Movie-Making in the Digital Age
In his article, Graham Roberts quotes Owen Thomas .. "Technology doesn't matter. Nobody pays to see it. Nobody cares. Any discussion of where cinema goes must remember this." This is the most sensible statement I have read in regard to the debate about digital media. Why, does cinema think itself as so very important? When was the last time a movie changed the world, or even defined or signified an era? It is smoke and mirrors. A trick show at worst, at best a great medium for storytelling. It is simply entertainment. Now in the post modern age, the practitioners of this art are using digital instead of analogue methods to create the same product. It should not matter what or how these tools have made life easier or in sum cases more difficult for the filmmaker. They are merely tools. The music industry moved to digital recording, editing and production approx a decade before the film industry did. But yet there was no discussion on whether or how these techniques affected the product (the album). The artists still had to write, sing and play just as they did in analogue days. Yes, the recording and production were made easier, but those things are invisible to the customer shelling out 15 bucks or whatever for the CD. Yes, of course there is the old vinyl/CD debate, but that was never about the quality of the product, just about the resonance of the sound. It did not compromise the music itself.
Why then is there such a big debate about moving to new technology in movies?
Robert's article was published in 2004, however most of his arguments were outdated even then, particularly those regarding distribution via the web . By 2004 most technology professional would have agreed that the bandwidth wasn't there yet, but nobody had any doubts that they soon would be. Of course by 2008, not only are they there, but its also very widely used from sites like Netflix etc on the legitimate side and quciksilverscreen.com, surfthecannel.com etc which aggregate pirated material from web sites all over the world.
Why do film industry professionals, critics, and indeed movie buffs, take it all so seriously? Is it because they just love being dramatic? Its just new technology, baby.
Copyright in Cyberspace.
There's nothing new in copyright piracy. VCRs, tape machine, photocopiers, and of course computer have had the ability to copy stuff for years. Now, however, everybody can access pirated stuff far more readily. Problem is that the most secure systems allow copyright holders to protect their interests they also infringe on fair use, which has been struck down by US courts as being illegal. But, the unsecure systems allow, and almost encourage piracy. And there really is no middle ground. As some as somebody unveils a digital rights management (DRM) system, some hacker somewhere will find a way to break it, usually within days of its release. Again the music industry has struggled with this for the last decade, and still have come up with no technological solution, instead they have started to investigate and implement new ways to derive revenue from different streams and through different channels. The business model has most definitely changed. I would imaging that it was time for the movie people to think about doing the same. They have over charged us for years (just like the music industry did) and now they will have to come up with a new model to protect and generate revenue that is being lost because of piracy.
I love the anarchy that new media has brought to these old institutions that have had it so good for so long.
Reality, if the studios etc want to protect their interests against the digital pirates, they should provide their customers (the movie-goer) with a better product, something value-added. For over 100 years they have had the same formula, crowd people into a theater, turn off the lights ... time for something new to keep their customers happy. How about a beer with that, buddy? :)
