Previously I talked at great length about my irks and irritations toward physical home media; DVD’s Blu-Rays and the such. But now, I want to talk about Digital media and the problems with that. So, without wasting too much time…
Buying Digital Media
Buying media online can be an incredibly intimidating process. I mean, first of all, the prices can range from £4 to £15 with not much to tell apart. I just looked now, and Deadpool is £9.99, while Grimsby is £13.99, and honestly. Why? The films are both kinda new, both comedy films and although the difference in overall quality, you still pat £16 for a Buy-Ray, doesn’t matter how rubbish the film is. The next issue is where to buy FROM, iTunes? Amazon? GooglePlay? If your like me you kinda want everything to exist in one space. When I wanna watch Scott Pilgrim I don’t want to have to search 3-4 different services before I remember which one I bought it on. What a hassle. So, an example of why this annoys me so much. I exist within the Apple Eco System. I have an iPhone, an iMac and Apple TV. So, I need to buy everything on iTunes, or its difficult for me to access it. So when I bought something on Google Play and realised that it was almost useless as I’d have to buy another machine to plug into my TV to watch it. Same goes the other way. Buying on iTunes is great for me, but outside of the Apple Eco System, it’s useless, especially if you want to watch on a TV. Basically, WHY CAN’T WE ALL GET ALONG?! And just, don’t even start with Ultraviolet. Plus, where am I meant to store all these films I buy? I needed to buy a 1TB Hard drive to store all my media. Sure I have more wall space for pictures of my family (Lies, it’s covered with movie posters and Han Solo in carbonite) but I need my computer storage space for… things.
Streaming
Netflix. It has completely changed the way we watch movies and TV so drastically I don’t think people really realise. I can sit at home and have access to thousands of films without moving or having to pay all that much. If only I could pick what to watch. My list has about 30 things on it and that number only goes up. Part of me thinks there is such a thing as TOO MUCH choice. Plus we have the same problem as we do with things like the iTunes store. Netflix or Amazon Prime? What about services like Sky, BBC iPlayer, Disney etc etc etc… if you put it all together it’s really quite expensive. And I am sick of hearing that BLAH BLAH is coming to Netflix, and it turns out it’s only in the USA. I know how the rights and all that work, but in this ultra-connected WORLD WIDE web it just doesn’t fly anymore. You don’t deal with this for music. And if your internet goes down your paying for a useless service. Or even worse, if your internet slows down. Ugh. Watching that little red line swirl around for 10 minutes, just to start playing as I give up hope is not a fun evening, sir! And stop asking if I’m still watching, you know I am! I was gonna get up but you automatically played the next episode of Buffy so now I’m stuck here for a whole other season! … OK, truth time. I adore Netflix and thinking of things it does wrong is really hard. Have you watched it’s Daredevil series?
Special Features
This is HUGE for me. It’s really the big downside of digital media. It lacks special features, especially things like commentaries. I mean, seriously, it’s at least 50% of the reason I buy media after I’ve watched it. So, why would I spend money, whether its £9 or £15 on something that doesn’t have anything more than what I’ve already seen? And this is an issue that could be SO easily solved as well. Here are some of the ways this can be solved:
- YouTube and Vimeo for things like ‘Behind The Scenes’ documentaries, bloopers, deleted scenes, etc etc
- Podcasts for commentary tracks
And really, that’s it. What’s that? Shouldn’t people get that stuff for free? Why? Half of it ends out on YouTube anyway, most your customers don’t care, and wouldn’t you as a filmmaker want it to exist in some space rather than not at all? iTunes has started to allow for ‘iTunes Extras’, but, again, if you don’t exist in the iTunes space you can’t have them. And that isn’t fair (And I say this as an admitted Apple Kool-Aid drinker). Special features are dying out and it’s because of Digital Media, and that’s just a damn shame. And if RiffTrax can make it work, so can you Movie Studios. You are making us pay for a cheeseburger, and then not giving us the bun. Sure it isn’t the most important bit, but some of us really liked that bun.
Piracy
Alright. This is a big one. It’s a debate that I am not going to get into with the detail I could, because really, it’s a huge issue. But it comes down to this…
Piracy existed before mass use of the internet and digital media. Piracy will continue to exist in some form or another no matter what you do. Stop blaming everything I have complained about and everything I will complain about on piracy. It doesn’t stick. That is all. But also, support the artists you monsters. If you like something, love it even, then cough up the £15 and pay for it. Every sale counts towards that person being able to work on something else, because if you DON’T buy it, their next project might not get the money it needs, or might not even exist at all. So yeah, I am not on ‘Hollywoods’ side when it comes to the piracy debate. But I do believe in supporting the people who’s work you enjoy.
And honestly, that’s about all I have to say. For realsies. I have a huge (REDACTED) for digital media, and other than the fact I don’t physically own it, it’s hard to find a downside to it. It’s super convenient, almost to a fault. I once paid for Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World on my phone at a friends house because I wanted to watch it. I own it on DVD, but I wasn’t at home. And we didn’t even watch it that night. I lost money that night, literally because technology is awesome. And because I’ve been thinking about Digital Vs. Physical Media so much recently it’s really made me question how I get my media. Do I abandon the Physical ship and go all Digital because the future is coming? (I honestly believe that physical media will be dead within a few years, but I’ve been saying that for the past 5 so…) Or do I hold on to that which I know, I mean, I can’t lend someone my copy of Cabin In The Woods after I recommend it because it doesn’t really exist. Maybe that’s a good thing. I swore I owned Pacific Rim on DVD. Anyway. I have finally decided on my ‘Film Purchasing System’. I know you don’t care but figured anyone reading gave up after I went down on Netflix. So, here it is…
If a film is in my Top 10 of the year at some point, I buy the Blu-Ray and cuddle it all night!
If I missed a film at the cinema and am interested, I buy it digitally and hope for the best.
Films I enjoyed but didn’t adore can fly between the two.
And that’s it. Until next time folks, where I don’t know what I’ll be talking about!
Peace! XoXo
Video Editor and film buff. Looking to preserve the world of cinema for future generations
