General Introduction - Part 1

1) Why is convergence both a blessing and a curse for the UK film industry?

• Convergence is a blessing to the film industry because it increases the amount of different ways in which the audience can consume a film. However, it is a curse as problems such as piracy are arising at a rapid rate, which could mean the end of the film industry, as we know it.
• Convergence is a good thing as producers and distributors can make more and more money by distributing their films, “across several media” – Movies coming together with videogames, such as Quantum of Solace is a great way for companies to make a lot of money.
• “Represents an opportunity to build on its competitive strengths internationally” – enhances company’s growth and productivity and allows them to develop other skills.
•  Film theft and online copyright – represents a major threat to the film industry.
•  Number of illegal downloads has increased rapidly from 5% to 7-15 per year in the UK – the increasing broadband speed in the UK will also be an obstacle as it allows for quicker illegal downloads, which in turn is a huge problem for the Film industry.

2) How has the Internet allowed filmmakers to find and attract audiences in different ways?

·      One of the main ways the Internet has allowed filmmakers to attract different types of audiences is through social network sites such as facebook and twitter. (Audience fragmentation as all these different ways of accessing media ‘breaks up’ the audience group for particular films.)

·      YouTube has been a revelation ever since it was made and it is a great way to promote films through advertisements, which take place before a video and to watch trailers of films that have either, already been made or are going to come out in the future.

·      Csigo (2007) – less big budget movies made nowadays as they are aimed at promoting a ‘cult’ audience. – Result of increase in Internet usage.

·      People use Internet all the time and so film companies are, “desperately trying to provide 360–degree branding for their films” – Csigo again states that film industries are no longer interested in keeping audiences together.

3) Summarise how you think sites like YouTube, Spotify and Facebook are good for film audiences. What do they let us do, that we couldn’t before?

•  YouTube – this online website, which is owned by Google, allows us as audience members to catch up on trailers of films that are coming out in the cinema. YouTube often plays adverts before videos, which is another way to promote films that may be coming out. It effectively allows you to watch trailers and clips of films and in extreme circumstances the whole film for free and is a great way for companies to advertise their film.
• social Network sites, such as Facebook are also excellent for promoting films across a wide range of audiences as everyone uses Facebook nowadays. Facebook provides the option for audiences to ‘like’ certain pages and also add comments about their own personal views on a certain film etc, which would influence other audience members when reading those comments.

• Spotify, despite being a predominately music streaming site is also another way in, which movie companies can promote their films through pop ups that appear, whilst listening to a song.