Technologies in the Film & TV Industry

Consumer Products

In today's world, equipment that would once have only been available to professionals or just non existent that are now widely available to general consumers.

Cameras

With digital film-making the prevalent in today's world cameras that record on tape and film are no longer produced. There are many different types of camera consumers can use for films even DSLRs which generally are stills cameras. In Canons Camcorder store they offer 3 types of filming cameras: Consumer; Prosumer and; Professional. Each have their own target audience, pros and cons.

Consumer (compact) Cameras:

These are canons standard "family holiday" camcorders, most have basic features with a few having slightly more advanced features. When comparing the LEGRIA HF R706 (cheapest model) and the LEGRIA HF R88 (most expensive) we see the main differences are that the R88 has better zoom capabilities as well as a wide angle feature, Wi-Fi and NFC. these cameras usually cost between £200-£400.

Prosumer

A portmanteau of the words Professional and consumer, these cameras are marketed as being for those who want to make  professional looking films for a lower price. these cameras. Canon offers 2 prosumer models the HF g25 and HF g40. These cameras also emphasise manual control. The g40 also has Wi-Fi connectivity. These usually cost between £550-£1000.

Professional

These cameras are Canon's top of the range video cameras. There are only 3 in this category ranging between £1,700-£1,900. The cheapest pro model is the XA30, at £1,750 it is the cheapest of the range and is marketed as the most affordable and versatile model in the range with extensive manual control. The XC10 is the mid cost model at £1,800 however it boasts 4K recording as well as Full HD.

Editing Software

As technology has improved, computers have come into the mass market and digital film making has become the norm due to its low cost (film is expensive) editing software has also become the norm, as it makes the whole process easier and quicker. There are many different software available to consumers these days that range in price. HitFilm offers both a professional and a consumer version of their editing/compositing cross software in the forms of HitFilm 4 Pro (£308.86) and HitFilm Express 2017 (Free). For the one off price HitFilm 4 Pro gives you access to all editing/compositing features so this is best for professionals. For consumers Hitfilm Express is the better option as it gives you the basics as well as a few treats on occasions and lets you purchase small packs to ass on to it when you need them like the Sci-Fi adventure pack, the Destruction pack, the Film looks pack, etc... The only downside with the Hitfilm Products (Express especially) is that they can feel very clunky due to all the features and it being a combination of editing software and VFX software.

Smartphones

As well as the range of consumer/professional cameras available, modern day mobile phones have built in cameras and can be used for both taking photos and filming. My phone the LG G5 has three cameras in it 1 on front 2 on back with the options to film in HD, FHD, FHD60 and UHD and HDR. And with its Quad Core 2.15 GHz processor it is almost as powerful as my desktop PC's Quad Core 2.4 GHz processor.

Satellite & Cable

Satellite TV

Satellite TV is delivered via a signal broadcast from the providers and relayed via Satellite to the consumers location where the signal is picked up by a satellite dish on their roof. Though this is the easiest from of TV signal to access it can be badly affected by weather and obstacles such as dense buildings etc... In the UK Sky one the largest providers of digital subscription TV via satellite.

Cable

Cable TV is delivered via wired connections instead of via satellite. This used to be done via radio signals being transmitted through coaxial cables, but recently companies have started moving to changing these to fiber optic cables which transmit data through pulses of light. Virgin Media is the UK's second largest pay TV service, and uses Cable TV rather than Satellite like its main competitor Sky. The down side to cable is it takes longer and will cost more than installing a satellite dish however the connection will generally be better and less easily interrupted.

Analogue & Digital

Analogue

Analogue television programming was transmitted as a continuous signal which would vary in amplitude depending on the data transmitted. Problems with analogue TV used to be that the signal would easily deteriorate over long distance and which often produced problems through cross source interference creating effects such a ghosts images, static, and a "snow effect" all of which would lower the quality of the broadcasts.

Digital (DTV)

DTV on the other hand is more advanced which uses binary sequences to transmit data. This produces exact and identical image to the source. As well as this unlike Analogue signals digital signals do not deteriorate over distance and requires less bandwidth than analogue. Today in the UK analogue signal has been replaced completely by digital signal.

