Section B: Cinema in context

Film Studies Exam

The EXAM

Section B: Cinema in context

2 questions:

– The rise of the blockbuster, format wars and multiplexes (1972-84) (30 marks)

– Developments in 21st Century cinema and film (2000 – present) (30 marks)

In each response you must:

• Look at the sociological, economic and technological context

• Refer to a variety of films

• Link to historical context in the period being studied

• How the period influenced future development

• Links need to be made between institutional practice and audience behaviour

The input and impact of regulators, pressure groups, government bodies and departments, and social events and trends

Sociological context

Audience pressure evidenced by:

• box office receipts

• cinema admission figures

• view figures

• government levies and subsidies

Economic Context

• The state of technological development at the time in each topic area

• how the available technology has been improved through innovation and development

• The impact of technological innovation on film production, distribution and exhibition.

Technological context

• The roll out of the UK’s digital cinema network and the impact for audiences and institutions

• The take up of broadband, internet piracy and the opportunities and threats posed to institutions and audiences from legal and illegal means of distribution and exhibition

• The revival of 3D – the impact of films such as Avatar (2009) in driving the ‘new’ 3D and consideration of the possible longevity of 3D or other future developments

Developments in 21st Century Cinema and Film (2000-present)

• “The introduction of the digital cinema network in the UK in recent years has greatly extended audience choice.” How far do you agree with this statement?

• To what extent does internet piracy pose a threat to the film industry?

Example questions

1. “The introduction of the digital cinema network in the UK in recent years has greatly extended audience choice.” How far do you agree with this statement?– The size (number of screens UK-wide) and population range

(ability of the majority of the population to access a digital cinema screen at a local cinema) of the UK digital cinema network

– Specific examples of screening patterns at specific cinemas – in the students’ local area and / or at other cinemas nationwide

2. The extent to which internet piracy pose a threat to the film industry might include discussion of:– Threats to the long term viability of the film industry if piracy is

able to eat away at the industry’s revenue base– Consideration of an alternative view that piracy widens access

to films, enabling more people to become cine-literate, and in the longer term, to become producers themselves

Digital Cinema - timeline

George Lucas on Digital

What are the benefits of digital projection?

• Cost – celluloid prints are much more expensive to produce and they take longer to produce

• Space – projection equipment takes up less space and you need fewer projectionists/operators

• Quality – each time a celluloid print is put through a projector, the quality declines; digital ‘prints’ don’t degrade

• Democratisation – more people can show films more cheaply on potentially portable devices

• Clarity of image – more frames per second 2k/4k• …. So this should mean that you the viewer get more

choice (eg art films, sports events) with a higher quality experience

Distribution

In today's system, production companies spend a lot of money producing film prints of their movies. Then, working with distribution companies, they spend even more money shipping the heavy reels of film to theaters all over the world, only to collect them again when the movie finishes its run. Because the distribution costs are so high, production companies have to be extremely cautious about where they play their movies.

If you take the physical film out of the equation, things get a lot cheaper. Digital movies are basically big computer files, and just like computer files, you can write them to a DVD-ROM, send them through broadband cable or transmit them via satellite. There are virtually no shipping costs, and it doesn't cost the production company much more to show the movie in 100 theaters than in one theater. With this distribution system, production companies could easily open movies in theatersall over the world on the same day.

The digital distribution system also helps out the individual theaters. If a movie sells out, a theater could decide to show it on additional screens on the spur of the moment. They simply connect to the digital signal. Theaters could also show live sporting events and other digital programming.

Digital distribution is so much cheaper that it enables Directors and Producers working on non-mainstream Hollywood movies to find a market for their films.

Organisations like the BFI are helping explore a range of experimental methods.

A Field in England (Ben Wheatley, 2013) is a good example of this as it was released in cinemas, on TV, on pay-per-view and DVD on the same day.

Projection

Pretty much everybody agrees that a good film projector loaded with a pristine film print produces a fantastic, vibrant picture. The problem is, every time you play the movie, the film quality drops a little. When you go to a movie that's been playing for a few weeks, you'll probably see hundreds of scratches and bits of dirt.Many critics hold that a projected digital movie is inferior to a pristine film print, but they recognize that while a film print gradually degrades, a digital movie looks the same every time you show it. Think of a CD as compared to an audio tape. Every time you play an audio tape, the sound gets a little warped. A CD's digital information sounds exactly the same every time you listen to it (unless it gets scratched).

See here for further details of types of digital projectorhttp://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/digital-cinema5.htm

Taken from the BFI (British Film Institute)website.

Many of the cinemas assisted by the Digital Screen Network are smaller, independent and art-house cinemas.

The Watershed in Bristol is one of them.

http://www.cinemauk.org.uk/facts-and-figures/uk-cinema-sites-and-screens/uk-digital-sites-and-screens-2000-2013/

Local cinemashttp://www.watershed.co.uk/http://www.showcasecinemas.co.uk/locations/bristolhttp://www.myvue.com/home/cinema/bristol-cribbs-causeway

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2062289/Digital-

cinema-eclipse-35mm-film-early-2012--celluloid-disappear-

2015.html

Mark Kermode on the loss of the projectionist

Broadband

This refers to high-speed data transmission in which a single cable can carry a large amount of data at once. The most common types of Internet broadband connections are cable modems (which use the same connection as cable TV) and DSL modems (which use your existing phone line).

http://www.techterms.com/definition/broadband

As people stream and download more and more content, and the content itself is more complex, the need for faster broadband speed increases. This BBC news article reports on the UK’s fastest broadband speeds in 2014.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25840502

Click here

Broadband speeds and the development of BitTorrent and peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing have enabled consumers to access a wide range of media content, including film, at no cost.

