The Digitalization of Motion Picture Production and Its Value Chain Implications

Abstract

Technological change and development have been ongoing in the motion picture industry since its beginnings some 125 years ago. What further advancements of digitalization can be expected over the next decade and what are its implications for the industry’s value chain? To answer this question, we conducted an international two-stage Delphi study. The results suggested a more frequent use of smartphones as cameras, the emergence of full digital film sets and digital star avatars, as well as advancements in VR-based and interactive movies. The findings imply challenges for traditional players in the motion picture value chain. Production technology becomes both simpler and more complex, leading to the threat of new entrants.

The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Adoption Factors of Film Distribution Business Models in the Context of Sustainability

“…Additionally, given the importance of the size of the distribution company [37], representatives of both major, medium, and minor distributors were interviewed. For the selection of experts, we followed the "professionalism" method which is based on objective profession-related criteria, considering what experts do and how extensive their experience in their profession is [26]. An expert must be well acquainted with the environment in which he operates and the motives and functioning of other stakeholders.…”

“…He noted that technological developments will mean that various stakeholders in the industry will have to adapt and change their business models or risk being eliminated from the new value chain. Other research in the field of technology development has mainly focused on the impact of new technologies on the practice of independent film production [24], the impact of technology on the social nature of cinema [25], or the prediction of future changes affecting the industry's value chain [26]. Authors such as Victoria and Araujo [27] or Al Kareem [28] have also conducted research on the changes taking place in the film distribution market.…”

“…The Table 1 provides an overview of selected existing research on changes in the film industry in Poland and internationally. [31] case studies, semi-structured interviews distribution channels, revenue streams, margins, network of partners, customer needs and behaviour, products offered, market competition (Ruddin et al, 2021) [32] literature review utility, entertainment, social, design, and m-commerce applications; consumer behaviour (Schulz et al, 2021) [26] Delphi study forecast of technological changes in the film industry, implications for the value chain (Adamczak, 2020) [21] industry reports, statistical analysis, semi-structured interviews digitisation and its impact on distribution costs, the number of titles screened or the shortening of cinema distribution windows (Sta ńczyk, 2020) [22] literature review material, social, and mental (perceptual) ecology, carbon footprint of cinema, film productions and streaming, energy policy of VOD providers, locating environmentally responsible attitudes, green certificates (Victoria and Araujo, 2018) [27] literature review, interviews, case study the mutual relationship between media producer and consumer, the restructuring of the film value chain, including technological changes and the reduction of distribution costs (Grundström, 2018) [25] online questionnaire, semi-structured interviews social functions of going to the cinema, technological development and going to the cinema (Kucia, 2016) [20] literature review technological developments, ways of making films available, advertising strategies, "ultra-VOD" and "day-and-date" distribution…”

Film Effect Optimization by Deep Learning and Virtual Reality Technology in New Media Environment

“…e self-attention mechanism simply computes the response of a single location in the weighted sum of the features at all locations. is mechanism allows the network to focus on regions scattered but structurally related [29][30][31]. Figure 4 illustrates the self-attention module in Soft Attention Generative Adversarial Network (SAGAN).…”

Synthodermis

“…Over the last few years productions have seen a rise in digitalization due to the technological advances made in Computer Generated Imagery (Schulz et al, 2021), making CGI not only easier, but in many cases more affordable than some practical alternatives. This use, or sometimes overuse, of CGI, especially when poorly executed, can influence audience engagement with a film's narrative.…”