What significance does the continuing development of digital media technology have for media institutions and audiences?

What significance does the continuing development of digital media technology have for media institutions and audiences?

The continuing development of many different types of media means that many different windows that the film can be seen by and enthusiastic fans will pay to see all of the different types of the film because they are big fans and will do anything to see the film.

One of the most popular types of digital technology is films in 3D. This is where you wear special glasses and things seem to jump out of the screen in front of peoples eyes. Lots of people prefer seeing films in 3D as it is a more realistic, fun and exciting experience for the viewers of the film. The film ‘Avatar’ was mainly shown in 3D in UK cinemas and used a lot of this technology throughout the whole movie to make it more exciting and lifelike for the film’s audience. There is also an adaption onto 3D which is called 4D. This technology has the same basic principles as 3D, making the film watching experience more exciting and lifelike. The difference between 3D and 4D is that in 4D you sit in special seats that move around, different smells are released into the room and small amounts of water are sometimes sprayed onto the audience and into the room. All of these things make the viewer feel like they are in the same place where the film is set and creates a more lifelike experience for the audience of the film. 4D also uses 3D in the cinemas to enhance the viewing of the films. Not many cinemas actually do 4D; these screens are usually found in amusement parks as an extra sort of ride and are quite rare even in this sense. 3D is more common although still not as common as normal 2D cinema screens. These days most large cinemas in the UK have at least one or two 3D screens in each cinema, these screens are usually always full in every viewing as a lot of people will pay good money for the chance to see their favourite films in 3D. Both of these different windows are an adaption of the old fashioned 2D films. 2D films are still very popular and the majority of people prefer 2D because it is cheaper than 3D and 4D and is more enjoyable as you don’t have to wear a pair of special glasses which a lot of people don’t like wearing and find annoying and off putting when trying to watch the film.

Another development into media viewing technology is IMAX. IMAX cinemas are special in that they can project a larger and much higher resolution image onto the cinema screen than in a usual cinema and because of this increases the viewing quality for the film fan. IMAX first opened in 1971 in Toronto, Canada and since then has opened cinemas all around the world. There are now around 700 IMAX theatres in 52 different countries around the world. Lots of people use IMAX to view their favourite films because of the high quality images of the movie and the overall better enjoyment of the film. It is however more expensive because of this but film fans are usually willing to pay for this as it makes for a better viewing of the film.

A lot of modern films use new digital techniques to enhance the movie and make it more exciting, such as using explosions etc. a lot of these things would be very expensive to do and could cause some notable damage. Because of this most films use computer generated imagery (CGI) for things like explosions, landscapes and buildings. A good example of this CGI usage is in the film ‘Prometheus’. When they land on the alien planet, the mountainous background and dome type building that you see are all created my computers as it is a fictitious place and needed to be created for the setting of the film. The computer imagery creates a lifelike image of something reasonably cheaply. CGI is not only used in action and sci-fi films but in many genres of film and also in TV. It helps to create and do things that would be impossible or expensive to do in real life filming.

I think that without the continued development of digital media technology, film fans might become a bit bored with the same old techniques used in every film and as new ways of filming and distributing films are developed film audiences will grow as they will be attracted by the new techniques and excited by the thought of something new to see rather than just the boring old techniques. New ways of distributing and exhibiting films will also create more money for the film  industry as more people going to see the films means more money made and also means more money to keep on developing new ways of digital technology in media.