Book Reviews

Abstract

Coming attractions: Hollywood, high tech and the future of entertainment, by Philip E. Meza, Palo Alto, CA, Stanford University Press, 2007, 175 pp., US$27.95 (hardback), Even from the very earliest days of cinema, technology has always been the driving force: from the sideshow attraction of the early 1900s to today's multi-billion dollar industry; the means of production, distribution and exhibition have changed the way we engage with the world around us and the world of the imagination. Meza's Coming Attractions outlines recent advances and their impact on today's industry -he writes with assurance and avoids baffling the reader with overly technical references and insider terminology. This is not a crash course in computer-speak, nor is it for geeks; Meza's focus is rather the effect technological change has on the way we, as consumers, engage with visual media.That said, Coming Attractions should rather be seen as a series of articles on a central theme, not a definitive account of technology's march through the media industries. This is not a criticism; it is a fact. Hardly is the print dry on my preview copy when much of what he predicts is already out there and almost immediately usurped by some new incarnation. Format wars rage yet again as Blu-Ray slugs it out with HD, but change happens so quickly and books, sorry to say, can't keep up. Blu-Ray, developed by Sony and a dozen major electronics companies, will be victorious -the format is supported by every major Hollywood studiocapable of huge storage capacity, Blu-Ray will render the DVD obsolete within but a few years.DVD, the supposed saviour of a crippled film industry, will soon be as obscure and passé as the Betamax video. Meza is not to blame for the omission; technology is moving at such a pace that it would be impossible to chart all new developments in book form -that, in essence, says it all -far better load updates onto your iPod, iPhone, Blackberry or Palm Pilot. We live in an age where the most fundamental technology changes almost on a daily basis -paper is sooo last year… For students of recent media history, Coming Attractions is essential reading -it reveals the underlying naiveté of those who should have known better, outlines the brilliant manipulation of the hi-tech companies and champions the individuals and organisations who recognised exactly the shape of things to come.Luddites abound, even in Hollywood; Meza accurately details the techno-fear that allowed new technologies to gain the upper hand: business models that should have been lean and mean, were clunky, unable to adapt quickly enough and left the industry largely unprotected as the pirates and the opportunists cut a swathe through Hollywood profits.Putting one's head in the sand seems incompatible with the notion of Hollywood as a risktaking, ruthless, edge-of-the-seat player -but that was the Hollywood response when faced with a development they didn't understand, didn't want to understand, and only took notice of when it began to eat into their bottom lines. Now fully ...