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Maria Gurova

From Netflix to full immersion: how the future of cinema lies in our handhelds | Film |... - 2 views

  • Unlike films made for the silver screen, an internet film doesn’t need to contain something for everyone
  • But the internet is different. As viewers are watching alone, films can be made exclusively for certain fanbases and still be confident of finding an audience.
  • in the eyes of a conservative family, the company should stand for wholesome entertainment, but to a 20-year-old city-dwelling college graduate, it should be more edgy. It’s unlikely these two demographics would go to the cinema together, while they almost certainly won’t be streaming the same content.
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  • Cinemas probably aren’t going to die out any time soon, but they may well host different kinds of films than laptops and phones in the near future.
  • Netflix’s chief content officer is open about this, saying that watching a movie online is like seeing a sports game broadcast on TV rather than being at the stadium
  • A distinctive form of film is also emerging on phones: 360-degree movies were developed by Google
  • When you watch it, you realise that this software blurs the boundary between films and games: although, strictly speaking, you are not playing anything; you are participating in the experience.
  • The technology gets really interesting when it comes to documentaries. Director Chris Milk has used virtual reality to make films about a refugee camp in Jordan and a mass protest in New York.
  • Fundamentally, this is taking out the middle man in that process, and making you feel as if you were actually there.
  • Call it fly-off-the-wall film-making
  • traditionally it is the director’s job to tell the audience what to look at, in this approach directors don’t exist, only “creators”
Maria Gurova

Is it curtains for the big screen? - FT.com - 1 views

  • According to the National Association of Theatre Owners, US movie attendance peaked in 2002 and has been steadily declining ever since. To compensate, theatres have rolled out new technologies such as 3D, Imax and premium large-format cinemas, raising their ticket prices and thus keeping the box office at record-breaking levels
  • The majority of us are increasingly staying home.
  • At Cannes this year, the studio with the most films in competition
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  • was not one of the big studios, but the streaming service Amazon.
  • But blockbusters have a design flaw: their marketing costs are enormous — opening a movie typically costs anywhere from $20m — and they spend less and less time in cinemas. To take a recent example, ticket sales for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice dropped by an astonishing 68.4 per cent on its second weekend
  • “What you’re going to end up with is fewer theatres,” George Lucas said during a panel at the University of Southern California in 2013. “Bigger theatres, with a lot of nice things. Going to the movies is going to cost you 50 bucks, maybe 100.”
  • “Fifty per cent of Americans did not step into a movie theatre last year, and of the 50 per cent that did go into a theatre, 95 per cent of them went to one or two films,”
  • He argued that a film will come out in cinemas for 17 days — three weekends — which is where 98 per cent of films make 95 per cent of their revenues anyway. On the 18th day, the film will be available everywhere and you will pay for the size: a movie screen will be $15, a 75-inch TV will be $4, a smartphone will be $1.99.
  • Arguably, it’s more visual than television. It has our full attention: each frame must pull its weight in terms of narrative and spectacle. That is why it is a director’s medium: it envelops us. TV comes to us, into our homes, casual, familiar, favouring habit-forming episodic narratives. That is why it is a writer’s medium. The big screen glamorises — its stars are the stuff of myth; the small screen is more like a member of the family
  • And something like The Avengers, it’s too much fun laughing with the audience. These things are communal experiences.
  • But then many film-makers would argue that movies should be consumed differently from music: a song is a song wherever you play it, whereas films were built for the big screen.
  • “I don’t think that experience is going to die,” says Obst, “although I do worry that eventually we will all be inside on our huge computer screens, watching all of the different types of entertainment together
  • Nothing breaks the spell of the movie more instantly than the pause button.
Maria Gurova

