Audience consumption for film has changed in many ways over the years. Because technology is evolving every day the way an audience watches a film change along with it. Audience consumption has shifted over time and has brought us the films we know and love today.
The way we watch movies has changed because of the change in technology. When films were first being made, they were consumed using movie theaters. If you wanted to catch your favorite movie you would have to go to your local movie theater. Even though people still go to movie theaters, over time those theaters have changed. The theaters have increased in size allowing more audiences to watch the film. Another major way theater has changed is the quality of the picture. Older theaters were small, and the screen wasn’t huge. Because of technology we now have I-MAX theaters. These theaters have screens that are six times larger than normal movie screens. This 70mm as opposed to 35 mm viewing screen emerges the audience into the film and makes it seem so much more real. This way of watching movies is extremely popular now and takes on a different approach than a plain old movie theatre. Another way movie theater has changed over time are 3D movies. 3D movies have changed the film industry completely. From the first time this concept came out the public was hooked. 3D movies are movies that have been produced so that when the audience puts on 3D glasses the whole film is in 3D. The audience can see the actions popping out of the film and the excitement level reaches a high. This is popular among action movies because there is so much extra action you could view by doing this. For example, the movie, Black Panther was premiered and became very popular in 3D. This is because of the movies high packed action; audiences prefer the chance to experience the action almost firsthand. Even though movie theaters were the original way films were distributed to the public, they are still being used because they have evolved and kept this way of distribution interesting and popular.
Audience consumption has shifted from things like movie theaters to TV. Even though television is mostly for shows, movies overtime has been known to run on certain channels. For example, the original Jurassic Park aired both on NBC and USA and the Sci-Fi Channel, they would hold specials for people to watch to promote the movie which were hosted by actors of the film. Doing this allows them to target more audiences. Because television is used by many people of all ages, doing this could hit many households of many ages. After a movie comes out in the theaters a movie would then come to television and would air on many channels. Another way television has become a way of audience consumption is on demand. Movies that are in theaters become available to members of certain television providers. This is called on demand where they can select any movie to watch any time. Newer movies are priced but older movies are sometimes free. This allows people that watch TV to watch movies whenever they would like and to watch them in the comfort of their own home. Television has changed overtime by allowing movies to be played on certain channels and allowing movies to be watched on On Demand, so that they can be watched anytime, paused and have no commercials. Having no commercials is a big deal because audiences can watch the film fully with no interruption. Watching movies on On Demand gives viewers functions they would not have in a movie theater. Viewers can pause the movie, rewind the movie or fast forward the movie. Having these functions and being in control is much more appealing to viewers, so this way of film distribution became popular fast. That is until streaming services.
After TV, streaming services became popular and the key to audience consumption. Streaming services are services that send films over the internet, which allows people to watch it immediately with no download or time schedule. Some of the most popular among these services include Netflix or Disney Plus. Audiences pay a monthly fee and are able to watch as many free movies as they want. When this came about audiences were immediately on board because of the unlimited access. All types of movies were on these services. This includes the popular franchise Guardians of the Galaxy and the Spiderman movies. Who wouldn’t want to have tons of movies at their fingertips being able to watch them wherever and whenever they want to? These streaming services are available in apps to download onto your TV and in apps that you could download on any smart device. This includes phones, laptops and tablets. This service now made movies portable. You didn’t need to go to the movie theaters or watch the movie on your family TV. These streaming services now made it possible to watch these movies anywhere you wanted and on any device. Streaming Services have changed the way films are distributed to the public and have made watching movies much more personalized.
Because these streaming services became so popular, people started to take advantage of these free movies. Pirating movies started to become popular. This is when individuals would take movies illegally by filming them in the movie theaters or taking them from a streaming service and publishing them to the public for free. Even though this is illegal it is very popular. This is mainly because people don’t want to pay for the streaming services or a ticket to see the movie at theaters. These people publish the movies on a website and then people watch them. I have watched some illegal movies and its fairly easy to do and the quality is acceptable. This new way of watching movies has become popular overtime. Websites like 123movies.com or putlockers.com take part in this. These websites have tons of movies from old ones to movies that are still in the theaters. This way of watching movies definitely wasn’t available in the past and even though its illegal, it is worth mentioning because it is a major way of audience consumption.
In conclusion audience consumption has completely evolved over time. From movie theaters to television, streaming services and illegal websites. The way we now watch movies has changed because of technology. Technology is so important to the film industry and controls the way of audience consumption. Who knows, maybe in the future more and more ways of consumption will come about and make watching films much easier and enjoyable.
