charlie's year 13 btec blog: unit 8 task 4

Assignment 4:

In this report I am going to be talking to you about the changing face of technology affecting film and television industry’s today. Throughout this report I will be gaining knowledge of the changing face of technology and will have a better understanding of how it effects film and television industry’s today.

Satellite television

In the process of the television industry the satellite television was one of the very first, satellite television is a broadcasting service which sends signals to the satellite and then the satellite sends the signal to the audience through the areal dish which is connected to their TV and then the signal broadcasting program is available to view on the TV, satellite TV can provide homes with over hundreds of different channels to choose from worldwide. An example of a satellite television broadcaster is Sky where they offer a wide range of channels and send broadcasting signals around Europe.

Analogue television

A long time ago people use to own an antenna or an aerial in order to receive signals, this was known as analogue television however this method was very frustrating as there was a lot of hassle receiving the signals and setting up the antenna or aerial in the perfect location to receive a quality signal, by owning an antenna this could possibly mean you would lose part of the broadcasting time as the antenna will take quite a while in order to set up. Analogue TV only has only 4 channels and people would have to look through a TV guide in order to see the time table for what shows were going to be on at a certain time of the day.

Digital satellite

Moving on to our days we own digital satellite which has a high improved signal, better quality footage (High definition), faster, easier and can now reach out to a wider range of audiences as all ages are able to view and use it as well as it being accessible and available everywhere, one of the best things about digital satellite is the fact there are lots more choices available for people to watch, however one of the not so good things about digital satellite is the weather, micro waves can be absorbed by the rain and therefore your signal could be lost or very poorly due to weather conditions. Digital TV introduced the red button where the viewer could interact with the TV for example on Cartoon network if you pressed the red button on the remote you could play games on your TV.

Cable television

Cable television is another way to send programs to the viewer, this is done by using underground utilities or utility poles to send radio signals to the viewer and goes through a coaxial cable where the signal is then travelled by radio signals and is then received by the antenna above the TV and the watch about 500 different programs, cable television provides the viewer with a better connection speed and quality TV view. Cable TV didn’t have much interaction however it did have a wide range of channels you could browse and watch an example of cable TV provider is a broadcaster such as BT.

On demand

When a film is on demand this means the viewer can choose to watch the film whenever they please without having to wait for it on the channel time table, on demand features a load of videos which the viewer can select from along with any time access. On demand is very useful for people to enjoy and re watch their favourite programs or films whenever they please and will no longer have to worry about recording programs, or waiting till the show is on.

Film based

Film based technologies has developed rapidly over the years, helping improve film quality, for example the film “the Amazing Spider-Man” was created in 2002 and then had a remake of “the Amazing Spider-Man” in 2012 displaying updates and improvements to the technology advancements at the time when the film was made, when “the Amazing Spider-Man” was created in 2002 and 2012 both of the films were created using the very best advancements in film technology of the time. CGI which is known as computer generated image was also used in “the Amazing Spider-Man” to make the characters look more realistic than they were in the the earlier which also made the villian’s of the film look more evil than ever before, and finally another thing improved about “the Amazing Spider-Man” film was the use of slow motion and high definition zoom ins with improved lighting, graphics, effects and over all quality of the film. Other movies that were remade was Dawn of the Planet Apes which was originally created in 2001 and was remade in 2011, Dawn of the Planet Apes was remade using CGI to improve the realisms of the apes and improved the sound of the entire film, most of the films which were remade were mostly remade since they had a great story line and would bring in more profits. Another thing I want to point out was the use of 3D visual effects that made movies pop out of the screen and this technology was later developed to be used for 3D x-rays, CGI is also used by film makers so they can create more realistic creatures/behaviours and can also create massive explosions without causing damage to property. 3D and CGI is important to any film producers as it allows them to create the un thinkable and help bring the film to life, it also helps them earn even more profits as it is a hit with the audience as the new computer generated film bring more realisms and creativeness to the film and enhancing the features and detail of all the characters.

Interactive

Television has become more interactive with the viewer as television has advanced, in todays world you are able to interact with the television by using your remote. For example Sky allows the viewer to press a red button on their remote which allows them to play fun active games on their television, you could also press the blue button on the remote which allows you to tag any channel that you enjoy watching and will allow you to jump straight to them. Interactive within television allows the viewer to get more out of their box as it bring more power and control towards the audience. By being Interactive this also allows producers to develop and improve their channels to obtain more viewers, for example Cartoon Network allows kids to press the red button in order to play games and interact with the show more. People can also interact with the television more by not only by using their remote they could connect their phones or have a touch screen television that allows you to control what you watch, in this case if you lost the remote you can still interact with you television. Interacting with programs has also improved, for example on “I’m a celebrity get me outa here” you can call in to vote for your favourite camp mate to keep them on the show, this allows other companies to earn profits as they earn money by people calling in.

