1. Assignment 4a
TV
TV on Demand Services
There are times were you are not home to watch your favourite programme, possibly to a tight
schedule. Going back to the year 2000, there was no such thing as on demand television services. If
people were stuck in traffic or at school for a revision session, and they are unaware that they will
not get home on time they will have to accept the fact that they have missed a particular
programme. The terrestrial channels, BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 have all created an
‘omnibus’ episode on a certain day so that people can catch up, if they have missed previous
episodes over the week. On 25 December 2007, BBC announced that they have introduced the first
on demand service to allow people to watch programmes they have missed at anytime. Before the
introduction of this new technology, people had to accept the fact that they were going to miss the
programmes they want to watch. The BBC has started a trend by introducing demand services for
people to watch their programmes. What makes BBC iPlayer different from other on demand
services is that it allows people to watch the BBC channels live on their phones or tablets. If I wanted
to watch something like Eastenders, but I am aware that I won’t get home on time to watch the full
episode, I can just watch it on my phone. For the people who produced this on demand service, they
must feel proud that their service is used by people all over the UK, but most intriguingly, people
across the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean use these services. They generate their revenue by people
overseas using the service and from an international digital audience that supports the license fee in
the UK. There are a few advantages that support the producers who introduced this on demand
service. For the producer, they may not be making money from people using the service in the UK,
but they have introduced an international service were people around the world can use it. They
have added a small fee of £6.13 a month, which people outside the UK have to pay in order to use
the service. So, the BBC will be generating more revenue into the company. For the audience, there
are benefits of using this service as it allows you to be up-to-date with all your programmes. This
service is accessible on phones and tablets, so you can watch something while on the go. Finally, if
your relative is busy watching something on the television, you can just watch it on your phone or
tablet, so you won’t miss out.
Netflix
Netflix is an American provider that allows people to watch television programmes or the latest
films. Going back to 2000, there were no websites that allow you to watch television programmes or
films whatsoever. If you wanted to watch a television programme, you can only watch them on
television. Whereas, when it comes to watching a film, there was only one place to do so and that is
the cinema. The wonderful thing about technology is that there is always something new invented.
Netflix was first introduced in 1999, but it was only accessible for people living in the US. However,
in 2009, it all changed as people from South America, the Caribbean and some parts of Europe were
able to access the website. It has become one of the most successful start-up businesses of all time
in the business world because it has generated a huge amount of revenue and it is constantly
growing. In April 2011, Netflix had announced that they have received a whopping 23.6n subscriber’s
in the US and a further 26 million worldwide. For a business that only served the US by offering
viewing a selective range of programmes, to know showing a wide variety of programmes worldwide
2. is astonishing. The producer of this service will be generating a huge amount of money every year,
with many people agreeing to subscribe the website. In order to draw a huge audience to their
website, they have agreed to allow viewers to watch anything they want for a month, as part of their
promotional and marketing strategies. After that one month, you will have to start paying to use this
on demand service, by paying a fee of £5.99 a month. This is brilliant for the founder of the website
because many people each month. To calculate this, I have added the 23m people in the US and 26m
people worldwide to find out the average amount of people who join each month. About 4.1m
people join the website each month internationally. The money coming into the business can be
used for promotional activities by getting social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to advertise
their company. In terms of the audience, the website is easily accessible to use and you can watch
any programme/film anytime you want. Rather than having to go to the cinema to watch a film, you
can easily watch it on the website. The people signing up to the website will know that they are
paying £5.99 for something that is very much worth its money. As technology has been growing
rapidly over the last few years, Netflix has made it accessible to allow people to use the on demand
service on game consoles like PS3, Nintendo Wii and also Blu-ray players. This is really good, as not
everyone in the world is going to have access to a computer, so Netflix have allowed people to use
the service a variety of ways.
Pay per view
It is not possible for people to watch huge events on terrestrial television or other channels. Pay per
view is an on demand service that allows people to watch huge events and sporting events. Pay per
view first came into place around 1990-2000, and ever since it has become very popular amongst
people around the world. People who are willing to purchase a pay per view deal, can choose from
an ever-growing range of content. In the UK, the most common pay per view system used is Sky Box
Office. Sky Box Office, the main pay per view channel in the UK, shows some of the most exciting
boxing matches and all of the massive WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) events. In the year
2000, the pay per view service was introduced for the English Premier League. With NTL, the first
sporting channel originally showing the first pay per view for football channels. For many people, it
was a disadvantage because they wouldn’t be able to afford to watch football games, once the new
rule comes into place. However, signing up to this pay per view service will allow individuals to
watch any good sporting activity whenever they want. With the introduction of Sky Sports, they
have been agreed a deal to show a lot of sporting activities like football, tennis, rugby league and
many more sports on their channel. They have been the iconic channel to watch all of your sports,
but on 13th
May 2013, BT Sport agreed a deal to show live football, European football, European
competitions and many more sporting activities. On that day, the feud between Sky Sports and BT
Sport began, to see who will be able to withstand the race. The owners of both Sky and BT Sports
will know that people who are in to sports will subscribe the channels, by offering people a variety of
packages for them to buy. This is important to establish a relationship with your customers because
offering them a variety of packages to buy, all ranging from different prices will get people to buy it.
Looking at this from an audience’s perspective, you will have access to watch great games and you
will have great deals to choose from.
3. How has technology in Film changed and what has been the impact of these changes for audiences
and producers inthe film industry?
