GTA 4

This website (from BBC News, 2nd May 08) has some facts and figures about GTA 4:

• The title sold a record 609,000 copies on its first day of release, generating an estimated £24.4m ($48.5m).
• The previous record holder was GTA: San Andreas, which sold 501,000 copies in 24 hours in October 2004.
• despite its success the game has been hit by reports of software problems and crashes on some consoles.
• The game currently has an average review score of 98.7%, according to Gamerankings.com, which amalgamates reviews from all publications.
• The title cost approximately $100m to make but could quickly recoup the costs.
• According to Chart Track it not only recorded the highest sales for any game in its first 24 hours, it also set new records for first day sales for any game on both the PS3 and the Xbox.
  The title smashed the PS3 record by nearly 200,000 copies. Previous record holder Gran Turismo 5: Prologue sold just 80,000 copies.
  However, it was a closer run race on the Xbox 360. Microsoft's Halo 3 had previously notched up first day figures of 266,000 compared to GTA's recorded 335,00.

20 mark mock question

Question: Using your wider knowledge of new media technologies, discuss how far young people's use of media technology differs from that or their parents.

As the media ecosystem has developed over the years with, audiences have been able to experience a more personalised experience of consuming the media. However, parents are often less inclined to buy into new media technologies as they feel more comfortable with their consumption habbits. For example, younger generations are keen to buy films on blu-ray discs, as they are more educated over the extra capacity offered, providing extras and improved visual and sound quality. As blu-ray evolved with the development of high definition television (HDTV), another new media technology, parents often don't feel the need to follow the ideology of consumption that institutions rely on to attract audiences.
Younger audiences have also driven the change in the music industry, as institutions realised the potential new revenue streams available due to the high demand of pull technologies such as the iPod. Again, technology before was not nearly as developed as the process of digitisation was unable to perfom as highly as it can today, so parents dont have the aspiration to 'keep up to date' as it is seen as un-necesary, and conformist.
However, it is clear that parents are not completely dismissive of new media technologies, with the introduction off BBC iPlayer. Adults are the key target audience, and this has proved successful with......watching the apprentice. This may be because the BBC is an institution which parents are familiar with and feel a connection based on trust.

Key Terms:

Obsolescence: The state of being out of use or no longer useful.
RFID: Radio Frequency Identification. THIS link gives more info.
Peer-to-peer software: The generic name for software such as KaZaA that allows users to connect directly to each other in order to share resources.

Gavin Luhr-the perils of new media technologies

http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/engine/mm/subscribe_mm/base/past_base.php?Link=New%20technologies

A summary of this article (the key points)
They take your money …

• Obsolescence is purposely built into new media products in order to perpetuate the consumer cycle e.g mobile phone upgrades every 12/18 months
• Average household spending on new media has risen dramatically in the last ten years. Mobile phones, multi-channel TV, broadband subscriptions, and online gaming subscriptions; products or services which 10 years ago either didn’t exist or were considered luxuries are now ‘essentials’ for modern existence.

… they steal your privacy

• Google has the ability to remember every search you’ve made, Amazon remembers the items you’ve browsed on its site, supermarkets know what you’ve bought; your ISP can track the websites that you visit etc. By taking advantage of the opportunities new media technologies offer, we often unwittingly give up our privacy.
• Many institutions are concerned about the security implications of mobile phones and PDAs as they may be used to steal valuable information, given their ubiquity and improved features such as data storage and good quality camera functions.
• Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags are another innovation that could have consequences for civil liberties. They can be almost invisible to the naked eye, yet are capable of reporting on the exact location of the object to which they are attached. Retail makes biggest use of them at the moment, but who knows how else they could be employed.

… and they turn you to crime

• Billions of music files have been illegally swapped using peer-to-peer software such as the original Napster and KaZaA
• The culture of the Internet is seen as privileging collaboration and community; to many it is a symbol of what can be achieved without corporate interference.
• NMTs often provide environments in which the unacceptable becomes acceptable: the theft of ‘virtual’ items such as songs or films on the Internet; the assault and murder of innocent bystanders for entertainment on games consoles. Manhunt and the Grand Theft Auto series have been cited in legal cases involving young people apparently copying the violence they have already ‘practised’ in a virtual environment
• The dark side of Second Life for example, researchers found areas where child prostitution and indecent behaviour were found.
• Traditional systems of censorship and classification are futile; sex, violence and crime are increasingly available online or in console games. Operation Ore, the police investigation into child pornography on the Internet, has thrown up a shocking result: there were initially too many offenders to pursue them all. Are there no limits to what is acceptable when packaged as ‘virtual’?

Environmental issues:

• We all contribute to the environmental disaster inflicted by the production, and rapid discarding of, the latest must-have gadgets.
• UK: one million tonnes of electronic waste is generated each year, much of it full of hazardous substances.
• US: 70% of the heavy metals found in landfill sites originated from ‘e-waste’, an enormous health issue, particularly if allowed to contaminate groundwater.
• A UN study in early 2004 found that 1.8 tonnes of raw material is consumed during the production of the average desktop computer.

