Movies | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Thu, 30 Mar 2023 18:42:27 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png Movies | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Kojima Productions will make films in the future https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/mustafa-mahmoud/kojima-productions-will-make-films-in-the-future/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/mustafa-mahmoud/kojima-productions-will-make-films-in-the-future/#respond Tue, 05 Nov 2019 15:54:21 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=434514 It's always been well documented that Hideo Kojima likes films. From his Twitter bio saying “Game Creator: 70% of my body is made of movies” to his inclusion of TV and film actors into his games, and even to the extreme lengths of some of the cutscenes in his games, it’s clear that he has …

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It's always been well documented that Hideo Kojima likes films. From his Twitter bio saying “Game Creator: 70% of my body is made of movies” to his inclusion of TV and film actors into his games, and even to the extreme lengths of some of the cutscenes in his games, it’s clear that he has a passion for films. It seems like now, thanks to the creation of his own studio, Kojima will be able to realise his dreams.

The BBC recently released a documentary on the making of Death Stranding. In it, Hideo Kojima reveals that “In the future, Kojima Productions will also start making films”. It seems like Kojima Productions is slated to be more than just a games studio, but perhaps a multimedia production company. 

The ability for the company to shift in that direction in the future, if they so desired, comes from the evolving nature of media streaming. Hideo Kojima believes that “within the next three to four years, everything will move to streaming – games, movies, and TV shows.” and that “When that happens, movies, TV shows, and games will be competing in the same space”.

Kojima’s games are ripe for being adapted into films or TV shows. There has been talk of a Metal Gear Solid film for years now, although no release date has been set. Death Stranding is also very cinematic in nature, featuring camera movements and direction more akin to that of a film, as opposed to most games.

Kojima said “If a person can do one thing well, then they should be able to do anything well”. He can certainly make games well. It’ll be interesting to see when the first film comes out of Kojima Productions, and whether his statement will remain true or not.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: What do you think of Hideo Kojima wanting to tackle filmmaking? What video game would you like to see him adapt? Or would you rather he concentrate on creating films which are unrelated to any game series? Let us know down below.

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Valve withdraws non-video game content from Steam https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/damien-cox/valve-withdraws-non-video-game-content-from-steam/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/damien-cox/valve-withdraws-non-video-game-content-from-steam/#respond Wed, 20 Feb 2019 12:16:22 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=404341 With the established dominance of Steam, Valve has attempted to expand into multiple markets across the past few years to varying success. Moving forward, it looks as though the company wants to focus on its gaming efforts as it withdraws its movies on-demand section indefinitely. Originally hosting documentaries such as Indie Game: The Movie back …

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With the established dominance of Steam, Valve has attempted to expand into multiple markets across the past few years to varying success. Moving forward, it looks as though the company wants to focus on its gaming efforts as it withdraws its movies on-demand section indefinitely.

Originally hosting documentaries such as Indie Game: The Movie back in 2013, Steam gradually expanded its library to include Hollywood titles such as Mad Max: Fury Road, John Wick and the movie that went on to inspire much of Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid, Escape From New York. While a handful of gaming-related content such as Deliverance: The Making of Kingdom Come remains, not to be confused with the graphic 1972 title also called Deliverance, Valve has removed its selection in order to refocus.

“In reviewing what Steam users actually watch, it became clear we should focus our effort on offering content that is either directly related to gaming or, is accessory content for games or software sold on Steam,” explains the blog post. “As part of this refocus, we have retired the Video section of the Steam Store menu with an expectation that video content is discovered via the associated game or software store page, or through search, user tags, recommendations, etc.”

Users that have already bought content from the Steam Store will be able to access it from their library, while content is slowly stripped from sale over the next few weeks. This is sure to annoy some who were hoping to build a formidable library of movies alongside their video games, but there are digital alternatives such as Amazon, iTunes and more.

KitGuru Says: Many Steam users found themselves asking Valve “why” when movies were originally introduced to the platform, with myself included. As interesting as it is to see the company diversify, it always felt a little out of place among the gaming and social features pushed by the platform. Do you feel as though Valve is making the right decision, backing away from on-demand movies?  

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Facebook cinema stream shut down by Dutch anti-piracy group https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/facebook-cinema-stream-shut-down-by-dutch-anti-piracy-group/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/facebook-cinema-stream-shut-down-by-dutch-anti-piracy-group/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2017 09:16:11 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=320216 While some lobby groups are still railing against the dangers of torrent sites and downloading, many around the world have moved on to much newer ways to watch protected content: like Facebook live streams. Looking to stay on top of emerging trends however is Dutch anti-piracy group, BRIEN, which has shut down popular stream, LiveBioscoop. LiveBioscoop translates …

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While some lobby groups are still railing against the dangers of torrent sites and downloading, many around the world have moved on to much newer ways to watch protected content: like Facebook live streams. Looking to stay on top of emerging trends however is Dutch anti-piracy group, BRIEN, which has shut down popular stream, LiveBioscoop.

LiveBioscoop translates from Dutch to “LiveCinema,” and was a service which regularly streamed movies using Facebook's own, dedicated streaming service. Within a reasonably short time frame it amassed thousands of followers and regularly streamed to audiences of hundreds at a time, showing a collection of the latest movie releases.

