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Bursting the Movie “Bubble”
I’ve been hearing about this for a few months now, and I think it’s a brilliant idea. Brilliant in that it’s blazingly obvious but that nobody’s doing it. That is, Steven Soderbergh’s next movie “Bubble” is going to be released in movie theatres, DVD and on high definition cable TV all on the same day. Wired has a brief interview with him here.
The basic premise seems to be that pirated copies of films get circulated illegally as soon as the movies open (sometimes even before), so why not have available high quality copies to soak up that market? It also seems to be a recognition that the movie theatre experience is not competition for say renting or buying a DVD. It’s a totally different thing which people do for different reasons, and the two can supplement each other.
Apparently the big media companies are all holding their breath to see what happens with “Bubble” and if it’s going to totally revise their method of doing business. I’m guessing that it absolutely will. Soderbergh in that interview talks a little also about directors in the future being able to do their own releases and distributions, and figuring out ways to allow underground mash-ups and community-modified versions of major films (Phantom Edit, etc) to come out legally, and add to the profits of the copyright holder.
Anyway, this is the type of media news that I really enjoy seeing because it shows that the ways people use are filtering up and influencing business models which made sense in another day and age, but which do not any more.
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December 6th, 2005 at 12:59 am
Damn! Considering that I want to be a filmmaker someday, I almost feel ashamed for missing something like this, but I guess thats to be expected when you draw your focus away from film and towards philosophical pursuits.
Anyways, somehow, I think George Lucas is related to this. The whole idea of the director being in control of the release and distribution of films (more specifically, the digital revolution of cinema and the theatre process) originated with Lucas. Doing a historical analysis of cinema (which I’ve done to an extent in my History of Cinema class), the director as a integral influence died out as films became more commercial, specifically in the years leading up to (and accelerated during) WWII. It wasn’t until the 70s that the director (with Spielberg, Coppola, and Lucas) began to rise again through the beauracracy of the studios. Maybe this is why some see Lucas as a “grey-robed Christian”, because his focus is on the creation of an idea, and the individual focus of taking an idea from the mind and accurately displaying it on screen (without all the politics involved).
I’m actual quite hopeful about this now, considering my own aspirations.
PS. This guy was also the producer of The Jacket, and amazingly introspective look into the possibilities of mental instituitions, insanity, time effects, and “dreams”. I highly recommend watching it.
December 6th, 2005 at 10:41 am
This is sorta off-topic, but I have to just mention that the soundtrack to Bubble is by Robert Pollard, former frontman of my favorite band ever, Guided by Voices. There’s a lot of gnosis in his songs, although sometimes I wonder how much of that is intentional and how much is just random stuff bubbling up from his subconscious.
December 6th, 2005 at 2:16 pm
I notice, as far as music goes, that gnosis tends to bubble up when artists try to make sense of the “fringe” areas of society. I doubt that Metallica, one of my favorite bands, or Incubus, another favorite, are gnosticly-inclined, however, I do see many gnostic parallels in their lyrics. Though I wouldn’t be surprised with Brandon Boyd, considering his eccentric personality.