Sunday, December 11, 2016
The Future of Social Media & Film
I predict that social media and film will not change much beyond what we currently have. Although, as more and more people use social media the more companies will be able to track people who use social media technologies to see how the general populace thinks of a film. There are already critic review sites that aggregate scores and try to gauge the quality of a film, although a lot of the times general movie audiences do not share the same reception as these professional reviewers. Social media in the future will still play a strong role in allowing users to share how they feel about a film and in turn this will let others who are close to them decide whether they want to see the film too. If the models for this future are correct then whether or not people like a film on social media or not should also correlate with how well the films do in the box office as well. It will be interesting to see how the future of social media and how it relates to film plays out.
Monday, December 5, 2016
Access, Equity, & Film
Social Media is a valuable tool for filmmakers looking to advertise and market their films. If a good marketing team uses a social media site like Facebook to advertise their film that alone has the potential to reach a little over 50% of the entire US population. However, not everybody has access to high-speed broadband internet, or they can't afford it even if they wanted to have it. High-speed internet is definitely a luxury that not everyone has access to.
In regards to film, a company with a good marketing team can dominate the box office simply by putting together a few quality trailers and posting them on Facebook or Youtube. Millions of people will see these trailers and allow for more people to spread the word and get the general public to do some of the work in marketing. If people are not using the internet or have a social media account which many people don't. Their awareness of the film's quality and release in theaters has decreased compared to those who are constantly updated on social media sites. It also allows people who regularly use social media sites to talk about and discuss the films they have seen, which many people enjoy doing.
A major drawback of not having access to social media technologies is the declined perception of updates and news that gets spread on those sites. Many people have started to use Facebook as their main source of news and if more and more news and media companies decide to use Facebook and other social media sites to cover the news, then those who do not have access to it will be informed less quickly than those who have social media sites. Also, as more and more of the world gains access and usage of social media sites like Facebook, those without it, will be at a severe disadvantage to pop news or media related information. With film, people can get behind the scenes information, box office data, just general more information on the films they love. If you don't have access to this technology you are missing out.
In regards to film, a company with a good marketing team can dominate the box office simply by putting together a few quality trailers and posting them on Facebook or Youtube. Millions of people will see these trailers and allow for more people to spread the word and get the general public to do some of the work in marketing. If people are not using the internet or have a social media account which many people don't. Their awareness of the film's quality and release in theaters has decreased compared to those who are constantly updated on social media sites. It also allows people who regularly use social media sites to talk about and discuss the films they have seen, which many people enjoy doing.
A major drawback of not having access to social media technologies is the declined perception of updates and news that gets spread on those sites. Many people have started to use Facebook as their main source of news and if more and more news and media companies decide to use Facebook and other social media sites to cover the news, then those who do not have access to it will be informed less quickly than those who have social media sites. Also, as more and more of the world gains access and usage of social media sites like Facebook, those without it, will be at a severe disadvantage to pop news or media related information. With film, people can get behind the scenes information, box office data, just general more information on the films they love. If you don't have access to this technology you are missing out.
Monday, October 24, 2016
Social Media, Politics, & Film
People love to watch movies, people love to use social media, people hate talking politics. What do you get when you combine all three of these things together. Your Facebook friends trying to convince you to sway to their political ideology. I've seen many people post things along the lines of "You have to watch this youtube video, it will change your opinion of Trump" "Don't trust Hillary, just watch this video and you'll see what I mean." Or "I can't stand Trump and just look at this video to see why." These are all comments in one form or another that I've seen across multiple social media sites. It seems like 2016 is the year of social media and politics, even more so than 2012.
When it comes to actual film though, not just youtube videos. There are very few political activists who like to use film as a medium to sway people. Michael Moore is a very well known political activist who tries to approach his material as unbiased as possible. However, his outcome is almost always biased towards favoring a liberal leftist point of view. Similarly, Dinesh D'Souza uses his documentaries to try and approach politics as unbiased as possible but ends up biasing his films more towards the conservative right.