That popularity turned out to be the service's downfall though, as with so many watching it, the Dutch media discovered it and from there, BRIEN pledged to investigate. As TorrentFreak explains, the owner was swiftly contacted by the group, which demanded that the 23 year old halt the service and pay a 7,500 euro fine.

What's most interesting about this case however, isn't that BRIEN took to the courts immediately to combat it, or that it was even technically possible, but that it was as popular as it was. Livestreaming movies means people need to be there at the right time to watch them. They don't have the ability to pause, or take a toilet break without missing something – an arguably worse experience than downloading or streaming a film yourself.

This suggests that there was some measure of benefit derived from a social, movie watching experience. That's no huge surprise considering communal movie watching has been something we've all been doing for over a century, but it suggests that even if new movies weren't retained exclusively in cinemas, it wouldn't mean the death of group movie watching.

Indeed perhaps copyright holders should consider partnerships with major sites like Facebook in the future, as streaming a movie through a platform like that would easy to monetise compared to other potential home-streaming options.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Although Kitguru doesn't condone movie piracy, if you do it, how do you like to consume your content? Would you be interested in watching live-streamed movies with other film buffs online?

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JJ Abrams developing Portal and Half Life movies https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/jj-abrams-developing-portal-and-half-life-movies/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/jj-abrams-developing-portal-and-half-life-movies/#respond Tue, 15 Mar 2016 09:26:04 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=286999 As much as there are still a lot of people with their fingers crossed that one day Valve will release an update to its Half Life and Portal Universes, it may be that the stories are expanded through movies next. There's been rumours of both hitting the big screen at some point, but it's now …

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As much as there are still a lot of people with their fingers crossed that one day Valve will release an update to its Half Life and Portal Universes, it may be that the stories are expanded through movies next. There's been rumours of both hitting the big screen at some point, but it's now been confirmed that their development is ongoing, with sci-fi monopoliser, JJ Abrams lending a helping hand.

The announcement was made during the promotional tour for the Star Wars Awakens director's latest produced film, 10 Cloverfield Lane. He's been rumoured to be involved with the projects for some time, or at least considered as a producer. While he said he wasn't working on it actively right now, the projects both had writers and were “in development.”

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As much as this isn't a huge announcement and Abrams himself said that it's not particularly news worthy, it does at least confirm that the movies are being made. The last we heard about it, Abrams and Valve CEO Gabe Newell had discussed the potential for movies in their universes back in 2013.

NB. The IGN video interview sourced below, does contain major Star Wars spoilers.

Although unrelated, IGN has an interesting aside that's worth mentioning: the director of 10 Cloverfield Lane, Dan Trachtenberg, made waves when he initially released a short film based in the Aperture Science universe: Portal: No Escape, which only left fans salivating for more.

Perhaps he'll be tipped for the directorship on the eventual movie when it kicks into full production?

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Who would you like to see in some of the most important roles in the Half Life and Portal universes? I think Gary Oldman would make a decent Gordon Freeman.

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Napster founder wants to send new films to your home for £35 https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/napster-founder-wants-to-send-new-films-to-your-home-for-35/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/napster-founder-wants-to-send-new-films-to-your-home-for-35/#comments Fri, 11 Mar 2016 12:31:47 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=286665 Although it's been a long time since Napster put the fear in the music industry, co-founder Sean Parker has been quietly influencing the world of tech ever since. As an early Facebook investor, he helped pioneer modern social networking and now he wants to do the same with getting new movie releases in the home …

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Although it's been a long time since Napster put the fear in the music industry, co-founder Sean Parker has been quietly influencing the world of tech ever since. As an early Facebook investor, he helped pioneer modern social networking and now he wants to do the same with getting new movie releases in the home at the same time as the cinema: for £35 a pop.

There are two main reasons that despite everything under the sun being streamable, on demand, when we want it, often for a small monthly or one-off fee, the one media that no one can access (legally) at home, is movies that have just been released. Those are restricted to cinema, because there's concern that streaming would kill the traditional cinema industry and that they would be too easy to pirate.

The first part of that argument is an inevitable one, but it means evolution rather than death. The cinema industry ‘died' before when TV was first popularised and it simply adapted and became what it is today.

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Of course there are still some movies that really aren't worth paying that much for. Source: Universal

The second point, is one that Parker wants to fix with his new venture called, the Screening Room. It will require a specialised £100 set top box, with hardware anti-piracy restrictions and each movie will cost £35 to play – but the idea is to make it possible to watch brand new movies, at home while they're in the cinema; though only once (as per Variety).

To try and encourage movie studios to trial the idea, Parker's company is offering a 40 per cent cut of the fee. The anti-piracy measures may be the big selling point though, as streaming has proved a huge success when it comes to older films and TV content, so if The Screening Room can guarantee the movies won't be ripped, it may be on to a winner.

But of course anti-piracy technology rarely stays strong forever.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: I'd pay that to watch a new movie at home. Two cinema tickets cost over £20 now any way, plus travel, plus food and you can't pause it. I'd pay £35 to avoid all that. 

