The Impact of Technology on Film Production

Technology has changed everything. In just a physical sense, there is the possibility of a lot more, and a lot less being done. Take cameras for example, it used to take four men to operate a camera. Now, with high definition, handling a camera may only require one man. That means 75 percent of the workforce is looking for a job. The medium has changed. The types of entertainment people seek have changed.
With the introduction of digital cameras, film production is done with less effort. The process of editing movies in the 60’s and 70’s involved physically cutting film tapes and sticking one end to the other for a continuous story line. But with the introduction of digital cameras, spinners are no longer needed at cinemas or theatres. Although one can’t argue the fact that spinned films are still rated for their level of clarity and stability. A spinner, when projected unto a big screen, needs 35mm spacing of film so that the quality on the big screen is at high resolution. However, digital cameras do not need a millimetre spacing to show quality images, hence it is relatively cheaper to use.
Movie editing has changed with the introduction of digital cameras. The old idea of cutting tapes and rejoining one end to another has been eliminated. Computers are now used instead to edit movies; hence a lot more work can be done in a film production.
Technology has also changed the way films are distributed. A more advanced way of getting produced movies around the world is still ongoing and even at this point there are considerably large methods of film distribution. The web is one of the fastest methods of distribution mainly because people have more access to the Internet than other source of information like TV, radio or newspapers. Mobile phones, also known as “Technological Convergence” can now easily access the Internet; hence people can go on the web to connect with workstations or perform work functions while on the go. This is rather more comfortable hence smart phones are widely used by almost everyone.
Technology also has its negative impacts. The process of film exhibition involves moviemakers being able to show the best of their production to their audience. But the issue of “piracy”, illegal copying of movies for DVD distribution has left most producers thinking. According to Wikipedia; “The practice of labelling the infringement of exclusive rights in creative works as "piracy" predates statutory copyright law. Prior to the Statute of Anne 1709, the Stationers' Company of London in 1557 received a Royal Charter giving the company a monopoly on publication and tasking it with enforcing the charter. Those who violated the charter were labelled pirates as early as 1603”; piracy has been a big issue for a long time. Movie producers hence came up with a solution, 3D. With the introduction of 3D technology, it became hard for pirates to copy movies from theatre screens. 3D movies became very popular only a few years ago and since then it has been used very frequently at theatres. Even entertainment companies implement 3D technology by producing 3D TVs, 3D toys etc. But yet again, a few movies are still pirated with 3D technology. Although this is still an ongoing process and 3D pirated movies are not all too impressive in quality. Most people these days; prefer to watch a movie in its normal view rather than in 3D. It is widely debated this is due to the 3D glasses people are forced to wear when watching a 3D movie. But this has only given the movie pirates more films to copy and sell.

"Attack the Block" - A presentation about its Marketing types

Attack the Block

Film Production

Idea According to Wikipedia, an idea is just whatever is before the mind when one thinks. Very often, ideas are construed as represented images; i.e. images of some  objects.
An idea can come into a producer's mind about a particular image or scene, then more images related to the original scene springs up and these are all sewn together to form a pre-production. But a pre-production can only be achieved after an original idea has been put in place.
Pre-production One of the first stages of pre-production is the ability of the producer to identify a theme to the story, whilst working with script writers to form a synopsis. Afterwards a step outline is produced to further break the movie down into a paragraphic sequence to focus more on the story description.
Funding Money needed for the film production can be provided by film-investors. Some movies are funded by co-producers. The funding of a movie is necessary as it would help the movie hit the screens. The money needed to produce the movie, get actors and use scenes are all included in the funding. In most times, film investors get back thier money with profits. Again this all depends on how much is made at the movie box office.
Production This is the process of making the film. This is where all  the ideas come together on set with the actors and filming is completed. Post production is after the filming has finished and the shooting comes together. This consist of video editing, special effects, colour correction, making and adding the sound track and other sound effects.
Distribution This goes with marketing. Distribution is where the film becomes connected with the audience in some way. However a distributer is needed before a film can be distributed. The finished film is distributed into the market. The film has to be marketed to different areas, first it needs to be marketed to the exhibitors where the distributer needs to interest the theatre so the film is shown at their theatre/cinema. It then needs to get marketed to  the audience, where trailers are shown to publicize the film. The box office is commonly the first place the audience can see the film. Other marketing ideas are posters, adverts in magazines and creating a website for the film.
Exhibition Tickets are sold at the box office to the public. After a film has been released in the cinema, there is a brief period of time before the film can be seen again. 12 - 16 weeks is the average time before the film in shown on premium channels and then, after another brief period of time, they are shown on the nomal channels eg. channel 4. Films can also be shown on the internet however there is alot of illegal downloading of films.