What's next...? New competition forcing adaptation.

With the recent emergence of video on demand software, viewers have the ability to chose from an endless list of movie options without having to leave their home. At a comparatively inexpensive monthly rate (when held up to DVDs), rental subscription services offer increased accessibility, as well as reduced prices. Thus, resulting in audiences opting for the more convenient option, leading to a trend of falling revenues for the film industry during the last decade or so. How will the movie businesses adapt to the latest innovations in movie distribution? What new technologies can they integrate to persuade audiences to attend movie theaters en masse? These are some of the questions the film industry needs to pose itself to maintain its appeal in the Digital Age.

Michael Sterin states that, “[e]ver since the development of VHS technology in the 1970’s, the film industry has been able to harness the profit potential of home video sell-through and rental outlets”(Mass Media Revolution, 179), however, since VHS technology is entering its antiquity stage, the film industry is losing out on profits to new online service companies. Rental services are now easier to access (through the Internet) and cheaper to purchase. In order to reestablish their profits attained before the Digital Age, movie companies have two options - introduce a brand new viewing platform that will compete with online rental services, or sell their movies to online companies and receive a percentage of the profits from sales. The latter seems like the most plausible scenario, for example, DreamWorks announced that a streaming deal had been made with Netflix in effect as of 2013 (Wall Street Journal, Sept. 26 2011), supporting the notion that movie companies are gravitating towards the allure of profitable online rental services rather than TV time slots.

For the film industry to become as profitable as it once was, possible ways to continue the enhancement of authenticity need to be researched and introduced to moviegoers. As of now, 3-D movies are the most recent innovation to hit the theaters, however, the technology is still embryonic. Barriers exist that prevent the viewer from being completely submerged in the movie’s environment. The glasses that are required to experience 3-D movies are clunky and strain the eyes, which leads to headaches among many. Although the technology has yet to reach its pinnacle, being able to watch the movie without glasses would be a huge step in the right direction. As long as the film industry can continue to ameliorate its realism, audiences will remain in the queue.

The present is bleak for the film industry, yet, the future is bright if carried out in a proper manner. New innovations are being released at a much higher rate than ever before, creating heated competition between film producers. Also, the level of realism due to enhanced computer generated effects is increasing exponentially with every passing day. What’s next after 3-D? This not-so-new technology has become the movie industry's standard as of late, and I think it’s safe to assume that the elimination of 3-D glasses will be the next step in the evolution of film… but what about after that? Stay tuned.