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Ideas worth spreading: VR director commentaries, with the director https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/ideas-worth-spreading-vr-director-commentaries-with-the-director/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/ideas-worth-spreading-vr-director-commentaries-with-the-director/#respond Tue, 29 Sep 2015 10:01:46 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=269818 Not every news story needs to be cutting edge news, but they do need to be interesting. Take the idea of making director and crew commentaries on films and TV shows that bit more exciting, by having them not only record their vocal thoughts on the content, but their visuals too. This is the idea …

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Not every news story needs to be cutting edge news, but they do need to be interesting. Take the idea of making director and crew commentaries on films and TV shows that bit more exciting, by having them not only record their vocal thoughts on the content, but their visuals too. This is the idea that one redditor put forward recently, suggesting that perhaps as more and more people are entertained in virtual reality, we could hang out with a 360 video of the stars themselves, commenting on their creation.

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VR Mystery Science Theatre anyone?

“They should make directors cuts that have the director there, sitting right next to you in the theater, telling you about what you're watching. You could look over and see them talking or whatnot. Or imagine a 3d behind the scenes virtual tour of the set,” said reddit user schm0 during a discussion of John Carmack binge watching Daredevil on Netflix in VR.

It would be simple to make too, as long as the cast and crew were happy to take part. Place a 3D camera in a darkened room between them – perhaps even offering several different view points or commentary tracks with different stars – and have them talk about the movie to one another and the camera.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBmcbkxqL6w'] Imagine this in VR.

Indeed this could be a whole thing beyond an additional extra with a movie. It seems likely that a whole series of shows, or paid for content could be created getting stars to sit down and talk about their old films in VR.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: What do you think of the idea, and who do you think would make for a good combination of movie and cast or crew member? I'm voting for anything with Arnold Schwarzenegger. He has such child-like wonder at his movies. 

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How Virtual Reality could change movies https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/how-virtual-reality-could-change-movies/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/how-virtual-reality-could-change-movies/#comments Fri, 13 Mar 2015 16:02:05 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=239299 If you've had a go on a VR headset like the Oculus Rift DK2 or the Samsung Gear VR and were given the chance to whizz through a few demos, you might have tried out one of the various virtual cinema experiences, which give you an entire screen at a multiplex to yourself. Although the …

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If you've had a go on a VR headset like the Oculus Rift DK2 or the Samsung Gear VR and were given the chance to whizz through a few demos, you might have tried out one of the various virtual cinema experiences, which give you an entire screen at a multiplex to yourself. Although the resolution isn't quite there yet, it's a pretty fun experience and could one day mean that none of us bother upgrading our TV – why would you when a VR one will always be bigger.

But as fun as watching a movie on a VR cinema screen is, it doesn't really evolve the experience of movie watching in the same way that VR can change the way games are played. What I'm really excited for, is how movies designed for VR could change everything.

There was a lot of official talk about this sort of thing a few months ago when it was announced that Oculus VR had started its own internal movie studio, with the first effort known as The Lost, currently being shopped around some of the trade shows and events. However it's going to be a while before the rest of us sat at home with a DK2 and eyes and ears hungry for VR, can view it. Fortunately then, Oculus is far from the only company working on pushing the visual medium of movie making into a third dimension.

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There's more than one way to skin a VR movie

All of them though are having to work around the problem presented by VR and that's namely that viewers can look wherever they want. Directors, cinematographers and cameramen spend hundreds of hours working out the perfect shot for a film to give you the most impact. As the old adage goes, it's not what you show, it's what you don't, so a lot of the craft of filmmaking is figuring out what is most important for the viewer to see, perhaps only revealing other elements later or leaving them out if they aren't required.

In VR though you can't do that, because in VR, the viewer controls where they look. That means that the director has to – right off the bat – accept that some viewers will not see their film in the way they intended. There will be someone who watches the entire thing looking behind them, or fidgeting around and trying to look up or down the clothes of the different actors.

That's likely to only be a fringe group, so it's not one that should be catered for by drastically altering the style of the film, but they make for a great example of how VR filmmaking needs to factor in new things: in this case, that the audience may not necessarily be paying 100 per cent attention to the action all of the time.

So how do you address this? Well fortunately, there are a few filmmakers who have already begun to do so. Take “Butts”, a (very) short film from CGI artist, Tyler Hurd, which tells the tale of a humanoid creature with the ability to do unspeakably wonderful things, with his butt. This could sound pretty grotesque or explicit, but I promise you it isn't. It may not necessarily be safe for work, but it's a joy to behold.

For those with Rift headsets, I urge you to check it out in VR first as it's much improved with the interaction. However, what Butts does is more than make you laugh and ‘aww', it also shows you how to keep a viewer looking where you want them. When wearing a VR headset, you can turn your head and see the crouching humanoid before our blue protagonist discovers him. You can also look around at the environment, and lean in to get a closer view of what they manage to pull out of themselves.

To prevent that reveal from happening too early, Butts does a fantastic job of drawing your attention to the blue humanoid. It makes it so that unless you know what's coming, there is very little reason for you to look elsewhere. This is perhaps indicative of ‘Butts' roots as a 2D film, before it headed into the third dimension of virtual reality, as drawing the eye to one specific spot is a pretty traditional method of movie making, but by having the character jump around and perform strange stunts, it keeps you interested and stops you looking around.

However that approach isn't necessarily the only one and it certainly doesn't utilise the Rift's ability to let the viewer choose what's important to look at. Instead of giving viewers only one point to look at in VR, why not give them lots? You could make the story not particularly dependent on any one element being seen, but give them all some context to the scenario. With shorter experiences too, that could encourage repeat viewing.

