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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Author
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Topic: Is 'film' still synonomous with 'movie'?
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Randy Stankey
Film God
Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 01-27-2012 08:05 AM
quote: Christopher Crouch
I'm sure "film" will follow the same path "record" has for the music industry.
I was going to make a similar analogy.
First, it's not a "record." It's a digital audio computer file.
Neither is it a "film." It's a digital video computer file.
If it is not recorded on the physical medium of film or record it is neither a "film" nor is it a "record."
Call it a movie if you want but, as far as I am concerned it's video.
People don't listen to records anymore. They don't listen to CDs. People don't watch movies anymore, either.
If you came over to my house and listened to records, the focus would not really be on the music. The focus was on socializing and being with friends and family. When CDs came out the focus turned to the technology but there was still a social aspect to the affair. At the same time, "Walkman" personal music players became popular and listening to music became an isolated, personal event. With the advent of purely electronic media, the whole concept of "playing records" and listening to music has entirely lost its social aspect and has become a purely personal, isolated, non-social experience.
The same thing is happening to movies. The switch from film to video has already had an effect on the social aspect of gathering together and watching a movie. We don't go to theaters anymore. We don't gather together to share the experience. We don't talk about what we saw anymore. We simply sit and stare at our iPods and virtually reject the social experience of gathering together to watch a movie.
Y'know, I haven't really listened to music for years. The only time I do is when I put on a pair of noise cancelling headphones and listen to my old school, first generation iPod while I'm mowing the lawn. It helps cut down the hearing damage or, at least, if I'm going to kill my cochlear cells I'm going to do it while listening to some good, old fashioned Rock and Roll.
(No! It's not "classic rock!" It's ROCK AND ROLL!... fuck you very much.)
The same thing is happening to me with movies. I rarely watch movies. Neither in the theater nor at home. I just don't watch them. 90% of all movies made today don't interest me in the slight. To be honest, it's too much like fucking work.
The bottom line is that the change from film to video will kill movie theaters just like the change from records to CDs to MP3s has killed music.
To be honest, I think the best thing a theater owner who is considering whether he should switch from film to video could do is to burn down the theater, collect on the insurance policy, invest the money in a good IRA then retire and live off the interest.
That's where I think the movie industry is headed. It will be an isolated, anti-social experience where gathering together with other people will be avoided and even frowned upon.
Video has killed the movie theater. It's already a done deal. Movie theaters are just on life support until somebody comes along and pulls the plug.
The worst part is, in throwing away film, they did it to themselves.
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Scott Norwood
Film God
Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 01-27-2012 08:57 AM
quote: Justin Hamaker
Then again, simply saying film doesn't differentiate between 35mm, 65mm, 16mm, Super 8, and so forth. And each of those have different expectations in terms of the picture they put on screen.
Agreed, completely. I am completely in favor of giving patrons access to as much information as possible. If I ruled the world, every theatre box office would list each title playing there with a title, synopsis, list of major stars, list of major crew members (producer, director, DP, editor, writer, etc.), year of release, running time (of both feature and entire program), color or B&W, origination picture format, exhibition picture format, exhibition sound format, rating, ticket price, 2D/3D, auditorium number (if in a multiplex), and other pertinent information.
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 01-27-2012 01:14 PM
The term "film" has a certain prestige that video lacks. A real movie scene would take place within view of some Panavision (or Arri) film cameras. When you see the "making of" documentary puff pieces they like showing off those cameras because it makes the production look more like a real movie. Video cameras were traditionally used just for TV shows, like soap operas, talk shows, live sports events, sit-coms and the 6 o'clock news. There's is a certain trashy "ick" factor associated with that. And this is why so much work is done in post production to make movies shot on video look more like they were shot on film.
I think this is the fundamental reason why so many people shooting features on video still cling to terms like "film" and "cinema". God forbid anyone call what they're doing "TV".
quote: Christopher Crouch
I'm sure "film" will follow the same path "record" has for the music industry. It will remain in regular use for a time and those who predate the conversion will continue to use the term, out of habit.
I've always referred to pre-recorded music according to the media on which it was stored. The term "album" is a catch-all for something that can be stored on a vinyl LP, cassette tape or music CD. I never got into using the term "record" for a music recording on disc or tape. Record is really a verb that has been turned into a noun.
quote: Randy Stankey
If you came over to my house and listened to records, the focus would not really be on the music. The focus was on socializing and being with friends and family. When CDs came out the focus turned to the technology but there was still a social aspect to the affair. At the same time, "Walkman" personal music players became popular and listening to music became an isolated, personal event. With the advent of purely electronic media, the whole concept of "playing records" and listening to music has entirely lost its social aspect and has become a purely personal, isolated, non-social experience.
This problem has been compounded by the increasing level of rude, close-mindedness present in the general public. If music is being played on a stereo system or home theater system out loud in a social setting there's always at least one or more people who want to change the music being played because it doesn't fit their preferred playlist. I've seen people leave parties over that nonsense. They can't just let it go and have a good time. I think this situation has contributed to night life in my town going down the toilet. Lots of people don't go to certain clubs/bars because it plays a certain format of music and then the clubs that do play what they like aren't playing exactly the songs they like. So they end up going home and coccooning themselves in their iPods, losing sight of the point of getting out of the house.
Movies are different from music in many respects, but the whole notion of watching them at home "in the coccoon" as opposed to going to the theater could grow into a bigger problem. The movie-going experience is being harmed by things like inconsiderate audience members who can't put down their damned iPhones or stop doing other things to disrupt the show. A lot of big chain theaters have an environment more like that of a fast food chain than a fine restaurant. That's increasing the temptation to just watch the show at home. With our lives being so busy it's sometimes tough to take time to watch a movie uninterrupted for 2 hours on the home theater system. It can be easy to load the disc into a notebook computer and watch it on the go in bits and pieces. I have done this. Even with Blu-ray. My new notebook has a BD-burner and a RGB LED back-lit 1080p resolution screen. Hit play, put on the headphones, and enter the coccoon.
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