These two documentary directors are polar opposites of each other. Yet, when you look at the critics ratings for both sides you see a clear winner. It's no secret that Hollywood and the majority of critics favor the leftist ideology just based on these two individual's work. What matters more though is the outcome of the election and if we were to base our winner purely off of the popularity of Facebook, Trump would win. If we were to announce the winner based purely off of youtube then it would be a close tie, and finally off of the films about them, Trump would win. Luckily, it's not as easy as just watching a few videos and choosing the next president based off of how good the other side demonized the other. Though some people might argue, that it is that easy and in the end all that matters is the electoral college.
When it comes to actual film though, not just youtube videos. There are very few political activists who like to use film as a medium to sway people. Michael Moore is a very well known political activist who tries to approach his material as unbiased as possible. However, his outcome is almost always biased towards favoring a liberal leftist point of view. Similarly, Dinesh D'Souza uses his documentaries to try and approach politics as unbiased as possible but ends up biasing his films more towards the conservative right.
These two documentary directors are polar opposites of each other. Yet, when you look at the critics ratings for both sides you see a clear winner. It's no secret that Hollywood and the majority of critics favor the leftist ideology just based on these two individual's work. What matters more though is the outcome of the election and if we were to base our winner purely off of the popularity of Facebook, Trump would win. If we were to announce the winner based purely off of youtube then it would be a close tie, and finally off of the films about them, Trump would win. Luckily, it's not as easy as just watching a few videos and choosing the next president based off of how good the other side demonized the other. Though some people might argue, that it is that easy and in the end all that matters is the electoral college.
Monday, October 10, 2016
Crowdsourcing & Film
I don't have any experience when it comes to crowdsourcing for a film, however I've seen it done a lot by other people. Usually for small independent films or even fan films. One of the biggest pros to crowdsourcing with film is that it allows creative experienced or inexperienced filmmakers a chance to produce a film that they want to see without having to get a studio involved. All you need is the equipment, the cast and crew, as well as the knowledge.
That being said, it's still very hard to get a project running and off the ground. You have to market and share like crazy online with friends and family to even come close to meeting the target goal. Usually these films don't have a large enough audience to reach their goals.
As I've stated many times before, I'm a big Star Wars fan, and I've seen a couple Star Wars fan films pop up here and there on kickstarter.com. This is kind of a tricky scenario because licensed IPs are owned by large corporations and if they want to they can easily shutdown any unauthorized/unlicensed person or studio who wants to make a fan film. Most of the time, they are pretty lenient and actually encourage people to be creative and make fan films, however, they do not allow you to make money off of them and that's where crowdsourcing can be a tricky situation. I can easily see a situation where a fan film has reached its target goal on kickstarter but the studio ends up pocketing the cash and not actually finishing their project. I can't imagine this happens often but it is a possible problem. These are the kinds of people that ruin it for others and make independent filmmakers more untrustworthy.
All in all, I really like the idea of crowdsourcing and what it can accomplish. It has a lot of potential and it can really make things easier for people who wish to try their hand at filming. However, I also understand that it's not always an easy thing to do and that there can be many complications that involve the people involved with the projects, especially inexperienced ones. You are 100% reliant on whether you reach that target goal and if you don't then your project is doomed. At least they are given the opportunity though.
That being said, it's still very hard to get a project running and off the ground. You have to market and share like crazy online with friends and family to even come close to meeting the target goal. Usually these films don't have a large enough audience to reach their goals.
As I've stated many times before, I'm a big Star Wars fan, and I've seen a couple Star Wars fan films pop up here and there on kickstarter.com. This is kind of a tricky scenario because licensed IPs are owned by large corporations and if they want to they can easily shutdown any unauthorized/unlicensed person or studio who wants to make a fan film. Most of the time, they are pretty lenient and actually encourage people to be creative and make fan films, however, they do not allow you to make money off of them and that's where crowdsourcing can be a tricky situation. I can easily see a situation where a fan film has reached its target goal on kickstarter but the studio ends up pocketing the cash and not actually finishing their project. I can't imagine this happens often but it is a possible problem. These are the kinds of people that ruin it for others and make independent filmmakers more untrustworthy.
