Technological Advances

In the past, films were not distributed digitally and were all made on rolls of film. These rolls of film would then be delivered to the cinemas exhibiting the films and would then be projected to the big screen using a trained projectionist who will have to load the film onto the projector, sync the audio and sit and watch the roll on the projector to make sure it doesn’t get damaged because if it does then the cinema may lose money. After a while the film would become damaged and over time the quality would decrease making the film ruin. The films were very expensive to make on the rolls (around $1000 per roll of 35mm film) and very expensive to deliver, it was also very difficult to distribute the films internationally because the amount of storage the rolls of film require and cost of delivering to the cinemas worldwide. The marketing of the films was also difficult, meaning that the film relied on physical adverts e.g. Posters and leaflets, radio adverts, TV adverts and word of mouth to market the film.

Films nowadays are distributed digitally making it easier to distribute the films to more cinemas and allowing them to be shown for a longer time. These films can easily be shown in the cinema as the projectionist doesn’t really need to be trained because they only need to press a few buttons and sit making sure that the film is running well. The digital version of the film won’t be damaged as you use it because it isn’t a physical roll of film, this allows the cinemas to make as much money as possible from the film and they can then sell the film on afterwards undamaged unlike the physical roll of film which would be damaged and would need to be thrown away. The digital films are a lot cheaper to make because they don’t need physical rolls of film, the film can be sent electronically or sent on a memory device. Nowadays there would be a lot more cinemas showing digital films and not physical films meaning the film would be shown in more cinemas. The marketing of the films is so much easier when done digitally and markets the film to a much wider audience. This is because the film is marketed using TV, radio, websites, trailers, games, apps, banners and posters. The digital marketing allows an international audience to be reached and more people will become interested in the film. The digital distribution can also have it’s disadvantages, for example piracy can happen which would involve someone taking the digital copy and posting it online before the film’s release on DVD or online streaming websites.

Film trailers have also advanced alongside films in the industry and have improved drastically as time has gone on, improvements in motion graphics and visual effects, camera quality and editing programs have helped production company produce great trailers that captivate audiences. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4cxvrXTOc8

The film 'The Stranger' is a Psychological thriller from 1946 starring and directed by Orson Welles. The trailer is in black and white and the titling/text and transitions are very basic but at the time would have been quite advanced. The sound in the trailer isn't very good, it has a very loud soundtrack which pauses for the character's speech which is quite quiet, then after the speech ends the music starts again abruptly and almost makes you jump from the suddenness and loudness. There is a lot of text transitions in the trailer and it is quite hard to keep track of what they are saying. In these days the trailer was more about showcasing the storyline and the actors than showcasing the cinematography, editing and sound techniques used throughout.

If you compare that thriller trailer from 1946 to a thriller trailer now you can see how much technology has advanced and how editing, sound and camera techniques have improved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR1EmTKAWIw

The Walk is a film based on a true event that Philippe Petit did in 1974 and was Directed by Robert Zemeckis. 
The trailer is in colour and is recorded with very high quality cameras, the SFX is showcased throughout and the sound and editing is brilliant and very advanced. This trailer showcases the cinematography, editing and sound techniques and explain the story in a way that captivates the audience and makes them want to watch unlike the older trailer which is almost confusing. The sound and film clips are editing together really well and the transitions are smooth unlike the older one which is very abrupt. The text is also really effective and is editing using editing software to move and create motion graphics (example 2:02 and 2:23 in the trailer)