ABSTRACT
This chapter follows the argument in Chapter 1 to describe how the technological discontinuity of film (the ability to record live performances) both disrupted and coevolved with the live theatre industry, leading to an industry life cycle process. A period of experimentation was followed by the emergence of a dominant design, the broader adoption of this design and then attempts to control the market for the product. In the case of the film industry this cyclical process happened twice, with dominant design of the one-reeler and the nickelodeon industry itself being disrupted by new entrants who established the feature film industry. The chapter then shows how as each design became established, and studios gained a degree of market control, producers began to search for process efficiencies in production. The chapter analyses a sequence from a feature film – Pirates of The Caribbean: The Curse of The Black Pearl – to illustrate the key elements of this dominant design, and to help identify the features of later designs like the studio show and the filmed series.
