CCR Preliminary Task 2
QUESTION 1
QUESTION 2
QUESTION 3
QUESTION 4
Tuesday 30 June 2020
Wednesday 24 June 2020
Thursday 11 June 2020
Monday 8 June 2020
Technological Changes Essay
Technological Changes
Technology has been rapidly evolving and this has meant significant changes to the film production process at any level. This has made a significant effect and impact on the film industry and the audience that is consuming the media which is being produced.
I think the biggest impact that evolving technology has had on the film industry would be revolving around the change from film to digital. Different film makers are for an against the development in filming, all for different arguments. They all surround the main stages of movie making though- Production, Distribution, Marketing ad Consumption.
The directors that are for film and don't want to modernise with digital cameras are reluctant to leave the 'magic' of shooting with film. The process of production with film cameras is a lot more technical than filming with digital also, this is how it is filmed:
The camera is the tool that focuses and measures the photons of light and records them as images. With a film camera, light enters through the lense and hits a frame of film behind the lens. The film is covered with an emulsion that contains grains of silver halide crystals. These crystals react chemically when light hits them, and the crystals change into silver metal when they are developed. A photographic image is formed on the film and then is taken to the warehouse where it is developed.
The actual shooting with the equipment is very difficult and was described by one of the directors on Keanu Reeves' Documentary 'Side By Side'
' The work flow on a film set basically means that you take thousand-foot loads of film, load it into magazines, and that enables you to shoot for roughly ten- plus minutes per roll of film.' There's a cut and then you reload the camera. This 'gives you a natural break in the action while someone pulls the magazine off the camera and puts a new magazine on. And then the next day, you get to see the dailies.' The dailies was when every morning before going to shoot, after the film magazines had come back from the lab, and you'd sit down with your team and there was a certain 'joy' about watching what you had done the previous day, and figuring out what you got to do on the current day.
There was some major downsides to this however. Very often, directors will say that when they filmed on film, they would lie awake at night wondering if they even got any usable footage because you can't actually see what you are filming through out the day.
People use it for the 'feel' and the art that is involved in shooting with film, not for the cost, or the amount of time it takes to film on.
Digital is much easier to shoot on, as it isn't necessary to change over any magazine, so you don't have to have any unnecessary breaks in the action. There is a lot less gear to carry around also, so shooting in unique places isn't as hard as it used to be. Digital is also more realistic to film, as it has no granules and is a LOT easier to edit as it can be done on a computer as opposed to actually cutting and pasting different shots together. Digital is also the 'trending aesthetic' and digital effects have made films much more innovative than the ever where in film magazine days, some think.
Many directors describe the introduction of digital as being 'exciting' for them, and says the introduction of digital took directing and making movies as art 'out of a rarified environment, and allows people to make art.'
The cost of using digital cameras to shoot has been recognised by several people who are high up i the camera market. Tom Rotham, Chairman and CEO of Fox, said that in digital there is 'tremendous possible savings' and Bill Russell Vice President of Arri Cameras said 'Film production peaked in 2007... then the world changed. New purchases are all digital.' Since cameras aren't nearly as expensive as they were even 20 years ago, indie film makers, and up and coming directors have been able to film there independent movies, and the rise in films being shown at Sundance and other festivals has increased expedentially.
The other argument that seems to still be on going between directors and producers from different eras is whether or not film is dying. Some directors say 'Film is not dead because people still like to film on shoot on film because it has that incredible beautiful look' while others argue 'All major manufacturers have ceased development of new film cameras. They no longer make them.' so they reckon that film is dead for those reasons.
In regards to distribution, film reels had to physically be shipped to every cinema it was to be shown at which took time and money and had to be very gently handled, whereas nowadays, digital films can be sent a number of different ways including by over the internet, through different satellite links, or by sending optical discs or hardware discs such as blu-ray.The ways it has been distribute even reflect the change in technology as the web 2.0 has been developed. This can be for good and for bad. Movies can be streamed off different VOD's such as Netflix and Hulu, but piracy is also another issue that films encounter as they are distributed online.
