread or increase’ (Dictionary.com)

Examples of growth as a result of NDT . . .HardwareA wide range of devices for playback and exhibition – MP4 players, DVD, Blu-Ray, mobiles, computers, digital video and digital projection

These technologies also offer

opportunities in terms of marketing and

distribution

ContentThere is a wider range of content available largely due to the proliferation of new technologies that

have enabled easier film production and

distribution e.g. ‘You Tube’/’Love Film’This content is now much more accessible to audiences.

IN SMALL GROUPS COME UP WITH THE TOP TEN WAYS NDT HAS AFFECTED THE

AUDIENCE AND INSTITUTIONS.

How has technology affected the audience and institutions?

Task

What technologies were used and important for our case study films?

Did the use/lack of use of these new technologies make the films better/worse and/or more successful? Frozen 71’ The Fifth Estate