What is the importance of Technological Convergence for Institutions and Audiences?

Technological Convergence is the move towards differing technological systems that evolve towards performing the similar task. This progress makes the technology more complex but then it is able to handle more tasks. For example a current smartphone can be multiple different things because of the different features that it contains. A smartphone can be, a camera, a phone, a text device, a storage device, an Internet device, a video camera, a music player, a GPS device and many more. Technological convergence has lead to one device being able to cater to all your needs.

Technological Convergence has helped production companies in many different ways. One way in which technological convergence has helped production companies is through the production of digital cameras which are cheaper to buy compared to the traditional recording camera that used film. A digital camera currently costs around £10,000 compared to a traditional camera that costs around £50,000. This price difference means a lot to production companies because by using a digital camera it saves them time and money. It saves them time because the footage can be viewed instantly rather than having to wait for the footage to be processed before it can be viewed, this makes the production. The cheaper the digital camera the better it is for the production company as it saves them money meaning that their budget can be spent on other things. Ill Manors was shot digital which was a good thing for the film as it meant that Ben Drew saved the money that would have been spent of making the film on 35mm film. The use of digital cameras benefits the independent area of the production market as it allows them to stick to the very small budget that they have for the film. If digital didn't exist then independent film companies wouldn't exist as they would not be able to afford the processing of the film. 

Technological Convergence has affected the distribution companies because there are now multiple different ways that the film has to be marketed. The internet is now the most common place to advertise films. This is very beneficial for small independent film such as Ill manors because they can use sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube to market their films, these sites are free and people can access them on tablets, smartphones and on computers. This means that people can access the information about the film both at home and on the go. Technological convergence as also benefited the largest production companies because they can now create a bigger buzz about the film they are releasing. For example when Sony began to distribute Skyfall they created a large buzz about the film on the internet through fan pages and websites, this gave fans somewhere to find out information.

Technology convergence also effected the exhibition companies because their are now so many different ways in which films can be viewed, at the cinema, through the internet on laptops, tablets and smartphones ,through VoD, on Tv, through DVD and Blu-ray and though games consoles. This means that exhibitors that are having to come up with different ways to make the cinema experience better. With the recent introduction of D Box chairs which move along with the film and make the film experience more special because without it people will end up just watching the film at home with their surround sound and 3D TV. 

Technological Convergence benefits the audience the most because with the development of smartphone and tablets it means that the audience can watch the film anywhere they want, when ever they want. With the development of smartphones that are constantly connected to the internet it means that the audience can be constantly connected with the film as they are always able to access the Twitter page or the Facebook Page and are always able to find out more information about the film. This means that the distribution companies have to be constantly updating the pages so that the audience can always know something new about the film. This benefited both Skyfall and Ill Manors because it means that people were constantly talking about the film and people were always learning new things about the film. Ill Manors used social media to create a buzz about the film because they didn't have a large marketing budget with which to create a Buzz about the film it all came from social media.