How Do Movies Affect

Society?
By PoutyBoy in UNCATEGORIZED UNRESERVED THOUGHTS January 15, 2017

Cinema can be a very powerful tool. Throughout history, many leaders have used the
power of film to help achieve their goals. Throughout WWII, for example, both Hitler and
Stalin used film as propaganda and they did so very successfully. Cinema can easily
change people’s opinions and their outlooks on life. Good films almost always impact
the viewer, just how much vary by film and viewer. Individually, people are bound to get
affected by movies be affected by movies given that the sole purpose of films is to
impact the viewer and to send a message. There are also numerous ways in which
movies affect society and the modern world we live in: some of them negative, some of
them positive. Since the cinema industry is so big and because films have become such
a big part of our lives, the overall impact and influence that movies have on our society
is immense (Guida).

One of the ways in which films affect society is by expanding our knowledge of history
and culture. Some movies are like history lessons to the viewers, since they show real
life past events. An example of this is the Academy Award winner for best picture in
2001 “Gladiator”. As the winner of five Oscars and the nominee for seven more,
“Gladiator” is a very well-made production that’s as close to perfect as few other movies
get. Even though most of the plot in “Gladiator” is fictional, for example the love story
and the revenge tale, the film does depict real life past situations. It shows life of
gladiators, the political situation of Rome at the time, and the overall state at which the
world was. People who have seen “Gladiator” surely gained some knowledge from the
film and expanded their current understanding of Roman culture (“Influence of Film on
Modern Society”). Next, films also describe different cultures around the world. A perfect
example of this is the four Oscar nominee “City of God” which takes place in the
underground world of Rio de Janeiro. The film surely impacts the viewer since it shows
certain situations and truths about life in Rio de Janeiro that most people don’t know. In
conclusion, through movies, people can expand on the knowledge they have about the
world around them and gain insight into new and different cultures (Larter, 226).

Another huge way that movies affect society is through advertisement of different
products. Often, companies will pay productions to include their products in movies
because when so many people watch the movie, surely some of them will want to buy
the can of Coca-Cola that their favorite character was drinking all throughout the movie.
The most recent example of this that comes to mind is in the movie “Nerve” starring
Dave Franco and Emma Roberts. It’s fairly obvious to almost all that the film is a huge
advertisement for Apple. Since more than 5 million people went to see that movie, some
of them probably had the desire to buy the new Apple product because they saw how
well it was working while the characters were using it. In that movie, Apple products are
showcased a lot throughout the film and the advertisement is very obvious. However,
productions have found ways to advertise products without shoving them in people’s
faces. Research has shown that people want to mimic their idols, so productions will
often cast famous actors for the sole purpose of advertisement. If someone’s favorite
actor was Johnny Depp, for example, they would subconsciously try to mimic him. If
Johnny Depp took only one sip from a Coca-Cola can, fans would subconsciously want
to buy a Coca-Cola can to be like their favorite actor, even though it’s a role they are
playing and even though it was just one sip (Guida).

People try to mimic things they’ve seen in cinema constantly and in numerous ways.
For example, violence in films is very influential to many young viewers. People
subconsciously try to be like some character they see in a film they very much like, even
if that character has wicked intentions. In 2012 in Aurora, Colorado James Holmes killed
twelve people and injured seventy others during the midnight projection of “The Dark
Knight Rises”. James Holmes was a long time superhero fan and especially liked
Batman (Quinn). Psychologists still aren’t sure what exactly provoked him to do the
shooting, but one of the theories is that he was enraged by the making of “The Dark
Knight Rises” as it defiles his favorite comic book. Another well-known theory is that he
was inspired to be like the Joker, the villain of the prequel “The Dark Knight”, who
wanted to spread chaos and terror through violence. The Joker does not think of
ordinary people as real people and James Holmes has said exactly that ‘these were not
real people’. Although this is a very exaggerated example, it’s a fact that the violence
teenagers all around the world watch in movies makes them want to cause violence
(Ganga). For example, in 1971, the same year the classic “A Clockwork Orrange” came
out, the crime rate in America rose. It’s speculated that some people were influenced by
the psychopaths in “A Clockwork Orange” and the awful things they were doing and that
affected them in a way that they no longer suppressed their desire to do criminal activity
(“10 Movies Which…”). It’s not only through violence that people strive to mimic their
favorite character and actors. Watching movies that include young people smoking
often makes young people want to smoke. Most big movie studios have a tobacco
policy in force, which states that PG-13 rated movies must not include smoking or any
other use of tobacco in them. That is because the use of tobacco in films affects the
teens watching them in a way that they think it’s okay to smoke, since the characters
they are seeing smoke. However, almost half of all PG-13 film produced by big movie
studios do include tobacco use in them and the studios are obligated to pay a fine when
that happens (“Smoking in the Movies”). Next, there are some positive effects to this
mimicking. People are inspired to be like characters they love and that motivates them
to work on themselves. When we see someone we really like on screen, we always
subconsciously try to be more like them. It’s fairly obvious that there are both negative
and positive outcomes to this, so individuals must be careful when it comes to choosing
the character or actor they admire and strive to be like (Guida).

