CHANGES IN MEDIA CONSUMPTION

The entertainment industry is constantly evolving and the decade from 2010 - 2019 is no exception.
More than any other decade in recent history, this one has had major fiscal, technical, and social
advancements that significantly changed Hollywood and had ramifications on the global entertainment
industry.

The decade is turning about a revolutionary one; here’s how the 2010s drastically changed the
consumption patterns of the entertainment industry.

Streaming went mainstream

Netflix first began offering streaming in 2007, but it wasn’t until 2010 that they’d gone from the “fastest-
growing first-class mail customer of the United States Postal Service to the biggest source of streaming
web traffic in North America during peak evening hours,” according to The New York Times. By the
following year they were operating in 45 countries before expanding to virtually the entire world in 2016.
Netflix’s global domination and pioneering foray into the world of streaming is directly responsible for
the video-on-demand boom today.

Greater diversity and representation of minorities

The 2010s will go down for finally bringing greater diversity to both big and small screens. The issue
raised the point that a much more inclusive and diverse slate of films needs to be green lit by studios to
begin with, confirming the problem is systemic. Since then, a number of films have brought much-
needed attention to diverse narratives, including Jordan Peele’s Get Out, Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight, the
blockbuster domination of Marvel’s Black Panther, Crazy Rich Asians, and critical acclaim for Alfonso
Cuarón’s Roma to name a few.

Strides towards gender equality

One of the decade’s watershed moments was The New York Times’ report detailing multiple accounts of
alleged sexual abuse by producer Harvey Weinstein.Gender equality was increasingly becoming a hot
topic even before the Weinstein scandal, with figures showing just 8-11% of studio films were directed
by women, while female characters were vastly outnumbered by men onscreen. Along with other
landmark moments, such as the success of Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman – the first superhero movie
directed by a woman – and the pay disparity incident between Michelle Williams and Mark Wahlberg,
ironically on All the Money In the World, there has been positive change for women working in
Hollywood.

The industry fully embraced new tech

The film industry is literally built on adopting new technology, so it’s no surprise that the 2010s were full
of changes in regards to tech. Off the back of Avatar’s success in 2009, 3D filmmaking saw a rise in the
early part of the decade, peaking by 2012, before audiences made it clear that more isn’t better and lazy
3D conversions weren’t cutting it. More considered 3D films, such as The Jungle Book and two Jurassic
franchise films performed well, showing that audiences want 3D but not when it’s forced.

Animation got the respect it deserves

On the blockbuster end of the spectrum, the decade began with Toy Story 3 becoming the first animated
movie to reach $1 billion at the worldwide box office. As of 2019, eight animated movies have hit that
mark.

On the niche end of things, animated shows have delivered some of the most profound storylines of the
decade. BoJack Horseman and Rick and Morty are just two examples that have amassed cult followings
thanks to their offbeat visual style, sharp writing and deep messages about existence.

TV programming became more niche

One of the many positives of the streaming era is the proliferation of varied television content. While
shows were once rated by viewership numbers and often cancelled quickly when ratings didn’t satisfy TV
networks, now video-on-demand has allowed shows to find their audience organically and without time
pressure. This has resulted in more niche stories being green lit instead of relying on plot lines with mass
appeal. For example, LGBTQ+ shows like Orange Is the New Black and Pose have thrived, while genre
shows depicting true crime or supernatural stories have also boomed.

Popular genres changed with the times

Documentary films and series enjoyed wider popularity in the 2010s, bringing much needed attention to
social and political issues currently plaguing humanity. This was especially felt through nature
documentaries, particularly Netflix’s Our Planet, which sought to highlight the catastrophic effects of
climate change that we’re facing and the repercussions if we don’t act soon.

The Dynamics of the movie industry are fundamentally changing

A boom of small, independent studios including A24 and Annapurna Pictures began to crop up, helping
to keep arthouse films alive. On the other end of the spectrum, Disney grew even larger in stature when
it bought up Marvel in 2009 and LucasFilm in 2012, as well as its acquisition of Fox this year. Similarly,
CBS and Viacom merged together once again after 13 years as separate entities.

While some changes to filmmaking technology and the craft of filmmaking might be obvious, there are
other things that are not so apparent. Below, we’ve gone more in depth to four of the biggest changes in
filmmaking.

Shorter Shots
James Cutting, a psychologist at Cornell University,examines how the brain’s processes relate to film
components such as editing, frame rates, projection, and scene and narrative structure. He has been
looking at shot duration over the past few years and has found that the average duration of a shot is
consistently shorter now than it was a decade ago.

Cutter argues that different patterns of shots found in today’s films go better with natural fluctuations in
human attention because each new shot forces the audience to refocus on the film.

More Motion
Motion and action in a film help keep the audience’s attention. Have you ever watched an action movie
and noticed your heart beating fast? Was your adrenaline pumping hard? It’s your body’s physiological
response to motion within a shot. Filmmakers carefully and intentionally craft the motion we see on
screen, to match the dramatic intensity of the scene.
Changing Light
Modern digital technology has allowed filmmakers to maintain better control over a more dynamic range
of light. Movies today are often shot with much less light than their predecessors, allowing for more
naturalistic effects. Take “Collateral,” for example, which was shot in the nighttime streets of LA with
mostly natural light. Additionally, modern films are often much darker than films made in the gold age of
Hollywood. And even the application of color has been adjusted to suit the taste of modern audiences.

Other Factors
There are other factors that have played a part in how film has evolved such as Blu-ray discs and IMAX
theaters. Audiences can now also watch movies on smartphones, tablets, and computers, and stream
movies through platforms such as Netflix.