EXTROVERT WINTER 2017

When TV attacks!
Why is the film industry lacking in originality? What impact have services like Netflix had on
the way we watch television? Both good questions that Max Colborne sets out to answer!
TV and film, before the turn
of the millennium were
two uncomparable types of
media; film was the pinnacle
of any actors’ on-screen
career matched with the best directors,
producers, screenwriters and pretty
much where all the money was at. TV
on the other hand was looked at as a
platform for less serious acting and less
sophisticated plots but it was something
people enjoyed.
However, the market needed to change,
and the massive rise in TV popularity
was on the way, but one must ask, how
did this change come about and what
catalysts drove TV into competition with
film? To help me answer this question,
I’ll be looking at the meteoric rise in
online streaming and the steep increase
in cinema ticket prices and how that
might affect the film industry, the overexpansive
superhero universe of Marvel
and how the genre has become such a
mainstream and also ask the opinion of
the so called ‘social media generation’
on their thoughts on how they consume
their TV and film fix.
First of all, 15 years ago the amount
of ways to watch films was incredibly
limited; wait until it comes out in cinema
then wait a few months until it came out
on DVD and VHS (I miss the days!).
Same also with TV, yes you’d obviously
watch it on TV when it’s broadcasted
live but if you missed it or if you really
wanted to watch it again, you’d have
to suck it up and hopefully by the next
episode you will have caught up what’s
happened and because the mainstream
TV series were one-episode narrative.
Rarely did one TV show capture millions
of viewers and have them ‘on the edge of
your seat’ if you like waiting for the next
episode. To put it simply, the technology
nor money wasn’t there to make TV and
film as accessible and convenient as it is
today.
Back in that time too, many of the big
blockbusters are remembered today as
modern greats. They didn’t over induce
the CGI to make it entertaining to
watch, they all had compelling narratives
too which made people watch them,
something in my eyes the film industry
has forgotten about recently.
Films like The Lord of the Rings trilogy,
Requiem for a Dream, Fight Club, The
Matrix, all of which critically acclaimed
films and all scoring higher than 8.4
on IMDB come to mind, also with the
technology and money invested into each
film nowhere near the level of films made
today and are still incredible to watch, is
quite special. What I also loved about the
big films in the noughties, was that there
was variation; I could go and see a great
fantasy film in The Lord of the Rings, a
lovable animated journey like Finding
Nemo or Toy Story, an edgy crime film
like Snatch, a freaky drama like American
Psycho or a gory thriller in Kill Bill. If we
fast forward to present day, over the last
3 years the biggest films to have graced
the screen, how many are films from an
ongoing franchise, spin off or a superhero
movie?
With cinema ticket prices rising and
the annual attendance at a flat rate
for over a decade, the film industry
has found it hard to adapt to ways of
watching films and follow trends and
try to appeal to a wider audience, for
example, our generation of young teens
and adults. The cinema is now seen as a
family day out, and rely on other revenue
streams such as food and drink to keep
profits healthy, rather than the main place
to watch your films. Due to the rise in
online streaming, Netflix and Amazon
video have innovated and changed
the way we watch films and tv; with a
monthly subscription of £5.99 for Netflix
and £7.99 for Amazon video, you have
access to a whole load of blockbuster
films and TV shows all in one place and
at the comfort at your own home.
Like I said earlier, before these
companies came into the mainstream,
watching great films in a few clicks was
not possible and unless you bought
the film on DVD, your only option of
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