To what extent does Internet piracy pose a
threat to the film industry?
Internet piracy is the biggest threat for
the film industry. Film industries are spending the money on making films but
then gaining any profits from the audience as they are watching the films
illegally. Audiences prefer watching the films online as its easier and cheaper
than the cinema and really easily accessible. Also audiences find if the film
is not good then they can turn it off and won’t have lost money on paying to go
see it as the cinema.
Cinemas are now reintroducing 3D to try and
gain audiences back and also in attempt to halt people illegally pirating the
films as 3D films are harder to pirate as you will loose the image quality.
Due to the way technology has evolved we can
now digitally distribute films ourselves to friends and each other. There are
many sites that allow us to stream films easily and watch them such as movie2k.
We can sit at home and watch the films whilst talking about them in social
networking sites such as Facebook at the same time.
The internet now allows us to share films
so easily and quickly without needing to do much sites such as movie2k allow
you to stream films straight to home and watch them straight away.
Due to the amount of films that have been
pirated the film industry have brought back 3D to gain more audience attendance
and in attempt to stop film piracy. Films are much harder to pirate wen they
are in 3D due to the technology used in making films 3D. Many directors are now
being forced to make their films in the 3D to ensure audience attendance ad
some form of profits. Some directors do not like the idea of 3D and feels it
would ruin their work. Del Torro was being forced into releasing his film
‘pacific rim’ in 3D; he disagreed with the decision and so is releasing his
film in 2D and 3D giving his audience members the choice on how they wish to
view the film. Directors such as Cameron are very much pro 3D and his film
Avatar is known as one of the best 3D films ever made making millions in
profits. He felt 3D gave the film more depth and immersed the audience into the
film.
By watching films online the audience are
able to gain access to more films such as independent films as well as
blockbusters. This means the audience would be able to gain access to many
different film genres and watch something they wouldn’t normally watch.
Therefore increasing their individual film consumption. Audience members may
also feel “no risk free” and may watch genres of films they wouldn’t normally watch,
as they don’t loose any money on doing so. If you were to find a goof film you
can easily share the link to friends and ensure the film gets a good viewing,
although this means that the film industry don’t make any profits and actually
loose money.
Another problem audience members have with
cinemas is the cost. Now more and more films are being released in 3D as the
cinemas the downside is how expensive it makes it going to watch the film. To
see 3D film at the cinema can be quite an expensive experience. The good thing
to 3D films is that they are much harder to pirate, as the image quality will
be poor and blurry. Also cinemas are now releasing older films in 3D, as it’s
cheaper to rerelease a film in 3D then making a new 3D film.
I think that piracy is a big threat to the
film industry and could one day lead to the end of the film industry, as we
know it. In some ways piracy has helped the film industry in bringing back 3D
to cinemas and helping technology in making 3D in order to support the films.
It has also meant the release of some great films 3D films, as the film
industry has had to take bigger risks with films in order to gain back audience
attendance.
Overall I feel that piracy is damaging the
film industry and is destroying cinemas and soon the traditional ways of
watching films will no longer exists as the film industry can not afford to
make films when they are not making profits. If there was a way to make viewing
3D films cheaper or to stop piracy on normal films and keep more options open
to the audience would cinema attendance re increase.