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= The Effects of Convergence Culture on Film =

Convergence in respects to media, is the technological, industrial, and social changes in the way media circulates within contemporary culture. Separate and distinct media such as Radio, Television, and Film are converging with each other to create a new type of experience. These forms of communications are working towards a platform that uses media content that can be entered into by way of multiple access points. The Internet, the most democratized form of communication, has been seen as one of the great catalysts for this movement.

Convergence Culture is evident in many aspects of everyday life, but one less obvious affect it is having is on Film making. The old Hollywood model of film making is being challenged and the effects of Convergence are starting to become more apparent. The problems present in Hollywood Film making are being addressed in what can be loosely described as Film 2.0.

Film 2.0 allows for individuals to experience films on their electronic devices such as IPODS, phones and through watching DVDS. Unlike film 1.0 viewers don't have to just watch films from the theatres or through VHS anymore, which didn't allow them to see the content of scenes without watching the whole film through. Film 2.0 gives viewers the opportunity to become loyal to film companies because their able to spend more time viewing films on the go and through different media outlets consistently by way of new developing technology.

thumb|300px|right|Henry Jenkins, author of "Convergence Culture," explains how Convergence is bringing about Transmedia

Plot Gaps


Jenkins discusses the gaps in traditional films in the chapter The Matrix, stating that no film franchise has ever made such demands of its consumers. Now a complete story is told through transmedia storytelling, in which consumers are expected to 'do their homework' and fill in the gaps themselves. Before in traditional film everything was self contained there was no transmedia storytelling. Now, the goal is to have aspects of a show or movie available on multiple platforms by way of television, novels and comics for readers to engage in the concept of the film on different levels of entertainment. For example, a character from a movie can have a life in the film itself and in online games, and etc. There are many different ways that producers make available for viewers to fill in the gaps such as: watching shorts online, reading online comic books, playing online games,and etc. Although it used to be considered bad by critics, it is now seen as something good because not only does it engage people to participate, but it also gets them excited in knowing they're a pro at the movie and may know more than the average viewer knows. For individuals that follow the story line to understand the characters it gives them an advantage to not only know more but to understand the concept that producers are trying to convey. In the older days of cinema, produces creating other ways for viewers to engage themselves was not a feasible task. Viewers and the critics that shaped the tastes, were not happy if a movie did not have a simple plot that ended with some sort of closure because that was considered the norm. Now gaps are welcomed by viewers unlike before when viewing media had to be simple in order to prevent the consumer from being confused. There were expectations from viewers based on knowledge from historical genres in the old films. The structures of films and the expectations from viewers before was that they had completion and a resolution.

In today's cinema, gaps in the plot can be useful for movies because they provide open doorways that lead to other pieces of the franchise, this provides unlocking pieces of a mystery for fans. It allows them to do more research and follow through on other offers that the company may provide. These pieces are windows of opportunity for merchandising and the cross promotion of products that hopefully the consumer will buy into. As a result, a relationship is formed between the consumer and the franchise because it creates a commitment to the overall franchise. With The Matrix sequels, many fans were left with many questions due to gaps in the plot. While some fans lost interest many others pursued the answers and became completely involved in the experience. While gaps were not excepted, the companies don’t seem to mind using them as bait for consumers to purchase. Either way, the companies are finding ways to take advantage of the gaps and create more of a connection and loyalty to the franchise. Although it is still about economics, companies are making money through multiple points of entry.

Narrative Excesses
The extreme lengths that corporations and studios have gone through in order to make numerous people aware of the franchises they want to market has not only left pieces of the information that tie up lose ends in many film plots scattered, but in many cases, has taken away much of the artistic integrity of film making. These cases are found more so with action films and comedies. "The Matrix is entertainment for the era of collective intelligence."(Jenkins pg. 97) Viewers get more out of the experience if they compare ideas with fellow fans along with sharing their resources.

When the sequel was released with the revolutionary title, “The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded”, it displayed a typical marketing technique used by major studios that often keeps the viewer from completely understanding the artistic integrity behind the franchise. This is something that would have never been achieved in the primitive age of cinema. The sequel opens without any indication of what happened in the prequel and happens to end very abruptly. This only leaves Matrix fans anxiously waiting for the third installment of the series to finally tie up the lose ends. However, the sequel wouldn’t need a recap if fans already did their homework.

