Starter:
What films are being screened - research & categorise
Mainstream
Independent
Foreign (subtitled)/
Specialist/Classics
Do they give their audience a diverse range of films?
Question - how is this impacted by the Digital Screen Network/Digital Distribution?
Digital screen network
1). What is the digital screen network?
It
is a £12 million investment, a national lottery investment which equips
240 screens in 210 cinemas across the uk with digital projection
technology which gives the audiences a greater choice of film.
2). How can it help independent producers and exhibitors like picture house?
It
will help independent producers and exhibitors like picture house
because it enables them to distribute a vaster amount of films across
their screens, which will therefore increase their audience numbers. It
also increases the amount of times that one film is shown and enables
them to show a greater selection of films which appeals to a wide
variety of people and specialized films that are not generic hollywood
films.
3). What will it mean for audiences?
It
will mean that audiences get the chance to watch a wider variety of
films, such as critically acclaimed films. It also means that film
distribution can be increased as it is cheaper to reproduce the films as
they are digital as opposed to 35 mm film, which is very expensive to
reproduce.
4). How does your local area benefit?
My
local area benefits from this as two out of the three cinemas in the
city have one digital screen each. One of the cinemas is independent and
one is mainstream. This benefits my local area, because it enables
local people to be able to watch specialized films, which are of
interest to the local people it also will increase the number of people
who use those particular cinemas, because films are shown more often,
therefore helping the entertainment industry and the local economy.
5). How does it impact on your film consumption?
The
use of digital screen technology impacts my individual film
consumption, as it offers a wider variety of times for me to watch the
film, it also allows me to be able to see independent films that i may
not have otherwise been able to watch.
6). What will this technology also provide to cinemas?
The
technology will increase the amount of people who use the cinema,
therefore increasing its profits, it will also bring the cinema a wider
audience base and have a more varied audience.
Arguments from an AS student (at a rival 6th form college)
New digital cinema production affects the films and other products that
cinema city and vue produce and distribute, because digital technology
enables the cinemas to screen more films, because it is cheaper to use
digital technology as opposed to a 35mm films reel, which is extremly
costly and difficult to use. Digital technology also enables the cinema
to screen 3D films, which widens the audience and gives them a unique
selling point. The use of digital technology, enable the cinemas to
exhibit a wider vairety and more screenings of each films, therefore
increasing the audience and increasing profits that the cinemas and the
films make. It affects how the audience consumes the product because it
offers the audience a wider variety of films to watch and the experience
of 3D and watching live streaming concerts and sporting matches at the
cinema.
This enable us to increase our individual
consumption of films, because of the increasing ways in which we can
access them, however this also has its disadvantages because it will
decrease the conventional ways to watch a film and will decrease profits
made by cinemas and film companies, therefore leading to a decrease in
film making within the film industry. Piracy is has an effect on our
consumption of films, because although it is exploiting the film
company, directors and actors, however it increases people film
consumption. Although it increases the amount of people who watch the
film, it does not increase the profits that are made, because people are
getting it on dvd or downloading the film illegally.
From
my own personal viewpoint i believe that the digital cinema production
is effecting the british film industry, in both good and bad ways. I
think that the introduction of digital technology into cinemas, is a
good point as it increases the amount of films and screenings you can
show at a cinema, because they are cheap and easy to use as opposed to
35 mm film, which is expensive and was difficult to use. I also think
that digital technology is better, because of the diversity and
advancements that it has, which diversifies what the cinema has to offer
to its audiences. Although, i think that the advancements in the media,
could possibly decrease the amount of people who go to the cinema and
also increase piracy, because of the variety of ways that you can play
films.