Piracy has a massive affect on the profit received from movies as people will stay at home and illegally download the movie as opposed to renting it or going to see it in the cinema. A report from industry analysis Digital TV research suggested the amount of money lost to piracy has grown substantially form $6.7 billion dollars in 2010 to nearly $31.8 billion last year. The figure has been predicted to hit $52 billion in 2022. Among the movies which have been pirated the highest number of times are: Joker, Jojo Rabbit, Jumanji The Next Level, Charlie's Angels (2019), Parasite, and Frozen 2. Box Office made $43.5 Billion dollars last year, and since the Box Office has estimated its yearly loss to piracy at $10 Billion, they miss out on a quater of their total profit being added to the sum. This means that all the directors, producers, editors etc are losing out on substantially on profit because of illegal downloading and streaming.
I think the biggest impact that evolving technology has had on the film industry would be revolving around the change from film to digital. Different film makers are for an against the development in filming, all for different arguments. They all surround the main stages of movie making though- Production, Distribution, Marketing ad Consumption.
The directors that are for film and don't want to modernise with digital cameras are reluctant to leave the 'magic' of shooting with film. The process of production with film cameras is a lot more technical than filming with digital also, this is how it is filmed:
The camera is the tool that focuses and measures the photons of light and records them as images. With a film camera, light enters through the lense and hits a frame of film behind the lens. The film is covered with an emulsion that contains grains of silver halide crystals. These crystals react chemically when light hits them, and the crystals change into silver metal when they are developed. A photographic image is formed on the film and then is taken to the warehouse where it is developed.
The actual shooting with the equipment is very difficult and was described by one of the directors on Keanu Reeves' Documentary 'Side By Side'
' The work flow on a film set basically means that you take thousand-foot loads of film, load it into magazines, and that enables you to shoot for roughly ten- plus minutes per roll of film.' There's a cut and then you reload the camera. This 'gives you a natural break in the action while someone pulls the magazine off the camera and puts a new magazine on. And then the next day, you get to see the dailies.' The dailies was when every morning before going to shoot, after the film magazines had come back from the lab, and you'd sit down with your team and there was a certain 'joy' about watching what you had done the previous day, and figuring out what you got to do on the current day.
There was some major downsides to this however. Very often, directors will say that when they filmed on film, they would lie awake at night wondering if they even got any usable footage because you can't actually see what you are filming through out the day.
People use it for the 'feel' and the art that is involved in shooting with film, not for the cost, or the amount of time it takes to film on.
Digital is much easier to shoot on, as it isn't necessary to change over any magazine, so you don't have to have any unnecessary breaks in the action. There is a lot less gear to carry around also, so shooting in unique places isn't as hard as it used to be. Digital is also more realistic to film, as it has no granules and is a LOT easier to edit as it can be done on a computer as opposed to actually cutting and pasting different shots together. Digital is also the 'trending aesthetic' and digital effects have made films much more innovative than the ever where in film magazine days, some think.
Many directors describe the introduction of digital as being 'exciting' for them, and says the introduction of digital took directing and making movies as art 'out of a rarified environment, and allows people to make art.'
The cost of using digital cameras to shoot has been recognised by several people who are high up i the camera market. Tom Rotham, Chairman and CEO of Fox, said that in digital there is 'tremendous possible savings' and Bill Russell Vice President of Arri Cameras said 'Film production peaked in 2007... then the world changed. New purchases are all digital.' Since cameras aren't nearly as expensive as they were even 20 years ago, indie film makers, and up and coming directors have been able to film there independent movies, and the rise in films being shown at Sundance and other festivals has increased expedentially.
The other argument that seems to still be on going between directors and producers from different eras is whether or not film is dying. Some directors say 'Film is not dead because people still like to film on shoot on film because it has that incredible beautiful look' while others argue 'All major manufacturers have ceased development of new film cameras. They no longer make them.' so they reckon that film is dead for those reasons.
In regards to distribution, film reels had to physically be shipped to every cinema it was to be shown at which took time and money and had to be very gently handled, whereas nowadays, digital films can be sent a number of different ways including by over the internet, through different satellite links, or by sending optical discs or hardware discs such as blu-ray.The ways it has been distribute even reflect the change in technology as the web 2.0 has been developed. This can be for good and for bad. Movies can be streamed off different VOD's such as Netflix and Hulu, but piracy is also another issue that films encounter as they are distributed online.
