Tuesday 22 April 2014

Linio Notes: 3D question


Quiz Answers

1) Action Blockbusters 
Action Blockbusters fast pace it suited a 3D format better than a independent drama as it makes better use of the format and it will make the most money.
2) Yes
Cinemas in the digital screen network were able to release more independent films as it is now cheaper to distribute them and their is less fear of losing money behind them, for example Submarine and Casablanca.
3) Broadband Internet connection/Illegal piracy
People who had an internet connection could download films illegally from file sharing sites such as Megaupload and it meant that people could watch films at home and for free which cause the film industry to lose revenue.
4) Yes
Gives audiences an illusion of a new experiences and older films tend to be rereleased in 3D such as titanic which has a pre-existing audiences and the company are guaranteed to make back their production budget because of this.
5) Yes/No
Yes as it reduces the films colour quality during production as well as costing more to produce. However it does not have a negative effect because it gives audiences an illusion of a new experience and a guaranteed, high grossing revenue back.
6) James Cameron (Avatar)
Martin Scorcese (Hugo)        Both Heavily reliant on 3D
7) Money Laundering/Breaching intellectual property copyright
Megaupload was a subscribe based service which promoted illegal film piracy
Pirating films breaks film copyright laws.
8) Cheaper to get in to cinemas
Distribution costs were lower so independent films could get in to multiplexes without a risk of not making their money back.

8/8 Everything so far as i'm concerned is correct here. GG WP NO RE. --Adam

Thursday 10 April 2014

Practice Question - Video Nasties

Film censorship is motivated by fears about audiences and technology. Discuss this statement in reference to the concerns expressed about uncensored and unregulated video content. (1980s)


Film censorship was created to protect audiences from potentially inappropriate topics in film and to try and minimise the influence of illegal distribution of unregulated films as well as minimising the damage that piracy was causing in the early 1980's. Although, this was not the only reason why film censorship was created. Margaret Thatcher, Mary Whitehouse and the rise of home video causing a decrease in income in for cinema's were all factors which influenced film censorship.

Through the increase of home video, people saw this as a new craze and it became fashionable. These new technologies like VHS and Betamax meant that people can now see films which may be considered inappropriate for them. For example, young teenagers watching 18+ rated movies which influenced film censorship to try and stop films like this being accessible to audiences which would be inappropriate for them to watch. The rise of both home video systems allowed much more efficient piracy for audiences and unlimited access to unregulated films an example of this would be Evil Dead which had intense gore which would be inappropriate for viewers under the age of 18. This caused cinema's to lose money since people were more likely to stay at home and rent a film than go out and watch a film, especially lower budget films which would not have been distributed to big cinemas. The 1980's led to many films considered as 'video nasties' being created and censored by the BBFC. The aim of this was to supposedly protect the people from possible psychological effects from the graphic gore in these films an example of this would be I Spit on your Grave.

This seemed to stir up a 'moral panic' within the conservative party who were in power at the time who were led by Margaret Thatcher who used home video and 'video nasties' as scapegoats for the economic problems they were experiencing such as power cuts during the weeks, shortening work days for people in England as well as unemployment in general in England. Thatcher claimed that these video nasties were a threat to the people as they may possibly influence people to recreate certain aspects of them. These films also spread messages which contrasted with conservative views and the conservatives wanted to control what messages were being sent which was part of this moral panic. Mary Whitehouse also further reinforced these conservative views through media watch which was all about reinforcing family values, or what right wing sympathizers would consider as wholesome family values.

At first, video nasties were only banned in the cinema, but not for home video. The BBFC however did not enforced the Video Recordings Act (1984). This meant that all films which may be considered a video nasties must have been sent to the BBFC for evaluation. An interesting fact is that the BBFC were not very strict with video nasties until there was a conservative influence within the group who linked video nasties to problems within British society. They also feared these films would have a negative influence on the populations behavior. An interesting contrasting point however would be that there is no real recorded evidence or correlation to show that in the 1980's to even suggest that video nasties had an influence on crime rates and national issues in Britain during the 80's.

In conclusion, film censorship seems to have been influenced in some ways by the government through their beliefs that video nasties would have some affect on the general population. Home video was also a major issue, because without VHS or Betamax there would have been no way of getting around film censorship, so film censorship in the 80's was seriously influenced by technological advancements during that time. In comparison to the film industry today there seems to be a massive hole where video nasties used to be apart from a few which caused uproar such as The Human Centipede. Audiences have seemed to become desensitized to these kinds of films in modern society. Personally, I do not believe films should be censored but however still have regulations enforced on them as then it would be more down to personal choice rather that what the ruling government thinks you should see.