The Next Generation Video Star
Instapundit links to a (highly academic at parts) James Pinkerton piece about videogames' inevitable takeover of film's historical role as king of all entertainment. For the most part, I think they're both right. However, I don't think the movie industry is standing still. I think they do recognize consumers' desire to take a more active role in their entertainment. But the inertia that comes with being such a huge industry has prevented tons of quick change to meet those needs.
But there have been changes (full disclosure: I know very little about the actual movie industry...except that I watch movies). About a year ago, I analyzed a study of the home entertainment experience. One of the glaring findings involved a huge generational difference in movie watching.
When my parents watch a movie, they watch it. They sit in their living room and watch it from beginning to end. This is, in part, why my mom likes going to the movies so much. And why my parents will never spend the money for movie channels (even though they really should get HBO just for the programming- forget the movies).
But when my friends or Cooper and I watch a movie, it's a totally different experience. It's not nearly as important to us to watch a movie from beginning to end. Right now, The Girl Next Door is on HBO. Not a movie I'd ever have planned to see (but it was pretty good). Two weeks ago, I watched the second half of the movie. Last week, I watched the first half. Now I've seen the movie. It doesn't matter so much that it wasn't in chronological order (thank you, Quentin). I'm sure I'll watch parts of it again before it ends it's run. And soon, lines from it will enter our lexicon. Movies live on and on, thanks to their quotes. They're interactive. And we have control over their lifespan.
And this is to say nothing of DVDs. Doesn't everyone watch the deleted scenes? The "making of" documentaries? Well, no, my parents don't. But I do. True, the actors and producers are still in charge of creating those bonus features...but watching them makes me feel like I've been taking behind the curtain, just a little bit.
Movie producers know all of this. Movies today are shuffled off to DVD much quicker than they used to be...with bonus features ready to go. And movies themselves, comedies at least, are clearly written with the quoter in mind. Yes, back in the day, you had Clint Eastwood and "make my day" and all that. But that was the exception, not the rule. Today, every producer/director/writer hopes to be quoted. Take writing for Christopher Walken for example. His character in The Rundown was written to quote just as much as his Bruce Dickinson was. Because quotable = funny. And quotable also = mindshare. It's survival of the fittest. The movie that's quoted lives on to see another marketing push at Christmas.
And, of course, there's always the web. The great equalizer. As movie fans, we can blog, we can chat, we can read away to our little heart's content. And on the web, the fans really are in the driver's seat. The studios play along, though, and create interesting web sites, games and message boards to fuel the fire.
So no, movies aren't now and never will be as interactive and consumer-controlled as videogames. But they're certainly not as static as they used to be, and we do have the evil empire of movie studios to thank (in part) for that.
But there have been changes (full disclosure: I know very little about the actual movie industry...except that I watch movies). About a year ago, I analyzed a study of the home entertainment experience. One of the glaring findings involved a huge generational difference in movie watching.
When my parents watch a movie, they watch it. They sit in their living room and watch it from beginning to end. This is, in part, why my mom likes going to the movies so much. And why my parents will never spend the money for movie channels (even though they really should get HBO just for the programming- forget the movies).
But when my friends or Cooper and I watch a movie, it's a totally different experience. It's not nearly as important to us to watch a movie from beginning to end. Right now, The Girl Next Door is on HBO. Not a movie I'd ever have planned to see (but it was pretty good). Two weeks ago, I watched the second half of the movie. Last week, I watched the first half. Now I've seen the movie. It doesn't matter so much that it wasn't in chronological order (thank you, Quentin). I'm sure I'll watch parts of it again before it ends it's run. And soon, lines from it will enter our lexicon. Movies live on and on, thanks to their quotes. They're interactive. And we have control over their lifespan.
And this is to say nothing of DVDs. Doesn't everyone watch the deleted scenes? The "making of" documentaries? Well, no, my parents don't. But I do. True, the actors and producers are still in charge of creating those bonus features...but watching them makes me feel like I've been taking behind the curtain, just a little bit.
Movie producers know all of this. Movies today are shuffled off to DVD much quicker than they used to be...with bonus features ready to go. And movies themselves, comedies at least, are clearly written with the quoter in mind. Yes, back in the day, you had Clint Eastwood and "make my day" and all that. But that was the exception, not the rule. Today, every producer/director/writer hopes to be quoted. Take writing for Christopher Walken for example. His character in The Rundown was written to quote just as much as his Bruce Dickinson was. Because quotable = funny. And quotable also = mindshare. It's survival of the fittest. The movie that's quoted lives on to see another marketing push at Christmas.
And, of course, there's always the web. The great equalizer. As movie fans, we can blog, we can chat, we can read away to our little heart's content. And on the web, the fans really are in the driver's seat. The studios play along, though, and create interesting web sites, games and message boards to fuel the fire.
So no, movies aren't now and never will be as interactive and consumer-controlled as videogames. But they're certainly not as static as they used to be, and we do have the evil empire of movie studios to thank (in part) for that.
posted by Kit Pollard at
10:04 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home