We have been talking a lot this unit about the idea of New Media and what is included in that idea. One of the main topics of conversation in this unit has been the idea of whether or not film is still considered as a main component in the idea of New Media, especially with the rising technologies of today such ad YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, and many more. There any many ways in which film has drastically changed over the past years and most significantly in the recent years.

For a starting place, the concept of what we define as a film has definitely been altered over the years. Whereas back in the day film was only presented as a medium through the traditional methods of viewing a 1-2 hour film in a theatre, today there are many different methods of presenting what we define as film. And that statement itself constitutes an entirely different argument, the idea of what we define as a film in todays society. With the great advancements in technology and communication, it is much easier for a third party or small operating group to produce a product that could be deemed worthy of the title of film. With the popularity and usability of websites such as YouTube and Vimeo today it has never been easier for anyone to create and share films with the world. The popularity of these websites has changed the idea of what can be defined as a film. Nowadays we can consider a 40 minute video on YouTube with a decent level of production value and design to be a quality film. This has been mainly shaped by the changing society that we live in.

Nowadays people want everything coming at them to be faster, shorter, and more efficient. The average person today probably sees 1 or 2 movies every few months at an actual movie theatre and sees about 4 or 5 times that many on online websites. These websites, which have been shaped by the constant evolution and demand of society, cater to exactly what the people want, the ability to choose what they want, the absence of any kind of advertisement, and the ability to watch films whenever and wherever they want to. This has changed the medium of film altogether as film makers have realized the inevitability of the dying movie theatre scene and started to switch to more user friendly mediums.

Film is still a very prominent form of visual medium in todays society, but it has been drastically shaped by the culture we live in. I feel like the lines between television and film are becoming blurred as film is trying to be shorter, more readily available and more efficient, whereas television is starting to grow more towards film with increasing levels of production value, less advertisement, and increased amounts of story and drama. With the current evolutionary track that visual media is on, I can imagine the future as a dissolved difference between the ideas of television and film where the New Media is a combination of production value, accessibility, no advertisement, efficiency, speed, and quality, aka all of the aspects of film and television that society wants more of and will strip out everything that consumers dislike about the mediums.