All in all, I really like the idea of crowdsourcing and what it can accomplish. It has a lot of potential and it can really make things easier for people who wish to try their hand at filming. However, I also understand that it's not always an easy thing to do and that there can be many complications that involve the people involved with the projects, especially inexperienced ones. You are 100% reliant on whether you reach that target goal and if you don't then your project is doomed. At least they are given the opportunity though.
Sunday, October 2, 2016
Content Sharing Sites as a Creative Tool for Filmmakers
When it comes to creating film and the desire to share your creation with the rest of the world, there are many ways to do that this day and age. Youtube.com is a fantastic site to upload and share your creations with other people publicly or privately. However, it has some flaws which keep it from being the best option all of the time.
Google owns youtube but can be pretty strict when it comes to enforcing rules regarding usage of copyrighted material. That's fine, but just like with the remixes and the read and write culture as discussed by Lawrence Lessig in his TedTalk "Laws the Choke Creativity" there comes a price with this enforcement. It restricts creativity and demotivates people to try and create something new that borrows from other people. Many great artists have borrowed from other people historically speaking, especially with music and film. I understand that we need the laws to be enforced in order to keep people from making money off of other people's work, but from my perspective it seems like most people who use well known works are just young people trying to be creative and aren't looking to make money.
There are other alternatives to Youtube out there where you can watch videos. Vimeo is another good site that offers someone the ability to upload their videos to the site and share it with others across the globe.
I think that one of the most useful tools in regards to using content sharing sites is that you can upload user reviews, fan films, and even music videos. People who enjoy a particular type of music, review personality, and cinematic universe can find channels that upload content for other fans to watch. I have found plenty of users who upload work to youtube. Another option is that it makes it easy to commercialize a particular skill you have. If you are great at cooking, doing makeup tutorials, playing an instrument, then sites like Youtube allow you to take advantage of that skill if you get enough subscribers and viewers.
It's a great resource for aspiring filmmakers as well, you can see works done by other filmmakers and even watch older films that have been uploaded to Youtube. Youtube is one of my favorite tools and I will most likely always use it as a resource when it comes to learning how to do something.
Google owns youtube but can be pretty strict when it comes to enforcing rules regarding usage of copyrighted material. That's fine, but just like with the remixes and the read and write culture as discussed by Lawrence Lessig in his TedTalk "Laws the Choke Creativity" there comes a price with this enforcement. It restricts creativity and demotivates people to try and create something new that borrows from other people. Many great artists have borrowed from other people historically speaking, especially with music and film. I understand that we need the laws to be enforced in order to keep people from making money off of other people's work, but from my perspective it seems like most people who use well known works are just young people trying to be creative and aren't looking to make money.
There are other alternatives to Youtube out there where you can watch videos. Vimeo is another good site that offers someone the ability to upload their videos to the site and share it with others across the globe.
I think that one of the most useful tools in regards to using content sharing sites is that you can upload user reviews, fan films, and even music videos. People who enjoy a particular type of music, review personality, and cinematic universe can find channels that upload content for other fans to watch. I have found plenty of users who upload work to youtube. Another option is that it makes it easy to commercialize a particular skill you have. If you are great at cooking, doing makeup tutorials, playing an instrument, then sites like Youtube allow you to take advantage of that skill if you get enough subscribers and viewers.
It's a great resource for aspiring filmmakers as well, you can see works done by other filmmakers and even watch older films that have been uploaded to Youtube. Youtube is one of my favorite tools and I will most likely always use it as a resource when it comes to learning how to do something.
Friday, September 23, 2016
User Generated Content & Its Effect On Film
I like how Larry Lessig in his TED video "Laws that Choke Creativity" gives us examples of how many of the things we see and listen to today are remixes of previous work. It's very difficult to come up with truly original work, and even Hollywood, the professionals, are struggling to do so lately. Letting regular people borrow and use other work to make their own creations should be allowed in my opinion, except for if they are trying to make money off of it. This gives not only young people but all creative people the chance to showcase their vision and creativity by using elements from other mediums. There have been plenty of music videos that have been made by fans who many argue were done better than the actual professional music video, this is an example of how user generated content is a positive force and should be allowed to continue.
