Technological advancements have always been a big part of how Hollywood sold itself. Studios have always promoted the newest ways to enhance the movie going experience, stretching all the way back to the 1920's when sound was first incorporated, to the CGI boom of the 1990's. Most recently, 3D has become the big topic of Tinsel Town, with the technology being touted as completely changing the way audiences watch movies.
But while it is easy to see how new technologies effect movies in big ways such as these, there are many smaller, more subtle changes that still make a profound impact. Specifically, these changes in our technology have had a drastic affect on the most fundamental aspect of movies: the stories themselves.
Out With The Old Plot Devices
The James Belushi/Dan Akroyd comedy The Blues Brothers is certifiable cult comedy classic that, even 30 years after it's initial release, is quoted and referenced with regularity. Yet, it could never work had it been made today. The entire plot revolves around Jake and Elwood (Belushi and Akroyd) trying to reunite their band for a gig, which leads to numerous car chases. Now with social networking sites like Facebook, there would be no need for road trip hijinks in order to assemble their former mates.
It is little things like these that show a broader, cultural impact that technology has made on film. Comedy's like National Lampoon's Vacation, which mine laughs out of getting lost in unfamiliar territories, have now become out of date with GPS devices. The dramatized long distance relationship is now less so with tools such as Skype, which let you video chat with one another. Tracing phone calls can now happen instantaneously, which removes the tension from so many cop thrillers.
This is nothing new. Like special effects, stories have evolved with the technology around them. A staple of old westerns was the "death bed" scene, where after a character was shot, everyone sat around doing nothing as the fallen character gave one last moving speech. As medical advances have been made, this no longer makes sense as there are ample way to help someone who has been shot, and has been used less and less as a result. As our familiarity with technology changes, stories must evolve as well.
Tinkering With The Tech
With these changes, writers have to find ways to incorporate our shifting tech into the stories. Obviously, not all stories need to have cell phones or the internet play a prominent role, and clever writers will find ways around this obstacle. But as technology increases it's impact on our society, there are two main ways to work it into a story.
The first is to openly embrace the fact that technology is all around us, though this is usually used in the "technology is all around us, be afraid!" mentality. Movies like Eagle Eye and Untraceable are all about how our technology has evolved, and how it effects us. Unfortunately, this approach is very problematic. For one, since the tech is so ingrained into the story, it dates very badly as more technological advancements come about in the future. This approach also tends to exploit the fact that many audience members don't know how computers really work, and treat them as magical devices that can do whatever the plot requires.
The other approach is to find ways to nullify the technology. Perhaps the character drops their phone in the toilet, or the story takes place in the midst of a power outage. Or perhaps a supernatural element is introduced that renders these tools useless. But this still has the tech being prominently featured, even if it is just to discard it later on. And if the way in which the tech is nullified is handled with care, it can come across as a bad gag or, like computers in the first approach, like magic is being used to explain away any inconvenience to the plot.
Wide Impact
How technology is worked into a story is not the important part. Like everything that factors into storytelling, some things will work in a given situation, and some things won't. A lot of it also has to do with the skill of the writer. But what is important is that, when the issue of how technology is affecting film is brought up, we start moving beyond the obvious "3D will change everything!" and start to consider how advances impact more than just the special effects a film uses.
Timothy Gaydos - I attended Ohio University for four years, studying Video Production and Film, earning a BA in Science and Communications from the Scripps ...
