Technological Convergence is defined as is the tendency that as technology changes, different technological systems sometimes evolve towards performing similar tasks. For example, a smartphone that contains a camera would be an example of this, as two technologies have been combined into a single product. This increase in technological convergence has affected institutions and audiences in many different ways.
To begin, technological convergence has affected production companies. Firstly, it has enabled a more efficient filming process due the technology that is used being able to perform more functions. An example of this is the playback facilities offered within modern camera equipment, allowing directors and cinematographers to review footage after filming, meaning that they can make quick decisions about whether the footage is adequate, eliminating the need for producers to download their footage onto another device or in the case of film, export it into film rolls. Not only is this more convenient for producers, but it is also cheaper, which would be advantageous to low budget productions such as Ill Manors, budgeted at £100,000. Ultimately, this would make for a better quality final product.
In addition, technological convergence has also enabled the prosumer or amateur film producer to construct film products much easier. This is due to the array of products that now offer video and audio recording facilities. For example, smartphones such as the iPhone have built in cameras which offer users the ability to take videos and photos whilst simultaneously recording audio using the built in microphone. This means that it is easier for films to be made without any specialist equipment, and in the modern day, smartphones are being used increasingly to produce film products, the introduction of the "iPhone film festival" reinforcing this. Not only this but many devices such as smartphones and tablets also offer applications that enable users to edit their footage, meaning again, little specialist equipment is required, whereas before technological convergence producers would have to edit their footage manually. This availability of equipment may be detrimental to production companies to some extent as this will mean that there may be more film products available to consumers and subsequently there will be more competition, meaning that production companies may have to increase the production value of their products. This may be financially difficult for independent companies such as Revolver, but in contrast, many major conglomerate production companies, such as Disney who own subsidiary MGM, would commonly spend around $200m on a film production, as they did with Skyfall. This would mean they would not suffer so much from the threat of technological convergence as they are already well-established and would have the finances available to increase the production value of the films, ensuring to retain their current audiences with successful film productions.
Next, distributors are also affected by this increase in technological convergence. As audiences now have access to many different online services due to the rise of the availability of web 2.0 on many technologies such as smartphones, games consoles such as the Xbox, tablets like the iPad and PC's, internet use amongst consumers is rising meaning that marketing teams now have greater access to audiences. This means that they can effectively utilise the web when promoting their film products. Most frequently, distributors use social networking platforms such as Facebook and also often have their own dedicated websites. Revolver Pictures, who distributed Ill Manors (a 2012 film directed by Ben Drew/Plan B), used the web as a main platform of reaching their audience, receiving almost 30,000 on their Facebook page and having a website - www.illmanors.com - which also received significant traffic. Ultimately, the rise in consumers having access to web 2.0 on their devices means that distributors can access them easier and cheaper. Again if many distributors have this idea, this may cause an overload of promotion and advertisement on social media and the web, which can deter consumers.
A second advantage of technological convergence for distributors is that they are able to distribute their media product digitally rather than physically. This is because technological convergence has allowed there to be storage facilities within technologies such as PCs, whereas previously this was not available. In the past, distributors would physically distribute their films on reels to exhibitors whereas now, files can be digitally transferred via the internet or using storage devices that can be accessed on PCs that were not previously available to distributors. However, a disadvantage of this is that there is a greater likelihood of experiencing issues with films in this digital format such as piracy which can be very costly to institutions and file corruption.
Technological convergence has also affected film exhibitors greatly. The main reason for this is that cinema attendance figures are now less stable as audiences now have many alternative ways of consuming films, due to technical convergence, which means that many technologies such as TVs, smartphones, tablets, PCs, games consoles have access to film viewing platforms, subsequently giving consumers more choice in how they watch films. As a result of this, less people are visiting the cinema. In order to tackle this cinemas are now using different initiatives such as premium seating, 3D screenings and D-Box in an attempt to improve the customer viewing experience and to sustain admission figures.
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