The phone mast threat:

• The potential danger posed by mobile phone masts has meant that local protest groups are abundant around proposed sites for new masts, particularly when they are to be located near schools.
• Some dismiss such objections as alarmist, but in an Internet search you will find lots of ‘evidence’ of the dangers. e.g. increased electromagnetic waves are suspected by some to have interfered with the reproductive capabilities of sparrows. There are now 75% fewer sparrows in London since 1994, a period that has seen the dramatic growth of mobile phone use.
• As our cities, schools and homes become increasingly reliant on wireless communications, what will be the consequences for our health? This is particularly relevant since the publication of research showing that under-10s should not be using mobile phones.
• In the media, new technologies are frequently presented as liberating, empowering and inspiring forces. However, their ‘newness’ means that their longer term implications are still not yet fully known. Only time will tell whether we should celebrate their massive potential – or beware their dark side.

4OD ad-funded shows

This article taught me that Channel 4 makes money through the advertising on its 4OD version of on demand telvesion.
QUOTE: "The shows will be supported by pre-roll advertising and sponsorship packages.
The first advertisers include Dulux, sponsor of Ugly Betty, L'Oreal, Tourism Australia and Bodyform.
"We want Channel 4 viewers to be able to see our shows in a format, time and platform to suit them and to make the process as simple as possible," said Jeff Ford, director of acquisitions and Film4."

BBC iPlayer risks overloading the internet

This article from the times online, called BBC iPlayer 'risks overloading the internet' informed me of a number of key points, facts and figures to include in my exam:

• BBC iPlayer is estimated to be worth approx £831 million
• Viewers are now watching more than one million BBC programmes online each week.
• iPlayer accounts for between 3 and 5 per cent of all internet traffic in Britain, with the first episode of The Apprentice watched more than 100,000 times via a computer, according to the BBC
• There were 17.2 million requests to watch programmes last month, an increase of 25 per cent on February.
• The BBC is trying to increase the scope of the service by making its iPlayer service available via the Nintendo Wii, allowing owners who are unable to stop playing in time for their favourite programmes to catch up with them later (approx t2.5 million homes with a Wii)

Digital TV Timeline

Click HERE to see a timeline showing the development of digital tv and changes in how we consume tv over time.

Issue : BBC 'opens floodgates' to iPlayer hackers

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/13/digitalvideo.television
· Anti-piracy breach allows unrestricted downloads
· Corporation says it is working to close loophole
This article has taught me that hackers are able to get through the BBCs anti-piracy systems to gain access to programmes on iPlayer. This causes problems with copyright protection.
Quote: "One of the hackers responsible said it took him only 12 minutes to find the loophole and make it work - but that such a simple hack potentially opened up every programme on iPlayer for unlimited downloading.
"The BBC accidentally opened the floodgates and gave the world DRM-free downloads," said one hacker with knowledge of the breach. "If only it were down to something other than poor design, decisions and ineptitude."
Also, the decision to incorporate anti-piracy protections has angered some campaigners, who believe that British citizens should have unprotected access to shows for which they have already paid with their TV licence fee.

Issues and Debates

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv/psb_review/digitalpsb/ "Digital PSB - Public Service Broadcasting post Digital Switchover"

Ofcom is the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries, with responsibilities across television, radio, telecommunications and wireless communications services.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7092822.stm " The town of Whitehaven in Cumbria has become the first place in the UK to turn off the analogue signal as part of the official switchover to digital TV. " The article explains that all ran smoothly, with little confusion, however David Sinclair, head of policy at Help the Aged, thinks more needs to be done to ensure the switchover runs smoothly across the rest of the UK.
"There are still analogue products on the market and we believe there should be mandatory labelling of analogue products and products which won't work after switchover without an adaptation," he said. "At the moment there are people still going into shops and buying products which may not work in a year's time," he added. Meanwhile, Digital UK played down reports that France's digital switchover scheme, which is scheduled to end in November 2011, might interfere with the digital terrestrial signal in parts of southern England.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/6291668.stm According to BBC NEWS, "About a quarter of households at the forefront of the UK's digital TV switchover have yet to convert. With just under 100 days to go until Whitehaven's analogue signal is turned off, approximately 6,000 homes have not upgraded their equipment."

This article clearly links with my hypothesis, as it relates to who is able to make changes to work with the changes taking place, and who is left behind (information rich&poor)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/sep/24/mondaymediasection.television2 "Teenage kicks-BBC Switch is a cross-platform initiative that hopes to capture the elusive 12 to 16-year-old market". This article talks about how the BBC is trying to appeal to 12 to 16 year olds, and some of the issues the BBC faces including the competition from iPods, mobiles, and online entertainment from site such as Bebo and MySpace.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3067137.stm ''BBC faces debates over future role" - Key Quotes:

• The growth in digital TV has fractured the BBC's traditional audience, who are asking questions about the need for a licence fee which funds services they either cannot receive or do not watch.
• The BBC is criticised if they make programmes that are not popular but are worthy, and it is also criticised if it makes programmes which reach millions of people.
• The corporation has faced a large amount of criticism in the last 12 months from commercial rivals concerned that the BBC is encroaching into their territory.

Case study feedback #2

Well done Danny - very thorough research. You should now look at the links on PSB on the TWGSB blog and also consider how digital TV will enhance viewers experience of consuming television. Consider all the ways in which it is improved from analogue TV (timeshift technology, VoD, HD TV etc)

Also - what are the issues now for broadcasters with more fragmented audiences? (think about advertising revenue) What are the challenges facing them in producing HD TV programming? (think about renovating studio costs).