This in known as PIRACY –it is illegal.

It is thought to cost the film industry millions in lost revenue (ie income).

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2014/01/most-pirated-films-2013/

https://torrentfreak.com/the-hobbit-most-pirated-film-of-2013-131231/

Vin Diesel’s Socks 2013http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/movie-piracy-in-the-uk-what-s-the-

film-industry-doing--1190126

Click Here

Staying ahead of the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) and other regulators:

Increasingly, internet piracy is focusing on the so called ‘dark’ or ‘deep’ web in order to get round attempts by the authorities to curtail criminal activity.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/18/filesharing-search-engine-tor-dark-web-bitcoin-newznab

Revival of 3D

1903:Inventors of cinema, the Lumière Brothers, film the first ever 3D film entitled L’arrivée du train. When released audiences panicked thinking the train was about to crash into them 1922:The first 3D feature film is premiered at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. The Power of Love was received negatively by the press and exhibitors. The film reel has never been recovered 1936:MGM’s Audioscopiks is the first movie filmed in 3D to have speech. It wins an Academy Award for Best Short Subject 1952:A three year 3D boom begins with the release of low budget film, Bwana Devil. The film is the first to employ the use of the now familiar 3D glasses 1960:September Storm is the first cinemascope 3D movie. After this movie the 3D format lies dormant for well over a decade 1973:Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey revive the format for their film, Flesh For Frankenstein 1982:A series of horror films are produced in 3D vision for cinema audiences in the US. Friday the 13th Part III is the first quickly followed by Jaws 3D and Amityville 3D 1991:Hovertank 3D becomes the first widely available computer game to use the format 1995:The first 3D IMAX film is made by acclaimed French filmmaker Jean-Jacques Annaud. Wings of Courage costs $20 million to make 2003:James Cameron’s Ghosts of the Abyss becomes the first 3D IMAX feature filmed with the Reality Camera System. The documentary touring the Titanic wreckage lays the foundation for the technology used to make Avatar 2008:Concert film U2 3D is the first ever live action digital 3D film with many critics noting the 3D experience as being better than a live concert 2009:Sci-fi epic Avatar becomes the highest grossing movie of all time. The film is widely held to be a major breakthrough for 3D technology 2010:The first ever live 3D sport broadcasts in Europe are planned for selected Rugby Union matches. The Six Nations matches are to be screened in 40 Odeon and Cineworld cinemas across the UK The future:3D TV is being billed as possible industry saviour for manufacturing companies in the wake of the global recession. It is claimed that a quarter of all households in the UK will have a 3D TV by 2013.

In preparation for this satellite operator BSkyB plans to launch a 3D service later this year. The Discovery Channel has formed a joint venture company with Sony and IMAX to deliver 3D TV channels..

The gaming world is also set to be revolutionised with an expected worldwide market of over 40 million 3D capable displays by2014. Sony has already announced plans for a system firmware update which would make existing Playstation 3 titles playable in 3D format.

Reasons to like 3d…

Avatar (Cameron, 2009)

Development of Avatar began in 1994, when Cameron wrote an 80-page treatment for the

film.[14][15] Filming was supposed to take place after the completion of Cameron's 1997 film Titanic,

for a planned release in 1999,[16] but according to Cameron, the necessary technology was not yet

available to achieve his vision of the film.[17] Work on the language of the film'sextraterrestrial

beings began in summer 2005, and Cameron began developing the screenplay and fictional

universe in early 2006.[18][19] Avatar was officially budgeted at $237 million.[5] Other estimates put

the cost between $280 million and $310 million for production and at $150 million for

promotion.[20][21][22] The film made extensive use of cutting edge motion capture filming

techniques,[23] and was released for traditional viewing, 3D viewing (using the RealD 3D, Dolby

3D, XpanD 3D, and IMAX 3D formats), and for "4D" experiences in select South Korean

theaters.[24] The stereoscopic filmmaking was touted as a breakthrough in cinematic technology.[25]

Avatar premiered in London on December 10, 2009, and was internationally released on December

16 and in the United States and Canada on December 18, to positive critical reviews, with critics

highly praising its groundbreaking visual effects.[26][27][28] During its theatrical run, the film broke

several box office records and became the highest-grossing film of all time, as well as in the United

States and Canada,[29] surpassing Titanic, which had held those records for twelve years (and was

also directed by Cameron).[30] It also became the first film to gross more than $2

billion.[31] Avatar was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best

Director,[32] and won three, for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects.

The film's home media release went on to break opening sales records and became the top-

selling Blu-ray of all time. Following the film's success, Cameron signed with 20th Century Fox to

produce three sequels, making Avatar the first of a planned tetralogy.[33] (Wikipedia)

And reasons to dislike it!

• Won 6 BAFTAs• Is almost entirely CGI and

deliberately exploits 3d technology.

• See here for the Making of…

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/video-sandra-bullock-george-clooney-667545

Gravity (Cuaron, 2013)

3D Movies at the CinemaBite Sized Thought Piece2012 – click here

Many people are beginning to suggest that the novelty factor of 3d is already wearing off. This article explains the reasons why this might be.