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Question

Do we get new types of cinema from shifts in cinema technology? Critically evaluate this question with close reference to one film.

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Introduction

Entering the digital era, technology has been constantly developing to unprecedented levels. As a consequence, the way that people approach films has been expanding dramatically. People now might watch films through their network cable in their own family cinema, which remains the theatrical way of screening. Alternatively, people may choose to watch films on computer screens instead, where the screen is smaller and the distance between the audience and the screen diminishes. People even watch films through tablets or mobile phones, putting on headphones in a public space such as a restaurant or café, which overthrows the traditional theatrical cinema and generates a vast array of new types of cinema experience and films.

 Meanwhile, filming and producing in the digital era has also changed. Due to the prevalence of smartphones, available cameras, and editing software, people are able to record and produce their own motion pictures (Figgis 2007, p. 41-49). Additionally, with the establishment of online platforms, people have started to distribute their films on the internet. There have been new types of cinema, along with technology development, which includes new type of film-making, new type of distribution, and different access to films. This blog essay will examine how short films, a type of cinema that has gained increasing popularity, have transformed in the digital era, using David F. Sandberg’s low budget short film Lights Out (2013) as an example. Lights Out is a horror short film, which has received over 9 million views on YouTube since 2014. The feature film version was released in 2016.

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Background

Short films are a kind of motion picture that are not long enough to be a feature-length film. Short films went through a lot of rise and fall in popularity before the digital era. In 1920s, the power of the studios was consolidated; the studios required theatre owners to take the complete packages of their motion pictures, which included both shorts and feature-length films. Using this strategy, the studios were able to benefit from producing and distributing shorts in the theatre. Short films also got huge attention and recognition when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences launched two short film awards, “Short Subjects, comedy” and “Short Subjects, novelty”, in 1932 (Felando 2015, p, 28 - 31). Having more public exposure promoted the shorts to a wider audience in the 30s.

 Along with the decline of the studio system, the chance to see a short film in theatrical screening had been extremely rare in the 1960s and 1970s. To prevent the shorts from becoming extinct in theatres, world famous film festivals like Cannes offered short films with more theatrical screenings. They also encouraged and awarded the production of short films, in which the first Palme d’Or Award was given to a short film in 1955 (Cowie 2005, p. ). Moreover, some film festivals exclusively for short were established such as Germany’s International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, which is the world’s oldest short film festival, and Australia’s Tropfest, which aims to be the “the world’s largest short film festival” (Felando 2015, p. 37 - 39).

 The rebirth of short films occurred in the digital era. The most critical factor that bought the shorts back to life in the digital era was the development of the online distribution strategy. This approach enabled the widespread availability and visibility of and attention to short films. YouTube, as an example of the biggest platform for video-sharing, has attracted the young generation to watch and appreciate the shorts, and even film and produce their own ones. This huge visibility and willingness to participate in short films has never reached such heights of popularity than the current era, and the shorts have merged in people’s daily entertainment and life.

 What we can now see is that short films have moved on from the ‘package deals’ of the studios and have become a new type of cinema in their own right, with different aims and conventions to traditional feature-length cinema.

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Digital Film-making

The budget for film-making is essential but hidden behind everything. While having a spectacular overview for the film, the film-maker used to be confined due the limited budget. One of the failures of film-making is being unable to fill the gap between the ambitious and ideal script and the reality of the budget limitation (Figgis, 2007). Now, with the benefits of technology development, people can make a film with almost no cost. Lights Out is a typical low-budget produced short film. It was shot with Blackmagic cinema camera, and a Tokina 11-16 lens. The sound recording benefited from the Zoom H4N with a Røde NTG1 microphone (Sanberg, 2016). The equipment was easily accessible, and all together cost less than 3,000 AUD. In the digital era, people can make their shorts, even feature-length because the price of camera became cheaper so that more people could afford it.

 The scene below was set in a bedroom hallway, which was not only free from renting the location, but also created familiarity so audiences could resonate with it. Also, having a short film that was filmed in a completely common-seen home setting suggested that film-making does not necessarily require a remarkable location and fancy probes. It would encourage the viewer to start think about making their own films, which might result in further enriching the diversity of the film market and boosting the willingness to participate in film-making.

