Digital Technology and the Movie Industry
Digital Technology: Disruptive or Dynamic
As Bell explains Haraway’s Cyborg Manifesto, either/or questions are often false dichotomies that may be best viewed as neither/both (2006). The disruptive technologies involved in illegal downloads by websites like Pirate Bay are the same technologies that are being used by legitimate movie providers like Amazon and Netflix. The proliferation of torrent sites that provide a place for people to connect and share the movies that they have are really no different from earlier recording technologies like the VHS tape. The movies can be shared faster and with more people now, and it takes fewer resources to do the sharing. There is no tape to purchase, and memory is relatively cheap. However, it is basically the same as the pirate industry of VHS tapes that proliferates in current day Guinea, West Africa.
The same camera that allowed “legitimate” filmmaker Soderbergh to create a film in the jungle also allows amateurs to make films of the same optical quality. While this could be viewed as disruptive from the film industry point of view, it may also be seen as dynamic. Film is an art, and like any other art, it is only as good as the artist. A professional filmmaker will be able to create better films with better tools. Amateur filmmakers may be able to make a good film, or a film that shakes up the industry, once in a while, but that occurred even in the days when it was difficult to get the equipment needed to film with movies like Evil Dead, which was filmed on an extremely small budget by college kids (Campbell, 2002).
While digital formats may seem like they should last longer than physical film copies, the exact opposite is true. Properly preserved celluloid will last between 400 and 500 years. As Jan-Christopher Horak, director of the UCLA Film and Television Archive in Los Angeles, says “the problem, in a nutshell, is that there is no such thing as a digital preservation medium. There is no physical carrier on which you can put digital information that will last anywhere near as long as the analogue alternative” (Alexander and Blakely, 2014). According to Backblaze, a company that runs thousands of hard drives constantly, only about 80 percent of hard drives survive more than for years (Anthony, 2013). However it isn’t just the physical storage space that is at question. Digital formats change every 18 months, and often, the newer format does not support an older format (Alexander and Blakely, 2014). This results in the cost to update to the newer format with every format release; without the proper resources, films are lost.
In short, it isn’t that technology that makes something dynamic or disruptive; it is the perception of that technology. In the 1950s, most of the movie studios looked at television as a disruptive technology. They feared that people would no longer go to the cinema to see movies. Walt Disney, on the other hand, looked at television as an opportunity. He used it as a way to advertise for his movies and Disneyland while also financing the construction of his park. As technology moves forward, those who see in it the possibilities and opportunities that the new technologies bring will fare better than those who attempt to fight against it.
Film Making
Delivery and Consumption of Films
New Revenue Models
References and Bibliography
Acuna, K. (2013). 3 signs that 3D movies are the way of the future. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/3d-movies-have-a-future-in-hollywood-2013-1
Alexander, H., & Blakely, R. (2014). The triumph of digital will be the death of many movies. Retrieved from http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119431/how-digital-cinema-took-over-35mm-film
Anthony, S. (2013). How long do hard drives actually live for?. Retrieved from http://www.extremetech.com/computing/170748-how-long-do-hard-drives-actually-live-for
Bell, D. (2006). Cyberculture Theorists: Manuel Castells and Donna Haraway. Routledge.
Campbell, B. (2002). If chins could kill: Confessions of a B movie actor. United States of America: St. Martin's Press.
Computer Graphics World. (2011). Original tron. Retrieved from http://www.cgw.com/Press-Center/Web-Exclusives/2011/Original-TRON.aspx
Galligan, Z. (2014). Why the original star wars was better than the second set of movies. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHdWwVNBa6Q
Grush, B. (1995). Toy story: The first computer animated feature by byron grush. Retrieved from http://www.asifa.org/archive/toystory.php
Hurley, M. (2012). We're about to lose 1,000 small theaters that can't convert to digital. does it matter?. Retrieved from http://www.indiewire.com/article/were-about-to-lose-1-000-small-theaters-that-cant-convert-to-digital-does-it-matter
James, M. (2015). Opinion: 10 reasons why CGI is getting worse, not better. Retrieved from https://www.rocketstock.com/blog/opinion-10-reasons-why-cgi-is-getting-worse-not-better/
Lhooq, M. (2012). 9 mind-blowing technologies changing the film Industry’s future. Retrieved from http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/9-mind-blowing-technologies-changing-the-film-industry%E2%80%99s-future--2
Ralsten, S. (2015). Facebook chat - disney history institute. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/groups/disneyhistoryinstitute/875252989219959/?notif_t=group_comment
Salt Lake Film Society. (2013). SLFS digital deadline - digital projector conversion. Retrieved from https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/saltlakefilmsociety/slfs-digital-deadline-digital-projector-conversion?ref=nav_search
Schedeen, J. (2010). The history of 3D movie tech. Retrieved from http://www.ign.com/articles/2010/04/23/the-history-of-3d-movie-tech
Tweedie, S. (2013). The 13 biggest projects in kickstarter history and where they are now. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-highest-funded-kickstarters-2013-7#design-pebble-e-paper-smartwatch-1
The same camera that allowed “legitimate” filmmaker Soderbergh to create a film in the jungle also allows amateurs to make films of the same optical quality. While this could be viewed as disruptive from the film industry point of view, it may also be seen as dynamic. Film is an art, and like any other art, it is only as good as the artist. A professional filmmaker will be able to create better films with better tools. Amateur filmmakers may be able to make a good film, or a film that shakes up the industry, once in a while, but that occurred even in the days when it was difficult to get the equipment needed to film with movies like Evil Dead, which was filmed on an extremely small budget by college kids (Campbell, 2002).