Another way in which movies affect our modern world is that they help the economy
grow and prosper. Take, for example, action figures. For every big blockbuster, action
figures are created and distributed. Fans buy them for aesthetic and collectable value.
Action figures don’t have any real application or impact on people’s lives, they are just
for fun. It doesn’t cost a lot for an action figure to be made, they are mostly all made by
either plastic, rubber, or both. But since they have such a high collectable value, fans
buy them at ridiculously high prices. That way, people bring money into the country, into
companies, and into private manufacturers (“Influence of Film on Modern Society”). And
it’s not only action figures, it’s any form of ‘accessory’ connected to a movie. For
example, the money the theatre makes from selling snacks before every screening is
85% of that theatre’s total profit (Tuttle). Some of that money goes to the country in the
form of taxes. Another example of this is simply the tickets sold for projections. Although
most of the money goes directly to the studio that has produced the movie, some of it
goes to the country. It’s not only direct influence to the country’s economy that films
have; the industry itself is of huge significance. A lot of people find jobs in the film
industry, especially in the US. About 0.1 percent of all people in the USA work in the film
industry. Although that may seem like a low percentage, it’s actually higher than that of
a lot of other fields. So, because of big productions, it’s not only that money goes to the
country and thus the economy is developed, but private manufacturers and companies
prosper and there are more workers in the field (Rosemark).

Films can also both improve and ruin the health of individuals. Studies show that
adrenaline junkies love going to horror films since being scared gives them real
pleasure. However, most of them don’t know that being scared while watching a horror
movie increases your heart rate and your blood pressure, which can lead to heart attack
and even death (Benjamin). For example, a woman died in the theater from heart attack
while watching “The Passion of Christ” (“Report: Woman dies…”). Of course, films can
also have benefits to your health. Comedies help lower your blood pressure and can
make your blood vessels dilate. There have been studies that show that 15 minutes of
intense laughing while watching a movie have the same effect on the cardiovascular
system as exercising. In conclusion, movies also have a health effect on individuals that
can, however, be both positive and negative (Benjamin).

Perhaps the most influential ways in which films affect society is through giving
individual people the opportunity to fantasize and inspiring them about who they want to
be. Although this might sound great, there are some negative sides to it. Take, for
example, the five Oscar nominee “The Wolf of Wall Street”. In it, we have the character
of Jordan Belfort: a sinister, self-centered, arrogant, and egoistic millionaire. The movie
is based on a real story and explores the life of this Wall Street broker. Throughout the
movie, there are numerous scenes where we see Jordan spending his money on
ridiculous things, doing whatever he wants because he has money, and actually
enjoying his life. By seeing his extravagant lifestyle, viewers may want to be like him.
However, in that particular movie, the character feels absolutely no remorse when it
comes to his actions. Jordan feels amazing while spending his money and unlike most
other films about greed, there is no lesson to learn from “Wolf of Wall Street”. In the end
of the movie, Jordan does go to prison, but he states that he feels at peace there. He
doesn’t learn from his mistakes that much and the movie isn’t apologetic about his
greed. Anyone watching that will see how great it is to be rich and will subconsciously
think that there are absolutely no downsides to that and may strive towards it
(Nerdwriter1). However, even though the example with “The Wolf of Wall Street” shows
how films push people to becomes more greedy and egotistic, the positive effects of this
probably outweigh the negative. Films inspire people to get in the industry and create
dreams. Most actors, directors, cinematographers, etc. nowadays were inspired to be in
the industry because they saw some really well-made film when they were young. This
is a very important aspect of how films affect society: films inspire. They inspire
individuals to work towards their dreams and inspire them to get into the film industry.
Not only that, good movies teach valuable lessons. The aim of that is to affect the
viewer and to send a message, and so many individuals change their ideals and beliefs
because of what they see in films. So, movies surely change people’s psychological
states and help them develop as individual beings, even though not always in a positive
way (Guida).

