My Life with Movies – a digital story

This is the video I submitted as my project for the Digital Storytelling online course from the University of Houston.

This story shows how technology has affected the way I have watched and enjoyed movies. This includes cinema, television, VCR, DVD, computers, internet and now iPad.   As technology develops how will the experience of watching movies change and affect the relationship with film?

Watch the video and see for yourself. The duration is 5’33” and you can read the transcript later i n the article.

Click to play video

Transcript

When I was a child I enjoyed watching Television. Sunday night was the highlight of the week because my brother and I watched Disneyland.

During my school days I enjoyed watching programs like Gilligans Island, Lost in Space and Doctor Who. I also liked watching movies. My school days were well before the time of VCRs and DVD players.

Television was an important medium for live news. I remember watching the Apollo 11 moon landing. Our school as in the assembly hall, and we watched a solitary black and white television displaying this historic broadcast.

In my high school days I didnt have much time for watching TV as I was busy with school work. I did like to watch comedy programs and my favorites were Australian comedy shows like the Aunty Jack show and British comedies like Monty Python.

Throughout my life I have used television to watch movies, learn about current affairs from news broadcasts, be entertained with drama series, watch the occasional sports broadcast like the Olympics or summer tennis.

I became interested in movies from around the world when I was university. I used to watch movies at the university theatre. I loved watching these classic movies on the big screen films like Taxi Driver and new releases like Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

After graduation I started work and had free time and money to spend. I would watch movies at cinemas specializing in world movies. My favorite cinema was the Glebe Valhalla no longer in existence their program of movies was an important document to be displayed on the refrigerator as this helped me plan my social life.

When a multicultural TV station started in 1983 I could see movies in the comfort of my own home. This was still before the days of video recorders. I would write the details of movies in my diary after I had read the TV guide so I remembered to watch them. Sometimes it was a challenge staying awake because the movies started at 9.30 pm and I had to get up early for work.

Once I got a Video recorder, I could record the movies and watch at a more convenient time.

Fast forward to the present. I can now watch movies in many ways DVDs replaced video tapes around 15 years ago. The quality is far superior and there is no need to rewind or fast forward tapes.

I can watch some movies on YouTube, rent them on iTunes, borrow DVDS from the library or friends or buy DVDs. Now I can watch movies when it is convenient to me.

The computer has now replaced the television as my entertainment machines. I can watch DVDs, or go online to get the content. I dont need a television any more

I sometimes think about the old days of movie going the anticipation of seeing a classic film at the cinema, knowing it will only be screened a few times. This made going to see a film a very special event.

I wonder what new generations of film goers will think of the classic films when instead of seeing a film on the big screen in a darkened theater, they watch on an iPad or smart phone or laptop computer.

I will never forget the impact of films on the big screen 2001 Space Odyssey and the musical fanfare of Richard Strausss Also Sprach Zarathustra.

These are true moments in my life with film — from the big screen at the cinema to the computer and now to portable computing devices. I wonder how future generations will experience movies? I dont think it matters too much as long as people can continue to enjoy the great cinematic masterpieces.