Moving image production fascinated people in 1906. People couldn’t believe that they were watching a moving image. One of the first moving picture people ever saw was of a train coming into the station. The audience was so shocked and terrified that the train was actually coming towards them that they all ran away. Moving pictures have now become more advanced over time. In the 21st century moving images consisted of animation, 3D, CGI, digital, software to edit the films and surround sound.
The Polar Express, Directed by Robert Zemeckis, is a great example of how technology has come forward. The polar express was a revolutionary film that ‘…brave new world of all–digital filmmaking.’[1]The film has been called a ‘CGI Landmark’[2]. This film was one of the first ever films to use CGI throughout. Leading to it being a ‘…astounding leap forward in CGI depth, realism and believability…’2 Even though The Polar Express was a revolutionary film it does not mean that people would go and watch it. So the marketing team had to come out with ways that would draw people to watch this film. The marketing campaign includes 8500 on screen trailers, massive publicity promotion and ad campaigns, coast to coast author tours, online promotion (http://www.polarexpress.com/). The marketing company even brought out toys to help sell the film. Like the polar express train set, golden ticket, board game.
The Polar Express, Directed by Robert Zemeckis, is a great example of how technology has come forward. The polar express was a revolutionary film that ‘…brave new world of all–digital filmmaking.’[1]The film has been called a ‘CGI Landmark’[2]. This film was one of the first ever films to use CGI throughout. Leading to it being a ‘…astounding leap forward in CGI depth, realism and believability…’2 Even though The Polar Express was a revolutionary film it does not mean that people would go and watch it. So the marketing team had to come out with ways that would draw people to watch this film. The marketing campaign includes 8500 on screen trailers, massive publicity promotion and ad campaigns, coast to coast author tours, online promotion (http://www.polarexpress.com/). The marketing company even brought out toys to help sell the film. Like the polar express train set, golden ticket, board game.
Critics and audience members were divided between those who hailed it as an instant classic that captures the visual splendour and evocative innocence of Chris van Allsburg’s popular children’s book…’1 a review written by Stella Papamichael for The BBC gave the polar express a low mark of two stars out of 5 this was on of the poorest ratings of polar express. Not only did she give it a poor rating but she also went on to say that Tom Hanks looks ‘like he's been killed, embalmed and resurrected by lightening’ and saying that the polar express was so bad that you would end up ‘…drooling, asleep in your popcorn as it becomes clear the story isn't going anywhere.’[3] Paul Hurley from talk talk described the polar express as being ‘…Undoubtedly one of the strangest animated features in recent times,…’[4]. Although the polar express was a major jump in technology, this in my opinion made the film more enjoyable because you were watching something revolutionary. If it wasn’t for the new found technology of the polar express in 2004 we most likely would not have had the technology to make the new film AVATAR.
Avatar, Directed by James Cameron. Avatar is a revolutionary film because it used motion captured technology to help create the film. Each and every movement that is in the film was actually done but the actors. The actors had to wear skin tight suits with sensors that would pick up every small movement that their bodies did. This would then be sent with loads of video from cameras into computers where they would transfer the movement into the film. The actors would have to do all the running fighting and leaping for the film. But this wasn’t the only thing that made avatar revolutionary. Many films like the polar express had done this before but avatar was the first to turn it into 3D. avatar was the start of what has been called a 3D revelation. Many films since the making of avatar have decided to become 3D. This may be a cause of audience’s demand for new sensation. Or maybe its just because they have the technology so why not use it. James Cameron told sff media ‘"We're going to blow you to the back wall of the theatre in a way you haven't seen for a long time,"’[5] Cameron’s goal was to ‘…rekindle those amazing mystical moments my generation felt when we first saw '2001: A Space Odyssey,' or the next generation's 'Star Wars.' It took me 10 years to find something hard enough to be interesting."5 John Howell described ‘…using a new digital 3D format, Avatar and the technology behind it could revolutionise the industry, making 2D films seem as outdated as silent films.’5 This shows that 2D will soon be a thing of the past. We know longer have to look thorough those horrible 3D glasses that are two different colours. That made our eyes more disorientated than normal. With the new type of 3D glasses it is easier and kinder on the eyes to go watch 3D films. The marketing team for avatar used a typical way of marketing the film. First by trailer followed by releasing Avatar games. The trailer is slightly unusual. There is no speech only sound up until 1 minute 24 seconds. This allows the viewer to study the pictures and come up with there own interpretation of the film. The first line that the audience hears is ‘This is great’ this could be a symbolisation of the film telling the audience that this film is great, watch it now. Most trailers draw you in from the beginning of it, but the trailer for avatar doesn’t. The film has been giving many different reviews. Some bad thinking that Avatar will flop and that it is a big risk to do something so technical. John Howell describes Avatar as having ‘…shallow and unsurprising. The dialogue never rises above the level of a computer game or TV show. The script is amazingly clunky in its setup. Everything is spelt out clearly from the outset.’[6] Many Reviews agree with this statement such as a review written by David Chen who said that avatar’… the weakest part of Avatar is the script, which I can’t describe as anything other than terrible.’[7] I personally disagree with both Howell and Chen I think that the script was very good and very entertaining. In conclusion I believe that the facts show that audiences do want new sensations and this is a cause of technology having to get better over time. Polar express and Avatar are perfect examples of this they both have had to adapted to fit what the target audience wants. And what they want is NEW stuff to make the cinema better. The audience bored of things fast so there are always new technologies being invented to help keep the audience glued to there seats.
[1] http://www.amazon.ca/Polar-Express-Tom-Hanks/dp/B000AGTPUU
[2] http://blogcritics.org/video/article/the-polar-express-cgi-landmark/
[3] http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2004/11/30/the_polar_express_2004_review.shtml
[4] http://www.talktalk.co.uk/entertainment/film/review/films/the-polar-express/794
[5] http://sffmedia.com/films/science-fiction-films/147-will-camerons-avatar-spark-a-3d-revolution.html
[6] http://sffmedia.com/films/science-fiction-films/443.html
[7] http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/12/11/davids-avatar-review-epic-filmmaking-epically-bad-dialogue/
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