How I Watch Films

As an avid film fan, I love to watch films. I try to watch at least one film a week at the minimum. With my guardians both having unlimited cards at Cineworld, or as i like to call 'Cinecard', they often go to the cinema and it has almost become ritual now that when they go, they invite me along too, and sure enough I oblige. However, it would not be possible for me to afford the cinema like my sister and brother-in-law (my guardians) as I have little money available so I have to make other means of watching films. We are subscribed to the full package on Sky which entitles us to Sky Movies which is one of my main platforms to watch films. However, some films take a while to come onto Sky Movies and sometimes I cannot wait for it to broadcast on television so I will download the film I want off the internet. I know the picture and sound quality might not always be the greatest, but boredom and the urge to see a certain film succumbs me. Where I can, if affordable, I will buy DVDs too based on what I know the film and from what other people have told me about the film. My brother-in-law has a collection of about 1000 DVDs and I have roughly 250 of my own. I use Total Film to find out what they have rated the film and this sometimes detracts or attracts me to a film.

The Long Tail Theory

Chris Anderson is the man is first came up with the long-tail theory. My best understanding of this term is that the potential aggregate size of the many small markets in goods that don't individually sell well enough for traditional retail and broadcast distribution may someday rival that of the existing large market in goods that do cross that economic bar.

The term refers specifically to the orange part of the sales chart above, which shows a standard demand curve that could apply to any industry, from entertainment to hard goods. The vertical axis is sales; the horizontal is products. The red part of the curve is the hits, which have dominated our markets and culture for most of the last century. The orange part is the non-hits, or niches, which is where the new growth is coming from now and in the future.

Traditional retail economics dictate that stores only stock the likely hits, because shelf space is expensive. But online retailers (from Amazon to iTunes) can stock virtually everything, and the number of available niche products outnumber the hits by several orders of magnitude. Those millions of niches are the Long Tail, which had been largely neglected until recently in favor of the Short Head of hits.

Changes in film distribution

The way that film has changed over the decades has changed massively since the origin of film. Distribution is the most important part of the film industry, where completed films are glorified and are able to engage with the audience. Back in the day, films were only distributed for cinema screens only but now can be screened theatrically, or for home release (such as DVD and Blu-ray and the now dissolved VHS) or broadcast on television. All of which weren't available when film distribtuion began.  Distribution of film is carefully considered when releasing a film for various reasons. Distributors will look to find out when other films are being released, and will look for a 'light' week where there's not many films on the screen, therefore more screen time and reviewing from critics. Distributors now try to release films on dates where there may be similar films being released. Films were marketed back in the 30s by purely billboards and 'word of mouth' which contrasts heavily to what happens currently. It was often cheaper to have double feature or 'double bill' showings where two films would be shown for the price of one. Film is now marketed quite heavily on the internet as viral marketing, because technology is taking over the world, and with youth of generation Z upcoming, this would be the most enticing way to attract audiences.

Introduction to the online age

As each day passes, the hours tally and the seconds tick by, media is forever revolutionising. It is becoming bigger and better, striving with convergence and proliferation. For anything to even survive in today's world, it needs to branch on to the web, or have some form of intertextuality. Old media is new media. For example, a magazine which may not be available to purchase in a shop may be available online, possibly dating back through the decades. It’s almost unthinkable how some products can globalise within a matter of hours, like the popular video uploading site YouTube. As stated above, the internet is continually developing. Some people refer to different stages of the internet, with there currently being 3 different stages since the creation:

Web 1.0 -refers to the first stage of the World Wide Web linking webpages with hyperlinks.

Web 2.0 - the term used to describe social web, especially the current business models of sites on the World Wide Web (facebook, twitter, bebo etc.)

Web 3.0 - Some believe its most important features are the Semantic Web and personalization. Focusing on the computer elements, Conrad Wolfram has argued that Web 3.0 is where "the computer is generating new information", rather than humans. (android market, second life)

Henry Jenkins says that convergence culture is where 'old and new media collide, where grassroots and corporate media intersect, where the power of the media producer and the power of the media consumer interact in unpredictable way' - what this means is that old media can become popular again using new media and this is achievable through intertextuality. Magazines or newspapers can display to customers that they also have a website where they can interact, look at audio and video content as well as display the stories absolutely free of charge. This effectively shows how old media can combine with new media. In terms of film marketing, an old film may have been reviewed years ago and may not be available to the general public, yet due to the collision of old and new media, these reviews could be accessible. This could attract both young and old audiences: older audiences (possibly baby boomer generation/generation x) may be able to gain access to what they had when they were younger, as well as appealing to younger audiences or generation Z who have always grown up with technology around them, which may seem like normality to use the web to find history.

Due to the increasing world of the internet anyone - like the new American dream - can go from 'rags to riches' within a few hours. The increase in web 2.0 means that people can communicate with celebrities, as well as post videos on YouTube which, with reference to web 1.0, can globalise or at least propel through the 'word of mouse'.

Relating to this, viral marketing has become almost a neccessity in the appeal of film. Blair Witch Project, coined one the highest profit making film of all time and this was achieved through the medium of internet advertising. this gained appeal from 'word of mouse' and claimed 'true story' which intrigued viewers worldwide. other films to gain massive success through viral marketing include The Dark Knight.