G322 THE INTERNET, THE FILM INDUSTRY, DISTRIBUTION AND EXCHANGE

Below are several articles on how the film industry has used the Internet to promote films and exhibit films. Read them then do research to find examples from the last 5 years, in relation to one mega franchise, one UK film and one micro budget film. Write in complete sentences, modelling your answer on the approaches below.

Also worth considering:

Making unauthorized copies of movies for friends is a form of online piracy

Internet piracy can have a detrimental effect on more than just corporate profits: an unfinished version of the action movie The Hulk was available on the internet two weeks before its cinema release. As more internet users watched the pirated copy, online chat rooms filled up with bad reviews of what was an unfinished version of the film. Some in the industry have blamed this "bad press" for the poor takings and official reviews received by the film.

Integration

Ultimately, one of the major effects the internet may have on movies stems from its effect on TV. Since the current generation is used to watching TV on demand and without commercials (or minimal commercials) advertisers are desperately looking for new ways to market products. One of the ways many marketers are settling on is product integration, or featuring a brand or service in shows and films. These has been since films were created, but the frequency is expected to increase. Directors, actors, and screenwriters may all be expected to work around an increasing number of brands that "have" to be featured in the film by contract, a practice that may threaten artistic integrity.

MOVIE PROMOTION ON THE INTERNET

In the summer of 1995, media and advertising executives announced that the Internet had become the "new frontier" in film promotion. Marketing Batman Forever(1995), Warner Bros. was the first to promote a major feature film using a Website as the campaign's center-piece. The Web address (or URL) was included on posters, print and television advertisements, and radio spots, and the Batman Foreverlogo appeared with the URL without elaboration at bus and train stations. The film's Website offered a hypertextual narrativethat linked to plot twists and hidden pages for users to discover by correctly answering a series of concealed questions posed by the Riddler, one of the film's main characters. The Batman ForeverWebsite also cross-promoted ancillary products from its sister companies, including the soundtrack recording and music videos.

In June 1995 Universal Pictures partnered with leading Internet service providers American Onlineand CompuServe to present the first live interactive multisystem simulcastto promote a film on the Web with Apollo 13star Tom Hanksand director Ron Howardbefore the premiere. The Website later included special Internet video greetings from some of the film's stars and digital still pictures from the film's Los Angeles premiere. Another notable early example of Internet promotion was the Website for Mars Attacks!(1996), by Warner Bros., which included an original fifteen-minute Internet "radio play" about a truck driver who evades Martians while attempting to deliver the only print of Mars Attacks!in time for the premiere. In late 1996, the Star Trek: First ContactWebsite received over 30 million hits during its first week of release, at that point the largest traffic ever for a film Website, and by the end of 1996, movie trailers, digitized stills, actor and filmmakerprofiles, and computer screensavers were available online for almost every major film released. Web addresses were also commonly included in theatrical trailers, TV commercials, print advertisements, and posters. In 1997 studios were spending approximately $10,000 to produce an independent film's Website and at least $250,000 for blockbuster studio films, which accounted for an extremely small portion of the overall promotional budget.

In 1999 studios began to coordinate Website tie-inswith pay-per-vieworders, allowing viewers to "play along" at home through synchronized Web content. Viewers who purchased the December 1999 pay-perview release of New Line Cinema's Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Mewere offered an interactive television experience synchronized over the Web. For the DVD release of The Matrix(1999), Warner Bros. scheduled a synchronized screening and Internet chat session with the film's directors. In 1999 Apple Computer launched its very popular movie trailerWeb page to promote its QuickTime video software, receiving over 30 million downloads for the Web-basedtrailers for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace(1999) alone.

THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT AND ONLINE FAN DISCOURSE

The Blair Witch Project(1999) was one of the most profitable films in history when measured by its return on the initial investment. Made for approximately $50,000 and grossing over $100 million in US theatrical box-office alone, this financial victory of a low-budget independent film over the major studio blockbusters instigated a paradigm panic among Hollywood executives due in large part to the important role of the Internet in the film's commercial success. When the mainstream film industry had already begun to create content specific to the Web, Internet promotion was still considered to be supplementary to established media outlets, and the theatrical film was still the main component of the brand or franchise. For The Blair Witch Project, however, the Web became the central medium or the primary text for the film's narrative and its reception, as well as its marketing or "franchising" beginning more than a year before the film's major theatrical distribution. In this sense, the Web functioned in the 1990s for The Blair Witch Projectin the same way that newspapers and magazines did in relation to the earliest commercial cinema in the 1890s by playing a primary role in the film's narrative and its meaning for the audience.

Directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez originally launched The Blair Witch ProjectWebsite in June 1998 on their production company's Website, Haxan.com. When the independent distributor, Artisan Entertainment, boughtThe Blair Witch Projectfor $1.1 million from directors Myrick and Sánchez at the Sundance Film Festival in January 1999, the company envisioned exploiting the medium of the Web to compensate for its relative lack of funds for promotion. On April Fool's Day, Artisan relaunched The Blair Witch ProjectWebsite with additional material, including footage presented as outtakes from "discovered" film reels, police reports, the "back story" on missing film students, and a history or mythology of the Blair Witch legend. The next day Artisan sent 2,000 The Blair Witch Projectscreensavers to journalists and premiered its trailers on the "Ain't It Cool News" Website instead of on television or in theaters.

Read more: http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Independent-Film-Road-Movies/Internet-THE-BLAIR-WITCH-PROJECT-PARADIGM-AND-ONLINE-FAN-DISCOURSE.html#ixzz497WuPcIf

OLDER ARTICLE BELOW

Throughout 1999, the major studios also established online retail stores in partnership with their studios' other Web operations. Increasingly since the 1980s, the film studios have become part of larger transnational media conglomerates that often have holdings in other industry sectors. The Web is thus inordinately well suited to this structure of convergence and integration, providing a retail and cross-promotional portal to sister and parent company products, services, and subsidiary media outlets.

The Internet quickly became a significant retail outlet for the distribution or sale of DVD releases, and by 2001 all of the major film companies had partnered with the Internet Movie Database, or IMDb (www.imdb.com), and leading online retailer Amazon.comto promote new theatrical films, personalize movie showtimes, and sell DVDs. In October 1990, IMDb started as the Usenet newsgroupbulletin board rec.arts.movies to which volunteers would post information about films and discuss movies with other fans. With the advent of the Web, the bulletin board was transformed into one of the most visited sites on the Internet, averaging over 30 million visitors each month and containing over 6 million individual film credits, including information on over 400,000 films, 1 million actors and actresses, and 100,000 directors. The IMDb has also built a strong sense of community among its almost 9 million registered users, who can post to the public discussion forum available for each film and rate a film between 1 and 10. All of this information lends itself to the customized links available for celebrity news and gossip, images of stars, box-office and sales statistics, and Amazon.comfor DVD purchases.

In addition to providing easy access to detailed information about films and convenient ways for consumers to purchase DVDs, the Internet also provides a distribution method for alternative or independent fictional films and documentaries. The technical and economic advantages of digitization and online distribution have benefited academics and researchers through the availability of digitized film archives like the Library of Congress Paper Print Collection and the Internet Archive's Movie Archive, which includes the Prelinger Archives. The Internet also serves as a significant medium of distribution for multimedia art, Flash movies, film parodies, home movies or videos, and animated political cartoons. In addition, the distribution and sale of pornographic films and videos online totaled over $1 billion in 2005 and comprised a large portion of total Internet file-sharing volume.

Due to technical limitations of bandwidth and connection speeds as well as legal obstacles surrounding the Internet rights to distribute Hollywood films, the independent "short" has become one of the most common categories of film distributed online, including a large selection of animated shorts. One of the most popular sites for viewing online films is AtomFilms.com, which launched "AtomFilms Studio" in January 2006 to fund independent producers looking to create short films specifically for Internet broadband distribution. In 2005, in addition to streaming content, AtomFilms.com's major competitor, IFILM.com, expanded its distribution methods to deliver video-on-demand (VOD) to cellular smart-phonesand personal digital assistants (PDAs).