Internet

The internet has progressed over the years and is essential for promoting a film. The internet is used from all around the world and is a great source to help spread trailers on different websites such as You Tube and the internet movie data base also known as IMDB. Users of the internet can brows the web searching for sneak peeks of new films, what the film is going to be about, what actors/actresses are going to star in the film in order to get more people interested in the new release film. On the other hand people could upload spoilers of the film which could ruin secrets and mysteries of the stores and would ruin the whole movie experience, this could damage the market. Publicity isn’t always good, this is because people could spread rumours and bad vibes about the film, and will be almost impossible to track it down to get it removed. Some other television companies such as Sky even own their own website called Sky Go where people are allowed to view and watch any program they recorded or wanted to catch up on and they can view it on other device such as an iPhone or computer, For example if you missed a program on ITV you could go to the ITV Hub where you can watch the latest programs to catch up as it shows you all the content which has been uploaded lately, this lets the viewers watch films and television and also lets the company know if it’s a popular or not so popular show. The viewers can also sign up to the website in order to get a subscription to the website, by doing this the audience is aloud to stream any program or film which the company releases. The internet can also be bad as people could upload pirated copies of the film and may upload the video to You Tube without a copy right causing a loss in profits for the film company as people wont pay to watch the film and can view it for free, but most of these videos that have no copy right are being forced to take down the video and could be sued. Piracy is a big problem with film industries as a massive amount of researching has to be done in order to track down and stop any pirate videos from being leaked. Companies like the BBC are willing to make programmes available online first before shown on television however this could make television less popular as you could see it first online.

High definition

High definition can be reference to high definition TV, HD DVD, HiDef, Blue ray disks, HD video and even high definition audio, when talking about visual effects on high definition the quality of the video will depend on the amount of pixels included in the video, an example of this is YouTube who current high definition is 1080p, YouTube’s lowest amount of pixels is 240p which isn’t good quality, lately YouTube has even added 1080i to their videos to brings high definition interlaced videos to the public. In today’s world HD TV are extremely popular on the market as it has the best quality detail videos containing a lot of pixels, HD equipment is even used for filming within the film industry to create the best visuals used to seek out important detail to make the film look stunning from not only in cinemas but also from the comfort of your home, I personally think High definition has come a long way in the film industry providing the viewers with quality audio and videos and will continue to improve the visual effect and audio effect for the future.

Streaming content

Streaming is when someone broadcast content that can be viewed by other people using internet from anywhere around the world, For example ITV iPlayer is a website/app that streams programs on ITV, if you were unfortunate to miss a favourite show you could still view it on catch up. On the ITV iPlayer you could search for your favourite program, read a description of new programs or even find out what is the most popular show.

The advancement of streaming gives power to the audience allowing them to watch whatever the would like and whenever they want on any device which is connected to the internet. By streaming this makes it hardly impossible to even miss a show you want to watch. There are also film streaming companies such as Netflix that allow you to brows and watch any film whenever you want as long as you pay a monthly or yearly fee membership. It isn’t possible to add up the amount of televisions watching a specific channel however on a webpage this can keep track of how many people have visited or viewed a specific page. The down side to streaming is that it could be used to make pirated videos, however companies such as Netflix will pay a fee to the producers for using their video on their website.

Digital record

Digital recording is a new way for people to view programs and films. On Demand will require you to have internet in order to watch the content however with digital recordings this does not require internet to view the content. For example Sky + is a way for Sky customers to record programs or films. You could even use Sky + to link your recorded videos for example “the Walking dead” comes on at 9:00pm and you wish to further record the series as soon as it airs you can link the series so you record all the series until it finishes, so if the new episode is on next week you can have it ready recorded and can view it after its been recorded the day it releases. After the Sky customer has recorded a video they could watch it at any time, since the program/ film has been recorded the viewer can rewind, pause, play or even fast forward the program or film, this is very useful to skip the adverts. However digital recording can be a problem especially if there is a clash as you can’t record two programs at the same time meaning you will have to stop one recording. There are also newer ways to record programs and film without being home, if you are out you could use your iPhone or laptop to record a program directly to your box set, however to be able to do this you would need to log into your personal Sky account and record any programme while you are out and about. The ability to record your programs has a big effect on the viewers as they will no longer need to wait for the program to come on, they won’t miss out on their favourite show and don’t need to be by their TV to record it with a DVD recorder as they can do it by using their phones. Advertising may be less effective now as the viewer doesn’t have to watch the adverts and can fast forward them however the advertisers have come up with a technique where the viewer can tell what each and every advert is by advertising a single shot with the companies logo, this then lets the viewer see what’s being advertised in less detail.

Pay per view

Pay per view is a private telecast that sell their event to be viewed by the customer (person paying to view the event), the broadcasting company would then show the event to anyone who has put an order into watch it. A very popular Pay per view example is Sky’s Now TV, Now TV allows anyone to pay for an event they want to view even if they are not Sky customers, Sky also mentioned Now TV can be accessed anywhere within UK and can view the content on any platform device and any broadband.