Also - do we ALL benefit from HD / VoD? Or does this create a digital divide?

Digital Switchover

From researching the ITV website in order to discover how they were marketing their product ('catch up'), i found these pages which were extremely relevant:
http://www.itv.com/Help/DigitalSwitchoverHelp/Timetableforswitching/default.html
http://www.itv.com/Help/DigitalSwitchoverHelp/Whatisit/default.html
From reading these pages I found a link to the 'digitaluk' website.
What is "Digital UK" ?
http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/
Digital UK is the independent, non-profit organisation leading the process of digital TV switchover in the UK. Digital UK provides impartial information on what people need to do to prepare for the move to digital, and when they need to do it. The company also works with digital TV platform operators, equipment manufacturers, installers, retailers, rental companies and consumer groups to coordinate the technical rollout of digital television across the UK. Digital UK was set up at the request of the Government. They work with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department of Trade and Industry, as well as the regulator Ofcom, to prepare the UK for the biggest change in broadcasting since the introduction of colour. Digital UK is owned by the UK’s public service broadcasters (BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five, S4C and Teletext), and multiplex operators SDN and National Grid Wireless.
http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/when
This website contains all the information you need to know about when the switchover takes place. You can even enter your postcode and find out when your region will switch. I found out that Kent will switch in 2012.

Region	Switchover happens in
Border	2008 - 09
West Country, Granada	2009
Wales	2009 - 10
West, STV North	2010 - 11
STV Central	2010 - 11
Central, Yorkshire, Anglia	2011
Meridian,London,	2012
Tyne Tees,Ulster,	2012

What are the institutions doing?

BBC iPlayer
I decided to research how the institutions (such as the BBC) were 'selling' their products (iPLayer in this case) to the audiences.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/channels/iplayer.shtml
I wanted to find out what exactly BBC iPlayer was. The website above told me that:

"BBC iPlayer is the easy-to-use service that lets you access television programmes via your PC. It offers seven-day catch-up television and now also incorporates radio 'listen again' and live streaming. The TV programmes are free for UK licence fee payers, at high quality and with no advertising. Once you have downloaded a programme to your computer you have 30 days within which to start watching and seven days to finish watching it"

I then decided to research how the BBC was 'selling' iPlayer to the audiences

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/

"With BBC iPlayer you can catch up with the programmes from the past seven days you've missed or want to watch again free of charge by playing them direct on the BBC iPlayer website or downloading them to your computer. As long as you are in the UK and connected to the internet you can:

• Find programmes you want to catch up on or watch again from the past seven days and watch them on the website through a method known as streaming.
• Download and store them on your computer for up to 30 days if you have a Windows PC.
• Play back high quality programmes on your computer as often as you like during the time that the programme is available."

4od
http://www.channel4.com/4od/index.html
Channel 4 has also decided to make programmes available digitally through 4od (on demand). I visited the above website to see how C4 were marketing 4od. It said:
"This is 4od, the best of channel 4, on demand
With hundreds of hours of TV, films and music, you can watch what you want, when you want. Catch up on the last 30days' TV for free
Enjoy 100s of classic shows for free
Pre-book your favourite shows and never miss a thing"

Hypothesis

In order to give my case study some structure, i have developed a hypothesis which i will prove either correct or incorrect. 

"The switch from analogue to digital television is beneficial to information rich citizens, but leaves behind those who are information poor."

case study feedback #1

Well done - perceptive analysis - keep up the good work!

Useful Links

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wIIjT3xotHU - What is the Digital Transition?
This video (from the USA) informed me that you don't have to buy a new TV for the digital switch over, but you can buy a converter (like the RCA DTA 800) which will allow ur analogue TV to pick up digital signals. The video also informed me that this switch over takes place midnight Feb 17th 2009, but i believe this is just the case in the USA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re_zirX84xI&NR=1 - DTV 101: A Consumer's Guide to Digital Television. This video (also from the USA) told me a number of facts, including:

• Switch to all digital transmition means that the analogue specturum is free to those who really need it e.g emergency services.
  
• Cable/satellite viewers are not likely to be affected. However, those without this service may need to make some changes.
• You can receive more free channels, higher quality viewing experience and high definition programming if you choose.
• Analogue system: television signal is received through magnetic waves which can repeat and interfere with eachother, causing poor picture quality like ghosting, colour shifts and lines across the screen
• Digital systems: signal sent as 1s and 0s reducing problems with quality and allows broadcasters to send more info to your TV. In general...Digital TV sounds and looks better than analogue.

Googlezon

Some interesting research:
Taken from Wikiepedia
Googlezon is a fictional company created when Google merges with Amazon.com in the popular flash movie EPIC 2014, released in November 2004. As the story goes, Google, having consolidated all of its services into the Google Grid – a "universal platform that provides a functionally limitless amount of storage space and bandwidth to store and share media of all kinds" – and Amazon.com, with its "social recommendation engine" and "huge commercial infrastructure" combine forces to battle with Microsoft and its fictional Newsbotster in the "News Wars of 2010" which are "notable for the fact that no actual news organizations take part". Googlezon triumphs and unleashes EPIC (Evolving Personalized Information Construct), a universal, personalized news submission and distribution system that is so popular it effectively puts the fourth estate out of business.

