What impact has digital technology had on the studio production companies you have studied

Over the past decade, the use of digital technology has become increasingly evident, moving into the hands of audiences, and changing the way we consume media. The film industry has gained both advantages and disadvantages from this change and is likely to continue adapting in the future, from the introduction of new technologies and their availability to the audience.

The use of DV cameras among audiences has significantly affected the film industry, in that audiences themselves can feel closer to the film industry and take part in similar processes of production. The decreasing price of DV cameras, as well as the introduction of new technologies over the last decade has increased the use of them, making them available to more people, and increasing the quality of the product. The use of DV cameras has benefitted the film industry, in that the audience can create their own productions, and extend the brand of the film, where users can upload their own ‘films’ to the internet, on websites such as YouTube, due to the increased number of broadband connections in homes, promoting the films in doing so. However, the use of DV cameras has also increased levels of piracy-the 2009 film, ‘The Boat That Rocked’, although having a large budget of around $50 million, grossed around $35 million. Although this is a large inflow of revenue, other British films, funded from abroad, have been known to triple their budget-2006’s ‘Casino Royale’ grossed $594 million, with a budget of only $150 million. This may be due to the economic circumstances at the time ‘The Boat That Rocked’ was released, where many audiences may not be able to afford to consume media as much, and may instead watch pirate copies. With more people owning DV cameras, and the decreased size of the cameras due to technological advancements, cameras can be concealed upon entering a cinema, in order to record a film, to make it illegally available to others, through the use of DVD burning and the internet. The decreased quality encountered in pirate copies may make many viewers feel that the film itself was not exceptionally good, which may lead to viewers advising friends and family not to see the film, decreasing revenue for production companies, such as Working Title films, further.

Digital technology has also decreased many costs for production companies, so that films can be produced at a higher quality, with a lower budget. As many films are shot partly or fully in the digital format, some film can be offered to cinemas in the digital. However, films distributed in the digital format currently have low demand, because the costs of converting cinemas to theatres with digital screens are very high: up to $150,000 per screen or more, and it is debatable whether the picture quality is any clearer-there are also more risks of digital projectors having faults and may require a replacements after only 5 years. An incentive for production companies distributing digitally is the possibility of greater protection against piracy. With traditional film prints, distributors will release films in different markets at separate times, in order to ship the film prints into each country. In countries in which a film is not yet released, pirated copies of a film may be available, enticing consumers to watch the film illegally, decreasing revenue for production companies. A simultaneous ‘blanket’ release could remove this problem, through digital distribution, as copies would be cheaper and faster to manufacture, and more could be produced (where smaller optical discs would be easier and cheaper to transport, rather than a large film reel), or it could be made available over the internet, with significantly lower costs to a distribution company, which may allow for more money to be spent on production. Aswell as Working Title films, Universal Pictures also funded 'The Boat that Rocked', and so both films could experience these benefits of more revenue.

Specific audiences may be deterred by the concept of digital film consumption. Some individuals, that may have a professional interest in film, may notice slight differences in quality of a digital film, and may decide that they would rather not see the film at a cinema, and may wish to wait to purchase the film when released to DVD, for example, which would decrease the revenue, and may have an affect on the budget of future productions, for the production company. However, it is evident that the repeated use of film reels, currently used in cinemas, can degrade the quality after a number of viewings-scratches and dirt on the reels will affect the quality and may deter many audiences from viewing the film after a period of time ahead of the release. Digitally distributed films, however, can be viewed repeatedly, without affecting the quality greatly, and may therefore continue to gain higher revenue, weeks after the release. Film4 and UK Film Council that funded and produced 'This is England' would not have been able to distribute the film digitally on a 'blanket' release, due to the low budget of the film (£1.5 million).

The use of digital sound has also been an important element affecting production companies-large amounts of time can be spent on editing sound to ensure it is at optimal quality, and has a ‘surround sound’ element, making consumption of films a more compelling ‘experience’, consequently increasing revenue for the production company.

It is evident that digital technology has played a major role in the forming of the modern film industry, supplying both advantages and disadvantages to production companies, which they have no control over, and in future, will have to adapt to, in order to continue grossing highly, in this highly competitive industry.