The filmmakers also plant clues in the third installment of the film and end the series with a dissatisfying conclusion so that viewers play the online computer game and/or the console game until the corporation decides to fully end the series. This scam also includes the addition of hidden meanings that may be able to make sense by unlocking different levels in the Matrix video game. For many this marketing tactic has taken away the memory of the deep, psychological, visually stunning and revolutionary film that fans originally became obsessed with.

The Matrix has ripped out the soul of the franchise, thus leaving fans with the memory of the sequel that was rushed to be made by the studios and the mediocrity of the video games. This has been done to the most successful films that have had the ability to have sequels added to their stories, yet has turned the art of film-making into more of a money making machine than a pursuit of artistic inspiration. In that sense, corporations have "confused the viewer". Still, there are back stories in this film that had to be downloaded off the web or watched via DVD, and many fans love dissecting every piece of information, absorbing every fiber of the movie experience, and then discussing them with other fans. This has helped the awareness of the franchise grow, and has freed fans from the limitations of only being able to enjoying their favorite franchise within the restrictions of a movie theater or living room with a DVD player.

A hardcore fan studies how characters dress, how they designed their buildings, what artifacts they use, how they move, what their music sounds like, and so forth. So excesses no longer confuses the viewer, but instead excesses is seen as something good when fans work like this it becomes rewarding when they finally watch it on DVD and stopping and starting to absorb the background (Jenkins pg. 117). Before, viewing media had to be simple as to not confuse the viewer. Storytelling is no longer two dimensional, instead it's three dimensional allowing stories to be told in different ways. Now excesses relates to transmedia storytelling because fans become more engaged with excesses viewing through watching the movie, watching clips, playing the game, and discussing it online, and so forth, they are learning more which is beyond just seeing the movie itself. The consumer who has done all of these things will get a different viewing experience than these who don't do their homework by simply watching the movie and nothing else.

A Change in the Way We View Films


In the traditional film industry, which was the classical age of cinema, people simply watched movies in theaters. Industry gatekeepers, notably the studios, had more control over viewers. In the old "Film 1.0" structure, the industry was controlled: what was watched, how it was watched, when it was watched, where it was watched. Now with "Film 2.0," in the age of convergence, things have changed. There has been a rise of digital technologies and people are no longer restricted by industry demands on how, when, why or what is viewed. Viewers are now watching movies via mediums other than the traditional movie theater. Now iPods, cell phones, the internet, and other technologies act as personal mobile theaters. Greater quality high definition images have now become the monster threatening the film industry. Since the price of high definition sets has dropped dramatically, more and more homes are adopting these systems, greatly reducing theater ticket sales, hurting the film industry. This is beneficial to viewers because they can watch a film at their convenience, purchasing or renting movies, or viewing them for free, and allowing as many people that can fit in the room to watch without extra charge. People can sit in the comfort of their own homes and multitask while watching a movie on a computer, television, or any available window into the cloud.

While transmedia stories are being told differently and in a non-linear fashion, movie-goers are being exposed to the stories of their preferred films through multiple media formats and users are becoming co-creaters. According to Jenkins, "the consumer who has played the game or watched the short clips will get a different experience from the movies than one who had just the theatrical film experience. The whole is worth more than the sum of the parts"(Jenkins pg. 104). Convergence culture is challenging to the gatekeepers, their box office ticket sales, and any other way the film industry can finance itself by making various types of media available for users to make contributions to legacy of a particular film, show, or franchise in their own way. Fans now can create their own spin off series', re-edit films, create remixes, create anime clips using the backbone of the films story, and share their work with the world with the help of multiple media venues, one of the most influential ones being YouTube. There is now a fan world being created outside the theater rather than just a two hour experience.

Expanding on an Intellectual property
Now the story and characters may hardly be priority. In some cases, the experience is more about aesthetics, multiple concepts, leaving room for exploration, allowing the viewer to be confused as to wonder further and want to figure it out without getting bored. Sometimes it is cunning to build upon human nature's insatiable thirst for more; rather than giving a complete plot that is easy to build a simple synopsis around, it may be profitable to leave the audience hungry so they come for more, even if the story does not make one ounce of sense. "The film need not be well made, but it must provide resources consumers can use in constructing their own fantasies... (Pg 100 Jenkins)" Today's films are more modified for the application of trans-media story-telling, and sequels are something very fractional to the whole project rather than the essential second and third steps of a successful franchise. The steady success of modern productions can be broken down into two elaborate qualities, according to Jenkins and Umberto Eco. First, "the work must come to us as a 'completely furnished world so that its fans can quote characters and episodes as if they were aspects of the private sectarian world,'" and second, "the work must be encyclopedic, containing a rich array of information that can be drilled, practiced, and mastered by devoted customers. (Pg 99)" These complex qualities are meant to correlate with trans-media story-telling and when expressed through the viewer/customer it comes out as no more simple than love, a love for the film, because it is turned into culture; into a project of discontinuity and never-ending predictions.

