MEDIA OWNERSHIP ESSAY continued

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)  

HERE ARE YOUR FIRST 4 PARAGRAPHS.

START I have studied the film industry. In this essay, I understand 'media ownership' to mean both the Hollywood film industry and independent British film producers and distributors.First, I am going to write about the Hollywood 'big six' using as my case study Disney as an example of the mega-franchise model. Then, I plan to discuss British film, using as my case studies Working Title and Vertigo (or Warp) and a selection of independent films some with small budgets and niche audiences. Finally, I refer to the newest developments and future trends of consumers as producers, crowd-sourced films and vloggers, as exemplified by Tortoise in Love, Ridley Scott's Life in a Day and vlogger Casey Neistat.

To begin with, I will define 'range of products' in relation to production values (big budgets, high production values, CGI, motion capture, exotic locations, expensive casting and so on), big distribution budgets (interactive websites, range of trailers, luxury brand tie-ins, syndicated TV channel advertising, P&A saturation and so on), diverse film products (animation, DVD, BluRay, 3D, IMAX, downloads, sound tracks, ring tones and so on) and entertainment super-texts (like theme parks and video games). In other words,  I intend to show that Hollywood mega-franchises dominate because of their ability to generate constant synergy: for instance, the Disney Stores promote the consumer products which promote the theme parks which promote the television show, as in my case study of Avengers and Frozen. Disney can produce a variety of successful products: n February 2015, the team at Walt Disney Animation Studios scored a double whammy at the 87th Oscars in both the 'Best Animation Feature' (Big Hero 6) and the 'Best Animation Short' (Feast) categories.

However, I also intend to argue that Hollywood's focus on certain film genres (sequels, prequels and superhero film) actually narrows consumer choice. By playing safe as they aim for global markets, Hollywood develops films that offer archetypes, story and spectacle, whereas British film and independent film producers in general offer more diverse film genres. Interestingly, British film seems to be entering a golden age of Oscar success with products like The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything, the Grand Budapest Hotel and Whiplash, as well as 'heritage' films like Mr Turner which have received critical acclaim if not Oscar success.

Therefore I intend to define 'range of products' in terms of 'range of genre' and show how smaller film makers make a wide range of films that offer what national audiences need. 
By contrast with Hollywood, I will examine how smaller film makers and national production companies (like Vertigo / Warp) tackle issues relating to genre, casting, production values, distribution, building audiences and exhibiting films.

HERE IS A PARAGRAPH TO PUT IN AS WELL: 

Audi / Iron Man cross promotion HERE

I have seen that distribution for Iron Man 3 has included film website trailers, in-cinema trailers and a TV advert tie-in. I watched the 30 second teaser trailer with very high production values which highlighted the thrills and spills side of the film; in cinema whilst watching Oblivion I saw an extended trailer (addressed to like-minded audiences). On TV I watched no less than two Audi R8 e-tron car advert featuring Robert Downey Jr extolling the qualities of Audi engineering, linking his high-tech CGI suit to an Audi ("Iron Man approved" and "Engineered for Iron Man"). This is an example of cross-promotion or synergy.

AND HERE IS A PARAGRAPH TO PUT IN AT THE END: BRAND NEW POINTS!
In future, Hollywood may not have such a hold over global markets. In the first three months of 2013, ticket sales for American-made films in China, the world's second-largest cinema market, took an unexpected nosedive. Hollywood's bombastic superheroes have met their match as they struggle to keep their foothold in China: revenues fell in China, compared with the same period last year as big budget movies like The Hobbit failed to impress. ChinaFilmbiz.com reports that American movies "now hold a mere 23% of mainland China ticket revenues, a disastrous drop from the 57% share they held at this point last year". At the Oscars this year (2015),

It is interesting to note what Iron Man 3 has done to distribution in China: although the hero, brash but brilliant industrialist Tony Stark exemplifies the gung-ho spirit of the US, the script was vetted by Beijing, the film has a Chinese co-producer, many of the gadgets are from the Chinese electronics firm TCL, Ben Kingsley plays The Mandarin and a famous Chinese actor plays the villain Dr Wu. These measure aim to target the huge (global) Chinese audience. However, China also manipulates figures by imposing quotas on foreign film while giving incentives to national cinema. Chinese taste is also shifting towards local products.

Nevertheless, it may be that Asian audiences in general are tiring of  Hollywood action films that prioritise spectacle over story or character, and rely heavily on computer-generated explosions. I say this because I have read (The Times 23.04.13) that Hollywood did not do well that year in Japan, Korea and other parts of Asia and that