With film, just like any other sort of entertainment industry, reviews and ratings are a huge factor that effect whether or not people will go spend the money and time to see the finished product. I know many people, myself included, who will wait a couple of days to see how the ratings of a movie have done. There have been times where the critics ratings have swayed me to not see a movie, and although I follow the ratings of popular sites such as rottentomatoes.com, Imdb.com, and Metacritic I have still watched movies that even all three of those sites have deemed "rotten." On the contrary, I haven't seen movies that all three of those sites have deemed "classic" "fresh" "oscar worthy" or given very positive ratings. While it's true that there have been times where I may not have seen a film that I would have liked to experience and seen films that I probably shouldn't have wasted the money on. I'm sure that there are plenty of people out there who have only gone to see movies that critics and users have given favorable reviews. I usually am one of those people too. This has the potential to effect the box office and cause studios to try and get as positive reviews as possible for their movies. There has been talk that Marvel/Disney has paid off reviewers to give their films higher ratings while the critics have constantly bashed DC films, and while I find this train of thought silly and almost conspiracy level garbage, it is kind of fun to imagine. Is it too much to believe that maybe the DC films are just not as well made in general as the Marvel films? Or is there really an actual conspiracy going on? All of this talk originated from user generated content.
Technically Metacritic is arguably the best since it averages the rating from multiple critics sites and sources. It also takes user review scores and displays them next to the critic's score. There have been times where the professional critics have been wrong and a movie has ended up being more popular with audiences than the critics ever thought it would be. Even in recent memory the movie Batman Vs. Superman had initial pretty bad reviews and was getting 27% on Rotten Tomatoes while a majority of audiences enjoyed and liked the movie and is currently sitting at a decent 64% user rating.
I have problems with the way some of these sites allow aggravating reviews. Imdb.com for example, allows users to post and rate a movie before it has even released in theaters. This should leave the assumption that the ratings that have been posted are from early screenings of the film. I would like to see Imdb provide a better system that reduces aggravating ratings and forces users to submit a small review and give reasons why they gave the movie the rating they did. With a 50 word minimum, and an intern or employee who screens the reviews, so the copy and paste reviews don't slide by. If a site wants to have it's ratings be taken seriously they have to make users put a little more effort into their ratings. This not only would reduce the troll ratings who only give 1/10 ratings because they hate the director or an actor/actress. but it gives the site a little more credibility as well.
The forum boards are no worse, users are constantly posting aggravating posts and seem to be looking for attention more than actually discussing the film. There are multiple ways that a site can grow it's credibility and the example I gave is just one of many.
All in all, user generated content has the potential to be a great tool. I think it is usually used in a negative way though, more than it should be. We can't control everything that people post using the internet, we can't control how people view something, or their experience with it. However, I do think we can control the way users can post and express their opinions in a more efficient and credible manner.
With film, just like any other sort of entertainment industry, reviews and ratings are a huge factor that effect whether or not people will go spend the money and time to see the finished product. I know many people, myself included, who will wait a couple of days to see how the ratings of a movie have done. There have been times where the critics ratings have swayed me to not see a movie, and although I follow the ratings of popular sites such as rottentomatoes.com, Imdb.com, and Metacritic I have still watched movies that even all three of those sites have deemed "rotten." On the contrary, I haven't seen movies that all three of those sites have deemed "classic" "fresh" "oscar worthy" or given very positive ratings. While it's true that there have been times where I may not have seen a film that I would have liked to experience and seen films that I probably shouldn't have wasted the money on. I'm sure that there are plenty of people out there who have only gone to see movies that critics and users have given favorable reviews. I usually am one of those people too. This has the potential to effect the box office and cause studios to try and get as positive reviews as possible for their movies. There has been talk that Marvel/Disney has paid off reviewers to give their films higher ratings while the critics have constantly bashed DC films, and while I find this train of thought silly and almost conspiracy level garbage, it is kind of fun to imagine. Is it too much to believe that maybe the DC films are just not as well made in general as the Marvel films? Or is there really an actual conspiracy going on? All of this talk originated from user generated content.
