User:ProfLA

BELOW ARE 8 DESCRIPTIONS OF THE WAY FILM “USED” TO BE. THESE CHARACTERISTICS OF FILM APPLY BOTH TO WAY FILM WAS PRODUCED AND DISTRIBUTED AND TO THE WAYS WE EXPERIENCED FILMS.

EXPLAIN HOW CONVERGENCE CULTURE FUNDAMENTALLY CHALLENGES OR CHANGES EACH OF THESE CHARACTERISTICS OF FILM. (There may be some overlap, but each answer should be different (12 points each)

1. Gaps in the plot were not good.

Jenkins discusses about the gaps in The Matrix and says no film franchise has ever made such demands on its consumers. Before gaps in movies, plots were not good because critics didn't like gaps in films. If the plot wasn't something simple that made sense then they weren't happy. Convergence culture changed that by transmedia storytelling because participants are expected to do their homework in a sense and fill in these gaps. This is now seen as something good because it engages people to participate and it gets them excited to know they're a pro at the movie and they may know more than the average viewer. A good example of this is in the sequel, The Matrix Reloaded which opens without a recap and it also ends abruptly. For viewers who are Matrix fans, they will wait for the third installment of the movie to complete the second part. Also the sequel won't need a recap if you have done your homework of the movie. The filmmakers plant clues that won't make snese until you have played the computer game. There are hidden meanings that may be able to make sense by unlocking different levels in the Matrix game. This converges the movie experience with the internet. There are back stories in this movie that had to be downloaded off the web or from watching a seperate DVD. Fans love dissecting every piece of information and then debate about it. The Matrixis also entertainment for the era of collective intelligence (Jenkins pg. 97) Viewers get more out of the experience if they compare notes and share their resources.

2. Excesses confused the viewer.

3. The film-going experience was contained to one sitting whether at the theater or at the tv/vcr.

In the traditional film industry which is the classical age of cinema people would watch movies in theaters. Gatekeepers had more control over viewers through "Film 1.0" by controlling what was watched and when they watched it. Now in "Film 2.0" through this age of convergence things havechanged. There is a rise of digital technologies and people are no longer constricted of what they view and how they can view it. Viewers are now watching movies on other mediums like IPods, cell phones, the internet, etc. This is beneficial to them to watch it at their own convenience instead of waiting for a movie to come out in theaters. People can sit in the comfort of their own homes and multi-task while watching a movie on a computer. With transmedia storytelling stories are being told differently and not in a linear way. In this new age of convergence movie-goers are now experiencing this through multiple media and users are becoming co-creaters. Users are creating their own contributions and expanding the stories in their own way. There is now a fan world being created rather than just a two hour experience like in "Film 1.0" The Matrix is a great example of transmedia storytelling. According to Jenkins, the consumer who has played the game or watched the short clips will get a different experience of 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 is challenging gatekeepers, box office ticket sales, and how the film industry makes money.

4. “At first you pitched a good story, because without a good story you didn’t have a film. Then with sequels, you pitched a good character, because a good character could support multiple stories.

5. The product remained the same across platforms (theater, tv, vhs)

6. Merchandising was used to promote films. Redundancy was ok.

7. Film making was a practice left to professionals.

8. Film studios were more “prohibitionist,” they limited the ways we could participate with the film experience.