Currently, movies are the most powerful form of art. Even though it’s called ‘the seventh
art’, cinema is surely the most influential art form. Most people don’t follow sculpture or
architecture and don’t get affected by new sculptures or buildings. Movies, however, are
everywhere. So many people see movies every day and the film industry is so big and
influential. However, movies can affect society in both positive and negative ways. They
can help the economy grow, inspire individuals, and expand our basic knowledge of the
world around us. However, movies can also create violence and bad habits, can make
people greedier, and can send a bad message to the public. The effects that films have
on society are numerous and two-fold. As movies are such an impactful art form, big
movie studios must be very careful in what they include in their productions, since even
the smallest things can affect the viewer. Individuals must be careful about what they
take from movies, since even the smallest thing can push them to do something bad or
to become someone different. It’s fairly clear that movies affect society very much. Not
only that, they shape the modern world we live in and help individuals develop. In the
big picture, it might be too early to say in what way. All people can currently do is think
critically and not allow films to fully change their personality.
ilm has a uniquely powerful ubiquity within human culture. In 2009, across major
territories, there were over 6.8 billion cinema admissions (compared against a world
population of roughly the same number) creating global box office revenues of over
US$30 billion. The convergent nature of film creates consumption across a number of
channels. In the same year combined DVD and Blu-Ray sales in the United States,
Canada and European Union alone were US$32.5 billion (amounting to over 1.1 billion
units sold). When you start to then consider revenues and audience figures from those
who consume digitally, via television, repeat view content they already own and view
through the highly illegal but vast black-market in films, the figures become truly
staggering.
The direct economic impact of film is clear, but the effect to the wider economy is also
significant. The UK House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee– in a
2002 report on The British Film Industry stated, “…Of the 23 million people who visited
the UK in 2001 — spending approximately £11.3billion — VisitBritain (formerly the
British Tourist Authority) estimates that approximately 20% visited the UK because of
the way it is portrayed in films or on television. The flow-on effect from film (i.e. the use
of services and purchase of goods by the industry) is thought to be that for every £1
spent on film, there is a £1.50 benefit to the economy.”

Cinema has become a powerful vehicle for culture, education, leisure and propaganda.
In a 1963 report for the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural
Organization looking at Indian Cinema and Culture, the author (Baldoon Dhingra)
quoted a speech by Prime Minister Nehru who stated, “…the influence in India of films
is greater than newspapers and books combined.” Even at this early stage in cinema,
the Indian film-market catered for over 25 million people a week- considered to be just a
‘fringe’ of the population.

Contemporary research has also revealed more profound aspects to film’s impact on
society. In a 2005 paper by S C Noah Uhrig (University of Essex, UK) entitled, “‘Cinema
is Good for You: The Effects of Cinema Attendance on Self-Reported Anxiety or
Depression and ‘Happiness'” the author describes how, “The narrative and
representational aspects of film make it a wholly unique form of art. Moreover, the
collective experience of film as art renders it a wholly distinct leisure activity. The unique
properties of attending the cinema can have decisively positive effects on mental health.
Cinema attendance can have independent and robust effects on mental wellbeing
because visual stimulation can queue a range of emotions and the collective experience
of these emotions through the cinema provides a safe environment in which to
experience roles and emotions we might not otherwise be free to experience. The
collective nature of the narrative and visual stimulation makes the experience enjoyable
and controlled, thereby offering benefits beyond mere visual stimulation. Moreover, the
cinema is unique in that it is a highly accessible social art form, the participation in
which generally cuts across economic lines. At the same time, attending the cinema
allows for the exercise of personal preferences and the human need for distinction. In a
nutshell, cinema attendance can be both a personally expressive experience, good fun,
and therapeutic at the same time. In a rather groundbreaking study, Konlaan, Bygren
and Johansson found that frequent cinema attendees have particularly low mortality
risks –those who never attended the cinema had mortality rates nearly 4 times higher
than those who visit the cinema at least occasionally (Konlaan, Bygren, and Johansson
2000). Their finding holds even when other forms of social engagement are controlled,
suggesting that social engagement specifically in an artistic milieu is important for
human survival.”