Taken from this website:
The Museum of Media History takes us from the present, when citizen journalism, blogging, TiVo and social networking have taken firm hold, to a halfway realistic furture where the "Evolving Personalized Information Construct" is born.
EPIC, as it would be known involoves the merger of Google and Amazon to form Googlezon, the death of the NYT and the personalization of every conceivable aspect of media and product consumption.

In conclusion, the video talks of a greater breadth and depth of information in 2014 that was previously unavailable. The press, no longer exists as we know it. Citizen journalism is much more prevalent with people being payed by googlezon a small portion of their advertising money in proportion to how popular their news story is.

"We're all reporters in the digital democracy"

Emily Bell, Monday 20, 2006, The Guardian
Questions:
1) What is citizen journalism?
Citizen journalism (also known as witness contributors, user-generated content) is the term used when talking about the change in journalism in terms of the amount of contribution that citizens can now partake in with modern day journalism. The article says "Once a passive receptor for messages from newspapers, radio and television, media consumers are now making themselves heard in a rapid move towards the democratisation of media."
2) What are the ideas that Emily Bell presents in her article?

• Journalism has shifted from employed, proffesional reporters to citizen journalism due to NMTs such as mobile phones with cameras, the ability to post blogs etc. Quote: "What has changed over the past three years has been the speed, volume, and type of responce that has been made possible by the internet, broadband delivery and digitised media".
• If 9/11 happened today, "there would be thousands of mobile phone still images, dozens and dozens of short videa clips also shot on phones, instant and continuous blogging of the event". "Only five years later, no one doubts that the reporting of the event would be very different".
• Blogging is risky-how do you police it? E.g. blog on the Guardian's website creates controversy as it is hard to control what people post, and some things have to be stopped as they are posted under the Guardian's page.
• "Is it a cynical expolitation of free material? Not really - I am sure we are not far from the point where citizen journalists ask for payment for their best exclusive material, but the nature of the relationship is essentially participatory."
• "The idea that what the professional journalist can provide will always in all circumstances be qualitatively better than a citizen journalist is not true anymore - if it ever was.

The Music Industry

When talking about the music industry, there are a number of key concepts which should be considered.

• Convergence - The process of multiple technologies being brought together to form a new product. When talking about the music industry, you could use the term when talking about mobile phones which enable users to download music straight to their phones. 
• Personalisation - A characteristic of many NMTs is their ability to offer users a personalised experience. It is about variety, and choice. When talking about the music industry, iPods and the iTunes store allow music to be more personalised than ever, with users enjoying the ability to buy just the tracks they want from an album and then listen to them anytime, anywhere.
• Digitisation - At its most basic form all digital material, whether it is a picture, plain text or a movie, is made up of a (long) series of 1s and 0s. This means material can be reproduced perfectly by a computer (or computer system e.g a sky+ box) and transported more effectively. In relation to the music industry, digitisation has created a massive decline in profits for a number of companies as audiences are now able to access singles and albums for free with illegal downloading software or file sharing programmes. 

Information Rich & Information Poor

See this website for a definition.

When talking about digital TV, this term can be used when talking of those who are fortunate enough to be able to keep up with NMTs and purchase TVs ready for the digital switch over (information rich), and those who are not (information poor). Not everyone can afford to keep up. Digital TV creates a divide between the information rich and information poor.

Personalisation & Digital TV

A characteristic of many NMTs is their ability to offer users a personalised experience. For example, Sky+ allows users to personalise their viewing schedule including the ability to pause live TV and automatically record their favourite programmes.

New Media Technologies - Case Study

I have chosen to focus my case study on Digital Television. When researching, i must consider the main three areas:

1. Technology - what does the technology allow? in particular, what does it allow that audiences and institutions couldn't do before. How is marketed, and who to? Who provides it, and is there any cost involved? Push/Pull technology? Is it a new media, or an old media that is changing? Who is behind this development, and why?
2. Institutions - How does his NMT allow institutions to work in new ways? (reach their audiences in new ways, make greater profit etc). How do institutions construct marketing campaigns to launch new products? Are they reacting to aundience demands or having to educate users? Are there any privacy issues, or financial losses?
3. Audience - What are audiences doing with this NMT? How are traditional experiences changing? What are audiences not doing so they can spend more time interacting with the NMTs? (statistics will help in this area) How is the technology consumed, and who by? What advantages are there for the consumer? (convergence, interactivity, quality, choice, control) Also, consider counter argument-are there any disadvantages? Is the way we interact with eachother changing?
4. Issues - What are the issues that arise with this NMT? Are there in panics over it? Or any debates? Also, are there any issues involving piracy, or any other type of illegal activity? (including copyright laws?) I will need to consider advertisers, and how they feel with channels going digital...how can the channel guarantee that their viewers wont fast forward through the adverts? Will they have to lower their prices for advertisers?
5. The Future - What is next? Where is it going? (what is the next step for digital TV, where will it take us?)

The age of permanent net revolution

John Naughton, TV reviewer turned internet guru, foresees the end of traditional broadcasting and the rise of a new media ecology.