While digital formats may seem like they should last longer than physical film copies, the exact opposite is true. Properly preserved celluloid will last between 400 and 500 years. As Jan-Christopher Horak, director of the UCLA Film and Television Archive in Los Angeles, says “the problem, in a nutshell, is that there is no such thing as a digital preservation medium. There is no physical carrier on which you can put digital information that will last anywhere near as long as the analogue alternative” (Alexander and Blakely, 2014). According to Backblaze, a company that runs thousands of hard drives constantly, only about 80 percent of hard drives survive more than for years (Anthony, 2013). However it isn’t just the physical storage space that is at question. Digital formats change every 18 months, and often, the newer format does not support an older format (Alexander and Blakely, 2014). This results in the cost to update to the newer format with every format release; without the proper resources, films are lost.
In short, it isn’t that technology that makes something dynamic or disruptive; it is the perception of that technology. In the 1950s, most of the movie studios looked at television as a disruptive technology. They feared that people would no longer go to the cinema to see movies. Walt Disney, on the other hand, looked at television as an opportunity. He used it as a way to advertise for his movies and Disneyland while also financing the construction of his park. As technology moves forward, those who see in it the possibilities and opportunities that the new technologies bring will fare better than those who attempt to fight against it.
Film Making
Delivery and Consumption of Films
New Revenue Models
References and Bibliography
Acuna, K. (2013). 3 signs that 3D movies are the way of the future. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/3d-movies-have-a-future-in-hollywood-2013-1
Alexander, H., & Blakely, R. (2014). The triumph of digital will be the death of many movies. Retrieved from http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119431/how-digital-cinema-took-over-35mm-film
Anthony, S. (2013). How long do hard drives actually live for?. Retrieved from http://www.extremetech.com/computing/170748-how-long-do-hard-drives-actually-live-for
Bell, D. (2006). Cyberculture Theorists: Manuel Castells and Donna Haraway. Routledge.
Campbell, B. (2002). If chins could kill: Confessions of a B movie actor. United States of America: St. Martin's Press.
Computer Graphics World. (2011). Original tron. Retrieved from http://www.cgw.com/Press-Center/Web-Exclusives/2011/Original-TRON.aspx
Galligan, Z. (2014). Why the original star wars was better than the second set of movies. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHdWwVNBa6Q
Grush, B. (1995). Toy story: The first computer animated feature by byron grush. Retrieved from http://www.asifa.org/archive/toystory.php
Hurley, M. (2012). We're about to lose 1,000 small theaters that can't convert to digital. does it matter?. Retrieved from http://www.indiewire.com/article/were-about-to-lose-1-000-small-theaters-that-cant-convert-to-digital-does-it-matter
James, M. (2015). Opinion: 10 reasons why CGI is getting worse, not better. Retrieved from https://www.rocketstock.com/blog/opinion-10-reasons-why-cgi-is-getting-worse-not-better/
Lhooq, M. (2012). 9 mind-blowing technologies changing the film Industry’s future. Retrieved from http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/9-mind-blowing-technologies-changing-the-film-industry%E2%80%99s-future--2
Ralsten, S. (2015). Facebook chat - disney history institute. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/groups/disneyhistoryinstitute/875252989219959/?notif_t=group_comment
Salt Lake Film Society. (2013). SLFS digital deadline - digital projector conversion. Retrieved from https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/saltlakefilmsociety/slfs-digital-deadline-digital-projector-conversion?ref=nav_search
Schedeen, J. (2010). The history of 3D movie tech. Retrieved from http://www.ign.com/articles/2010/04/23/the-history-of-3d-movie-tech
Tweedie, S. (2013). The 13 biggest projects in kickstarter history and where they are now. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-highest-funded-kickstarters-2013-7#design-pebble-e-paper-smartwatch-1