The Future of Film Debate: A Short Summary

Thanks to everyone who has taken part so far for a lively and informed debate. There are as many points of view as there are contributors, but perhaps some common themes are emerging

For clarification, I'd offer several points:

'Future': are we thinking about what we will be seeing in 3 years' time or 5, or 10 ?

What aspect of the future are we thinking about? The history of 'film' accommodates and demonstrates swift and revolutionary changes, e.g.

technological such as sound and hand-held cameras, digital etc
educational: skills and training
(non-) commercial structures
distribution systems and platforms
creating new markets, niches, tastes, (sub)genres
etc

There is no reason to assume that the pace of change has stopped or is slowing, what will we see next?

How are we defining 'film' ?

Who will be making 'films' and what will they be making?

What will 'making' mean? For instance, will the market in moving image be much more dominated by transmedia and interactivity/gaming. e.g. many adolescents have spent more of their time gaming than they have in formal schooling

Where will film-making be taking place? How significant will be the shifts in production centres at local, regional, national and international level?

A “Summary” so far, and sorry if it appears to polarise debate (but see 3, below)

POSITION 1: (The Future of ) Film=

entertainment
popular/populist
stars, top-down model
Hollywood or Bollywood?
the industry
uncritical/untheorised
notfilmschool
the past = the present = the future
blockbuster
director-led
cinema-led platforms
bigbudget & rights management
international ambition
90-minutes

POSITION 2: (The Future of ) Film =

diverse participants
critical
minority
independent
non-commercial
unpopular
transnational
filmschool informed
anylength
anyform
transmedia
variety of platforms
low-budget, micro-budget
collaborative
amateur elements
Youtube and Nollywood etc
grass-roots, bottom up approaches

POSITION 3: Future of Film = elements of 1 and 2 (above)

Comments

  1. Dr Ian McCormick8 July 2010 at 04:31

    Have your say ! How do you see you film making moving forward ? What challenges and opportunities do you see?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dr Ian McCormick5 July 2011 at 08:01

    Having read Richard Dyer's book recently, I'm inclined to rethink the role of entertainment in a more positive light. Or at least build on notions of joy, wonder, and delight as aspect of Position 2. How far can we break down the boundaries between the positions, without loss of clarity and definition?

    ReplyDelete

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