Practice Question: Internet Piracy

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

Internet piracy seems to have had an impact on the film industry in terms of a decrease of profit in the film's being created, especially in Hollywood films. Independent films do not seem as affected by piracy because they are low budget films anyway and if they do not make all of their money back it will not affect independent film makers as much because their budget is not as big. A lot of independent film makers release their films straight to DVD at the same time of their film being released in cinema's to give film goers a choice in how they would like to watch this film to try and make more of their money back. Mainstream film makers seem to have taken a different approach to independent film makers as they have responded to internet piracy with the resurgence of 3D, giving audiences an illusion of a new experience and do not even think about taking risks with films anymore because otherwise they will not make more money than their original production budget. However because of mainstream films continuously producing 3D blockbusters this may well encourage people to pirate or go out and watch other kinds of films like independent and foreign films which offer an intellectual storyline and not more sequels of Transformers and find more diversity in films.

The internet allowed pirated films to become easily accessible to the public through file sharing services such as services which has now been closed down by the FBI which may have been a way of the film industry making a statement that internet piracy is affecting the film industry and that they now cannot show a more diverse film range in cinemas because of the public essentially stealing money from them which they could have used to take more risks in film making. This caused the resurgence of 3D which made the digital distribution of newer films more difficult to be pirated since you cannot pirate a 3D film. This gave audiences the illusion of a new experience as an attempt to raise cinema attendance since ticket sales have began to drop since 2010. This has impacted the film industry in terms of exhibition since their is a 30% colour loss in 3D films, actually decreasing colour quality in films. Action and Horror genres also now dominate 3D since  they work best with 3D e.g. Avatar.

Socially, pirating films became fashionable to stay indoors and watch a pirated film on TV or on a laptop than go out and pay to watch a film. Cinema attendance decreased from this and as a response films that had pre existing audiences were rereleased in 3D such as Titanic which was directed by James Cameron who is a supporter of 3D and created Avatar. This caused more films to be influenced by 3D to try and give audiences an illusion of a new experienced. Directors such as Guilermo Del Toro  have been forced in to changing their films in to implementing 3D features, Pacific Rim was forced in to 3D and Guilermo Del Toro lost partial control over the directing of his film because he did not want it to be a 3D and his superiors decided otherwise. This suggests that internet piracy has posed a threat top the film industry because the industry is so scared of losing money that they are taking control away from certain directors who don't support the use of 3D.

It is free to pirate films and audiences would probably much rather watch a film for free than go and watch it in the cinema if the choice is available. The film industry has been losing money because of this and presented new 'experiences' when going to see a film such as IMAX cinemas which give audiences a bigger screen and sound quality and 3D films. The introduction of subscription based services such as Hulu, Netflix has helped make the film industry gain some of their revenue back. Youtube has been used to help advertise a different assortment of films both independent and mainstream allowing more independent film makers to get more attention for their films and possibly to attract investors, an example of this is Gravity.

In conclusion, internet piracy has seemed to have become a threat to the film industry, causing them to not be able to take risks in film making, only releasing films in 3D to reduce the risk of piracy and releasing blockbusters which have a high chance of making a high profit. They also cannot release independent and foreign films in mainstream cinemas because of this risk of not making enough money back. Causing their to be a lack of a well developed plot line in films in blockbusters even though it has been done in films such a Inception and Gravity. This is similar to the 1960s when the recession damaged the film industry causing them to only produce films with a low risk that would make back their production budget.

Film Homework: Question Planning

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

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. 

Video Nasty Planning

Practice Question: Multiplexes

What factors led to the decline of town or city centres cinemas in the late 1970s and early 1980s?

Certain factors such as production, distribution and exhibition in the film industry have influenced the decline in town or city centre cinemas which have been influenced by different changes within society which led to an increase in multiplexes on the outskirts of city areas as well as the atmosphere in cinemas becoming more of a social experience rather than going to actually enjoy a film which led to the rise of multiplexes being placed in shopping centres. In terms of technology since visual effects from companies like Industrial, Light and Magic (ILM) were becoming more popular it led to people desiring a spectacle in which they could only get that experience from a multiplex and not in town or city centre cinemas'. Economically, merchandise and marketing made films in a multiplex more profitable since multiplexes were placed in shopping centres which influenced the decreasing popularity of town or city cinemas. In response to these factors blockbusters were being made to fill multiplexes to have more control over films being made and multiplexes were being created to house blockbusters because the film industry realised that this would make a profit because all audiences wanted were style over substance films.