That's what Birdy King Land does. Made by Backlight  Studio, Birdy King Land is part rollercoaster, part short film, sending you careening around the landscape in the sidecar of a motorbike in first person. Throughout, you're given plenty to look at, whether it's the obstacles you are swerving out of the way from, or the little bird off to the side as it races along, or the giant one chasing you from behind. All of those things are valid to the story and you will never see them all in one viewing.

What's even more exciting with Birdy King Land, is it combines a number of different art styles. It starts off as a cartoon, with our heroes chatting in animated 2D, before you are suddenly transported into the world they inhabit, in glorious 3D. And glorious it is, because the world looks beautiful and it looks alive too, with lots going on in the background. Since you're whizzing along though, you'll find it hard to look at all of it, hence the suggestion for repeated viewings and since the experience is only a few minutes long, that's not something that's going to bother many people.

Beyond its value as an entertainment product though, it shows a very interesting way for making a short film within VR: providing multiple points of reference for the viewers' eyes, giving them lots to look at all over the place, whether it's behind, in front or directly above. This is a very different kind of filmmaking than most directors are used to and it will likely take a good number of years before a real formula for it is found, but that's what makes it so exciting.

Perhaps though, not many people will embrace full VR movies. Maybe we'll still prefer to stick to 2D (or 3D with glasses the next time that fad rolls around) when it comes to our films and that's fine, but there may still be a place for VR in the movie business: trailers. Instead of showing us everything about a film in the lead up to it like contemporary trailer makers seem wont to do, just give us a sequence from the film where we are the character. Like VR developer Kite and Lightning (makers of Senza Peso, The Voice 360 and The (Bat) Cave) did with the trailer for the new Insurgent movie.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMxgo6zoAIM']

In it, you get to meet Kate Winslet face to face, get a taste for some of the vertigo and fear inducing elements of VR and see a glimpse of what the upcoming movie is all about. It's a really fresh way to learn about a movie, without really seeing much about it or having any of the plot spoiled before you get a chance to see it. It's the best of both worlds and I think it offers a really interesting way to preview a film.

VR is going to change a lot of things over the next 10 years. It will give those with disabilities that limit movement a chance to experience parts of the world they may never have visited before. It will let children step back in time or into the heart of a volcano to learn about how it all works and of course it's going to make long distance relationships that much more exciting.

But movies are going to change too and there are some pretty impressive early ideas being kicked around by some developers and I for one am I excited to see what they come up with next.

KitGuru Says: Also, I don't think I'm the only one who wants a least a Butts 2. We have to know what happens next. 

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Tesco is giving up on Blinkbox https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/tesco-is-giving-up-on-blinkbox/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/tesco-is-giving-up-on-blinkbox/#respond Tue, 27 Jan 2015 14:34:49 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=232679 Over the last few months, Tesco has been winding down on its loss-making digital download service, Blinkbox. The movie watching side of the business was sold off to TalkTalk a few weeks ago but Tesco still owned Music and Books services, which are now either being sold off or shut down. Blinkbox Music has been …

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Over the last few months, Tesco has been winding down on its loss-making digital download service, Blinkbox. The movie watching side of the business was sold off to TalkTalk a few weeks ago but Tesco still owned Music and Books services, which are now either being sold off or shut down.

Blinkbox Music has been sold off to Guvera, a music streaming company that has been operating on an ad supported model since 2008, while Blinkbox Books will be shut down after talks with books retailer, Waterstones, failed to reach a satisfactory conclusion.

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With all three arms of the digital download service either sold off or shut down entirely, Tesco's affiliation with Blinkbox is officially over. Tesco started off with Blinkbox several years ago in an effort to take on the likes of iTunes, Spotify and even Netflix, unfortunately for the company, the move failed to pay off.

TalkTalk may have better luck with Blinkbox movies, although it may be rebranded under a new name and bundled with another service.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Tesco's financial situation has taken a dive recently so selling off the failing parts of its business is a smart move. Did any of you guys use Blinkbox? I imagine the quality of the service just couldn't match up to that of the bigger competitors.

Source: Engadget

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Google to make big push for legitimate media sources https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/google-to-make-big-push-for-legitimate-media-sources/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/google-to-make-big-push-for-legitimate-media-sources/#comments Mon, 20 Oct 2014 09:07:52 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=217420 Google has announced that in the near future, its search features are going to cater much more to legitimate sources of media than it does currently, promising that some of the world's most popular and stubborn pirate sites will no longer feature anywhere near as high in the rankings as they have done in the …

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Google has announced that in the near future, its search features are going to cater much more to legitimate sources of media than it does currently, promising that some of the world's most popular and stubborn pirate sites will no longer feature anywhere near as high in the rankings as they have done in the past, for key search terms.

This was announced as part of the company's “How Google Fights Piracy,” report, in which Google also showed off some of its new marketing and advertising plans. When searching for artists, songs, movies or TV shows, US users will find immediate links to legitimate sources of that content. If they do well, Google has plans to roll out the extra links worldwide.

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The search giant also announced changes to its DMCA takedown procedure, which would see “notorious” pirate sites downranked on search pages even further. To also avoid these sites sneaking in, any search queries which frequently return piracy related websites will be removed from auto-complete.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Of course this doesn't solve the problem that it's still often far easier to pirate a show or film than it is to buy it from a legal source. With Amazon you need a Prime subscription, with Apple you need to be own one of its devices to watch it anywhere but on your PC and with Netflix unless you're in the US, it probably doesn't have it. 