Piracy has a massive affect on the profit received from movies as people will stay at home and illegally download the movie as opposed to renting it or going to see it in the cinema. A report from industry analysis Digital TV research suggested the amount of money lost to piracy has grown substantially form $6.7 billion dollars in 2010 to nearly $31.8 billion last year. The figure has been predicted to hit $52 billion in 2022. Among the movies which have been pirated the highest number of times are: Joker, Jojo Rabbit, Jumanji The Next Level, Charlie's Angels (2019), Parasite, and Frozen 2. Box Office made $43.5 Billion dollars last year, and since the Box Office has estimated its yearly loss to piracy at $10 Billion, they miss out on a quater of their total profit being added to the sum. This means that all the directors, producers, editors etc are losing out on substantially on profit because of illegal downloading and streaming.
Wednesday 3 June 2020
Plan for Technological Changes Essay
Technology has been rapidly evolving and this has meant significant changes to the film production process at any level. This has made a significant effect and impact on the film industry and the audience that is consuming the media which is being produced.
Main points of discussion:
How film is losing out to digital cameras.
The different resolutions of the SD cards, how it's developed in comparison to film.
Distribution to theatres can be online, whereas with film it has to be shipped to the theatres- it's a lot more hassle to distribute.
Film fades over time so you can't watch it any more.
A lot easier with web 2.0 to market the film, raise a fan base.
A bad thing about web 2.0 though is in piracy. You couldn't do that with film, you had to watch it authentically.
There is a type of 'war' between digital and film. Some directors find it unauthentic. Won't use digital. Others such as George Lucas support the rise in digital and say film is 'dying'
Indie film makers can succeed more because they can get a camera, film was wayyy to expensive for them to do.
Argument over whether film is art and digital is taking away the 'magic'
Tuesday 2 June 2020
How to Release and Distribute my Film
How I would Release and Self-Distribute my Film
The ways I would distribute if I had the chance would be by entering my film into a bidding war at a film festival like Sundance- but this is unlikely to succeed, so I would next try to sell my movie to a streaming platform. 150 million people around the world are subscribed to Netflix, so getting my film on their platform would be really great, if I could, however, I would try to get it distributed by an even bigger company such as Lionsgate or Warner brothers first.
However, distributing with another company as big as them, or even smaller would be hard for me to do because I don't have any connections with anyone in that industry. The most likely option would be for me to self-distribute. Legendary indie film-maker Mark Duplass spoke a famous speech called 'The Calvary is Not Coming' pretty much telling all the indie film makers to just distribute their films for themselves.
These are the steps I would take
To distribute online this is what I would have to do (according to Rev's website):
However, distributing with another company as big as them, or even smaller would be hard for me to do because I don't have any connections with anyone in that industry. The most likely option would be for me to self-distribute. Legendary indie film-maker Mark Duplass spoke a famous speech called 'The Calvary is Not Coming' pretty much telling all the indie film makers to just distribute their films for themselves.
These are the steps I would take
1. Use Crowd-Funding
There are some really great sites for indie film makers to go to during pre-production that I would use like KickStarter and IndieGoGo and have useful crowd funding platform. I would provide an instant download on Vimeo or YouTube so it's easy and not a hassle for people to access. This gives my potential investors an incentive because they have seen what I can do and will then back my distribution efforts. In an attempt to widen the fan base, I would make a trailer, a scene preview, bloopers and a video of how I made the movie behind the scenes type video, and also add subtitles for English, and other languages to cater for other countries and people who are deaf.I would also ensure that my film had closed-captions. Closed captions add the atmosphere into the subtitles as opposed to just the words. For example it could say 'intense music plays.'2. Prepare My Film For Independent Distribution
I would have it on digital screening as it's easier to distribute that way as opposed to 35mm. This is a list of things I would need to do to what the REV site has suggested.
- Digital Files: Most cinemas accept deliverables as digital files in .mp4 and .mov files. .mp4 is the international standard, while the .mov is Apple’s preferred format.
- H.264 format does a super job of encoding high-quality video and audio for streaming online, but it won’t do your movie justice on the big screen. Apple ProRes 422 codec or the Avid DNxHD codec. Outputting either as a .mov file will yield the best results.
- 1920 x 1080 (“1080p” for short) is the preferred resolution for cinema screenings with an aspect ratio of flat (1.85) or scope (2.35).
