Like it or not, the world is changing.

Today’s world is vastly different from the one that our grandparents grew up in.

The main invention driving this change has been the humble computer

Thanks to this wonderful invention we are now able to do everything from check our banks online, order food, instantaneously message people who might be halfway around the world, and of course, stream our favorite movies.

Unlike the banking industry, which has been around for hundreds of years and has had to completely modernize the way that it does business, the movie industry was founded on modern technologies.

The advent of the first movie cameras back in the late 1880s led to a new medium that became known as the movies.

The word movies derives from the term moving images, where previously stagnant photographs were magically able to record and show entire moving sequences.

This new medium was a hit from the very outset.

Moviegoers who went to see the Lumiere Brother’s first film A Train Pulling Into A Station, famously ran from the cinema in fright upon the sight of the train approaching them.

These were arguably the most exciting days for this new medium as artists everywhere struggled to create an a form or standard for how films would be made.

Technology continued to drive this new medium as film reels got longer and camera equipment more sophisticated.

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Movies soon grew to over 30 minutes in length and featured some dazzling special effects.

Cinema great such as Georges Méliès, who’s film A Trip to the Moon marked the birth of the movie special effects industry.

The advent of sound and color film during the 1930s and 1940s left many early film makers behind and completely transformed both the look and feel of movies in general.

The 1940s also marked a huge transition for film. Shorts (movies under 40 minutes in length), were no longer shown in movie theaters but rather on the emerging technology of television.

And so it went on and on with movies became more ever more complex and sophisticated as technology progressed.

Movies such as Terminator 2 and Avatar were heavily reliant on CGI or computer generated graphics, a technology that these days is even changing the performance of actors and actresses by altering their facial expressions etc.

The Dawn Of A New Era

Looking back, it almost seems inevitable that the technology pioneered by companies such as Netflix would go onto revolutionize the film industry.

Netflix’s recommendation system that uses big data analytics to identify the kinds of movies and TV shows that a particular user enjoys watching was so accurate that it is credited for a large portion of the platform success.

The success of this system led to other trailblazing companies such as the short film on demand platform Sofy.tv developing their own unique recommendation systems for their users.

Understanding what moviegoers want to watch has been the central business requirement for the entire global move movie industry since its inception.

Once Hollywood realized the power of big data analytics to identify user preferences, it jumped both feet first into data driven movie making.

Companies such as Largo utilized their expertise in big data analytics to develop sophisticated artificial intelligence driven software solutions that allow them to accurately predict such things as movie gross, actor appeal, and even the strengths and weaknesses of a particular script.

Such technologies greatly empower movie producers and film makers to improve the commercial viability of their movies.

Not only does this help them to ensure the profitability that allows them to continue making movies but it also helps them to budget more accurately as well as ensuring better audience satisfaction of their films.

Although still in its infancy, this exciting new technology is already revolutionizing the global film industry.

But the same technology that is powering our changing world is also changing how we watch movies.

How Is Technology Changing Our Movie Habits?

Recent studies have linked the increase use of devices such as smartphones with shortening attention spans.

If true, this will have a dramatic effect on our viewing habits.

Another offshoot of our use of smart devices is our need for constant interactivity. As such, it has become common for us to link viewing with kinetic motion, particularly in regards to our hands.

This type of relationship means that our brains are becoming hard wired to require movement when we do things.

It is clear that these two developments are going to increasingly lead to us desiring shorter rather than longer movies.

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Television lead the way

Many of you will have notice how an increasing number of Hollywood A-list stars are dabbling in TV.

In the old days, this was unthinkable. Movies were considered an art form whereas TV was considered mere entertainment.

Today, it is not uncommon to see A-list celebrities making the transition from film to movies.

The reason for this undoubtedly lies in the fact that many viewers prefer watching 45 minutes short episodes rather than a 3 hour movie that half way though they might decide they don’t like.

Ultimately, viewers have demonstrated that they are able to get the same satisfaction from watching a series of 45 minute episodes than they do from a single movie.

While many consider it acceptable that the odd episode in a TV series might have an bad plot, overall, investing in a 12 to 15 episode series is seen as a more preferable way of viewing than a 3 hour movie.

If this trend continue then you can increasingly expect viewers to migrate from movies to TV shows.

With the exception of the Hollywood blockbuster, the trend seems to show that movies will become increasingly less appealing as our attention spans shorten.

One area of film that seems to be set to benefit from this change is short movies.

The fascinating realization that things could be about to go full circle also means a huge plus for the short movie industry.

It is likely that we will see viewing trends move towards short movies.

With their running times of 40 minutes or less, they are the perfect option for our increasingly hectic lifestyles.

Could be about to see the rebirth of the short movie star?

It is clear the potential of a popular movie hero such as Charlie Chaplin’s The Tramp to once again rejuvenate the short film industry.

Such a character, who is familiar to audiences from previous movies, could appear in a sequence of movies that would essentially end up being the same as a TV series.

The character, provided he remained popular, could be continually developed from movie to movie along with the plot.

Since the short film industry works on a movie by movie basis, it is much more of a viable approach to creating short films and characters to test what audience’s like.

Movies that perform badly could be discarded while those that do well could be turned into a series of short films.

Such a revolution would completely transform the short industry into a profitable and extremely popular medium in the same way we have seen with the short movie animation cartoon.

Only time will tell what’s in store for the short movie industry.

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