The role of technology in distribution

Digital film and the Internet

The way in which the internet has affected film distribution is in the advertisement of films, companies have been provided with a new medium to advertise through, for example when a film trailer is advertised on a YouTube, if placed correctly could attract an even wider audience than if it was just on things such as radio and TV.

Continued

The term used to describe this advancement in the use of the internet is web 2.0:Web 2.0 is the term given to describe a second generation of the World Wide Web that is focused on the ability for people to collaborate and share information online. Web 2.0 basically refers to the transition from static HTML Web pages to a more dynamic Web that is more organized and is based on serving Web applications to users.

Web 2.0

This advancement of the internet has allowed companies to massively widen their audience, as it is easy to reach people from all over the world. The advantage of companies using this is that it would not need a large amount of funding to do this. Although larger companies may dominate the web, there is always going to be room for smaller, independent companies to advertise their productions, and if used correctly could give smaller companies a way to compete with larger conglomerates.

Various ways films can be watched online

Websites such as Netflix and love film which is acquired amazon are online film industry's where you can easily access hundreds on films on your TV, laptop, tablet or even phone. This makes films being able to access any time of the day anywhere which could perhaps make the film loose the excitement of waiting to watch it.

Illegal movie download websites

Some websites release the film onto their website before it has even come out at the cinema, this takes away the excitement and anticipation of waiting for the new film to be released out at the cinema, this also results in the production company at the cinemas earning less of a profit.

Pirate copies

Within the past 10 years or so physical pirate copies have been more a less eliminated from the piracy industry. It has soon be replaced by pirate copies online resulting in the physical piracy industry loosing the majority of its appeal.

Questions!

1. Why do you think it has become less likely to purchase physical pirated films in recent years?

2. How has technology helped the film industry to develop online?

3. How has the development of the online film industry affected the exhibition of film in cinemas?

4. Do you think there is a future for physical film?