G322 EXAM PRACTICE QUESTION:
What impact does media ownership
have upon the range of products available
to audiences in the media area you have studied? (50 Marks)
Please complete this essay question by the first Media lesson of the summer term.
- Use the notes on the Hollywood megafranchise model (the Big Six) Start by defining the 'megafranchise model' and its impact on film production LINK TO NOTES HERE
- As case studies, refer to The Avengers and Skyfall as examples of mainstream films; explain how their distributors attracted and addressed audiences. What products are available apart from the cinema experience? LINK TO AVENGERS & SKYFALL NOTES
- As contrast, explain the issues that British film makers face
- What kinds of films are more likely to be green lit? What has British cinema to offer audiences? Why is there a place for national cinema?
- Illustrate by reference to Working Title's practices and illustrate by reference to one film now in production by WT
- Independent cinema production does not have a range of products in the way that a big studio production does. For example, explain how niche films like Shifty (Eran Creevy) were distributed; mention Creevy's current film Welcome to the Punch (2013). See the TRAILER here. Explain why this film is such a different one from Eran Creevy's first. Explain how its distributors attracted and addressed its audiences.
- Case studies of smaller indie films: Tortoise in Love. How did the BFI funding help? Is it enough? Are niche films like this at a disadvantage in the national, international and global marketplace? (Sentence starter: 'The impact of low budget, independent production is that indie films may not even receive cinema release but go straight to DVD or online release.'
- Final sentence should be about trends (the future): as a result of Hollywood's suffocating grip on film production, producers are seeking new ways to reach audiences and one new product is the selling of films direct to audiences online, bypassing the studios. Kevin Spacey, Netflix and House Of Cards. Where YouTube started with amateurs building audiences online, production companies follow.Will this Netflix original series from Kevin Spacey redefine how television is produced and consumed?