From my own personal experience, my brothers and their friends will randomly quote (lines) from characters in their favorite films. Although they don't know it, transmedia-storytelling is part of their lives.

A fan may gallivant and converse all day about a film made for trans-media, because it has flooded all the aspects of his or her life: one concept may appear to simply be a film, but can be a fixture in many other realms along the entertainment continuum. For example, The Matrix is a movie, but was also a game on the fan's PC, then his console, as comic books, and simultaneously, merchandising appeared on his television, his phone, numerous websites, and maybe even is served with his Big Mac and french fries. In the short years after, the fan would find his Matrix game being continued in the sequel, where some lingering questions would be answered and possibly even more introduced. Instead of being fed a continuous story, the fan is fed resources where he or she can follow the story him/herself. Concurrently, the entire story may make no sense, have multiple unexplained conclusions, may meet very few of the proper requirements meant for strong plot or it may simply be painfully bad, but the fans don't know that and neither is it what they really care about. All these tactics just keep them craving more, making them addicts to the franchise, to every aspect of the industry.

Dynamics of Transmedia Film-making
In the past, film companies had the final word in a single film. The Production Company ruled as it provided the money, people, theaters etc. that gave a film a platform to exist. Due to the Producer's stronghold of the final say, what was released to the theater may not have always been what a director envisioned. Reasons ranging from artistic differences between director and producer to budgetary concerns could have caused a film to not be truly finished in the eyes of the director upon its release. This dilemma can still occur, but with the advent of DVD and television release for films, it is a problem that can be overcome. Many times films need to be cut down from their original envisioning due to time constraints. But with a DVD, we do not have that problem. We are inundated with newer, better versions of films all the time. Director's cuts, extended scenes, and special features make it possible for the viewer to experience a film the way the auteur' intended for it to be seen without the constraints of the typical theater going experience.

We are now in an age of media convergence. It is almost unavoidable for the flow of content to not move across various media channels. The creative process has enhanced through the movement of content across media. This makes a certain product revolutionize across different platforms. A movie, such as The Matrix, would be almost impossible to understand if viewers weren’t exposed to transmedia storytelling. In order to understand the story viewers must experience the story in different platforms. Determined fans search and collect any information that will expand their knowledge of the product. They enjoy seeking clues, tracking down their favorite characters and trying to make associations between diverse texts within the same franchise. These simple actions are important in the age of convergence because it helps teach individuals to collaborate with one another. This form of collaboration can encourage the next generation to continue sharing their knowledge and create new and different experiences.

New Methods in Merchandising
Merchandising is still used today to promote films but redundancy is not okay in the current film industry because it undermines the viewer.

Tie-ins and marketing support the film through redundancy. Fast food restaurants such as McDonald's and Burger King give out action figures and other types of toys to promote movies (especially animated kids movies). However, because of the convergence movement existing today, toys promoting the movie Shrek for example, aren't necessary to understand the characters and plot of the movie.

Disney is one of the biggest corporations that promotes their movies to appeal more to children and parents alike. In fact, there are several Disney stores throughout the US and other countries that sell products such as backpacks that are used to get kids to be emotionally attached to the characters of a certain Disney movie and/or show. Although convergence culture shows consumers that redundancy isn't okay; with all the different media platforms, to not take advantage of them for marketing would be foolish. Movie franchises have the chance to release CD soundtracks, or movie companion books, or even toy lines through fast food restaurants. But even those example show redundancy. A franchise like The Matrix truly takes advantage of the other media platforms; the creators know that redundancy would not be okay for The Matrix because there was so much story to tell, and so many characters to expand on. All of this merchandising on the different media platforms causes the consumer to be surrounded by the film. The film in integrated into every aspect of their life, in the hopes that they would develop an emotional attachment. A franchise like The Matrix does not use the same story in their merchandise; that way, the consumer will not be bombarded with redundancy. They will not get bored of buying into the same thing over again, and the expanding of the franchise just keeps the consumer coming back for more. The advertising techniques work with redundancy because once you see the commercials, the toy characters, and the movie it sticks in the consumers head and makes them want to see the film.