Online Piracy
Couple of years ago, online piracy or illegal DVD’s has been a revelation in the film industry and
many people around the world have taken advantage of it. Film piracy can occur by people watching
a particular film and copying it, which is then distributed illegally. When film piracy first started,
people would bring a camcorder or use their mobile phones to record a film at the cinema. Whilst
thinking about this, I am aware that once people publish films onto the internet the sound quality is
very poor. Over the years, people not only record what’s on the screen, but they also bring
something else that can be used to record the sound. With the quality of pirate movies is fairly poor,
the sound recorded will help rejuvenate the film, with it being recorded with a microphone. Going
back couple of years, I did not believe that pirate films had any effect on cinemas or the company
who produced it. Now, I am conscious that pirate movies is costing producers a lot of revenue with
more people willing to stay home at watch the film. This will have an effect on distributors, as
similarly they won’t be generating any revenue into the business.
The Intellectual Property published a statement, which revealed the damages caused by online
pirate movies. In 2008, the USA has lost an estimate of $1.3bn and another $6.1bn if you were to
include every country in the world. All of that money has been lost because of people committing
online piracy acts. As a producer, that is a substantial amount of revenue that has gone down the
drain. If I was a producer, and there has been a downfall of 1.3bn in a year, then how much will it
cost to produce another film? Many film companies will rely on generating a lot of profit from one
film, so that it will help fund to produce another film. This may mean that movie exhibitions will
have to charge audiences a lot of money to watch films. Each consumer has an easy accessibility of
watching a film at home on the computer. But, going to cinemas will provide a better experience
such as watching a film in 3D. You can’t watch a pirate film in 3D on your computer because it won’t
create the same enthusiasm. The Guardian has published an article talking about how an American
cinema company has stopped people wearing ‘Google Glasses’ from entering the cinema. Allegedly,
the cinema company believe that glasses can record and take photographs whilst you are watching a
film. With small minority of people willing to carry out very dodgy acts, they have no choice to stop
people wearing these glasses at the cinema. I agree with this America cinema has banned Google
Glasses from entering their premises because with now improving, this is an opportunity for people
to seize the chance to use these glasses to film the whole movie. Cinemas around the world should
employ the same rules as this cinema, to stop people with this device from recording movies. I know
that watching pirate movies is a safer bet than going to the cinema, as you won’t lose any money.
But going to the cinema will provide a better experience, as the size of the screen and sound is not
available t people at home. There are more advantages of going to the cinema than it is at home, as
watching pirate movies won’t be the same quality.
Camera editing software’s - CGI and Special effects
I am aware that technology is constantly growing, with new inventions being introduced. A lot of the
phenomenal visual effects you see in films just show how movies in this century are completely
different to movies from previous centuries. The use of CGI (Computer-generated imagery), has
changed how movies look today. This technique is generated only used for video games, but it has
4. now found a place within the film industry. The first film to have used the CGI technique is the movie
Avatar. This film is regarded as one of the best films because it created an illusion of reality to a lot
of people. According to the Guardian, they published an article about the secret of James Cameron’s
new film Avatar. I have found that James Cameron decided to make 70% of the film around CGI, and
30% of the film uses the footage filmed on a green screen. Looking at another film, Gravity, the film
makers have stated that using software’s that are available for people to use to create CGI will take
proximately 7000 years to finish the film. This is amazing how it will take that long just to render a
whole film. Just imagine from an audience’s perspective, in having to wait that long just for a film.
The director of Gravity stated that it took 50 hours for the movie to render. There are only a few CGI
based studios that exist in the world. Creating films using special effects will get people intrigued and
possibly go out and see the movie. Special effects used today by film companies make films seem
more appealing and gets a wider audience to come and see it. In terms of the producer, they are
spending approximately $5000-10,000 to buy CGI software’s used to make Avatar and Gravity.
Directors of movies will know that CGI based films will help generate a lot of money because you
cannot replicate the visual images onto normal editing software’s. The film industry has become the
latest industry to become active in using CGI and special effects for their films.
3d-4d
The use of 3 dimensional motion pictures has become very popular within the film industry. This was
originally introduced in 1915, but did really come into place in films until the year 2000. The purpose
of 3D based films was to create something were able to visualise certain things that will appear as if
it is in from of them. Some of the films that are 3D based are Beowulf, Avatar, Spy Kids and Journey
to the Centre of the Earth. In order to experience 3D, you are required to wear glasses which consist
of one side being the colour red, and the other being the colour blue. Many people would come to
cinemas to watch movies 3D to experience what it is like. As the years go by, the introduction of 4D
didn’t really take long. It was first developed in October 2011, but it did not come into place until
January 2014. This dimension combines with 3D with physical effects being included, which will be in
synchronizing with the film. Producers of films try to recreate their films to be in 4D, to give people a
better experience than it 3D would. I believe that there are disadvantages of producers making their
films in 4D. I may be wrong, but if I was keen to go watch a film in 4D I will get to the cinema and
find out it is expensive to watch the film. This will scare away potential customers, and they will
decide to watch the movie at home. However, if I was to look at this from an audience perspective,
you will experience something you have never seen or felt by watching a 4D film at the cinema. You
will be able to share your excitement with the people around you. You will not get the same
experience as you would do at the cinema. The technology is constantly growing within the film
industry, and it is very exciting to see or hear about what they will introduce in the future.
Bibliography
1. http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jan/22/google-glass-cinema-amc-homeland-
security
2. http://screencomment.com/2011/05/movie-piracy-exacts-a-cost-thats-real/
3. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1362476/BBC-global-iPlayer-subscription-
cheaper-licence-fee.html