In 2001 BMW premiered its eight-part online promotional series of big-budget, short action films titled The Hire, made by such established international film directors as David Fincher, John Frankenheimer, Ang Lee, Guy Ritchie, Kar Wai Wong, Alejandro González Iñárritu, and John Woo, and such stars as Clive Owen, Stellan Skarsgård, Madonna, Forest Whitaker, and Gary Oldman. On its Website, BMW boasted that the films had been viewed over 100 million times before they were removed from the site in 2005, despite the fact that the films were released on DVD in 2003.

Although technical and infrastructural obstacles related to bandwidth and video quality and size may be overcome, Internet copyright issues, Internet distribution rights, and Internet release time "windows"—which traditionally go from theaters, video/DVD, pay-per-view, premium cable, network television, and basic cable—have also complicated online distribution. For instance, the major rights holders (that is, Hollywood studios and entertainment conglomerates) have prevented companies like Netflixfrom shifting their distribution and rental methods to on-demand streaming and downloading over the Web, although the online DVD-by-mail rental service is still one of the more profitable Web ventures, ending 2005 with about 4.2 million subscribers and sales approaching $1 billion.

Responding to increased consumer demand, and in response to the fact that only 15 percent of worldwide Hollywood film revenues come from box-office profits, and that two-thirds of the income for the six major studios now comes from the home theater divisions, the majors have begun to pursue their own online distribution options by offering feature-length filmsalready available on DVD for legal downloading, including MovieLink (http://www.movielink.com), a joint venture of MGM, Paramount, Sony, Universal, and Warner Bros.; and CinemaNow (http://www.cinemanow.com), financed in part by Lions Gate and CiscoSystems. In December 2005, Apple Computer also began to distribute animated short films from Pixar(co-owned by Apple CEO Steve Jobs), Disney-ABC television programs, and music videos through its popular iTunes music download service. While no feature-length films are included in Apple's library, the January 2006 purchase of Pixar by Disney may facilitate the distribution of Disney's feature films through Apple's service.

By the end of the summer of 2005, industry analysts and mainstream news outlets were announcing the "death of the movie theater" as industry figures and independent film companies began to question and challenge traditional film release windows. Director and producer Steven Soderbergh (sex, lies, and videotape[1989], Traffic[2000], Erin Brockovich[2000], Oceans Eleven[2001]) entered into an agreement with 2929 Entertainment, HDNet Films, and Landmark Theatresto produce and direct six films to be released simultaneously to theaters, DVD home video, and on HDNet high-definition cable and satellitechannels. For the 26, January 2006, "stacked release" of the first film from that venture, Bubble, 2929 Entertainment agreed to share 1 percent of the home video DVD profits with theater owners who exhibited the film. Another new distribution model of simultaneous releases was announced in July 2005 by ClickStarInc.com, a Web venture between Intel Corp. and Revelations Entertainment, co-founded by actor Morgan Freeman. ClickStar will offer legal downloading of original feature films before they are released on DVD and while they are still in first-run theaters. Freeman's considerable star power, which he is lending to several of the ClickStar films, may give a film enough exposure through its Web release to be distributed through other media, like cable television.

It remains to be seen whether or not the major studios will welcome these new methods of exhibition and release windows for distribution. History suggests that the mainstream entertainment corporations will resist this model since it would change the established profit-making system. Even if video-on-demand over the Web becomes widely adopted, like the rapid adoption of television by consumers in the 1950s and 1960s, predictions about the impending death of the movie theater may be exaggerated or misguided. The film and entertainment industries have a long history of appropriating newly established models of production, distribution, and exhibition, as well as purchasing independent companies that pose a significant threat, as the acquisition of many formerly independent studios by the Hollywood majors attests. In addition, the same companies that own the major film production, distribution, and exhibition outlets are horizontally and vertically integratedcompanies that already have oligopolies in many of the other media sectors that will distribute these films in the future, including television, cable, and the Internet.

SEE ALSODistribution;Fans and Fandom;Independent Film;Publicity and Promotion;Technology;Video Games

Castonguay, James. "The Political Economy of the 'Indie Blockbuster': Intermediality, Fandom, and The Blair Witch Project." In Nothing That Is: Millennial Cinema and the Blair Witch Controversies, edited by Sarah L. Higley and Jeffrey A. Weinstock, 65–85. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 2003.