Technically Metacritic is arguably the best since it averages the rating from multiple critics sites and sources. It also takes user review scores and displays them next to the critic's score. There have been times where the professional critics have been wrong and a movie has ended up being more popular with audiences than the critics ever thought it would be. Even in recent memory the movie Batman Vs. Superman had initial pretty bad reviews and was getting 27% on Rotten Tomatoes while a majority of audiences enjoyed and liked the movie and is currently sitting at a decent 64% user rating.
I have problems with the way some of these sites allow aggravating reviews. Imdb.com for example, allows users to post and rate a movie before it has even released in theaters. This should leave the assumption that the ratings that have been posted are from early screenings of the film. I would like to see Imdb provide a better system that reduces aggravating ratings and forces users to submit a small review and give reasons why they gave the movie the rating they did. With a 50 word minimum, and an intern or employee who screens the reviews, so the copy and paste reviews don't slide by. If a site wants to have it's ratings be taken seriously they have to make users put a little more effort into their ratings. This not only would reduce the troll ratings who only give 1/10 ratings because they hate the director or an actor/actress. but it gives the site a little more credibility as well.
The forum boards are no worse, users are constantly posting aggravating posts and seem to be looking for attention more than actually discussing the film. There are multiple ways that a site can grow it's credibility and the example I gave is just one of many.
All in all, user generated content has the potential to be a great tool. I think it is usually used in a negative way though, more than it should be. We can't control everything that people post using the internet, we can't control how people view something, or their experience with it. However, I do think we can control the way users can post and express their opinions in a more efficient and credible manner.
Monday, September 19, 2016
Social Media & Relationships With Regards to Film
When it comes to film and movies (which are generally used interchangeably). Movies are considered feature length films that exceed 45 minutes and are meant for audiences in larger scale, while films are a cinematic representation of a story, drama, episode, event etc. everyone has their own opinions and some even have a special relationship with films. I'm in no way an expert on film although I've taken many classes as a student, however, I consider myself fairly informed and usually up to date when it comes to watching the latest blockbusters, or the more popular Indie/short films, or even the latest films that have been oscar nominated.
Throughout my years of watching movies and using social media networking sites, mainly Facebook, I have noticed some trends. My friends and family, as well as myself, are somewhat influenced by how many of our Facebook friends go see the latest movies. They usually post a quick little impression of what they had and then that's it. Then you'll see a number of likes and comments from their friends who mention whether they went to see it or not or whether they even want to see it.
In this way, I do believe that we as pretty social beings do tend to be influenced by what social media suggests. There have been multiple times where one of my friends said they went to see the latest movie and said it was trash even if I thought it looked good from the trailers and I ended up not going to see it in theaters. Likewise, I've seen posts where a movie I wasn't initially interested in got praise from a few of my friends and I ended up going to see it. I'm sure that this applies to everyone who uses social media.
My biggest complaint about the use of social media and its influence on people's perception or relationships is that people tend to be almost exasperatingly and overtly cynical and pessimistic on certain sites. Youtube, and IMDB are notorious for attracting cynical/pessimistic users that post nothing but negative comments on the pages. It's not always full of negative comments, and rightfully some things do deserve criticism, however, when it's nothing but biased negative fluff that contributes nothing to a civil debate of criticism, I tend to get irritated and have found myself getting involved with these posters when I clearly shouldn't be wasting my time.
I am ferociously defensive of Star Wars and have always been. I accept that not everyone likes Star Wars and is open to criticize it as a series. My friends know that I am a huge Star Wars fan and some of my Facebook friends have even used me as a means to get more information or used me as reference to promote discussion or speculation. I don't consider my knowledge of films, especially Star Wars, to really provide any sense of social capital but perhaps one day my knowledge will have an effect on people or provide an opportunity to gain monetary funds.
Throughout my years of watching movies and using social media networking sites, mainly Facebook, I have noticed some trends. My friends and family, as well as myself, are somewhat influenced by how many of our Facebook friends go see the latest movies. They usually post a quick little impression of what they had and then that's it. Then you'll see a number of likes and comments from their friends who mention whether they went to see it or not or whether they even want to see it.
In this way, I do believe that we as pretty social beings do tend to be influenced by what social media suggests. There have been multiple times where one of my friends said they went to see the latest movie and said it was trash even if I thought it looked good from the trailers and I ended up not going to see it in theaters. Likewise, I've seen posts where a movie I wasn't initially interested in got praise from a few of my friends and I ended up going to see it. I'm sure that this applies to everyone who uses social media.
