Audience and Institution Essay

Below is the essay for the Audience and Institution
5. In relation to the media area you have studied, discuss the ways audience consumption has changed overtime

Imaging walking into a packed theater, waiting to watch the release of a new popular movie. Sitting on the comfortable reclining cinema chair while chugging down a large soda. Your eyes captivated by the beaming lights shooting out of a 90-foot-wide screen while your ears are receiving the loud sound being emitted from the speakers. Better yet, imaging kicking back on your own couch with a movie appearing on your television screen with a click of a button. However, people fail to recall that this was not always the case. Throughout the years, the way the general population consumes films has changed.

One contribution to the audience consumption change is technology. Technology is a vast, ever-improving concept. Many things have changed due to technology, including films. With the help of technology, films were able to advance from moving pictures so a digital software. This can be seen in the article, HOW TECH HAS SHAPED FILM MAKING: THE FILM VS. DIGITAL DEBATE ISPUT TO REST. The article states, “Distribution through YouTube has been the most common form of marketing for quite some time. Studios have released big-budget trailers, while indie film makers have sought funding and interested eyes posting content through various YouTube channels.” Now, audiences can view clips and scenes of films before they are released. This provides insight into the movie through a free and easily accessible software. Sources such as YouTube provide the audience with options to like and dislike the trailer videos. This allows early outside commentary to the filmmakers by the audience. One big film that promoted on multiple platforms was Jurassic World. This movie was distributed in 4 different trailers through the internet and Television.

Films are not always consumed by audience in one way, they can be consumed in various ways. One of these ways include cross media convergence. Many big film companies use this strategy to promote the releases of their movies. One example is the release of The Beauty and The Beast. Walt Disney found it fit to use cross media convergence to promote the film on multiple platforms. This was seen by special iMessage stickers on iPhones and Twitter. With these stickers, the public may unconsciously be familiar with the movie. With the stickers making their way on Twitter, audiences are bound to be affiliated with the title in some sort of way.

Another contribution to audience consumption overtime is Merchandising. Many successful film companies use merchandise to promote their movies to audiences. These items can adhere to many categories, whether it be young or old. Black Panther, produced by Kevin Feige and directed by Ryan Coogler, used marketing brilliantly. This strategy implemented T-Shirts, Toys, and Posters to the Audience to boost the stardom of the movie. Personally, I own 2 Black Panther T-shirts and one action figure. Once I was introduced to the merchandise, I was encapsulated by the concept of the movie which caused me to watch it.

With all that is going on, watching movies online is as vital as ever. Audiences can still enjoy the entertainment of films while still undergoing social distancing. Instead of being bored in a house with nothing to do, we can all enjoy watching movies in the comfort of our homes.