Where are the sites were you can pay a few quid and watch a new movie without DRM and on any device you want? That's what piracy lets you do. 

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Visibility, not illegal-downloads affects movie sales https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/visibility-not-illegal-downloads-affects-movie-sales/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/visibility-not-illegal-downloads-affects-movie-sales/#comments Wed, 08 Oct 2014 09:04:32 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=215471 One of the oldest arguments on the internet, is whether the illegal download of movies negatively affects sales numbers, especially when it comes to downloads during the film's theatrical run. Movie studios understandably claim that there's a direct correlation between a download and a lost sale, while pirates argue that illegal downloads act as a free …

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One of the oldest arguments on the internet, is whether the illegal download of movies negatively affects sales numbers, especially when it comes to downloads during the film's theatrical run. Movie studios understandably claim that there's a direct correlation between a download and a lost sale, while pirates argue that illegal downloads act as a free promotional tool, even sending some people to the cinema after viewing, or at the very least making them keen to find a legal download of higher quality.

Many studies have been published on this, most of which seem to side with the latter group, but one more surely wouldn't hurt. This one comes from APAS Laboratory researcher Marc Milot and compares download statistics of the top 32 biggest movie releases of the year, with several key factors: number of downloads (based on torrent popularity), pre-release buzz and movie rating. He then cross referenced all of that with the movie's ultimate box office sales.

As TorrentFreak explains, the study, titled “Testing the lost sale concept in the context of unauthorised BitTorrent downloads of CAM copies of theatrical releases,” found that there was almost no correlation between the number of movie downloads and its success. The metric that had the most effect on sales, was pre-release buzz and to some extent the reviews and ratings once it was released.

utorrent
This, doesn't automatically equal lost sales

Torrents on the other hand, seemed to be relatively unaffected by eventual sales. However, they were likely to be more popular if the movie received heavy promotion and especially if the titles were prominently featured on a torrent site, like Demonoid. This could be extrapolated to mean that people often discover new movies through torrent sites. Theoretically then, the promotional argument from pirates could ring true.

“BitTorrent site users appear to be exploring and downloading the most visible movies, without caring how good or bad they are. It is in this way that BitTorrent sites and the box office are completely different systems in which people behave uniquely and with different motivations,” Milot explained.

Therefore, he said, studios and lobby groups should be careful overestimating losses based on illegal downloads, especially when it comes to cam footage.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: This is something that many people not employed by movie studios have known for some time, but it's good to see some more evidence to support the idea. 

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Torrent pirates help fund Laos’ first female director’s movie https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/torrent-pirates-help-fund-laos-first-female-directors-movie/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/torrent-pirates-help-fund-laos-first-female-directors-movie/#comments Wed, 18 Jun 2014 09:16:05 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=198769 The biggest argument people have against movie piracy, is that people just don't want to pay for things. That's a fair point, as no doubt there is a number of file sharers that do it for that reason, but others must have an alterior motive, as a bunch of torrent users from the EZTV community …

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The biggest argument people have against movie piracy, is that people just don't want to pay for things. That's a fair point, as no doubt there is a number of file sharers that do it for that reason, but others must have an alterior motive, as a bunch of torrent users from the EZTV community have been kicking money to the first female movie director in the South-East Asian country of Laos, to help her fund her second film.

EZTV, as well as being one of the world's most popular movie release groups, also operates one of the biggest torrent search sites, featuring its own ripped content. The site's admin, NovaKing, found he liked the campaign video Mattie Do made for her new movie and decided to promote it, by placing a small banner on his homepage. Since then, over 90 per cent of the traffic going through the IndieGogo page has come from EZTV and a big portion of the $10,000 pledged so far has come from pirates.

The film she's working on is called ນ້ອງຮັກ, or Nong Hak, which translates to “Dearest Sister.” According to Do, it's about gender equality, socio-economic issues in Laos and ghosts. It's a horror film, hence all the blood (not fake, mind you) in the above video.

However as mentioned, this is Do's second feature length movie. The first, Chanthaly, was released in 2012 and became the first ever horror movie made in the country. Now as a way of saying thank you to the community, Do will be releasing the copyright for her original film, making it open source if she hits her funding goal. This will include all of the original footage, working files, sound effects and more, making all of it available for other film-makers to use as they like.

She'll also be recording an exclusive commentary track for the movie, just for EZTV users.

chanthalay
Chanthaly is no gore-fest. It's about a terminally ill girl who deliberately comes off her medicine to hallucinate about her dead mother. 

“We’re in a unique position with Chanthaly. We own the film outright, everybody that worked on the film has been paid. The film has a bit of festival prestige, and honestly some historic value, since it is the first Lao horror film, and the first film directed by a Lao female director,” said Do's husband, Chris Larsen.

“And honestly, I’m sick of it sitting on my hard drive here collecting dust.”

If you'd like to contribute to Mrs Do's campaign, or learn more about the movie, you can do so here.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Clearly torrent users don't mind paying for something if they believe in it. Perhaps movie studios should focus more on winning back the favour of these big movie fans, rather than branding them as criminals?

