audience and institutions: technological development

Digital technologies have transformed the way media is produced and distributed. Discuss with reference to the media area you have studied.

Throughout the years, technology has developed immensely to create a new reality in the world of film. New adaptions of cameras, from film to digital and advancements with the internet and technology have transformed the way media is produced and distributed. All filmmaking processes such as pre-production, production, post-production, distribution, marketing/promotion and exhibition have been affected by the development of technology. These changes have had an affect on not only the filmmaking process but on the audience and film industry as a whole.

For many years, the only way to produce a film was through film. The shots would be filmed then sent off to a printing laboratory to be developed, which would take about a day. The film would be fetched (called a 'daily') and that was that. The shot could only be changed the next day if the production team decided to shoot the scene again. It was a timely and costly process which was either hated or adored. For some this process felt "more tangible", and like "magic", it was anticipating to watch through the dailies and see if they had actually gotten anything. 

The whole idea of film was challenged when there was a transition from film cameras to digital cameras. One of the main advantages with digital cameras is you can actually see what you're recording whereas with film you would have to wait to the next day, like mentioned before. While producing a film with a digital camera, a monitor would be set up to see exactly what you were shooting which allowed the director, cinematographer and actors to adapt and adjust to ultimately create a better shot. However, this idea was looked down upon by some. Director; Christopher Nolan says "you would have to be fooling yourself if you're seeing what you have on a small monitor; in a cinema it will be much larger." Like said before actors can also look back on their performance but in some cases this would make them too critical and eventually self-conscious. Actors were more aware and cautious when being shot by film as they understood the cost even one shot was making. Greta Gerwig described the experience like "money was running through the camera". With digital cameras there were chances to mess up and re-shoot, film cameras really only gave you one shot. 

Another advantage of digital cameras was the fact they were cheap. It didn't cost nearly as much as film cameras meaning you could have more of them. This also meant anyone could become a filmmaker and produce a film. With the introduction of film cameras; Sundance saw a rise in the number of entries which lead to the rise in a lot more competition. However, the problem with digital is that although it was cheaper, the quality was not nearly as good as film. It did capture more 'emotional movement' due to it being lighter than a film camera. There were more opportunities with a digital camera in terms of movement and some movies that embraced this was Celebration (1998), Idiots (1998), Mifune (1999), Julien donkey-boy (1999) and The King is Alive (2000). 

Editors no longer go through the laborious process of adding special effects to a movie "due to" technology and digital. CGI has become a more prominent feature in films as it is more efficient than actually creating something like what they did in Star Wars. Editing also transitioned from “cutting and pasting pieces of film”, to “pressing all the buttons”. According to a source, without technology, “it would be nearly impossible for Hollywood to produce the volume of films that it does.” Technology drives “entire segments of film now, enabling movies that were not possible before.”  The final product of digital filmmaking "looks cleaner and has effects that flow naturally with the narrative." Similar to this, more can be accomplished in less time while shooting or filmmaking since "shooting digitally" makes it simple to "shoot many takes, and to acquire multiple views more economically." The ultimate result is a more intimate and desired shot, where the audience "feels present in the moment because the lens" they are allowed to look through feels authentic" rather than "vintage," according to Charles Matthau, when combined with the modern steady cam equipment that film has taken to.

Over time, the number of outlets audiences have access to for media consumption has grown over time. Technology advancement is to thank for this surge. There are so many platforms available right now, like YouTube, Netflix, Disney Plus, Neon, linear television, etc. Whereas audiences used to come together to watch films, they are now fragmented, consuming media on a variety of platforms with an abundance of options. Audiences now declare that they prefer watching movies from the comfort of their own "home," where they can choose exactly what they want to drink and don't have to stand in line; this has lead to the decrease in consumers attending the cinema. Directors are aware that movie theatres are no longer unique and have instead turned into "just another thing," with one saying that he'll never get "why people want to watch movies on their computers." The audiences simply seem to prefer it that way, turning to SVOD services like Neon, whose subscriber growth went "BOOM!" according to a source, despite the fact that directors like Keanu Reeves do not understand this way of consuming the media and think that in that way "you won't be able to feel it." The notion that "digital projection has come a long way" and that "the more people use it, the better it gets" are concepts that many of them are gradually learning (George Lucas).

Audiences are now engaged rather than passive customers as a result of Web 2.0. After consuming media, people write reviews, comments, likes, and dislikes and spread the word (whether it be favourable or negative). As a result, for a movie to be successful, the place and method of its release must be carefully considered. In this approach, viewers are "altering the way films are made."