So how has cinema grown to become such a preeminent part of human culture?

In this exclusive interview we talk to Tom Sherak, President of the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences (best known for their Academy Awards, also referred to as
“Oscars“). We look at the role of film in society and how it has grown to become such a
ubiquitous art. We discuss what makes a ‘great’ movie, some history of film, the
economics and future of the industry, and how the internet and other technologies such
as CGI and 3D have affected the movie business.

VIEW INTERVIEWEE BIOGRAPHIES

The Concept of Film

Q: What is the role of film in society and why has film become such a strong part
of the arts?

[Tom Sherak] Film is a reflection of society, both present and past. I think the film and
it’s innovations sometimes has to catch up to society but sometimes it leads society too.
Movies are stories, movies are people who come out with ideas about something they
want to say, something they want to tell someone. Movies are a form of communication
and that communication, those stories, come from societies- not just where society is
presently and what it’s doing now- but where society has been. It’s been that way for as
long as movies have been around!

Movies are different things to different people, that’s what is so incredible about them.
To me personally, movies are about escapism. Movies are about sitting in a theatre,
watching something- watching a story unfold with people I don’t know- watching that
happen and emoting an emotion knowing that for those two hours, when I walk into that
theatre, I don’t have to worry about what is going on outside. I lose myself in what I’m
watching. Movies can educate too. They tell us things we never could have known.
They tell us things we might not know, and they give us a way to explore the past, the
present and the future.

You asked why movies have become so popular, I’m going to tell you why, it’s because
the images move… They’re not static. I could stare at a Van-Gogh for hours, but I sit in
a theatre and the images move. As the frames move and tell a story, it is that movement
which emotionally connects you. To me, this is fundamental about why movies have
become global. Every country has stories to tell, about their past, their culture now, and
views of what the future will look like through their eyes. What hadn’t happened for
many years, and what started to happen relatively recently was a couple of things.
Firstly, movie theatres began to be built all over the world- not just here in the USA. In
many parts of the world, the phenomenon of movie theatres is only ten or fifteen years
old. These theatres give people a place to go, to escape, to learn.

Before that, society had the stories, but they didn’t really have the places to go and
enjoy them like that. India, for example, wasn’t making six hundred films a year fifteen
years ago. All of a sudden, the business part of film allowed people to invest and make
movies- and also have somewhere to make their money back, in theatres! Then the
internet came along…

The world is changing now faster than you and I change our socks! It’s constantly
changing, and that constantly changing world is going to induce more movie-making. If
you go on YouTube, you can see the most talented young people all over the world who
take a camera and start to film ideas they have and put them online. They’re going to be
the future of the industry. The internet has connected the world together so a person in
Vietnam can put a movie on the internet which can be instantly seen all around the
world, you simply couldn’t have done that before. Movies have become a world-wide
feature- and as it relates to what movies tell us? I don’t know that I knew as much
about, for example, Cuba as I wanted to- I’m talking socially not politically. We (the
Academy) sent an outreach program to Cuba, and believe me- we learnt SO much
about society from their movies. I believe, personally, that movies allow people to be
taken places they can’t get to on their own- be it travel, or culture, or learning.

The arts are not just one, they are all connected- and movies have become a huge part
of the arts.

Q: What are the impacts of current-affairs, politics, social issues and corporate
interests on film?

[Tom Sherak] This is one of the great things about movies. Some movies take sides-
you can agree or disagree with the content. Some movies take sides and create a
conversation, and that conversation can be in any area; be it political, social, or even
within specific disciplines such as fashion. Movies can create controversy, and tell
difficult stories. Movies have always either taken a side, remained central, or projected
something forward.