- As with cinema, online streaming and download-for-purchase platforms accept Pro-Res 422 .mov format.
- In addition, files may be submitted as AVC/H.264 in .mp4, m2t, and .ts format.
- MPEG-2 formats are also accepted.
3. Decide on an Online Release Strategy
This would be by a third party aggregator, or I would do it myself. Aggregators are really helpful if I want to get my movie onto a VOD as they have good relationships with the likes of Netflix so it's cheaper to get onto those streaming services. They also do much else for me like encoding, packaging and delivering my film to distributors. The one thing though, is that aggregators cost a lot of money, so if I hired one, I would have to pay for them and they are not cheap. If I did it myself it would be a lot more work but would probably pay off in the end. I would need to go to the VOD's and ask them as opposed to a third-party aggregator doing it for me, and when it gets secured, I will have all ownership of the movie and not have to share it.
This is where premium channels on TV buy the right to stream my film to their subscribers. Some examples would be Sky TV, HBO, and STARZ. This also includes distributing media through cable boxes at hotels.
- Free Video-On-Demand
Some places I could give of free VOD's would be Vimeo and YouTube as they are really popular. Once I have one of these behind me it is more likely for a VOD like Netflix to pick up my film.
4. Target The VOD Distributing Platforms
These are a few things I will need to do to target the VOD platforms. These are what I need to keep in mind before I try to get a VOD:
- Ad-Supported Video-On-Demand (AVOD)
This is where I can get my movies preview onto the VOD because they have ads. Examples of these sites are YouTube, TVNZ On Demand, and Hulu.
- Subscription Video-On-Demand (SVOD)
For VOD's my aim would be to get my movie on it and get part of the monthly/weekly subscriptions from the VOD. I would need to enter it in to film festivals and have a good following from YouTube or Vimeo to get into a dacent VOD like Netflix or Amazon Prime.
-Transactional Video-On-Demand(TVOD)
This is where viewers pay per movie that they watch. There are two options:
-Cable Video-On-Demand- Ad-Supported Video-On-Demand (AVOD)
This is where I can get my movies preview onto the VOD because they have ads. Examples of these sites are YouTube, TVNZ On Demand, and Hulu.
- Subscription Video-On-Demand (SVOD)
For VOD's my aim would be to get my movie on it and get part of the monthly/weekly subscriptions from the VOD. I would need to enter it in to film festivals and have a good following from YouTube or Vimeo to get into a dacent VOD like Netflix or Amazon Prime.
-Transactional Video-On-Demand(TVOD)
This is where viewers pay per movie that they watch. There are two options:
- Electronic Sell Through (EST): With EST, the consumer downloads the film and has unlimited viewing access.
- Download to Rent (DTR): Download to Rent is the digital equivalent of renting a movie for a very short period of time. Platforms leveraging the TVOD model include iTunes. iTunes extends filmmakers 70% of the profits, with Apple retaining 30% for every movie download or rental. Amazon Video is another TVOD player, however, at profits 50/50, the split is less generous than iTunes for the up-and-coming filmmaker.
This is where premium channels on TV buy the right to stream my film to their subscribers. Some examples would be Sky TV, HBO, and STARZ. This also includes distributing media through cable boxes at hotels.
- Free Video-On-Demand
Some places I could give of free VOD's would be Vimeo and YouTube as they are really popular. Once I have one of these behind me it is more likely for a VOD like Netflix to pick up my film.
5. Determine Whether I want A Theatrical Release
I probably wouldn't have a theatrical release because of a lack of money and a lack of connecctions to make it possible simnce my film would be on a smaller side of things.
6. Promoting My Independent Film
I would need to get a niche market of ambassadors to back up my movie with funding.
These are some of the keys of promoting my film:
- Promote your film with a trailer. If it’s shareable, your fans will do the legwork for you.
- Put together a press kit. Your press kit should include a one-pager (synopsis of your film on one page), images, and a personal story.
- Create a website for your production. Keep things personal and include authentic stories of your major above-the-line team members, factoids about your film, and news on upcoming screenings.
- Be sure to cultivate an email list of your fans. You can announce to your minions when your film lands distribution and where they can view the film. Your email list can also come in handy when it comes time to promote your next film coming down the pike.
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