CNET News. http://news.cnet.com

Finn, A., Simpson, N., McFadyen, S., and C. Hoskins. "Marketing Movies on the Internet: How Does Canada Compare to the U.S.?" Canadian Journal of Communication[Online], 25(3). http://www.cjc-online.ca(March 28, 2006).

Read more: http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Independent-Film-Road-Movies/Internet-MOVIE-DISTRIBUTION-AND-THE-INTERNET.html#ixzz497SgHAOy

Read more: http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Independent-Film-Road-Movies/Internet-MOVIE-DISTRIBUTION-AND-THE-INTERNET.html#ixzz497SNSbzX

Read more: http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Independent-Film-Road-Movies/Internet-MOVIE-DISTRIBUTION-AND-THE-INTERNET.html#ixzz497SAHQXu

G322 EVALUATE THE ROLE OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES IN FILM MARKETING & CONSUMPTION

http://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/179236-example-candidate-answers-from-june-2013.pdf

CROSS MEDIA CONVERGENCE AND SYNERGY

"Cross-media convergence and synergy are vital processes in the successful marketing of media products to audiences." (June 2012)

What is cross-media convergence and synergy?

The answer below is from the OCR media studies helpline. This is the LINK HERE. 

After reading the response from OCR's media studies subject officer Rob Carlton and the additional points, decide how you could develop this into an exam answer using all our case studies.

16:11, 5th May 2011

Rob Carlton
Posts: 224

This is my take on it. Any comments or additions are welcome.

Technological convergence refers to the process where new technology is moving towards single platforms delivering multiple media outputs that can be used to reach audiences, for example, a PS3's primary function is video gaming but you can download and watch movies from Lovefilm.com on it and also watch catch up TV and music videos.

Convergent technology is technology that allows an audience to consume more than one type of media from a single platform.

Lots of aspects of the internet e.g. social networking, YouTube, online editions of newspapers and magazines are convergent but candidates cannot quote the internet as the sole aspect of their answer. Their answer needs to be linked into the media area they are talking about (Film, Music, Magazines, Newspapers, Radio, Video Games). E.g if they were talking about newspapers you could link in to their online editions and talk about how this differs from the traditional paper version and the opportunities it presents or if talking about film, candidates could, for example, point to facebook campaigns advertising a film or viral marketing spread via the internet. (JMM: Since May 2011, independent film makers with smaller budgets have a growing range of online options available for marketing and self-distribution. This trend includes iTunes, BitTorrent, Vimeo, Netflix and Createspace. In class today, we revised the details using an Emaze presentation. I myself have a Vimeo professional account to upload video work.)

Digital projection is convergent technology because films that are produced digitally have moved away from the physical film medium and can be supplied to theatres in digital format (lower costs for distribution versus higher start up costs for theatres switching to digital technology). As the film is in digital format there are also cost savings as potentially less work needs to be done on the film to get it onto Blu-Ray, DVD, internet trailers etc as no physical conversion needs to take place because the film is already in digital format. (JMM: Since May 2011 when this was written, there is a growing trend to produce films in IMAX format. Whereas IMAX (giant screens) was intially associated with large academic institutions such as museums, many venues now offer 3D screenings on convention al sized screens. Digitization means diversity for audiences: my local small town cinema now offers three screens, catering for mainstream and niche audiences as well as 3D screenings. Currently screening are Eye in the Sky, Captain America and The Jungle Book. The two latter are available in 3D. I chose to see Star Wars recently in 3D in my local cinema but more often than not, I will choose to use my iPad at home to screen films from Netflix, catch-up TV and downloaded films bought online).

Cross Media Convergence is really a Business Studies term and refers to companies coming together vertically or horizontally (or both). The example often cited in exams is of Working Title making use of its parent company(s) to gain access to bigger stars and a better distribution network for their films.