During the Second World War movies in the USA created a feeling of valour and
heroism in what we were doing and you saw this in films that came out at the time such
as the Purple Heart. It was during this time also that John Wayne became a huge star,
having progressed to this style from the westerns. We needed to lift our spirits
basically…. There is an old movie-saying, which the distribution and marketing people
love… During a recession, business gets better! It doesn’t slump! If you look at the
numbers of the movie business you will wonder why that happens. It’s because people
want to go and get away, and they want to be able to feel different. In this sense, it
doesn’t matter whether you agree or disagree with the movie content. I’m going to give
you an example… Many years ago, when I was at Fox, I was involved with a movie
called the War of the Roses starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny
DeVito. It was the story of a horrible divorce between the Roses. It was a brilliant movie-
Danny DeVito is a brilliant Director and Actor. Michael and Kathleen, of course, speak
for themselves. That movie was previewed ten times before it opened. Audiences
walked out yelling and screaming “how dare you make a movie like that?”, “that movie
didn’t work!”, “that movie made us mad!”, “who made that movie?” they weren’t happy
people! Now you have a movie that didn’t test very well, and you wonder what
happened?. The movie came out at Christmas… The press saw what Danny what trying
to put into the movie – and all of a sudden whether you liked the movie or didn’t… and
believe me many people didn’t like the movie… you had to see it to talk about it! It
became part of culture all of a sudden with people asking each other, “did you see the
War of the Roses? did you see what happened?”, “what would you have done? would
you have killed the dog? would you have killed each other?” – and that’s what so great
about the movie business. You can sit down on a plane with anybody and want to start
a conversation. You start by saying hello, and asking what they do- but then, if you
really want to continue the conversation? “hey! did you see Avatar?”. It doesn’t matter
whether you like the movie or not, but it starts a conversation. It’s one of the few things
around the world which we all have in common. Can you give me something else which
the world has in common? that we can have an opinion on without being right or wrong?

Movies also create debate, they create conversation, they create an atmosphere. Not all
movies of course… I’m not going to sit here and tell you that ‘Never Been Kissed’
causes a debate… but movies are often made by film-makers who want to take a
position on a topic, and you can debate it. One of the governors of the Academy is a
gentleman by the name of Michael Moore who is to the left of the left! Michael Moore
makes movies from a point of view, and whether you agree with him or not, whether you
like him or not, it doesn’t matter- his movies create debate, and that is a good thing.

Q: What makes a ‘great film’ ?

[Tom Sherak] There’s a couple of caveats here. What makes a great film is that it
stands the test of time… That you can look at it years later, and still enjoy it. This Friday,
at the Academy, we’re going to look at a film which is celebrating its thirtieth
anniversary, Raiders of the Lost Ark! We’re going to see it digitally re-mastered, on a big
screen. We’re going to see a movie that, when it came out, was not just a big hit… but
emoted something. When you sat in the theatre it delivered adventure, suspense, fun-
true escapism. Thirty years later, we are still enjoying that movie. Other great movies
like this include Godfather, Rosebud, Gone With the Wind, and so many more.

To me, the ultimate prize for a great movie is whether it can stand the test of time,
across generations.

If we look at what goes into that.. It always starts with a good story, a writer who puts
that story down on paper, and then a collaboration between every other guild that goes
into making a movie… The Director, actors, cinematographer, make-up artists, visual
effects specialists, and more.

Movies are collaborative, and to make a great movie you have to begin with the story
and writing, but then when the Director takes over and brings his mindset- casting the
actors, and building that team? It’s that which MAKES the movie. No single person
makes a movie, it’s a collaborative event. As an aside, it’s obvious that not all movies
are successful. Some movies are just not that good… that happens right? Nobody goes
out to make a bad movie, nobody starts that way! Who is going to invest in a movie that
they don’t think will work? Everything starts out the same, and it starts to break-down at
some point and maybe the result doesn’t turn out the way you wanted… It happens a
lot. You can find so many people who are incredibly talented and creative who have
gone on to have great careers, that started off with movies which didn’t work. Look at
Jack Nicholson’s early work with Roger Corman for example, where he played a
monster! All the crafts in the movie business are learned on the job, they are not
‘schooled crafts’ and often you have to fail to succeed.

Failing is not as horrible as you think, as long as you learn something from the failure-
so that you can take things to the next step. Talent will always come to the top, and
failure will always go to the bottom.

Q: How does film sit alongside other arts such as music, theatre and the visual
arts?

[Tom Sherak] Movies inspire, they have a way of setting tones. All elements of art are
interconnected, they are very similar. It used to be that you go to a museum and you
see an art exhibit and it was someone who was well known- you had lines to see the
exhibit. If someone wasn’t well known, it would start small and grow. Movies are like
that- but the difference is that movies can both take the lead in creating other arts, and
following arts (by which I mean they are able to take a piece of art, and tell the story
behind it). When you paint a picture, you just paint that picture! A movie can take that
picture to a whole other place… with a story. I think that capability is what separates
film, to a degree- from the other arts.