Sunday March 5, 2006
The Observer

1. "endism" = the perspective that sees new technologies as replacing older ones.
2. "media ecosystem" = an ecosystem is never static, it's always changing, so this term refers to the belief that the changes between new and old media technologies are constant. The "organisms" in our media ecosystem include broadcast and narrowcast television, movies, radio, print and the internet.
3. "narrowcasting" = specialist content is aimed at subscription-based audiences and distributed via digital channels.
4. The difference between the internet and the web: (Information taken from This website) The Internet is a network of networks, a networking infrastructure. It connects millions of computers together globally, forming a network in which any computer can communicate with any other computer as long as they are both connected to the Internet. Information that travels over the Internet does so via a variety of languages known as protocols.
   The World Wide Web, or simply Web, is a way of accessing information over the medium of the Internet. It is an information-sharing model that is built on top of the Internet. The Web uses the HTTP protocol, only one of the languages spoken over the Internet, to transmit data. Web services, which use HTTP to allow applications to communicate in order to exchange business logic, use the the Web to share information. The Web also utilizes browsers, such as Internet Explorer or Firefox, to access Web documents called Web pages that are linked to each other via hyperlinks. Web documents also contain graphics, sounds, text and video.
5. "Pull medium" = The web is an example of a "pull" medium. Nothing comes to you unless you choose it and click on it to pull it down on to your computer. You're in charge. "Push medium" = Broadcast TV is a "push" medium: a select band of producers (broadcasters) decide what content is to be created, create it and then push it down analogue or digital channels at audiences which are assumed to consist of essentially passive recipients.
6. Blogging software has given people the platform they need to be thoughtful, articulate and well-informed.

BARB

The BARB website gives information on what they do, but here is a basic outline:

BARB (Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board) is the organisation responsible for providing the official measurement of UK television audiences used throughout the television industry. It was set up in 1981 and commissions specialist companies to provide the television audience measurement service on its behalf - RSMB, Ipsos MORI, AGB Nielsen Media Research and TNS.

On the website, both weekly and monthly viewing summarys can be found, which show the number of viewers that watched certain programmes/channels, at certain times.

• BARB provides in-home TV viewing measurement for the UK
• This is obtained from a panel of 5,100 homes
• These homes return data from around 11,500 viewers
• Viewing by visitors to the home is included (guest viewing)
• Viewing figures are available to subscribers the morning after transmission
• PVR & VCR playback is incorporated within 7 days of transmission
• Audiences are reported on a minute-by-minute basis
• The panel design is representative of the whole of the UK
• People are recruited from all sectors of the population
• All viewing environments in the home are represented
• Multiple TV sets are measured
• BARB measures both analogue and digital delivery via cable, satellite and terrestrial distribution

Feedback #1

Well done Danny, thorough research with detailed references that you will be able to use later for revision. My only advice is not to actually cut and paste chunks from other websites - instead reference with a link, select some key quotations and summarise in your own words. This will be much more useful later.

B/1

Digital technology and the film industry

I read the article called "the film industry should embrace digital technology" in which Lord Puttnam gives a lecture at Cass, Monday 14 June 2004. In this lecture, called ‘The Impact of Digital Technology on the Film Industry – Opportunity or Threat?’ at Cass Business School, he said that digital technology offers a huge opportunity for the film industry but the current trend of treating it as a threat could hasten the demise of parts of the industry. Puttnam said the film industry needed to embrace digital technology otherwise it would share a similar fate to that of the music industry which has witnessed a massive drop in profits due to illegal internet trading. Lord Puttnam also spoke of the impact of digital technology on special effects in films, arguing that special effects are both increasingly important in the success of a film as well as being very reliant on specialist skills.

I also read this page on Wikipedia to research digital cinematography.

One of the benefits of digital technology is that it has the potential to substantially reduce distribution costs. Each physical film print costs $1000 or more, which quickly adds up, as in the case of Troy which was released simultaneously on 16,000 screens worldwide at a cost in the region of $16 million. Despite the considerable advantages in the film industry moving to digital distribution, it is taking a long time to catch on. There are only a few digital screens in the UK, and not many more in the United States. It’s countries such as China and Brazil which are leading the digital revolution; China, for example, already has 64 digital screens and plans to have at least 500 by the time of the Beijing Olympics.
In May 2002 Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones became the first high-profile, high-budget movie released that was shot on 24 frame-per-second high-definition digital video, using a Sony HDW-F900 camera.
Today, at the high-end of the market, there has been an emergence of cameras aimed specifically at the digital cinema market. These cameras from Arri, Panavision, Grass Valley and Red offer resolution and dynamic range that exceeds that of traditional video cameras, which are designed for the limited resolution and dynamic range of broadcast television.

Many people, particularly those coming from a background in broadcast television, are most comfortable with video tape based workflows. Data is captured to video tape on set. This data is then ingested into a computer running non-linear editing software, using a deck. Once on the computer, the footage is edited, and then output in its final format, possibly to a film recorder for theatrical exhibition, or back to video tape for broadcast use.

Increasingly, however, digital cinematography is shifting toward "tapeless" workflow, where instead of thinking about digital images as something that exists on a physical medium like video tape, digital video is conceived of as data in files. In tapeless workflow, digital images are usually recorded directly to files on hard disk or flash memory based "digital magazines". At the end of a shooting day (or sometimes even during the day), the digital files contained on these digital magazines are downloaded, typically to a large RAID connected to an editing system. Once data is copied from the digital magazines, they are erased and returned to the set for more shooting. Archiving is accomplished by backing up the digital files from the RAID, using standard practices and equipment for data backup from the Information Technology industry, often to data tape.

