DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

AND THE FILM

INDUSTRY

Ciara Kataria

HOW DOES DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY AFFECT THE

FILM INDUSTRY?

NEW TECHNOLOGIES

There are many new technologies now that affect the film industry and also the consumers. Here are some examples:

Digital cameras – many film makers now use these to shoot movies as they believe it is cheaper and better.

Better CGI – has vastly improved the quality of special effects so it’s more realistic and enjoyable.

Computers – they now edit movies on computers when they used to have to cut the actual film, but now they can add lots of different effects.

Internet – many people can now illegally download movies on the internet which is bad for the industry as they don’t get any money.

Social media – the film industry can create a lot of hype about their movies and promote it using social media so more people might see it.

Online pay movies – you can pay monthly to see movies on sites like Netflix and Amazon Prime which makes it easier for the viewers as they can watch it from their own home.

PROS

Here are the positive impacts that digital technology has had on the film industry:

CGI has really improved the quality of special effects, which means that exciting, climatic scenes in action films are more realistic looking.

There are larger screens to bring out the amazing special effects and the loud surround sound to add to the experience.

Marketing has become less challenging due to trailers easily being broadcasted across the world due to such a high level of internet access, social networking, etc.

Digital and 3D cinema screens have also made marketing easier, as teenagers and families can quite easily be drawn in by a 3D spin on a great feel-good family film.

The use of DV cameras has benefitted the film industry, as now the audience can create their own productions, and extend the brand of the film, where users can upload their own ‘films’ to the internet, on websites such as YouTube, due to the increased number of broadband connections in homes, and they are promoting the films in doing so.

CONS

Here are the negative impacts that digital technology has had on the film industry:

Since TV was invented in the 1950’s, there has been less interest in the cinema since technology has led to there being easier and cheaper ways to watch films.

The decreased size of the cameras due to technological advancements mean that cameras can be concealed when entering a cinema so people can record a film and make it illegally available to others.

Many people don’t like the look of movies made with digital cameras so this made lead to them not going to see those movies and the industry gets less money.

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS – 20TH CENTURY

FOX

TFiOS was shot digitally by cinematoghrapher Ben Richardson.

It was shot using a Arri Alexa XT camera with a Zeiss Master Prime lens.

The sound mix was Dolby Digital.

In the movie, there are a lot of scenes where the main characters text eachother so to

show this on screen so they edited some text on and the director Josh Boone says

‘So we looked at House of Cards and Sherlock, and said, 'We should do something

like this, but make it more like a Twitter-Tumblr aesthetic. Each frame of each text

message was hand-drawn and written on vellum, scanned, then animated and

tracked, and digitally composited onto the footage. ’

There are almost 350 VFX shots in the movie.

One of the characters has a prosthetic leg so they used the actor's performance on

set as the basis for how his prosthetic leg should be moving, and used another young

man who actually lost his leg as a double and for lighting reference to get this effect.

The Fault in Our Stars was released on DVD and on Blu-ray.

This movie is also available on Netflix and other online pay monthly movie sites like

that.

The Fault in Our Stars used lots social media to do marketing which helped to get lots

of young people interested in the movie and that was their target audience.

THE RIOT CLUB – BLUEPRINT PICTURES

It is unknown what camera The Riot Club was shot with.

The printed film format for The Riot Club was Digital

(Digital Cinema Package DCP).

The sound mix was Dolby Digital.

There were no special effects used in The Riot Club.

It will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on the 19th of

January.

The Riot Club didn’t use much new technology to

advertise this film apart from trailer on TV.