The movie world is set up in a lot of different segments. You have the business world of
movies, the art world, the esoteric, the metaphoric. This diversity gives movies their
unique directional ability in arts.

Q: What is the role of events such as the Oscars on films, society and the
industry?

[Tom Sherak] The Oscar is a major part of the Academy. Not the only part, but a major
part nevertheless. The Oscar rewards excellence, that’s what it does. It’s the ultimate
prize for people in this business, in all the things we just talked about. In that one year
that it’s given, to the movies that are released, it rewards excellence. Why is that
important? It’s important for the organisation to give out these statuettes in an area
where hundreds of people are creating- to say that within that one year you, as a
winner, are at the absolute top of your field, and we are rewarding you for that. Why
does that affect culture? We all have movies in common. It doesn’t matter whether we
like the movie or didn’t. I’ve always believed that we, as humans, would rather see
people rewarded than thrown out with the wash-water. People love to see who wins!

As an organisation, we don’t think of it as ‘who won and lost’ yes, someone is going to
get the award and it simply reflects the fact that in that year, in the eyes of their peers,
and with the world watching, they stood out above the rest. The international market for
these awards will keep growing too- which is no different to the international market for
movies themselves. International box office for movies has now surpassed the domestic
market, and as more people watch movies, more people want to watch together on the
night those awards are given out. So here we are giving out awards for excellence that
not only touch the person who gets the award, but also all the people around the world
who watched the movie.

Aside from something like the Nobel Peace Prize- and please believe me I am in no
way even remotely comparing the Academy awards to the Nobel- I can’t think of many
accolades which become part of how you are introduced.. After you win, you are always
referred to as the “Academy Award Winner…”. You have that accolade for the rest of
your life, and it becomes an internationally recognised sign of excellence.

Looking at Technology:

Q: What has been the impact of technologies such as 3D, Animation and CGI on
film?
[Tom Sherak] It’s important to remember that our organisation is the Academy of Arts
and Sciences, not just arts. The Science part of the mix is just as important as anything
else. The technology of movies, from the beginning has been important. This thing
called ‘sound’ revolutionised films. Remember, we started with silent movies- and then
sound came along and took movies to a place that the telephone took society, wow- we
have sound!

The Academy is on the forefront, with its technology council, in creating technologies in
the new digital world. Everybody thinks digital is easy- they think you make the movie,
you stick it in a drawer on a little disk, and there you go- it’s done. The disk, however,
doesn’t last forever. Did you know, for example, that film- as in physical film- lasts a lot
longer than disks? You have to, therefore, figure out a way with digital- no different than
the challenges we first faced with film- as to how we can store that forever. The
Academy has dealt with these challenges in a landmark report on the ‘Digital Dilemma‘.
Technology, however, changes every day- and moves further and further ahead. I will
give you a quick personal example. I had to go get an MRI. Previously it took around
45minutes to do the scan. I went to do the same MRI three weeks ago in a brand new
machine at UCLA, the same scan now takes twenty minutes.

When you get to our business and look at the technology of visual effects, 3D, and so
forth. These are all things that help create an illusion, to help us escape. Some people,
in this sense, have questioned whether 3D is a fad. When I grew up as a young man in
the late fifties and early sixties, 3D was just coming out with films like ‘House of Wax’. I
think at that time, it was a fad. It came, people said wow, and then it went away for a
while. All of a sudden, it has come back- and has been used very effectively by people
such as Jeffrey Katzenberg and his Dreamworks studio, and Jim Cameronwho has
created a whole new look in the format. Is it a fad now? I don’t know if that is yet
answered. I know that if you look at all the televisions coming out now from Japan,
everything is 3D capable- so somebody believes that this technology has a lifespan. We
haven’t yet had the ‘product’ to catch up with the platform, but it’s on its way. I believe
that eventually we will have 3D technologies which will not require glasses, that would
have been unheard of ten years ago. Once you don’t need the glasses, does that mean
more people will want to watch 3D? Time will tell…. Right now, this technology is still
very much in infancy. Theatres are converting screens to 3D and Hollywood will have to
continue putting out 3D movies to fill these screens. For me, one of the things that
makes the movie business as exciting as it is – is the impact of innovation on our
economics. When you innovate something, and it works, it has a direct affect on
economics around the world – meaning that, if I created a new kind of 3D like Cameron
has – or if 2D to 3D conversion takes off – and exhibitors around the world put in
screens because people want to see it? that creates real economic growth. Movies, in
the USA, are the number one exported product! That’s an amazing thing, and creates
economics here and around the world! So if we look at the idea of technology and what
technology does for the movies? technology allows movies to take stories to places
where they couldn’t have gone before, and that technology helps escapism- which is
why, ultimately, you go to the movies.
Q: What has been the impact of the internet, social media and allied technologies
on films and the business of movie making?

