Unit 8 - Developing technologies

Developing technology and it's impact

Technology has developed and has allowed audience's to have a far better viewing experience in terms of film and TV. Better technology generally signifies better comfort, accessibility and a general better quality to the productions that the audience is watching. A massive technological advancement in the 20th century meant that the media industry and particularly in film and TV has benefited massively and it has become the social norm. for example technological improvements allowed for Film's to be filmed digitally and edited on computer software, rather than filming on camera reel's and then manually cutting and sticking the reel's together to edit, this has allowed for a easier way to edit and it is not as labour intensive as it used to be, and mistakes can be corrected very easily, which has arguably decreased the time that the movie is in the production stage and can be released relatively quicker to the audience, and if it is a sequel that fans have been waiting for, it will make the audience happy as they will be getting their awaited movie will be released earlier, if there wasn't technological advancements such as that, they would have to wait a longer time.

Another impact that improving technology has is that it has allowed for better graphical quality to be in film and TV, this is generally a positive, as in the past black and white tv and film, to the point now that through CGI we can create locations and characters through computers and without having to actually hire or go to those locations. This is an advantage to the viewer and also the producer as the audience views a better quality production with the sound visuals etc. the producer benefits because they spend less money and can still create a decent movie, however to evaluate this point making films without much effort or input can lead to a 'bad movie' as there is no enthusiasm, leaving everything to technology can have negative feedback as well. However the improvements in graphical viewing cannot be ignored. 

Also the improvements in technology has allowed for more people to have access to means of watching media, having a TV in the past was only for the rich people, but now in the modern time, it has become a social norm and nearly everybody has a TV. more people are exposed to the TV industry and film's are also being more easily watchable through the internet, be it via subscription services such as Netflix or through illegal streaming websites. 

Possibly the biggest change and improvement int he TV industry was the analogue to digital broadcasting, This was a massive change, this change occurred between 2007 and 2012, i personally witnessed the change. This changed the TV industry in the UK and it was done in order to improve the sound and visual quality of the TV in the UK. In analogue TV if there was interference with the frequencies then you would get a really bad image and bad sound quality the inferences in the channels would mean that you could still watch the programme but at a very low standard. In digital TV however the frequencies and the air waves are not susceptible to being interfered with and so people can enjoy consistent good quality programmes. Digital television is not perfect though, if your reception for a certain channel is poor, you will not receive a poor-quality image or sound. You will not receive anything at all, because of the way in which digital TV broadcasting works, you will get great reception or no reception - there is no middle ground. Another benefit of digital TV broadcasting is that television stations can transmit more data. This means they can supply more features for the audience such as surround sound or HD quality programmes. 

The internet has had a massive impact on the audience's viewing experience, linking back to Accessibility the internet has allowed to people to watch virtually anything wherever they want, as long as they have internet and the producer has uploaded it to the internet. This has massively improved the way people can watch TV/ Film. An example would be the BBC iplayer, where people can watch BBC programmes that they have missed on TV and they can watch it later on. This is a massive benefit to the audience as they don't have to stick to a certain schedule to be able to watch the shows that they want, this allows for flexibility for the audience. The internet has also improved the film industry, as people can now watch movies through services such as amazon prime and Netflix. Once the film is uploaded onto that service the viewers can watch it at no additional cost as they have already paid for the membership, this has also allowed for greater choice for the audience as there is a massive pool of series/films that they can watch through one service. The internet is a massive place, and there is a slight disadvantage to it, as there are often illegal streaming and downloading websites that allow people to watch films and series that they have not paid for, this leads to piracy and can damage the profits of the producer of the film as they would be missing out on potential customers. The internet has not had a massive impact on the quality of the productions, but more on how easily people can watch the shows/films that they want, also now through modern smartphones, there are apps that allow people to watch films/series on their phone, there has been a massive improvement in accessibility to the audience. Accessibility has been a massive improvement with the proliferation of technology. Videos and films can now be watched over phones/tablets and other devices on the move. This has allowed a massive improvement in comfort for audiences as they can watch their series and shows where ever they want.





Another benefit of the improving technology is that it allows the audience to have a better quality end product, as the improvement in technology means that all stages of production have been improved, the filming stage has benefited through better visual quality cameras, and so it in the raw shooting stage there is an improvement in how the film/programme turns out. Then in the post-production stage, mainly in editing since the move to digital editing on computers, rather than manual cutting pieces of film, mistakes and continuity errors can be solved relatively easier on the computer as nothing is 'lost' as all the footage is still kept and can be re-worked to make a different scene, all scenes are filmed from a variety of different angles and so the editors have a lot more room to work with, as they can piece together footage relatively easier, and this allows for a better audience experience as well as they will get more camera shots within a scene as it requires less effort on the editors part, if the improvement in technology did not happen, then editors would have to work longer hours, and the end product would not be as good, every shot has to be carefully edited, and if a mistake is made, the whole scene film has to be made again, where as a mistake in a digital format can easily be fixed by the re-do' button.