Synergy basically means working together to achieve an objective that couldn't be achieved independently. Cross-media convergence can help with synergy if companies are wise enough to take advantage of the links they have forged. Disney is an obvious example of a synergistic company from the top down from Film Studio to Kids' TV Channel (where it further plays and promotes its films) to the Disney Store (in the street and online) where your kids can pester you to buy all the merchandise and DVDs/CDs they've seen on the TV/Web or in the cinema. (JMM: Consider how our case study on Jurassic World offers examples of synergy. However, whilst it is extremely effective, films can be made and marketed with more limited methods, such as those strategies adopted for TIL and '71.)

Cross-media convergence and Synergy: additional points

Because the Big Six studios are all subsidiaries of major conglomerates they benefit from cross-media convergence and synergy.  The Walt Disney Company is an example of cross-media convergence as it produces and distributes a wide range of different types of media.  Disney is made up of five different divisions, including Walt Disney Studios (film studios, record labels), Media Networks (television channels), and Disney Interactive (video games, web-based media).

Disney have been described as the ‘masters of media synergy’, and have developed a range of multi-platform brands, such as Hannah Montana which included a television series, theatrically released film, soundtrack albums, magazines, merchandise, and online games.  Using synergy in this way helps Disney to maximise ancillary revenue and maintain brand awareness.

The use of synergy and cross-media convergence was key to the success of ‘The Avengers’ (2012).  Disney bought Marvel Entertainment is 2009, and oversaw the release of a series of films such as Iron Man, and Hulk which built towards the release of ‘The Avengers’ film.  An extensive range of merchandise for the Marvel characters helped to increase brand awareness and generate ancillary revenue, as a result of synergy between the studio division, and the Disney Stores and merchandise divisions. 

The development of the Avengers Alliance Facebook game is another example of cross-media convergence and synergy, with the Disney Interactive division developing a game to promote the Avengers film through social media. 

After the success of the ‘Avengers’ film Disney produced two television programmes, one of which is shown on the Disney XD channel, and one (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D) which is shown on the ABC network, another subsidiary of Disney.  Disney is using the popularity of the Avengers’ film franchise to encourage viewers to watch their television subsidiaries.  The television programmes will also maintain interest in the film franchise before the release of Avengers 2 in 2015. 

This demonstrates the way in which cross-media convergence and synergy allow major conglomerates to maximise revenue from a film brand, and help a range of subsidiaries to be successful.  The successful use of synergy is another factor in the continued dominance of the film industry by the Big Six studios, as independent companies do not have the opportunity or resources to use synergy on the same scale as the studios

FROM MEDIAEDU on synergy

A Grade Exemplar Response – Synergy

(32 Marks)

Synergy is the process by which media institutions use a range of platforms to promote, sell and distribute their products. Assess the impact of synergy in your cross-media study. Support your answer with reference to a range of examples from three media platforms.