[Tom Sherak] I believe that movies do well, and make money, by word of mouth. I
know advertising is a big part, and of course having the right movie to start with, but
word of mouth is powerful. Bad word of mouth can kill you, we all know that. Movies
have the shortest marketable life of any marketable product. Did you know that you can
make a movie for $65 million, spend another $20 million marketing it in the USA and
another $30 million marketing internationally and that movie could be gone within two
weeks? No other product that I can think of has such a short life, with that kind of
investment required.

If, for example, I created a new soap- and I put the soap on the shelf in the supermarket
and it doesn’t sell- I can move it to increase visibility- it still doesn’t sell, so I lower the
price- I become competitive in getting people to try the product- I have the time to do
that. With a movie, you have one chance. That’s why the movie business is such a
dangerous game to get involved in. You have a very strong heart and constitution to
know that it can go that quickly. How many times have you seen a movie open, and
then looked to find where its playing, and see that it’s not playing any more- it doesn’t
play because if it doesn’t work immediately! they take it off the screen. The theatres
don’t own the screen, they have partners- and those partners are interested in making
money- so what’s the sense in keeping movies on the screen if they aren’t making
money? So the word of mouth of a movie becomes very important.

In today’s world if a movie is going to reach an audience- they have to realise that their
audience, particularly younger people, spend up-to 18hrs a day connected to the
internet. This means that comments about the movie get onto sites straight away. So if
someone posts, “this is the worst movie I’ve ever seen..” and everybody feels the same
way? that will kill the movie… instantly. This happens often. If a movie goes on, and is
controversial- with fifty percent loving it, and fifty percent not liking it… that creates
controversy… and it [that movie] has a chance in the marketplace.

We have become a world that communicates via the internet. It used to be that I would
pick up the phone, or I would see you somewhere, we’d be outside! But now? all that
word of mouth, where we communicated, and movies had the chance to grow and
breathe? has gone. Now it’s a case of, “you’d better get-em, or you’re not gonna get-
em”. The internet has provided the good and bad of that because once a movie review
is out- it’s out…. Don’t forget that previously, you read a review in a paper, next day-
you throw the paper away. Once a review goes on the net? it never goes away! That’s
part of how culture is now. Studios, fifteen years ago, tried to figure out how to avoid the
internet. Now they have to figure out ways of how to incorporate the internet into
everything they do, because it is that powerful as a tool of both selling and killing. It’s
had a direct worldwide impact- it’s a global event. People in Russia will read about
what’s happening in movie world in the USA. You will have noticed that a lot of big
movies are being released internationally before being released in the USA, it never
used to be that way, ever! The consideration was always that for movies which
translated for international audiences… if it didn’t work in the USA, it wouldn’t work
internationally. Jo Lewis, the boxer, once said, when you get into the ring there is no
place to hide. When you make a movie now? there is no place to hide. The world is
gonna’ know about it the instant you show it now. Movies used to be worked on,
developed and changed. Now? Once you show it, it’s out there.

