MDA2300 - Change and Innovation

Magnus' half of the module covers the more technological aspect to innovations in film, and asks us to look at how recent developments in technology are affecting films, the industry and mainly how people access, spectate and interact with films.

We were given three main points to consider:

• The ways in which we view movies is changing
• for example, smaller devices and other online services can be used to watch films, films are sometimes interactive and different technological advances (such as improved 3D technology) have led to an increase in their use. 
• The fact that the new technology and experiences have to be considered by filmmakers
• i.e. we need to consider the many new and emerging formats while making and planning for new films, and certain technologies need to be utilised for the benefit of the film reaching and impacting audiences. 
• The fact that the way films have been viewed has always changed. 
• e.g. the widescreen, full colour cinema of today is worlds apart from the first ever black and white film screening, with no sound and lower image quality, sue to the available technology at the time. 

One of the main points we have covered so far is the way that new technologies have blurred the line between the maker of film, and the spectator.

Examples include 'mashup' trailers, in which footage of one film is used to advertise the story of another, (this shows how those who are usually part of a film's audience are affecting how others view films, like filmmakers usually do,) and film movements such as 'machinima', in which software is used to make 3D films, meaning that (as the software is easily accessible) anybody really can make a film, in which there is no need to physically organise actors and locations, with basic skills.

These ideas are similar in a way to what we looked at at the start, in the fact that while we originally looked at how the development of 'film' affected how people artistically expressed themselves, we are now looking at how technological developments are affecting how people access and make films.