[Thanks TorrentFreak]

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Netflix UK gets Disney catalogue https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/netflix-uk-gets-disney-catalogue/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/netflix-uk-gets-disney-catalogue/#comments Tue, 14 May 2013 10:38:26 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=134718 Netflix users in the UK are pretty underprivileged compared to our American cousins (which is why I'd normally recommend you change your DNS settings to gain access to the bigger library) but in terms of Disney movies, not any more: the catalogue of films has now been added to the British Netflix offering. On top of …

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Netflix users in the UK are pretty underprivileged compared to our American cousins (which is why I'd normally recommend you change your DNS settings to gain access to the bigger library) but in terms of Disney movies, not any more: the catalogue of films has now been added to the British Netflix offering.

On top of classic animated movies like Dumbo (so much racism) and Aristocats, there will also be some of the live action favourites from the past few years, like Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (and On Stranger Tides) and Chronicles of Narnia. You should also look out for some Pixar movies, including Ratatoullie and Wall-E.

netflix

Other announcements from Nextflix today will see Marvel and Dreamworks films added to the UK catalogue in the new future. These include: The Help, War Horse and People Like Us. In 2014, exclusive deals have been signed to bring Avenger's Assemble, John Carter and The Muppets to Netflix UK.

Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said (via TeleGraph) “We aim to make Netflix better all the time and hope members enjoy the rich offering of films we are making available from the Disney studios.”

KitGuru Says: Big fan of Netflix myself. Mostly because I refuse to sit through minutes of adverts whenever I watch a program. I'll download it (legally of course) or watch it on demand. I'm done with TV. 

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Netflix offers quad-streaming subscription plan https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/netflix-offers-quad-streaming-subscription-plan/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/netflix-offers-quad-streaming-subscription-plan/#respond Tue, 23 Apr 2013 11:12:38 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=132835 Netflix is set to offer a new £8 a month service, which while offering the same content to users, allows them to simultaneously stream from the service in four separate locations. The idea is for families to be able to watch different media around the house or t0 accommodate roommates that have differing tastes. Wired also gives a nod to those …

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Netflix is set to offer a new £8 a month service, which while offering the same content to users, allows them to simultaneously stream from the service in four separate locations. The idea is for families to be able to watch different media around the house or t0 accommodate roommates that have differing tastes.

Wired also gives a nod to those that share their password among friends in order for them too to enjoy the service, but while the writer there suggests that would make the account holder cheap, surely it in-fact makes them generous and the sponging friend is the cheap one?

netflix
Sharing your account details around can really mess with your recommendations however…

Until now, Netflix restricted users to two simultaneous streams only, as it understandably didn't want people taking advantage of its simple service. However now with the slightly costlier system, Netflix is relaxing its rules a little. It also means that there is likely to be less of a drop off in service if current household inhabitants move away or change living arrangements, as they can still utilise the account and this should therefore also mean increased viewing numbers for Netflix, which is the only way its going to ever bring an end to the current Sky movie monopoly in the UK.

KitGuru Says: I still think it's amazing Sky is allowed to buy exclusivity for movies for such a long period over Sky and Love Film. Surely that's anti-competitive?

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Danny Boyle: 3D movies a “phase” https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/danny-boyle-3d-movies-a-phase/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/danny-boyle-3d-movies-a-phase/#comments Tue, 26 Mar 2013 20:00:46 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=129521 While 3D movies are a popular additional feature of many big movie releases at the moment, not everyone thinks so, audiences and content producers alike. One big name that doesn't think they'll be around forever is Danny Boyle. Describing himself as appreciative of what some directors have done with it, Boyle went on to say …

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While 3D movies are a popular additional feature of many big movie releases at the moment, not everyone thinks so, audiences and content producers alike. One big name that doesn't think they'll be around forever is Danny Boyle.

Describing himself as appreciative of what some directors have done with it, Boyle went on to say (via The Guardian) that he didn't use 3D himself and that he hates watching movie in 3D. “I'm a spectacle wearer, so I hate going to 3D movies because you have to wear two pairs of spectacles, which makes you feel like even more of a prat. You know how everybody feels a bit of prat wearing 3D spectacles? You as a spectacle wearer feel a double prat.”

Despite the fact that he terms glasses as “spectacles,” Boyle should know what he's talking about. This is the guy behind Trainspotting, The Beach, 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire and others. Ok he also did 28 weeks later and Sunshine, but nobody gets it right 100 per cent of the time.

Trainspotting
'Man... that was like, 4D...'

But if 3D is dying out already, what is the next big thing in cinema? According to Boyle, it's about the sound. “There are sound innovations coming actually, particularly Dolby Atmos, which are going to do something very equivalent to what 3D does. So, I don't know if 3D will survive to be honest. I think it may be a phase.”

KitGuru Says: Gotta say, the more 3D movies I see, the less I care about it as a technology. I saw Avatar and The Hobbit at the Imax, 3D, super everything and it was fine. I don't care about stuff floating in-front of my-face, unless I'm a little inebriated and the glasses just tired my eyes out after a couple of hours. Normal 3D movies are even less impressive.