Democratization of Film-making
With newly created resources and tools it is much easier for viewers to create their own films or small videos not only with a shoe string budget, but sometimes even within the confines of their homes. There are many commercially-available programs that allow consumers to become the producers of content. Websites such as YouTube even encourage this behavior by being a sort of media window to the public to let these "grassroots" filmmakers get their work into the public eye. These commercial programs have become so accessible and user-friendly that some fan-films have become comparable to legitimate studio-produced works:
 * "Up until the moment the actors spoke, you wouldn't be able to tell whether that was a real Star Wars film or a fan creation because the special effects are so good..." (p.159, Chris Albrecht, AtomFilms official, on Star Wars: Revelations)

So while the acting may need polishing, the overall technical aspects of these fan-films are getting better. The line between professional and amateur is blurring. With the fans getting just as close to the real thing as possible, intellectual property debates stir up and this is where the corporations need to step in. "Traditional films" were made by producers and the other various people who worked for them (actors etc...). This made the idea of consumers using their creativity to contribute to a film impossible to do. The idea of remixing a video from someone else (such as the one done by "Girl Talk") demonstrates something we have been doing all along which is sharing our stories just like our ancestors did in the past. On open source cinema, amateur film makers can remix any video and make it their own. Although piracy is used in these films, amateur film makers didn't stop showing their talent because they want to prove that using other people's work isn't wrong in their minds. The movement of remixing continues on today despite the problems that come up. One example of a fan filmed movie is George Lucas in Love, which was produced by a University of Southern California film student. Although the film was low budget, it still depicted Shakespeare in Love in a very clear way. The scenes in the film were shoot throughout the college campus and in the student's house, however the music was used from the original Star Wars movies. George Lucas in Love according to Jenkins "offers us a portrait of the artist as a young geek." This film proves that film making isn't just a practice left to the professionals. Anyone with a certain amount of creativity can manage to make some form of entertainment content. Another example of an amateur film is called "Black." This film wasn't shown in the US theaters but is distributed at www.Jaman.com. This and other sites that are similar, their main goal is to be a digital art-house cinema for consumers. It offers a way for people a "universe of alternative films they otherwise might never have known they wanted to see, or had a clue on how to find if they did" (Robischon, pg.1). These sites are also a part of the growing age of convergence because they allow people to see movies on more than just one platform.

Blurring the Lines Between Producers and Consumers
The hardcore right-winged approach, now slowly fading due to convergence culture, was a system in which the studios had complete control over how their product was used-- film use temperance, or even prohibition of changing/using film product for non traditional use. Nowadays there are movie studios, such as LucasFilms, that have more of a collaborative attitude pertaining to fan contribution and use. Such an approach encourages fan participation as a part of a franchise's universe, in the fan(s)' own ways. Studios like Lucasfilms are "collaborationists" who see the fans as vital contributors to building up the product (p.138). "Prohibitionist" is a label usually applied to media industries like film, television, and the music industry, when a particular entity is very protective of their concepts and material, prohibiting anyone else from using their material for their own gain, even if it is simply creative and not for profit. Formerly, we were not able to expand on a movie or television show, but in this new age of convergence, there is nothing stopping us from doing so; the web is a tool that encourages consumer expansion via such means. Prohibitionists' main concern were fans who may capitalize on their product, going back to the argument of intellectual property. For example, Viacom set rules for the use of some trademarked names from the Star Trek franchise in ads for Star Trek conventions, and that the goal was so that fans would find their way to conventions that were run by Viacom (p. 156). Collaborationists tend to give their fans more liberties, but this is not to say that the fans are completely free to whatever they please. Even with a collaborationist studio like LucasFilms, rules were set for the fans so that none of them were bordering on copyright infringements:
 * "No fan fiction--which attempts to expand on the Star Wars universe--will be accepted. Films must not make use of copyrighted Star :::Wars music or video, but may use action figures and the audio clips provided in the production kit section of this site" (p. 159).

Now, even though LucasFilm created a site dedicated to fan participation, and even encouraged wide use of this site and its resources, it is still limiting them to only using the resources that are provided, thus limiting fan freedom and participation in other rites. The rules set for the Star Wars fans were embedded for less economical reasons, however, as it would be risky to ally any post of fan-fiction, especially those that compromised the franchise's public image. Now participation is more open-ended, and less under the control of media producers but more under the control of media consumers. The web has also now provided a new distribution channel for amateur cultural production (p.137). There is no longer an oligopoly of a small number of gatekeepers controlling everything and big money is no longer needed to produce and market. Now people are making their own videos and and participating with production and distribution. The distribution models have changed. More people have access to these technologies to create effects, movies, and to find ways to distribute it.