The Movie Theater Of The Future Is All About Big Screens And Big Data - 2 views

  • With huge-flat screen TVs becoming more affordable — and more original TV content being produced — cinemas have to step up their game to keep pace in the arms race with home theaters. That’s why theater chains are coming out with better food, reclining chairs, and more supersized screens like Imax to take full advantage of the special effects in many tentpole blockbusters.
  • The theater, which opens to the public Friday night, now has a lobby that’s part of the show (and soon, a camera-based audience data gathering tool to go with it), and a cinema equipped with the showpiece Barco Escape, which combines three screens in a U-shaped pattern that gives the viewer almost a cockpit-type perspective of the action.
  • “The Maze Runner” and its sequel, “Maze Runner: Scorch Trials,” were the first — and only — two films with scenes optimized for Barco Escape, but with dozens of Imax films coming out every year, there needs to be a much broader pipeline of content to compete with other large format
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  • there are currently 21 Barco Escape theaters in the world — 16 in the United States, two each in Europe and China, and one in Mexico.
  • The Barco Escape costs exhibitors $100,000 with an additional fee per movie.
  • Hoddick said he wants to develop three additional films this year, then eight in 2017 and then 12 a year after that
  • the plan is to have more than 100 by the end of this year, and 1,000 within three to five years. Oh, and they want an additional 1,000 just in China, soon to be the world’s biggest movie market — and one where Imax is in the process of opening hundreds of its own screens
  • Hoddick said while Barco Escape is only for 2D films at this point, he imagines it’s only a matter of time before 3D comes to the platform
  • it’s currently about 4 percent more expensive to produce a movie for Barco Escape, because the work has to happen in post-production, Hoddick said new cameras from manufacturers including Sony that can film in the 7:1 aspect ratio necessary for the medium will slash costs significantly
  • the theater will soon install a camera-based surveillance system to analyze demographics and customize which “lobby dominations” go live — think superhero trailers going up when a crew of high school kids walks in
Maria Gurova

The Public Costs of Private Distribution Strategies: Content Release Windows as Negativ... - 0 views

  • “copyright extremism” – a term he used to describe extended delays in content distribution, which often result in content reaching foreign markets months after it is released in the United States.
  • Essentially, “extremism” is another way of saying that piracy is more a business model problem than a policy problem. 
  • The strategy of windowing has long been practiced because it is believed to maximize revenue opportunities for a given film.  By giving successive distribution channels exclusive rights to the work, a film distributor aims to extract maximum revenues from licensees in each channel.
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  • Even if film distributors were to reject the conventional wisdom of windowing, those windows are jealously guarded by their respective sectors.  The theatrical exhibition window is particularly so
  • announced in September 2014 that they would distribute a sequel to the 2000 hit Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon simultaneously via Netflix and IMAX theaters worldwide, movie theater chains swiftly circled the wagons and announced a boycott of the Weinsteins’ film.
  • “value of ownership for the consumer” is a euphemism for “consumer willingness-to-pay.”  The longer a consumer must wait before they can watch a movie on their Netflix subscription, the likelier that consumer is to pay for a DVD
  • numerous industries have attempted to insulate themselves from disruption by persuading lawmakers to prescribe their exclusive industrial role in public laws, including auto dealers and beer distributors
  • windowing has been widely criticized as contributing to piracy, and “leaving money on the table.”  Empirical evidence bears that out.  Content producers are not unaware of this data; their calculus is that the revenues attributable to aggressive windowing (and avoiding friction with their distributors) exceed losses associated with piracy.
  • Windowing alienates consumers and arguably undermines respect for copyright in countries that receive content late
  • In the content distribution example, compensation might involve repayment for government resources expended on attributable piracy, perhaps based on a user-fee model that various government agencies already have.  If the windowed release distribution model generated more revenue than the costs it incurs, it would continue, taxpayers would be made whole, and the externality would be “internalized.”
Maria Gurova

Imax's Richard Gelfond on Virtual Reality, Woody Allen and Reservations Over Netflix - ... - 0 views

