The film industry is one of the highest grossing profitable industries in the world. This may be due to the high demand of newer and exciting films and the high rise of cinema going habits as we appear to be in the 'golden age' of film. Film companies rely a lot on the production, distribution and exhibition of a film in order for it to be successful. Print work, trailers, featurettes, premiers & festivals, websites, social networking and sound tracks are common strategies used by companies in the film industry as part of the marketing and distribution process. These things are now possible in comparison to when films were being made 50 years ago due to how today's technology is changing and expanding. Technological convergences, synergies, IMAX, mobile apps, video games, CGI special effects and cross-media opportunities are all part of the new technologies that are now available to use during the pre production and exhibition process of a film.
However, not all films use these up to date technologies in the making of their films. For example, small budget films such as 'In Fear' don't have the budget compared to blockbuster films. This shows how diverse the film industry is and massive marketing schemes aren't always needed in order to make a successful film.
The film industry also takes in more of a profit today than it did years ago as the cost of ticket prices have risen, meaning that films can take in more money. For example, in 2012 the Box Office took over £1billion. Avatar, a science fiction action film, is the highest grossing film of all time reigning in 2.8billion worldwide gross profit. However, this doesn't mean that it's the most watched film of all time or that it's the 'best'. Many films from earlier era's won't appear on modern lists of highest grossing films due to the fact that in 1970 tickets cost £1.55 on average, in comparison to the £8 an adult ticket costs today. Furthermore, Avatar was released in 3D and IMAX, with tickets costing at an average of £10 for 3D and around £14.50 for IMAX, making it harder to complete the process of adjusting worldwide grosses. However, several attempts have been made to take inflation into account when working out the actual highest grossing film of all time, and the highest grossing film adjusted for inflation is Gone With the Wind, a 1939 American historical romance film. This presents the film industry to be ever changing as a successful industry as they can afford to rise their prices in tickets and produce bigger digitally enhanced films such as Avatar.
A problem for the film industry in recent years that was never an issue years ago is the increase in video on demand services as many people choose to watch TV and film on their own handheld devices at home, sometimes illegally. Piracy and streaming is an easy way for people to access content for free and avoid paying the overly expensive ticket prices at the cinema, making media ownership a massive issue for the film industry. Films now lose out on money as you can watch the content at home with nearly as good quality as what you would get at the cinema. However, the film industry have attempted to stop this as Sonic have incripted something in their Blu-Ray DVD's which makes copyright of their film impossible.
There are also many remakes and sequels of films which are produced and still reign in a lot of money. It's common now to spend more money on the selling of a film than actually making it, and this leads onto the making of sequels and remakes as they're brands and are guaranteed to make money. For example, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake made more money than the original. Does this prove the film industry to be running out of original ideas and using pre sold titles for a guaranteed success? It's harder now than it was years ago for a film to become a success as in order to keep up with massive blockbuster films such as Avatar and Iron Man you need a big budget, and some film companies just don't have enough money for their film to take off the ground. Therefore, there's a part of the film industry that relies on film sequels and remakes to be the money making part of film.
In conclusion, the state of the film industry is probably more dangerous than it was 50 years ago. This is because the success of a film relies entirely on the profit it makes, and if a film doesn't do well within the first two days of release then its almost guaranteed that it won't be part of the highest grossing films of all time. The film industry relies a lot on the selling of a film than the actually executing of a film, which differs from how the film industry looked at films years ago. However, the film industry still holds its place at the top along with the music industry.
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