Internet & Interaction

Internet

The is an interconnected global network, which can be accessed via computer, "smart" products (phone, TV, etc...) and other technology that uses the Internet Protocol Suite. The Internet can be used for an array of activities that can be deemed legal or illegal. We use the internet in legal ways ever day, finding out information, purchasing music off sites like iTunes, watching original content on YouTube or Vimeo, streaming from amazon prime video or Netflix, and even blogging like I'm doing now (hi). However we also use the internet in many illegal ways, downloading "free" music, films and TV shows off of un-associated sites, using copyrighted images etc...

Interactive

We can also use the internet for interactivity, through the use of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, etc... Livestreaming is the processes of streaming a live video directly and almost instantaneously over the internet until recently this had just been used as video calling or by gamers to broadcast themselves playing games to their audience via services like Twitch however social media site like Facebook and Twitter have added this feature (just not the gaming part) to their social media platforms these all allow audience interaction through reactions and comments. Programmes such as Britains got Talent allow viewers at home to interact by voting for their favourite acts via phone and internet.

High Definition (HD) & 3D

HD

HDTVs allow pictures on screen in "full HD" which means at a resolution of 1920x1080p pixels per frame. Though the highest resolutions currently available to consumers as of 2017 is 4K resolution. These resolutions mean we see more realistically sized images without picture grain or resolution stretch, unlike with old standard definition TVs.

3D

Three dimensional pictures have been around in film since the early 1990's using a form of photography known as stereoscopic photography which created the illusion of depth in a picture. In the modern day digital film making allows for layering of images to create the 3D effect. To view a 3D picture you need to be wearing special glasses that in the 20th century wer cardboard with one red and one either green/blue lens, in the 21st century 3D glasses usually resemble plastic sunglasses due to the switch to Polaroid lenses.

Pay Per View & On Demand

Pay per View

This is where a consumer pays a sum of money to watch a film/programme, this is not a one off payment which means every time they wish to view/re-view something they have to pay again. Some content often includes films, TV shows, as well as sporting events. This can be done from a TV provider such as Sky or over internet through services such as iTunes.

On Demand

On Demand viewing is watching content after it has been broadcast. Pay TV providers such as Virgin Media and Sky will have On Demand programmes for a week after broadcast on selected channels included as part of their packages. As well as this broadcasters such as BBC, Channels 4 &5, etc... have their own On Demand services accessible on devices via internet such as BBC's BBC IPlayer, 4 On Demand, My5, itv Player. Programmes stay on demand services for anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of months. The main difference between On Demand broadcaster services and other streaming services is that broadcaster On Demand services like BBC IPlayer and ITV player are free.

Streaming

There have been many different meaning for streaming in a media context but as of 2016/17 it is generally associated with a user watching/listening to digital media through devices (computer, phone, tablet, TV etc..) over the internet. Streaming does not require a download before watching but does require a decent internet bandwidth to stop buffering form happening (the video repeatedly stopping to load). Examples of streaming services include the On Demand services above as well as sites like YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Twitch etc...

Digital Recording

In this day and age, a lot of set top boxes like Virgin Medias TiVo box and Sky's Sky Q box is that you can set them to record live TV programmes and films airing on TV channels. You can then watch/ re-watch these programmes until you need more recording space or you can set them to delete themselves after a certain time frame. You can also set Series Links which means the service will automatically record episodes of a programme of the series you've selected so you don't ever miss any.

Digital recording can also apply to the previously mentioned On Demand and streaming services as the programmes/films available are digitally recorded by the original broadcasters before being distributed to the sites/companies.


Information Sources:
https://store.canon.co.uk/?WT.tsrc=NSO-Site&_ga=2.13362551.1369778522.1498121760-898469400.1498121760
https://hitfilm.com/
http://www.lg.com/uk/mobile-phones/lg-H850
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_television
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_UK
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_television
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Media
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_television
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1245329
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_television
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_television
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_film
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay-per-view
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streaming_media