  • Given Imax receipts typically account for about 10 percent of the average tentpole's box office, studios and top filmmakers frequently shift their release dates to land a big-screen berth
  • Looking forward, the company is making a big push into virtual reality, partnering with Google on a camera, and will launch its first VR space in Los Angeles this year. On the content front, Michael Bay is in talks to create original VR content for Imax
  • Any regrets about partnering with Netflix to release the low-grossing Crouching Tiger 2? I have no regrets about experimenting because, especially with the windows changing distribution patterns, with digital distribution and over‑the‑top alternatives evolving quickly, the industry is going to have to experiment and learn.
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  • If someone came to us and said, "Would you launch a TV series in Imax day-and-date?", that's definitely something we would consider
  • We have over 300 theaters open; we have over 200 theaters in backlog [where a theater has been approved and the space designated, but it hasn't been built yet]. We just announced a 10‑theater deal.
  • Wanda, which accounts for the largest number of Imax screens in China, has its own giant-screen technology. Worried? I'm not very worried.
  • If the public wants an experience that's better than a standard 35mm but not as good as an Imax, there's a category they fit in.
  • In 2015, you announced the creation of the Imax China Film Fund to invest in Chinese tentpoles.
  • We can leverage those relationships, plus the Imax technology, plus the Imax release windows, and create value by investing in the right films.
  • We could get into original programming, but we're not going to be a small participant in a $200 million movie. Could I see there being a $10 million or $20 million film that is with an Imax filmmaker who loves Imax and plays well to the Imax audience and has the right ancillary distribution afterward? Yes. That's something we're exploring.
Maria Gurova

Future of Film: Even Bigger Screens and, Yep, Cinema Selfies - Hollywood Reporter - 0 views

  • a new generation of even more ambitious theaters — possibly even including cinema's first holodeck — is waiting in the wings.
  • The first Escape theaters — which will include the Cinemark 18 & XD at the Promenade at the Howard Hughes Center in Los Angeles — will open Sept. 19, showing a special edition of Fox's new young adult thriller The Maze Runner
  • Escape theaters showing The Maze Runner will project the live-action movie on to the center screen, and the side screens will feature additional visual effects
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  • "We believe entertainment needs to continue to evolve with a more immersive experience,"
  • Movie screens will continue to morph into ever-wider configurations
  • That footage will be shown in a special 360-degree OmniCam theater installation planned for the FIFA World Football Museum in Zurich. Meanwhile, startup Jaunt is developing a 360-degree camera for use in virtual reality
  • High-tech interactivity also may play a role in the next generation of theaters.
  • They would include a theater where a 3D movie is projected onto a 360-degree dome-shaped screen and real-time facial replacement would be used to project audience members into the action
  • "You'd have a wristband that identifies who you are, and if you elect to, your body and face can be scanned, allowing the attractions to include you in them and allow you to interact with them
Maria Gurova

James Cameron on the Future of Cinema | 40th Anniversary | Smithsonian - 1 views

  • The technology has changed but the basics of the job haven’t. It is still about storytelling, about juxtaposing images, about creating a feeling with images and music. Only the technical details have changed
  • I think there will be movie thea­ters in 1,000 years. People want the group experience, the sense of going out and participating in a film together
  • I think it will be standard in 4 years, not 40. We will have a glasses-free technology in five years at home and three years for laptops. The limiting factor is going to be content. You can’t rely on a few films a year for this. It is going to have to be 3-D broadcast sports, scripted television, non-scripted television and reality television
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  • Hollywood is also the place for filmmakers who want to make movies for a global market. China and Russia make films for their own markets, but I don’t see the likelihood of those places replacing Hollywood
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    James Cameron believes that despite of exciting new technology - making movie is and will always be about the story. also he is certain that going to watch a movie together is a shared group experience that audience will still be looking for in the future, no mater how advance the in-home technology will be
Vladimir Devyatkin

Steven Spielberg Predicts 'Implosion' of Film Industry - 0 views

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    "you're gonna have to pay $25 for the next Iron Man, you're probably only going to have to pay $7 to see Lincoln."
Vladimir Antonov

Pirate Bay gets 'Stream It' option for in-browser viewing (Wired UK) - 1 views

  • A new browser plugin for Windows and Mac computers has turned The Pirate Bay into the world's biggest streaming site
  • plugin lets people stream torrents embedded in webpages without needing to use an external client or download the torrent itself
  • A new 'Stream it!' button has appeared alongside existing options to download, although the feature is still in beta with poor image quality and slow speeds the main issues.
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  • Unlike conventional torrent downloads, the service is easy to use and lets users start watching pirated films and TV shows in seconds
  • The streaming add-on works by finding enough peers to stream content without buffering. Existing torrent streaming services used HTTP, which quickly became too demanding on bandwidth
  • By launching on The Pirate Bay, the service has instantly become one of the world's largest online streaming platforms, albeit one completely based on piracy
  • The team behind Torrents Time claimed that ad server integration was "coming soon". And if Torrents Time can make money, and dodge almost inevitable legal take-downs, it could be here to stay
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    seems we'll have legal online movie theatres and pirate ones, who'd gain more users in the future?
Maria Gurova

