You might want to look at Digital Rights Management (and the arguments against it) before you push into the Piracy question. If you can, grab some back issues of Film Culture magazine, and wade through: you can tell a lot about the state of the modern film industry by looking at the fervent opinion of cinephiles a few decades back, and see what died in the mass-market afterwards.
Here’s some stuff on copyright, which relates to debates on piracy, censorship and DRM.
-http://www.ifla.org/documents/infopol/copyright/ipmyths.htm
-http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/
-http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/07/opinion/edsmiers.php
-http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/doc/ipnii/rec.pdf
This place is a good portal for a jump off into DRM
-http://www.eff.org/issues/drm
…and here also
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070115-8616.html
Some of the above got used in a debate between the studios and the Writers Guild of America during the strike earlier this year, and this is also something which will affect the industry in years to come. Check out the welogs/forum at
-http://union.unitedhollywood.com/
(although, the most interesting aspect of all this was the argument by reality television writers that they were the scum of the industry.)
I warn you though, for a union of professional writers, this is probably the worst scribed and most difficult to read website ever created.
…and finally,
-http://w2.eff.org/IP/DRM/fair_use_and_drm.html
re: censorship (film distribution and the web)
-http://www.efa.org.au/Issues/Censor/cens3.html
I know it’s a bit dated but here is an interview Jean-Luc Godard did with the Guardian about his then new film “Notre Musique”. The title of the article is “Cinema is Over”.
http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,6737,1472494,00.html
Here is a couple of excerpts from the interview that I thought would relate to the topic.
[There is something paradoxical about his attitude toward cinema. He now seems despairing of the medium’s ability to reinvent itself or to have any kind of social impact. “It’s over,” he sighs. "There was a time maybe when cinema could have improved society, but that time was missed.]
[The director describes his new film as an optimistic one, with an underlying message that “reconciliation is possible” – but there is no disguising the his dismay about the state of his chosen profession. In one of the most poignant scenes in Notre Musique, we hear a voice asking him if small digital cameras can save cinema. There is a close-up of Godard’s face: he scowls and says nothing at all. The inference is clear: the battle is already lost. As our meeting ends, I put the question to him again. There is still no answer.]
Good article, Mezm.
This is a great thread that should have been kept going.
For one thing, as someone whose areas of knowledge center around Europe and the U.S., I have had to confront the fact that the cultural fields are shifting. I still tend to resist films from China, the Philippines, India, etc. — partly because they are less available and partly because I feel like my working knowledge of European and U.S. culture helps to give me an edge in terms of analyzing films from those regions.
Problem #1
It’s an industry.
“Has film reached it’s height of maturity? Can it only go downhill from here?”
I literally will weep if today’s films are the peak. They’re mainly geared towards adolescents, and I’m not only talking about Terminator Salvation, I’m talking about UP and Milk and Benjamin Button.
The fact that studios constantly remake classic movies. Just re-release them instead!
To quote Pauline Kael, “When we championed trash culture we had no idea it would become the only culture.”
I don’t have a real response in mind here, but it is an important discussion.
Hollywood (to keep a bit focused) has always been about making a profit; big news, I know.
But what was sitting on the other end of the see-saw was always something to counter the mere moneymaking.
In the 30es, there were incredible esthetics, a sense of elegance brought on both by the escape from the Depression, and by the craftsmen who made the films.
There was taste, sometimes gaudy, but taste nonetheless. Language counted for something. There actually was wit in those days.
It was ok for the studios to make money, because the product really looked and sounded like something that had been worked on.
In the 40es, 50es and 60es we got the great Westerns, the Noirs and the first socially aware films, eventually getting to the more independent producers/directors in the 70es.
Again, films with a perspective, a look, cohesive productions. If the studios saw it as selling sausage, the flavor was nonetheless often very good. Some daring material, some great acting, memorable classics. The see-saw was balanced.
To fast forward to today, I feel we are experiencing the rock bottom in callousness regarding both the quality of the product and how it is being marketed.
With the exception of the big-budget ‘prestige’ films (!) all the rest is being slung at the masses with pretty much this statement:
“We know you are uninformed and have no taste. And you know we know. So we will be in unison on this: we will make increasingly moronic re-threads of TV-level material, so you can feel like you never left the couch, and you will show up so you can laugh at how stupid the film is, and how stupid (in a very post-post-post-modern way, of course) you are for watching it. Bring friends so they can share the joke.
Have no fear, we will not introduce anything you even have to think about. No ancient references, like something that happened in 1999. Nothing about foreign countries, unless they are fictitious and can be used for fart jokes.
Of course you will get plenty of 10-12-yr level humor (even if you are 25 when watching) because you just love that so much. We know. The demographics never lie.
Of course the trailer will be available in horrible quality on your phone.
Of course there will be plenty of dialogue you can refer to afterwards as ‘snarky’
Of course there will be product placements for every company the studio is affiliated with.
Of course the soundtrack will be front-loaded with ‘tuuunes’ from our in-house label.
Because we know what you like.
Most importantly, you won’t have anything to remember. Because remembering anything is, like…..so…. whatever.
So just watch and forget it, because parts 2 and 3 are already being focus-grouped. When you see them, it’ll be just like the first one. Because after all, we asked what you wanted in them….. because we want you to be happy. Again and again."
End. Quote. (Sigh)
That was fantastic Claus. And a nice quote by Josh.
Dizzle
I’m writing a paper looking into problems and issues that may hinder the progress or change the face of of the film industry within the next several years.
So far, I’ve thought about;
- Piracy
- Censorship
- Cultural Diversification (Changing the face of national cinemas)
- Has film reached it’s height of maturity? Can it only go downhill from here?
I was also thinking something along the line of the lifespans of genre’s. Will the constant fusing together of multiple genres to make ‘new’ sub-genres eventually run out of steam? etc. I’d love it if someone knew of any articles that’d look into this?
Also, any other suggestions? Or recommended articles for any of these subjects?
Thanks a lot!