The internet is one of the biggest disruptive technologies to have been made especially for the film industry. The internet made it much easier to pirate films. Piracy has always been happening but the internet made it much more easy to do. This effected the cinema industry because people were able to see the films on some pirating sites before they were realised in the cinema. Pirating is so easy because so many people do it and it is seen as being anonymous. Another way the internet effected the cinema industry is by having video streaming sites such as YouTube where you didn’t have to download anything, everything was just there so watching things were instant. People didn’t need to get up and go to the cinema, everything was right there on the internet in front of them. However the internet did help the cinema industry in some ways. It made everything digital and therefore better quality. There was no need for big heavy reels of film anymore.
Films can be distributed in many different ways. The first of which is theatrical exhibition. Films are shown exclusively in places such as cinemas for a certain amount of time, this means that people will not be able to view the film anywhere else so will therefore pay for a ticket at the cinema and this is the main way film companies make their money back. ‘Tentpole releases’ are favoured by theatrical exhibitions because they are almost certainly going to make a lot of money. Theatrical exhibition focuses on t experience it provides so is therefore HD and on a big screen and has certain special effects which means the experience cannot be recreated at home so people will not just wait for the film to be released on DVD or on TV. The next step in the distribution of films is retail. This is where films come out on DVD and Blu-ray, people wold usually buy films in this was as gifts or if they are collectors or what to the special effects and other added features the DVD may provide. Everything is also available on DVD and you always know that you can find a film if it is released on DVD whereas on internet sites some films aren’t available. The next step after retail is VOD (video on demand), so rental or subscription sites. Examples of rental sites would be iTunes, Sky Movies, Virgin Media, BT Vision, Xbox store and PlayStation Store. Examples of subscription would be NowTV, Sky Movies, Mubi, HBOGo, Amazon Prime, Curzon On Demand, Netflix and YouTube Red. Subscription is cost effective, instant, easy to use, unlimited and can be tailored to your interests.
Megan Jackson's AS Media Studies Blog 