The Future Of Cinematic Pleasure: 3D Movies & Beyond - Hongkiat - 1 views

  • Non-intrusiveness aside, another reason why the idea of not having to wear special 3D movie glasses is so welcomed is because we want to see images in 3D with our naked eyes (or with our glasses or contacts) where we just don’t feel “artificial”.
  • we would naturally be more intrigued by otherworldly universes which we don’t encounter in our daily lives, and thus crave to experience them in their fullest glory (i.e. in 3D or 4D).
  • “Otherworldly” here applies to the many computer-animated, Sci-Fi and any other movies where their settings are not what you see every day (e.g. Titanic and Avatar
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  • physiological arousal: eliciting moviegoers’ “fight or flight” responses. This is the same adrenaline rush we crave whenever we watch horror films to give ourselves a good scare.
  • Optimistically speaking, 4D films should have much more potential within and opportunities to exploit since they have the other four senses to pick and augment on
Maria Gurova

Biosensing Films And Smartphones Let Doctors Diagnose Disease From Anywhere - 0 views

  • Researchers from Florida Atlantic University have created a sensitive film that can detect viruses and bacteria, such as HIV and Staph, at home.
al_semenchenko

The Next Star Wars Movie Has Recruited a Team of Drones to Protect Its Secrets - 1 views

  • Accessible drone technology is creating a bizarre future in the world of movie making
  • A Croatian website, MosCroatia first reported the drone detail in a larger update about Episode VIII will be doing some location filming in Dubrovnik, a popular tourist destination in the southern part of the country. Aside from reportedly having six hundred guards being deployed on location to try and prevent the public from snapping any sneaky pictures, the skies above filming will be protected by a team of remote-controlled drones that will target anyone attempting to fly a drone of their own over the set.
zolotarev

Behind Airbnb's bet on show business to hook travelers - 0 views

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    Airbnb Inc, has ambitions to develop a slate of original shows to whet customers' appetite for travel. Airbnb has batted around ideas for creating or licensing mini-series and documentaries about travel, and shows featuring Airbnb homes, guests and hosts. The company is considering streaming films and shows through its app as well as through other video platforms. Original shows could also entice customers even before they have decided where to go on vacation
anna_nelidova

Amazon challenges YouTube by offering uploaders a cut of the ads | The Verge - 1 views

  • Amazon is launching its new Amazon Video Direct service today to let video creators share any content and receive a cut of the revenue.
  • Amazon is offering a variety of ways for creators to earn money, including royalties through streaming by Prime members, and revenue sharing through rentals, purchases, subscriptions, and ad impressions.
  • Amazon has a variety of launch partners, including How Stuff Works, Mattel, The Guardian, and independent titles from Samuel Goldwyn Films.
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  • Amazon Video is still limited by its availability worldwide and how exactly it expands partners in the future.
  • Amazon Video is still only available in the US, Germany, Austria, UK, and Japan.
Maria Gurova

'Snowpiercer's' VOD gamble is paying off | EW.com - 0 views

  • distributors are usually loathe to discuss VOD specifics publicly. When consumers are used to seeing $60 to $100 million opening weekends for major blockbusters in wide release, VOD numbers, no matter how “good,” look miniscule in comparison. Add on the fact that Snowpiercer is the widest multi-platform release ever, and the tricky exercise of figuring out how to combine theatrical earnings with weekend estimates from digital and cable providers, and the territory gets even more unfamiliar.
  • Snowpiercer earning an estimated $1.1 million from VOD this past weekend, nearly twice as much as the $635,000 it earned in theaters. “From a layman’s perspective these numbers are possibly not that interesting,” admits RADiUS-TWC co-president Tom Quinn. “But from an industry perspective, it’s a game changer.”
  • VOD is both cheaper and more profitable. “That $1.1 million gross is actually worth almost double to me in terms of how it nets out in our bottom line,”
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  • VOD—with access to 85 million homes—doesn’t have the same drastic theatrical drop-offs from week to week.
  • Still, a two-week theatrical exclusive is an extremely short window, especially since Snowpiercer opened in only eight theaters and is currently showing at a mere 356 locations
  • “This is completely uncharted territory but it’s 100 percent within the consumer’s control how you want to see this film,”
Maria Gurova

