From: Steve Davies (steve365@btinternet.com)
Date: Thu Mar 27 2003 - 11:49:44 MST
> Steve Davies wrote:
> > Interesting piece here from John Farrell at TCS about the
> > transformation of film making by new technology.
> >
> >
http://www.techcentralstation.com/1051/techwrapper.jsp?PID=1051-250&CID=1051att.
-032403C
> >
> > This kind of development (and related ones in the music and
> > entertainment industries) has far reaching implications IMHO.
>
>
> It hasn't changed a damn thing in the music business. The tools are not
> the problem. Anybody remotely interrested in doing music on a computer
> can do it now for $500. So anybody can make music. And still it is
> mostly s*** that we hear.
>
> It will be the same for movie making. I fact, you can make tv quality
> movies on a home computer with no trouble. You have been able to for
> years. So where is all that great cheap content?
>
> Another difference is that we don't have as much time for watching
> movies as we do for hearing music. So most people will be even more
> indifferent if there are more bad movies made.
This is true. The evidence of the 'print revolution' in Early Modern Europe
is that the initial result of a new, more accessible way of communicating is
to simply enormously increase the quantity of common or garden rubbish put
into circulation (Sturgeon's Law at work). However (a) after a while this
wears off (b) the really interesting effect, which happens much sooner, has
to do with the form of communication and access to it rather than content
per se. At the moment in developed countries media such as film and TV are
enormously important for forming beliefs, attitudes and outlooks, above all
in shaping what counts as 'knowledge' or 'common sense'. This is a serious
matter as these media are structured in such a way that access to them is
limited. New technology means that this kind of control is going to be
increasingly difficult to sustain. As I said, the immediate result is likely
to be the strengthening of dissident subcultures, many of which we wouldn't
like but I think the longer term results will be beneficial.
Steve Davies
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