My biggest complaint about the use of social media and its influence on people's perception or relationships is that people tend to be almost exasperatingly and overtly cynical and pessimistic on certain sites. Youtube, and IMDB are notorious for attracting cynical/pessimistic users that post nothing but negative comments on the pages. It's not always full of negative comments, and rightfully some things do deserve criticism, however, when it's nothing but biased negative fluff that contributes nothing to a civil debate of criticism, I tend to get irritated and have found myself getting involved with these posters when I clearly shouldn't be wasting my time.
I am ferociously defensive of Star Wars and have always been. I accept that not everyone likes Star Wars and is open to criticize it as a series. My friends know that I am a huge Star Wars fan and some of my Facebook friends have even used me as a means to get more information or used me as reference to promote discussion or speculation. I don't consider my knowledge of films, especially Star Wars, to really provide any sense of social capital but perhaps one day my knowledge will have an effect on people or provide an opportunity to gain monetary funds.
Sunday, September 4, 2016
Social Media and Film Blog Introduction/First Post
My name is Austin McComb, and I'm currently a Mass Communication Design major at CSU Chico, CA. This is my educational blog for CDES 219 where I will be posting, discussing, and commenting on Social Media and it's connection to Film.
Many people enjoy watching movies for different reasons. Some people enjoy the themes, the stories, the characters, the music, the symbolism, some even enjoy the complex under the surface philosophical ideas that only a very select few of individuals would ever notice, understand and contemplate, and lastly some people just enjoy the large explosions and loud noises (and that's okay!) :)
Almost all of us enjoy film/movies is my point. We all enjoy taking a break from our day to day lives to watch a bunch of animated pictures combined with music and sound to tell a visual story. Stories have been capturing our imaginations for as long as we've had the ability to communicate intelligently with spoken language. It's no wonder that over time our ability to improve and master the use of communicating stories has led to the multi-billion dollar industry of film entertainment today. It's something that many of us just enjoy given the time to do so.
You want to know what else many of us enjoy? Social Media... we love to post to Facebook what movie we just finished crying over, send snaps with Snapchat of our favorite moments during a movie at home, take a picture and heavily modify it's look using Instagram filters, and finally write blogs about what movie we just watched to analyze and discuss what the directors and writers were trying to convey (Kind of like what I'm doing here).
My hope is that many people will enjoy discussing the use of social media and film since it's something that pretty much applies to everyone in the developed world. If I had to choose one ideal reader of this blog, it would be someone who understands, is knowledgeable, and is open to the idea of film, (who really likes Star Wars like me) and that still likes to use social media to communicate his or her feelings and ideas.
Many people enjoy watching movies for different reasons. Some people enjoy the themes, the stories, the characters, the music, the symbolism, some even enjoy the complex under the surface philosophical ideas that only a very select few of individuals would ever notice, understand and contemplate, and lastly some people just enjoy the large explosions and loud noises (and that's okay!) :)
Almost all of us enjoy film/movies is my point. We all enjoy taking a break from our day to day lives to watch a bunch of animated pictures combined with music and sound to tell a visual story. Stories have been capturing our imaginations for as long as we've had the ability to communicate intelligently with spoken language. It's no wonder that over time our ability to improve and master the use of communicating stories has led to the multi-billion dollar industry of film entertainment today. It's something that many of us just enjoy given the time to do so.
You want to know what else many of us enjoy? Social Media... we love to post to Facebook what movie we just finished crying over, send snaps with Snapchat of our favorite moments during a movie at home, take a picture and heavily modify it's look using Instagram filters, and finally write blogs about what movie we just watched to analyze and discuss what the directors and writers were trying to convey (Kind of like what I'm doing here).
My hope is that many people will enjoy discussing the use of social media and film since it's something that pretty much applies to everyone in the developed world. If I had to choose one ideal reader of this blog, it would be someone who understands, is knowledgeable, and is open to the idea of film, (who really likes Star Wars like me) and that still likes to use social media to communicate his or her feelings and ideas.
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