Moreover, the special effect of the ghost when the lights are off and lights on was created by a split-screen technique, which could be done using wide transition or crop tools in an editing software (Dowd 2016). This post-production that relies on the modern technology was strong enough in three-minute shorts to deliver the sense of horror and paranoia, which made Lights Out particularly digital. In the digital world, the editing and effect can potentially be done with the laptop or computer.

  Last but not least, low-budget film-making does allow more people to produce their motion pictures and having a sufficient budget support will allow the film to try out more possibilities. However, always bear in mind that there is a trade-off between budget and auteurism. If film-makers receive a larger budget from the distributor or any other third party, film-makers will have to compromise for the third party’s request (Figgis, 2007). This will lead to the next section of this blog: distribution.

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The Power of Online Distribution

The standard distribution involves ‘P&A’, which stands for prints and advertising (Figgis, 2007). However, the cost of either of these is too expensive for independent film-makers. It might be acceptable of a studio budget scale, but it is nearly impossible for those film-makers to advertise the trailer in TV or exhibit the ad in magazines or newspaper.

 The alternative method to distribute the films is through the internet, also known as online distribution. Lights Out was initially release in Bloody Cuts Horror Challenge film festival in 2013 and then posted to online internet video-sharing site like YouTube and Vimeo (Graaf 2014). With the highly widespread availability those platforms have, Lights Out received a huge view count which led a lot discussion on the comment section below; the film went viral.

 Interestingly, this efficient and economic approach to distribution is uniquely digital. Because people, especially the younger generations, receive and communicate information through the digital world, they can easily repost and advertise short films on social media at any time. Online distribution breaks the time limit that broadcast has and reduces the inconvenience to see theatrical screenings. It created a unique form of advertising and spreading: the film-maker posts online, the audience watch it and recommend to other by reposting, the others can watch it immediately and repeat this process all for free. According to Murdock and McCorn (1976, p. 10 - 26), the young generation has shown being less interest in capitalism and organization of social structure including wealth distribution. The online distribution provides them with an alternative which has also wide audience and less or nearly no cost.

 Lights Out went through the screening at film festival and got recognised, then release widely online and receive enormous echoes. The distribution of Lights Out portrayed the process of short films transformation in digital era. Moreover, YouTube increase the visibility of short films in general: the site will recommend relevant short film once they have viewed one. With this system, the audience can view more short films, the film-makers can distribute films with no costs, and the short films are embedded in people’s daily entertainment and leisure activities.

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Conclusion

The blog presents the argument that we do have new types of cinema, or we have a new form of existed cinema to more precise, from shifts in cinema technology. One example of these is digital short films. Through the demonstration of the evolution of short films, film-making in digital era, and online distribution, the blog shows how short films have transformed in digital era, using case study of Sandberg’s Lights Out. Although there are still issue with digital film-making and distribution, copyright infringement for instance, it is undeniable that digital shorts are a new type of cinema or at least a new form of theatrical short films.

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Bibliography

Cowie, P 2004, Revolution!: the explosion of world cinema in the 60s, Faber, London

 Dowd, A 2016, ‘Lights Out director David Sandberg defends the ending of his horror hit’, THE A.V. CLUB, 30 July.

 Felando, C 2015, Discovering Short Films, PALGRAVE MACMILLAN, New York.

 Figgis, M 2007, Digital Film-Making, Faber and Faber, London.

 Graff, M 2014, ‘Make sure you go to bed with the lights on! Scary horror short film that will make you think twice about sleeping in the dark sweeps the internet’, Daily Mail, 25 March.

 Murdock, G & McCorn R 1976, “Youth and Class: The Career of a Confusion.” Eds Geoff Mungham and Geoff Pearson, Working Class Youth Culture. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, pp. 10– 26.

 Sandberg, D 2016, " What Makes a Movie Scary? - Now You See It". Reddit. Retrieved viewed 14 Set 2018

https://www.reddit.com/r/horror/comments/4wl6ac/what_makes_a_movie_scary_now_you_see_it/d6l7hgv/?context=3.

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Filmography

Lights Out 2013, YouTube video, Sandberg Company, Swedon.