Movies shot digitally may be released theatrically or on DVD or VHS. Digital films may also be distributed digitally, either shipped to theaters on hard drives or sent via the Internet or satellite networks. Distributors prefer digital distribution, because it saves them the expense of making film prints, which may cost as much as $2000 each. Digital projection also offers advantages over traditional film projection such as lack of jitter, flicker, dust, scratches, and grain. Theater owners initially balked at the high cost of installing digital projection systems. However, the number of digital venues is now growing, as of September 2007, at a rate of around 400 screens a month in the United States. However, most theaters do not yet have digital projection systems, so even if a movie is shot digitally, it must be transferred to film if a large theatrical release is planned.

• When shooting on film, response to light is determined by what film stock is chosen. Because the film stock is the main determining factor, results will be substantially similar regardless of what camera model is being used.
  In contrast, when shooting digitally, response to light is determined by the CMOS or CCD sensor(s) in the camera, and every camera is different. This means a cinematographer cannot predict how the final image will look by eye without being very familiar with the specific model of camera being used. On-set monitoring can address this issue, as it allows the cinematographer to see the actual images that are captured, immediately on the set, which is impossible with film. With a properly calibrated high-definition display, on-set monitoring, in conjunction with data displays such as histograms, waveforms, RGB parades, and various types of focus assist, can give the cinematographer a far more accurate picture of what is being captured than is possible with film. However, all of this equipment may impose costs in terms of time and money, and may not be possible to utilize in difficult shooting situations. Film cameras do often have a video assist that captures video though the camera to allow for on-set playback, but its usefulness is largely restricted to judging action and framing.
  


• The image quality of digital cameras is not yet up to the level normally desired for theatrical release.

• The sensors in most high-end digital video cameras have less exposure latitude (dynamic range) than modern motion picture film stocks. In particular, they tend to 'blow out' highlights, losing detail in very bright parts of the image. If highlight detail is lost, it is impossible to recapture in post-production. Many people believe that highlights are less visually pleasing with digital acquisition, because digital sensors tend to 'clip' them very sharply, whereas film produces a 'softer' roll-off effect with over-bright regions of the image. A few cinematographers have started deliberately using the 'harsh' look of digital highlights for aesthetic purpose, such as in Battlestar Galactica.
  Digital acquisition typically offers better performance than film in low-light conditions, allowing less lighting and in some cases completely natural or practical lighting to be used for shooting, even indoors. This low-light sensitivity also tends to bring out shadow detail. Some directors have tried a "best for the job" approach, using digital acquisition for indoor or night shoots, and traditional film for daylight exteriors.
  


• In the debate over film resolution vs. digital image resolution, it is generally accepted that film exceeds the resolution of HDTV formats and the 2K digital cinema format, but there is still significant debate about whether 4K digital acquisition can match the results achieved by scanning 35mm film at 4K, as well as whether 4K scanning actually extracts all the useful detail from 35mm film in the first place.
  


• Film has a characteristic grain structure, which many people view positively, either for aesthetic reasons or because it has become associated with the look of 'real' movies. Different film stocks have different grain, and cinematographers may use this for artistic effect. Digitally acquired footage lacks this grain structure. Electronic noise is sometimes visible in digitally acquired footage, particularly in dark areas of an image or when footage was shot in low lighting conditions and gain was used. Some people believe such noise is a workable aesthetic substitute for film grain, while others believe it has a harsher look that detracts from the image.
  Well shot, well lit images from high-end digital cinematography cameras can look almost eerily clean. Some people believe this makes them look "plasticy" or computer generated, while others find it to be an interesting new look, and argue that a film grain effect can be made in post-production if desired.
  


• The process of using digital intermediate workflow, where movies are color graded digitally instead of via traditional photochemical finishing techniques, is becoming increasingly common, largely because of the greater artistic control it provides to filmmakers. In order to utilize digital intermediate workflow with film, the camera negative must be processed and then scanned. High quality film scanning is time consuming and expensive. With digital acquisition, this step can be skipped, and footage can go directly into a digital intermediate pipeline as digital data.
  Some filmmakers have years of experience achieving their artistic vision using the techniques available in a traditional photochemical workflow, and prefer that finishing process.

• Films are traditionally shot with dual-system recording, where picture is recorded on camera, and sync sound is recorded to a separate sound recoding device. In post-production, picture and sound are synced up.
  Many cameras used for digital cinematography can record sound internally, already in sync with picture. This eliminates the need for syncing in post, which can lead to faster workflows. However, most sound recording is done by specialist operators, and the sound will likely be separated and further processed in post-production anyway.
  


• Many people feel there is significant value in having a film negative master for archival purposes. As long as the negative does not physically degrade, it will be possible to recover the image from it in the future, regardless of changes in technology. In contrast, even if digital data is stored on a medium that will preserve its integrity, changes in technology may render the format unreadable or expensive to recover over time. For this reason, film studios distributing digitally-originated films often make film-based separation masters of them for archival purposes.
  