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Antigua’s pirate movie site given legal thumbs up by WTO https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/antiguas-pirate-movie-site-given-legal-thumbs-up-by-wto/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/antiguas-pirate-movie-site-given-legal-thumbs-up-by-wto/#respond Tue, 29 Jan 2013 12:50:03 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=123423 This has to be one of the strangest instances in technology for the past couple of years. Antigua, a small island nation in the Caribbean, has been given the go ahead by the World Trade Organisation to operate a completely legal pirated movie website, since it was granted the right to suspend US copyright to the …

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This has to be one of the strangest instances in technology for the past couple of years. Antigua, a small island nation in the Caribbean, has been given the go ahead by the World Trade Organisation to operate a completely legal pirated movie website, since it was granted the right to suspend US copyright to the tune of $21 million every year, because the USA refuses to release a blockade on Antigua operating online gambling services within its borders.

While it's unknown at this point how the Antiguan government plans to offer the music, movies and software it is legally entitled to do so – without paying anything to the original creators – it could offer a service like Netflix, with a subscription model that anyone worldwide could take advantage of. Alternatively it could charge customers per download, allowing them to keep DRM free copies of the media forever.

Antiguan finance minister Harold Lovell said that due to the loss of remote gaming business, Antigua has no option but to make use of its WTO granted rights: “These aggressive efforts to shut down the remote gaming industry in Antigua has resulted in the loss of thousands of good paying jobs and seizure by the Americans of billions of dollars belonging to gaming operators and their customers in financial institutions across the world,” he said (via TorrentFreak).

“If the same type of actions, by another nation, caused the people and the economy of the United States to be so significantly impacted, Antigua would without hesitation support their pursuit of justice,” he added.

No word on when the site will be released at this point, but it has apparently been in the works for several months already, so it could be soon for all we know.

Antigua
Antigua now has legal "piracy," what do you think the MPAA will think of that?

The response from the US authorities has so far only been, that any attempt by Antigua to open such a media portal would result in a breakdown of negotiations on the online gambling services – a bullying tactic if ever there was one.

The most interesting part of this whole deal though, isn't what happens with the US or Antigua, but the rest of the world. We could be looking at a huge problem for the global anti-piracy community. Soon anyone in the world will be able to pay for – most probably a small fee – a huge number of movies, TV shows and music and will be able to legally download it from Antigua. It's not piracy and is completely legal, but the artists still get nothing. Will those affected prefer traditional piracy at that point? There will be no recourse for them with Antigua, so how will they react?

KitGuru Says: This could be extremely exciting and illuminating. We could be looking at a setup that could easily rival giants like Netflix, considering it need pay no licensing fees at all. The only problem for Antigua could be the potential limiter of $21 million in copyright suspension. Still, a subscription service would make it easier for the government to make the value of individual movie watching difficult to quantify.

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Despite piracy, US box office takes in $10 billion in 2012 https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/despite-piracy-us-box-office-takes-in-10-billion-in-2012/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/despite-piracy-us-box-office-takes-in-10-billion-in-2012/#respond Tue, 01 Jan 2013 11:42:36 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=120810 Throughout 2012 we had a lot of attacks on piracy. There was the blocking of sites like The Pirate Bay, the confiscation of a nine year old girl's laptop, porn stars going after torrent users and loads more. However despite the number of anti-piracy stories, we've also had BitTorrent Inc. asking the question “Does bittorrent …

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Throughout 2012 we had a lot of attacks on piracy. There was the blocking of sites like The Pirate Bay, the confiscation of a nine year old girl's laptop, porn stars going after torrent users and loads more. However despite the number of anti-piracy stories, we've also had BitTorrent Inc. asking the question “Does bittorrent equal piracy?” and answering “no.” We found out that the biggest music pirates, were also some of the biggest media buyers in the world and that site blocks do not work.

Now we have some other news that counters the anti-piracy trend of 2012, the fact that even with all that downloading going on, the movie industry of America had its biggest year ever, bringing in over $10.8 (£6.8) billion to the economy. On top of that, the total number of movies premièred increased over the year before as well, to a new record of 655. This would seem to suggest that claims piracy is killing the creative industry, are misguided at best.

The Avengers
Despite being one of the most pirated movies of the year, The Avengers made over $1.5 billion at the box office

Compare this to just over a decade ago, where $8.1(£4.93) billion was the international grossing of all movies – back when piracy wasn't anywhere near as prevalent. Today that figure is over $22 (£13.5) billion.

Nobody is arguing at this point that piracy affects the movie industry, but it seems from the box office trend at least, that in most instances it's a helping hand, rather than a hindrance.

KitGuru Says: You know what is a hindrance to movie money making? Staggered release dates. If you release a movie in one part of the world and wait weeks or even months – just look at the Wreck it Ralph release schedule – to release it somewhere else, people in that second country will pirate it, because the pirated version offers something that the legitimate one does not – the ability to actually watch it.

[TorrentFreak]

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Lovefilm cuts back streaming offerings https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/lovefilm-cuts-back-streaming-offerings/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/lovefilm-cuts-back-streaming-offerings/#comments Thu, 29 Nov 2012 12:49:35 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=117184 One of the big selling points of a streaming library is the sheer number of films and TV shows it offers. Today Lovefilm's total dropped by more than 60, as it axed Doctor Who and a plethora of other shows. This marks an about face by Lovefilm – once owned by Amazon, sold, then bought …

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One of the big selling points of a streaming library is the sheer number of films and TV shows it offers. Today Lovefilm's total dropped by more than 60, as it axed Doctor Who and a plethora of other shows.

This marks an about face by Lovefilm – once owned by Amazon, sold, then bought back by the retailer – as it has been massively increasing its library in order to compete with not only rival streaming service Netflix, which launched in the UK earlier this year, but traditional TV and film cable outlet, Sky.

