House of Cards- the Influence of Technological Change

Record notes on how technology has influenced the production, distribution and exhibition of long form TV drama.

Task 3 read the following link Identify AT LEAST 3 reasons why digital production is cheaper and a more convenient medium http://silverscreenmodes.com/the-end-of-film/

A film print costs about $2000, a digital disk less than $100.

A 90 minute movie is usually over 8,000 feet of film. If you’ve ever looked through developed film stock, it’s amazing how many frames it takes to advance a scene. Modern reels of film come  in 2000 ft. lengths, so that’s almost nine reels of film per movie, and many movies last longer than 90 minutes.

On the shooting end of digital, you no longer have to stop “filming” to reload film magazines, you just keep on shooting

Digital (streaming)

•In just a decade, Netflix has grown from a video service with seven million U.S. subscribers to one that reaches 93 million people worldwide.

•When Netflix first launched in the late 1990s, it distributed DVDs – mainly films – by mail. The convenience of the service disrupted the existing film rental industry and eventually led to its demise.

•during the early 2000s, advances in compression technology – coupled with more homes gaining access to high-speed internet services – allowed large video files to be easily streamed over the internet.

•video streaming services such as Netflix (what I call “portals”) deliver programming “on demand” via the internet, viewers can choose what and when to watch instead of watching “what’s on.”

•Subscription TV therefore offers significant benefits to terrestial TV.

•Netflix (originally a US company) provides services to 43% of the US market, it has developed its global market with a presence in 190 countries.

•Its popularity is achieved by providing high production content in several TV serial genres.  This includes complicated serial dramas (“House of Cards”), action series (“Daredevil”), horror series (“Hemlock Grove”).

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•Task 4 what is the comparative production costs of a typical UK Soap e.g. EastEnders compared to an episode of House of cards

House of Cards have a larger budget hen typical UK soaps such as EastEnders. For one episode of EastEnders it costs around £141,000 to produce whereas House of Cards costs around £4.5 million ,which is increasing over time,. This is a tiny amount compared to House of Cards vast budget. 

House of Cards is available in 4K and HD. Also House of Cards actors are more well known and have higher wages then EastEnder actors and actresses.