On higher budget productions, the cost advantages of digital cinematography are not as significant, primarily because the costs imposed by working with film are simply not major expenses for such productions. Two recent films, Sin City and Superman Returns, both shot on digital tape, had budgets of $40 million and close to $200 million respectively. The cost savings, though probably in the range of several hundred thousand to over a million dollars, were negligible as a percentage of the total production budgets in these cases.
Rick McCallum, a producer on Attack of the Clones, has commented that the production spent $16,000 for 220 hours of digital tape, where a comparable amount of film would have cost $1.8 million. However, this does not necessarily indicate the actual cost savings. The low incremental cost of shooting additional footage may encourage filmmakers to use far higher shooting ratios with digital. The lower shooting ratios typical with film may save time in editing, lowering post-production costs somewhat.
Shooting in digital requires a digital intermediate workflow, which is more expensive than a photochemical finish. However, a digital intermediate may be desirable even with film acquisition because of the creative possibilities it provides, or a film may have a large number of effects shots which would require digital processing anyway. Digital intermediate workflow is coming down in price, and is quickly becoming standard procedure for high-budget Hollywood movies. Some high-profile directors that have shot with digital equipment include: Michael Mann- Miami Vice, Collateral. Peter Jackson-Crossing the Line. George Lucas-Star Wars Episode and . Robert Rodriguez-Sin City, Grindhouse. Directors Steven Spielber, M.Night-Shyamalan, Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, and Oliver Stone have vowed to continue to shoot on film.

I also read an article on this website. It is titled "Digital film: Industry answers", and is a BBC News website which asks for any queries about the way new technology is being used - and the eight best questions were put to the virtual panel. I read the question titled:

With the home entertainment business booming, DVD, home theatres and TVs that deliver a better viewing experience than traditional theatres, what if anything is in the works to save our movie theatres? Responses to this question generally said that there is still nothing like seeing a movie in a movie theatre, as it is a different and exciting experience to watch a new film on a huge digital picture with fantastic digital surround sound. It also suits different people at different life stages. The cinema industry is very competitive, not only in numbers of screens, but in competition with multiple other solicitations for consumers' entertainment spending. In the United States, 'stadium' seating has become almost a necessity. More and more theatres are offering food and drinks for sale (real food, not just popcorn, etc). Some have waiter service in the theatre. They're also releasing movies digitally, which provides a better quality viewing experience. All in all, the theatre owners know that they have to compete with the home viewing experience, and they are trying new ways to entice people to go to the theatre.

These are all desperate attempts at trying to keep the film industry profitable. Advances in technology have changed how, when and where we watch our films, whether it be through our ipod, home cinema, or PC display screen through a file sharing programme. As home cinema prices and lack of availability decrease, cinema ticket prices increase in a fight to not allow the destructive effects new media technologies have already had on the music industry to happen to the traditionally renowned cinema experience.

Moral panics and concerns with online technology

Task 3: Think back to our discussions on Second Life. What are the social concerns of the development of the kind of technology discussed in this article? How is it changing the way we interact? What are the issues on control and censorship? Who is left behind? Post an entry of 300w in response to these questions. Do some of your own research and find actual examples to back up your points.

Instant messengers, such as MSN Messenger, allow people to communicate online, cutting the costs on phone bills. Although some may argue that this has a negative effect on telephone businesses, it is undeniable that the internet, especially social networking sites, has created more of a global village allowing people to interact across the globe.

Second Life is an internet-based virtual world, with no rules, which has proved controversial. And with it costing somewhere between 40 and 50 million dollars to create a virtual world, the benefits have to be substantial. Second Life certainly has proved worth while. However, an investigation in this virtual world by Sky News has proved there may be a dark side to Second Life. Could this lead to the fall in what seems to be the latest craze?
This video on Youtube by Jason Farrell of Sky News uncovers the "dark side" of Second Life.It reveales a huge sex industry, and raises questions over the age of people accessing the material available. A virtual investigator found that hidden behind shopping mall on one virtual island is a place called Wonderland. At first, it looks like a playground, with a number of young children. However, these children aren't just playing around, they are performing sexual acts to too. These are children are off all ages, even todlers. You can agree a price and carry out a range of sexual acts with them.
An issue raised with the virtual world is that virtual crime has real victims. A major concern is that people will bring their fantasys from the fantasy world to the real world and act it out. An example of this is a Archibald Wood, a pedophile who moved from fantasizing in internet chatrooms, to real child abuse. His computer hardrive logged his activities, and helped to convict him. However, in Second Life, actions are not recorded. Following the sky news investigation, Second Life said that virtual detectives will be sent in to check out Wonderland. This is censorship and control. It is hard to monitor who does/says what, as we never know who is behind the avatar (user). There are not enough people willing to take jobs to control a virtual life and because of that there has been a moral panic based upon this issue. However, these detectives hope to uncover areas such as Wonderland, and stop them.

Where will technology take us?

I read the article Tell me the future (3/12/07) from the Gaurdian Unlimited and answered the following questions:

Who is Chris De Wolfe and what does he say is the future for social networking? What impact will portable hardware have on this area of technology?

Chris De Wolfe (CEO and co-founder of an extremely popular social networking website MySpace) says that the global village is becoming more personal and portable, people are logging on to these social networking sites now more than ever, affecting other industries such as music and advertising. He says that the future of the social networking web is more personalised and the realtionships formed or developed through this technology will grow closer and closer. Due to technology these days, mobile devices such as phones and laptops, we are able to minimise the boundries of social networking.