Looking at piracy- it is the stealing of somebody’s ability to make money from something
they created or were involved with. In my mind, this is a horrible illegal act. There’s a
whole generation that thinks, ‘if it’s on the internet, it’s ok to have’. If something goes on
the internet illegally, it’s NOT ok to have- it isn’t! So you have to try and stop piracy any
way you can, to protect the rights of those people who have created the product. The
internet has created this image that you can distribute things if you have them, it’s ok,
it’s the internet. The fact is – it isn’t ok! The property rights of the people involved in
movies, who make a living from the movies, have to be protected. It is incredibly difficult
to do. Piracy is all over the place, and you have to bring people to justice who act
illegally- there are laws there for a reason. You cannot become a lawless society. You
have to have laws to protect people’s rights, these people created these things and they
should be allowed to bear the fruit of what they created. Pirates take away from that.
Many years ago, I came up with an idea. We were having a lot of problems with people
selling videos the day they came out. They were not top quality, you maybe will miss a
couple of scenes, but there was still a video, with your movie on- being sold cheap, like
a dollar or something. And people would stop and buy the movie, because it was
cheaper than the theatre! We were trying to shut them down. Law enforcement can’t
just work on the movie business, they are doing a lot of other things. So how do you
shut them down? I thought maybe I should go and make a deal with them, with the
crooks! Maybe I should say, “look, I can’t stop you, so give me fifty cents on every
video.” And then I realised that wouldn’t work, it was a bad idea… I was just kidding if I
thought I could do that! The other thing you have to know, is that piracy affects many
other businesses. You have to do something about that. Can you be totally effective
against it? never… You are seeing it right now with the recent hack attacks. You cannot
be totally protected- it’s impossible. But either way, you have to deal with it. If there was
a plug on the internet, I guess you could pull it- but that’s not the case. You have to
understand the environment, and have to understand that because of the internet-
which has taken civilisation to a world it could simply not have reached- you have to
protect yourself as best you can knowing that there’s no way to do it completely. Go
look at Sony and all these companies who have, unfortunately, been hacked- the
bottom line is that if someone wants to hack you, or pirate a movie, they will- but you
have to deal with it the best you can.

—————————————————

Through Mr. Sherak’s experience we can see lucidly, the power of movies and how,
through the synergistic impact of moving-image, sound, narrative and other elements-
they can create a powerful sense of emotion and engagement. Movies can
communicate concepts, ideas and stories. They allow us to be cognitively transported to
a different time or a place, and experience life through different eyes- gaining new
perspectives, inspiration and understanding. Mr. Anthony Minghella (1954-2008, an
accomplished film director, and ex. Chairman of the bfi) states in this regard, “…fiction
becomes this sort of cultural bank balance that we can draw from. We canmomentarily
be a young woman, an old woman, a black person, an Asian person, a Chinese person,
and look at the world and argue a position that is not our own for a while — inhabit a
position that is not our own.”

McCarthy and Wright in their 2004 paper “Technology as Experience” describe the
philosophy behind this suggesting four ‘threads’ of experience- sensual, emotional,
compositional and spatio-temporal. These strands, they argue, operate as one during
the ‘dialogue’ of a viewer with a film. Their view is supported by many others. Todd
Oakley, an academic at Case Western Reserve University, in his 2004 paper “Toward a
General theory of Film Spectatorship” also describes how, “Film spectatorship—or at
least the most interesting aspects of it—is a conscious activity (Currie 1999): making
sense of film is significantly the same as making sense of the real world (Anderson
1996); the spectator uses perceptual and conceptual systems developed for interacting
with a three-dimensional world to interact with and make sense of a two dimensional
world; therefore, there is no specific, encapsulated, cognitive module for experiencing
the movements and gestures of fictional characters projected on a screen, nor are there
specific cognitive modules for aesthetic experiences generally…”

This understanding, however, is not new. Since the emergence of man’s first cave-
etchings- it has become clear that we possess the ability to communicate emotionally
and cognitively through art- which, in context, functions both as and aside to language.
The ancient Greeks, for example, inscribed “The Healing Place of the Soul” above the
door to the library at Thebes (Riordan & Wilson, 1989), and used drama as a method of
dealing with emotions. This cathartic property of storytelling allows us, through
metaphor, to access areas of human experience which otherwise cannot be accessed
through “rational thought “Of all of our inventions for mass communication” said Walt
Disney “…pictures still speak the most universally understood language.”

Film, therefore holds a truly unique place in the story our civilisation. It is an art, a
language, a medium for education, inspiration, and so much more. It provides
employment for hundreds of thousands of people around the world, and enjoyment for
countless billions more and provides a living record of the human condition and
imagination at any given point in our story.

Against this backdrop, however, we must not forget that more than anything- film is a
hugely entertaining medium, and allows us- briefly- to escape our lives and venture
somewhere else. That, in essence, is the true attraction.
I will allow Mr. Sherak to conclude with his wonderful invitation…. “See you at the
movies!