10 Predictions For The Future of Cinema

The first ever film I watched was 'Lady and The Tramp'. I don€™t remember the cinema it was at, and according to my Mum I stood up throughout the whole thing, not necessarily taking the story in, but just entranced by the images on the screen. It might not have been that moment- it may have been during my second film, Toy Story- but from an incredibly young age I just fell in love with cinema. I can remember the moment I decided I wanted to become a film director, and unfortunately I also remember the film. I had come back from 'Pokemon: The Movie 2000' (don€™t judge me- like most of my generation, I became addicted for a period), and decided then and there I was going to make films for a living. And perhaps the most significant moment in my relationship with film so far was at The BFI IMAX on August 20, 2008- after waiting a month to see it in the format Christopher Nolan intended for it to be seen in, I saw 'The Dark Knight', my favourite film, for the first time. I was when I matured as a director and a writer. It has shaped every idea I have had since then, and made a passionate love affair a committed relationship. I apologise for how pretentious this all may seem, but there is a point to it. As you may have guessed, Film is my everything. And whilst it has advanced so filmmakers€™ dreams can become realities with the help of CGI and so many other technological innovations, to me it seems to be rotting from deep within its core. I am still young, about to head off to University, and I still intend to pursue a career as a film director until my first feature is projected onto a screen in front of an audience. But I worry for my generation of filmmakers. Now, I€™m not naïve, from the moment people were able to project moving images, it has been exploited as profitable entertainment. The so-called €˜golden age€™ was just as driven by businessmen as it is now, but over the years, creative people in the industry have gained their independence from the Selznicks of the world- The Hays Code was scrapped, United Artists was formed, The Auteur Theory was coined and cameras became available to every budding filmmaker there was. But whilst it seems easier than ever for someone like me to make a film and get it out there for the world to watch, to some extent quality has been sacrificed for quality. Allow me to explain€ If you read on, you€™ll see my ten major predictions for what the future holds for this medium that we all love. Some may seem obvious, and I€™m sure I€™m treading ground that has been covered before, but I feel it should be addressed and laid out for people to read concisely, but not objectively. This is my spin on how our beloved medium will change, for better or for worse.