Who is Chad Hurley and what does he say is his company's goal? Is he a positive or negative technological determinist?

Chad Hurley (CEO and co-founder of an extremely popular video-sharing website YouTube). Says his company's goal is to include everyone to simple accessible technology, and to make it almost second nature to us (such as making a telephone call). YouTube aim to improve the ease of uploading videos onto the site, and want to increase the diversity of the videos. They want more orientated around friends and family, news, music, sports, cooking etc. He is a positive technological determinist. He descirbe this technology in a positive way, with no reference to technology being negative. He talks of how he wants to make his website easy to access, from a number of places, clearly indicating he believes new technology has a positive effect on out lives.

What does Maurice Levy say is the challenge for advertisers and what is 'liquid media' compared to 'linear media'?

Maurice Levy compares the digital and analogue media, and says the possibilites of the digital advertising is much greater than the traditional advertising. Linear media is the old way of advertising, with no interactivity in it. Liquid media, which Maurice describes as "seamless", can interact, change settings, jump and skip parts of playlists, and many other options. It is the new digital media. It gives the user the ability to multi-task, for example, pausing, rewinding and fast forwarding live TV.

What parallels does Norvig draw between Edison inventing electricity and the development of online technology in terms of searching for information?

Norvig explains that Edison inventing electricity, was almost the flood gates, opening to whole new range of ideas and possibilites. He describes how the current technology will enable us to improve and build faster, better machines with what Edison invented.

What are the issues for the developing world? How is this evidence of a 'digital divide'? (socio-economic divide due to access to technology)

There are major differences between MEDCs (more economically developed countries) and LEDCs (less economically developed countries). New digital media helps us to understand what is happening in the world and the divides created between these countires. LEDCs may not be able to access this new form of technology and therefore not receive the up to date detailed information that the MEDCS are able to.

Key concepts relating to new media

Digitality:

This is a new way of coding information in a series of 0's and 1's. This is called a binary system. A huge amount of information can be delt with in this format.

Interactivity:

New ways of streaming information, compressed. Whether this is through the air (a satelite system), ISDN (broadband), telephone cables or a cable satelite system. This was means more width can be given i.e. we can now send multiple strands of information via 1 feed, this is because it is made compressed. This is why when we are on the internet saturday night, it is slower than it was tuesday night (for example), because we are sharing it with other people in the street. The more people using it, the more band width used, which means less space for everyone else as there is a limited amount of band width. Because it is interactive, it's a field that can go both ways. You can: interact with eachother, you can respond to it or make it respond to you, say yes or no to it. This changes the way that text can be made, text can work, meaning we can upload aswell as download.

Hypertextuality:

Organisation of text is no longer linear, now you can access it anywhere you like, rather like a DVD. We are able to jump whichever way we like, whenever we like, from one text to another. The people who produce the text no longer have control how we read it (in which order), they must also ensure you are able to jump around and realise that you may jump out of their text and into someone elses. For example, this is why TV is broken down, not only for adverts, but to keep interest and stop you from changing the channel.

Dispersal:

This is how information can be and is shared and communicated. It's to do with the market share and size, aswell as the take up (who's using it). You may look at how much access users actually have, and how the producers target those users and how they maximise their markets. The dispersal might be across a wide network, which coupled with the digitality, increases the market expenentially. It makes a huge market for producers.

Virtuality:

This is the idea of leading and linking with the real and representation. For example, cartoons are representational, and so are virtual worlds. This leads to questions such as, what is real? Who is representing the world, how, and why?

Convergence:

This is a very large issue related to new media technologies. New technologies are converging into one, for example, mp3 players can now show photographs, and you can send e-mails from your mobile phone. The debate with this is over where it will take us next, and whether people will use it. This is also related to size, how much small data can be stored, the size of some of these gadgets (how they converge). Before, it was impossible to make all these things into one because it was too big in the first place, but now, because of the size, we are able to make these things into one device. For example, my phone is now my camera, e-mail station, brouser etc, and it is as thin as a CD case.

WE ALSO NEED TO CONSIDER:

Audience:

• How does the audience use the technology?
• Do they actually use it?
• Does it change the way they use it?
• Did they used to use it?
• Does it change the way they used it before (if it is a new version)?
• Has technology developed due to consumer demand or has it been led by the industry? (have people demanded it or have the people who make it made use think we want it?)
• Who has actually got access to these things? (for example, many people in Africa don't have internet access)
  
• Who doesn't have access and is being cut out of these new markets?

Regulation & Control:

• Is there any control over the technologies use? If so, by who?
• Should there be control?
• What do they do about copyright issues?
• What are the implications?
• Is it realistically possible to control things?
• What's the impact of this having on producers? For example, we can all copy music and share it, so CD prices have been pushed down.
• What potential impact is there for the government?

Ownership:

• Who owns the technology and does that make a difference? For example, if Sony or Microsoft owns something:
• How much money they've got
• Whether they're able to close out the market
• How they compete with eachother
• How do they use their money and their brand to sell something

Games console manufacturing is a classic example of who owns what and why it makes a difference and how they compete.

• Who's got control on their messages, products, brands, and how does that affect the way they sell it to you?
• How does your buying it, or not, and the competition affect what they sell and how they organize themselves?