Films have always been synonymous with advanced technology. Whether it’s the cameras, the special effects, or even the props and stunt work, tech is a side of the creative process that helps shape a bigger and healthier development process. However, it can also introduce challenges on the other side of the camera, as stories need to be adapted to account for the new possibilities that modern technology introduces.
Sometimes, modern technology’s effects are minimal, while at other times, it can fundamentally reshape the way a story needs to be told. It can necessitate a change in a story’s setting or potentially harm a movie’s believability. Making the wrong move can put filmmakers in a difficult position, and the issue will likely only grow worse in the future.
Choosing the Right Setting
If you’ve seen more than a couple of horror movies, you know the general shtick. People get stuck in horrible situations, and bad things happen. If you’re an older reader or a fan of classic horror movies, you would have already seen how often the trope of not being able to call for help came used to come up. The phone line was cut, there was no pay phone, and before the age of cell phones, this meant no chance for help.
Being stuck thanks to not having a phone isn’t limited to horror movies, of course, but it does illustrate a challenge that doesn’t easily work in the modern era. Smartphones today are ubiquitous, so unless every character loses their phone, stories need to work around this fact. For some reason, everyone loses reception, or all their phones are damaged, and this sets up additional cliches that often take us out of the experience when a film is supposed to be set in the modern day.
Setting can also be challenged when looking at industries that have fundamentally changed in the digital age. Consider how a New Jersey online casino operates today, and how they would affect the viability of filming a classic casino scene. Modern services like this operate as a famous alternative to physical casinos, offering advantages like free spins, deposit matches, and a wider variety of games. They’ve also become well-known to modern audiences thanks to the enormous evolution of the iGaming industry.
A change of appeal towards digital forms of entertainment creates problems when trying to film an evocative scene while also relating to modern audiences. You can still film on a casino set, or on a football field, of course, but when more players are increasingly used to online casinos or a game like Call of Duty, there can be hurdles in terms of appeal.
Settling for Silly
Properly addressed by caring filmmakers, all of these issues can be sidestepped or mitigated, but not all movies are products of passion or real effort. The result is all too often settling for making characters lose all intelligence, making stupid decisions that frustrate audiences who can’t suspend disbelief.
Ultimately, this is an instance where filmmaking has one more element of complexity to balance when writers are building their worlds. High tech introduces more options, but it can also add minutia that can produce major plot holes or frustrating moments of characterization. We can only hope these details are covered more in film school, for the sake of not being jolted out of what we watch.
You may also like:
Leave a reply