While of course some of the streaming shows taken down won't be missed by many, there are some that seem like they must have quite a following and a good viewership. The list includes:

Auf Wiedersehen Pet, Cold Feet, Inspector Morse, Poirot, Little Bratin, Only Fools and Horses, Porridge, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, The Royle Family, Wallander, Walking with Dinosaurs, Blackadder, Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles (deleting that is a crime) and many more. The full list is available over at Oric if you want to check your favourite show isn't getting dumped.

LoveFilm Instant
LoveFilm Instant Presents... less than it did before

A lot of the titles appear to be older ones that might appeal to quite a niche audience, but still there's some popular stuff in there. Torchwood, Faulty Towers, Gavin and Stacey; people have to be watching this stuff.

While it's certainly an odd move to be removing these, LoveFilm has provided a statement in response to questioning: “Our commitment to expanding our catalogue is unwavering. LOVEFiLM has signed content deals with major film and TV studios including Miramax, Twentieth Century Fox, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., Disney, ABC, BBC, ITV, STUDIOCANAL, eOne and DHX Media.”

“The LOVEFiLM catalogue is constantly growing and evolving. From time to time titles do come off the service to make way for new and exciting additions. In the next few weeks we’ll be adding Scrubs Season 1-5, Downton Abbey Season 1-3 and Sons of Anarchy Seasons 1-4, enhancing our available TV content yet again, and ensuring we have a good balance of both old favourites plus the latest offerings from the small screen.”

So oldies have been dropped for more contemporary offerings?

Most of the shows will be removed from LoveFilm instant by the end of December. The others will be trickling away throughout January and February.

KitGuru Says: I' don't really get this one. Why remove all those shows? Why do you guys think?

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HTC Desire: Android unloads in KitGuru’s face https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/iphone/faith/htc-desire-android-unloads-in-kitgurus-face/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/iphone/faith/htc-desire-android-unloads-in-kitgurus-face/#comments Mon, 17 May 2010 07:11:12 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=2010 KitGuru loves HTC and has done for a long time, in spite of the absolutely rubbish ability of Windows Mobile to actually do email. With so many great multi-function phone on the market, we wanted to see which we’d buy if pushed. The box is attractive, neat and simple. One word of warning though, once …

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KitGuru loves HTC and has done for a long time, in spite of the absolutely rubbish ability of Windows Mobile to actually do email. With so many great multi-function phone on the market, we wanted to see which we’d buy if pushed.

The box is attractive, neat and simple. One word of warning though, once you slice the security plastic – the phone box will happily slide straight through (luckily we were on the sofa at the time – no harm done!).

Straight away you are hit with the feeling that this is a mature product. A pro-class piece of hardware that can hold its own in the look & feel department. This is important, because any perception that a product is a ‘toy’, can rapidly affect its desirability in the corporate space.

It boasts simple controls, quick set up and ease of use. Just like the Blackberry 9700, you are highly unlikely to ever look at a manual – it is a really usable device.

Size-wise, if you remember the old HTC with the fantastic pull-out keyboard – then the new HTC Desire is about the size of the screen section. Side by side, it's about the same as an iPhone and a little longer than the  Blackberry 9700.

In use, the HTC does exactly what you’d expect of it. It scores and misses exactly where the iPhone does against RIMs market-leading business tool. Head to head with the Blackberry 9700, it comes out on top for media, but loses out against Blackberry’s superior communications infrastructure. In the same way that MSN messenger has become the de facto software for business users on the desktop, all of the serious players we know in the IT industry use Blackberry messenger for business chat on the move.

But that’s not what the HTC Desire is about. It’s about having the coolest piece of kit on the block. Something that can kick the iPhone off the park with room to spare. It’s also the prodigal son that die-hard HTC fans have been waiting for. So the question is, does it achieve its intentions or fall short of the mark ?  In this table you can see the ‘obvious wins' in bold red and the glaring omissions in bold black.

Screen Res Battery Cam Res CPU Speed RAM Storage MP3/WMA Flash YouTube Weight
HTC Desire 800 x 480 1.5 days 5 1GHz 576MB 512MB Yes/Yes Yes Yes 135
Blackberry 9700 480 x 360 2 days 3.2 624Mhz 256MB 2.2GB Yes/Yes No Yes 122
iPhone 480 x 320 1 day 3 600MHz 256MB 16GB Yes/No No Yes 135

We love it. It’s feature set matches/exceeds Apple’s in every respect – and the battery lasts a significant amount longer. It is fast and responsive, happy to work with a broad range of media while also giving you a wonderfully sharp  9.4cm  AMOLED screen. On a 24 month contract with T-Mobile, it’s around £29 a month for 2 wonderfully media-rich years (or you can just buy one for £400 and stick it on whichever network you prefer).

That said, it doesn't have Apple's illogical appeal or iTunes or the app store. It does have a widget store, plays standard windows media files and holds its own in the looks department.

KitGuru says: If you need a hardcore business tool, then you can’t easily go outside Blackberry. For everyone else?   Gone on, buy yourself some bragging rights – just don’t forget to get a whopping great microSD at the same time.  The only thing you will miss from the old HTC phones is the integrated ear-wax removal tool (I believe the manual called it a stylus).

Discuss in our forum or just leave a quick comment below.

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