Movies as part of the package
There used to be a time when going to watch a movie was a special occasion. You would go out to your local movie theater, buy a ticket, and enjoy the latest release. Or if you weren’t quite up to leaving your place a rental or maybe a movie you missed in theaters would be playing on TV. That has all changed though.
Movie watching is constantly evolving. With the introduction of newer and better technology certain aspects of movie watching have improved, but at a price. In an article from the Hollywood Reporter, Dell computers has just announced that they are offering the movie “Iron Man” preloaded onto every new computer. The article states that “The offering is the first step Dell is taking toward setting up a broader digital content storefront that could create significant competition for Apple's dominant iTunes Store.”
Now I enjoy watching movies; I watch several a day and I immerse myself in all things that have to do with movies, but in my opinion the fact that people can watch movies on their cell phones, in their car, and prepackaged into their computers spits on the face of all the people who make movies as well as those who love watching movies.
A movie playing on a cell phone screen or in the backseat of a car is the equivalent of a painting hanging in a restaurant. No matter how good that movie is or how much that painting is worth; the location where they are experiencing the work is still very important. The article states that having preloaded movies into their computers is part of a new purchasing process where customers will be able to customize every facet of the computer they buy from Dell.
Movies have never gotten that much respect from the general public; most look at them as nothing more than entertaining distractions, but Dell’s move to allow their customers to “customize” their computers with the movies they love plays on the consumer desire to be part of the pack yet still be different; “I am totally not like everybody else! Just because we both got Dell’s doesn’t mean we’re the same; I’ve got “Iron Man” playing on my screen and they’ve got “The Incredible Hulk” playing on theirs. See? I’m an individual!”
With the drop in box office revenue many movie companies will probably start to run and try to sign deals with Dell to have their movies part of consumer selection, but I believe that this will merely be a short-term financial solution. Production companies should trust in the audiences desire to watch movies. They should look to a broader base audience, instead of merely catering to what they believe all males between the ages of 18-35 would always want to see. Just because I can download a movie onto my cell phone doesn’t mean I’ll do it. What’s most important are the movies themselves, and not the fact that we can buy gadgets that we can easily carry around to watch them in.
For more info:
www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i20304ae39f30fae87033cd84f5488e3a
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Movies as part of the package
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