As town or city centre cinema declined in came the rise of the blockbuster and multiplexes. In terms of production, companies were beginning to play more with special effects to create a spectacle and in return, these new effects created hype around films like Jaws turning it in to an event movie, creating the idea of going to a multiplex to be a social experience. An example of directors using new visual effects in their films to create a spectacle is when George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created ILM which was involved in the creation of Star Wars and also influenced the creation of ET in years to follow. As a result of this it has later influenced other film companies to conform to similar production techniques as they new they would get large audiences from films with spectacle over substance. Only multiplexes could house blockbusters because in terms of technology multiplex cinemas had wider screens, as well as better sound and video qualities which town or city centres did not have which led to a decrease in popularity for these 'flea pit' cinema's because they were using older screen technology and could not offer the same viewing experience that multiplexes could.

As the UK were just coming out of a recession most families were still quite tight with money and could not go out to enjoy films in the cinema which meant there was a loss of business for town or city centre cinema's because they could rent a film and get the same experience that they would in a town or city centre cinema. Also piracy was also a huge issue, an example of this is ET, ET was the most pirated film in 1982. Piracy meant that American Hollywood Studios (AHS) were getting less revenue from the blockbusters and they therefore needed something brand new to give audiences or find another way to make their money back. They did this through merchandising. Blockbusters began to only be played in multiplexes and turned blockbusters in to event movies. This led to marketing a film selling merchandise and advertisement to increase revenue and attraction to the film before it is even released. An example of a film which followed this formula of marketing is the Star Wars franchise and the film was only given to Multiplexes as they created a bigger experience than town or city centre cinema with better seating and better sound quality. This hurt town and city centre cinema's as all the films that were making huge amounts of money were only being played in multiplexes which caused town and city centre cinemas to decline.Technological advancements like VHS and VCR meant that people did not need to leave home to watch films, because of this it became fashionable to watch films in your own home. This created an alternative to going to the cinema that was not available before. It would not be before the rise of the multiplex that people started going to see films again. Small town and city centre cinemas lacked the social event status that VHS and VCR provided. However, something to note is that  because of the recession most homes would not have a VHS or VCR because they would not be able to afford one which suggests that this technological advancement may not be the sole factor in the decline of town or city centre cinemas. A contrasting point however is that for the homes that did have a VHS or VCR it would be cheaper to rent a film, than to go out and watch a film in a 'flea pit cinema'.

During the late 70s and early 80s teenagers quickly became the cinemas main audience, they became this because they were economically dependent on their parents, were granted a disposable income and were able to go out socially whilst their parents worked for them. They were attracted to multiplexes which were placed in shopping centers which were where teenagers would interact socially before multiplexes were placed their anyway. This in a sense devalued cinema because it turned it in to a 'shopping experience'. Blockbusters also in return became formulaic to fit what teenagers liked. An example of this is Jaws, Jaws was a violent film which attracted teenagers and it was also based in the summer time in a beach setting which is relatable to things that teenagers like to do socially. Jaws was also released during the Summer time during a time where teenagers would go to the beach as well. This led to the decline in town or city centers because teenage audiences had a big influence on the film industry and multiplexes attracted them more than town or city centers because multiplexes gave them more choice and gave them a new experience in where they interact socially and town or city centers did not deliver the same experience so teenagers did not go there to see their films.

In conclusion there seems to have been a substantial decline in town or city centre cinema in the late 1970's and early 80's which seems to have a correlation with the rise of the blockbuster and the rise of the multiplex. There also seems to be a correlation between the rise of home video and a decline in cinema attendance in town or city centre cinema. These have been influenced by social, economic and technological factors which offered new experiences for cinema audiences and you could only achieve the best experience apparently in multiplexes which pretty much put town or city centers out of business because blockbusters were only being played in multiplexes who were placed in the UK by AHS and multiplexes eventually became an experience for cinema goers, rather than actually going for the film itself, essentially devaluing films and blockbusters began to be created to be place in multiplexes and multiplexes created to house blockbusters.