Research: Production and distribution pre digital era
The need for production technologies – what was required and available?
- Required and available: splice and dice. We would need a 35 mm camera that would film on physical film. Each clip would have to be cut and placed together using a cutting and splicing machine. Footage was hand cut. There was only one shot to get it right. Movies edited directly on film.
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| 35 mm film |
https://beverlyboy.com/filmmaking/how-were-films-edited-before-computers/
What would it cost? Who would pay?
- The average film budget by 1978 was about $5 million - increasing
dramatically to $11 million by 1980 due to inflation and rising costs.
Typically, investors are the ones who pay and fund the movie.
If you managed to make it, what would you need to do to make it available?
- We would need a place to film it, so a set technology and money.
How would copies get made?
- Two projectors would be used and the “projectonist” would have to load reel one and two to the otherand would switch them over.
How would it get into cinemas?
A traveling theatre showing different movies and shows
- It would get into cinemas by bringing the physical film to traveling theatres. These theatres would be composed of different directors and filmmakers that would travel by road to show their work and distribute it to a large audience.
Why would cinemas show it?
- Cinemas would show the film because at the time, movies were a different and new thing. Being part of a central trust in collaboration with large films, then the movie would gain popularity.
http://www.historyoffilm.net/movie-eras/silent-black-and-white-movies/
How would people know it was there?
- People would know it was there because we would distribute and paste posters through cities to advertise that it is showing in theatres. Movies would also be advertised in advertisements shown before a film, indorsed ads shown in the theater.
https://www.ipl.org/essay/Influence-Of-Film-And-Advertising-In-The-FKMVKJYKRC48R
How would people see your film? What would their experience of watching it be?
- They would see it in open of the theatres. If my film was to be distributed when films were just starting to be made it would be seen in black and white and might be a short movie.