В Сочи появится международный кинофестиваль: Кино: Культура: Lenta.ru - 2 views

  • Первый Сочинский международный кинофестиваль пройдет в декабре 2016-го. Презентация киносмотра прошла в Российском павильоне на Каннском фестивале
  • Организаторами фестиваля станут поэт и сценарист Любовь Балагова, а также режиссер и продюсер Мохи Кандур. Международными партнерами нового киносмотра выступают Британский киноинститут (BFI) и лондонский Raindance Film Festival
  • По словам организаторов, для проведения мероприятия будут задействованы объекты, построенные к Олимпийским играм 2014 года в Сочи. У киносмотра будет несколько конкурсных программ, включая секции короткометражного и документального кино.
Maria Gurova

How To Get More People Into Movie Theaters (Without Higher Ticket Prices) - 3 views

  • Its newest toy is called Barco Escape and right now it’s essentially three theater screens in one space — the main screen and then additional screens on the left and right walls. The effect is a 270-degree image that makes viewers feel like they are in the middle of the action.
  • It’s the kind of premium experience that most people would expect to pay extra for but Schilowitz says part of the point of Escape is to give viewers a more theme-park like experience without charging any more for a ticket.
  • One of the biggest trends right now is people watching other people play video games.
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  • Schilowitz hopes to engage brands to make 270-degree short films to show before the actual movie. Think Red Bull's Red Bull's many extreme sports videos. Now picture them in an immersive experience.  The money coming from brands could help offset the costs of the Escape screen.
  • Schilowitz believes you could take that experience into the theater. Have two people playing a virtual reality game while strapped into Oculus Rift-type devices and people would pay to watch the game on the big screen if top- ranked players were competing.
  • Escape will also be used to show things like concerts which can be better experienced with a wider screen. A Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett show will debut in Escape theaters in 2015.
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    The new technology that may transform all that real estate Theaters owns into the arcades of the future.  
Maria Gurova

HBO NOW Pushing the Cord-Cutting Trend - App Annie Blog - 3 views

  • In 2007, Netflix changed the landscape by introducing streaming on PC, allowing customers to instantly watch shows. By 2010, Netflix video streaming became available on additional platforms, including iOS devices. Today, video streaming services Netflix and Hulu have a strong hold among combined iOS and Android Top US Apps.
  • These convenient apps have set the stage for a preferred entertainment delivery. A whole generation of consumers have grown up with video streaming, rather than (or in addition to) paying for cable television: cord cutters and cord nevers. Major premium cable networks, HBO and Showtime, are now after a piece of the pie Netflix and Hulu have carved out
  • Both HBO NOW and Showtime are taking different approaches to standalone streaming partnerships. HBO NOW has gotten more traction in part to a heavy promotion from Apple, resulting in positive metrics. Showtime’s success is less clear, being married into Hulu’s already strong performance
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  • Netflix isn’t being left in the dust completely, kicking off their original film initiative with “Beasts of No Nation”, which will launch both in theaters and streaming video on October 16th. HBO, Showtime, Netflix and Hulu will still need to compete with each other to retain users in a new “entertainment as a service” landscape where retention is not a given, but an earned currency.
  • Cable provider Comcast hasn’t felt the heat from the cord-cutting trend, having its second best Q2 in nine years. Comcast is also in an advantageous place as a broadband provider, with 22.3 million total customers in Q2. Good quality video streaming relies on broadband internet, meaning cable providers that offer bundled internet service will still be valuable
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    the rise of streaming services and how cable networks are competing with video streaming services on their battle field 
Maria Gurova

Animated 'Art Story' Film Looks Painfully Adorable (VIDEO, PHOTOS) - 1 views

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    Two ex-Disney animators turned to Kickstarter to raise funds fro their independent animated feature. Depending on how much you are ready to donate you can have your say in the development of the story
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