Synergy can be defined as when two or more compatible products sell each other e.g. Facebook and Farmille/Candy Crush Saga, or a film and soundtrack but for the purposes of this response I will be analysing synergy from an institutional point of view in terms of how it works across platforms but also exploring whether the impact of synergy on audience reception and response is significant or not.
My cross media study topic is film fiction – for moving image I researched Star Trek (2009), Skyfall and A Field in England while for print I looked at Empire Magazine, Total Film and Sight and Sound and for E Media - Netflix, YouTube and iTunes. Synergy was very much evident during the multi platform release of A Field in England on 5th July 2013 and relates directly to the concept of ownership – developed and financed by Film 4.0, Film4’s digital arm this low budget (£300,000) independent film was simultaneously released at PictureHouse Cinemas (The Ritzy in Brixton, London), through Film4 video on demand and through iTunes where audiences could purchase the HD version for £13-99. Ben Wheatley, the director wanted build the maximum amount of industry hype by reaching an audience traditionally it would be hard to connect with. The coordination of platforms also had the key advantage of not just selling the film, but also selling Film4, the PictureHouse Cinema chain and also iTunes to audiences.
In terms of synergy, A Field in England benefitted from association with a respected and innovative broadcast channel, a cinema chain that is well known for mixing independent, art house and some mainstream films in terms of programming and Apple’s iconic, commercially successful digital distribution platform iTunes - the film was also available on Viooz and http://www.vodzilla.co which markets itself as the first video on demand magazine and the film is available to this day as a free stream on YouTube ensuring viral talkability. Synergy was also evident through 40% of consumers with older televisions who use their HDMi lead to connect to a console like PS3’s media server, Wii or X Box to watch films online. The cross platform release enabled A Field in England to focus less on advertising spend, ensuring the multi platform allowed the film to become an Event Movie. Here, synergy did have an impact on audience reception ensuring A Field in England which ordinarily would have gone straight to DVD after a limited theatrical release went viral and was consumed and discussed by a broader audience. Sight and Sound, a BFI publication also associated itself with the release with their July 2013 edition having a short cover line at the bottom of the page advertising the film – this reflected their involvement, in terms of synergy of wanting to be linked with an independent film that was likely to achieve critical success but also their part funding of the project under the BFI Distribution Fund. Non-media tie ins even ensured that Welton’s Brewery made a limited edition beer that PictureHouse cinema goers could buy going into the screen with the tagline, “Open up and Let the Devil In”.
Synergy tends to me more associated with mainstream texts aimed at mass audiences and with Star Trek (2009) this was very much the case – ownership by Paramount as one of the ‘big six’ of the oligopoly of film distributors allowed for maximum investment in production but also the ability to synergise in the promotion and marketing of their film. Using the director, JJ Abrams as one of the unique selling points, digital marketing appeared on the websites of high production value television dramas he had been associated with including Lost and Fringe. This enabled a wider male and female audience who were fans of these shows to be made aware of the up and coming film with its more emotive approach in regards to science fiction marketing – developing a wider female demographic was one of the main intentions of the campaign. Sky Sports also ran ‘super headers’ ensuring that a traditionally male science fiction audience were also targeted. Standard, above the line marketing e.g. trailers also ran alongside the synergy used in the campaign.
This synergy was further evidenced by Facebook fan kits and wallpaper downloads but crucially in print media with not just film magazine covers of Empire and Total Film devoted to the film’s release but also a Big Issue cover, GQ and Esquire magazine. Esquire ran a challenging cover showing a light bulb, identifying the edition as the ‘Genius Issue’ with ’21 Ways to Appear More Intelligent (without having pointy ears) referring to the cover image of Zachary Quinto as Spock framed centrally in medium shot. GQ chose to run with a cover showing Chris Pine who played James T. Kirk in a suit as part of its ‘Men of the Year’ issue. Synergy certainly helped in marketing the film to a broader audience (it was the 7th most successful film in terms of box office in 2009) but cynics would suggest that the amount spent on marketing and publicity placed synergy as only partly responsible for the selling of the film to a wide, non-gender specific audience.
Again, as with A Field in England non-media tie ins included a free movie toy with Burger King meals, Phones4u and Hamleys competitions and also a promo in Heat magazine which targeted a female audience. Total Film magazine ran with black and white, full close up covers of Spock and Kirk and were happy to extensively market the blockbuster film (as a mainstream film magazine that focuses themselves on the mainstream, commercially successful market of safe genre films like Star Trek as science fiction). Crucially, Total Film is published by Future Publishing who as well as releasing 150 UK magazine titles are also the official magazine of all the console game manufacturers. It would be commercially essential to synergise with Star Trek as a successful franchise but also as a film that had spawned a single/multi player action video game (Star Trek) that is available on X Box, PS and Windows platforms. Empire Magazine ran with less iconic covers, choosing instead to focus on the whole cast in uniform, acknowledging and promoting the fact that this is a film that is likely to be a 2009 global summer blockbuster – it is this global aspect that again references synergy with Empire as a magazine published by the large global consumer magazine and media institution, Bauer; Empire alone is published in the US, Australia, Turkey, Russia and Portugal.
Skyfall, like Star Trek has been a commercially successful film that has exploited synergy and also is now available digitally on a number of platforms including Netflix reflecting shorter non theatrical window releases (although Netflix might argue with the length of time it takes them to acquire a film). With the commercial backing of Sony (MGM/Columbia) Skyfall used a range of media to promote the 23rd Bond film to audiences but crucially the title soundtrack by Adele became iconic and evidenced synergy in terms of its own commercial success. The institution of Sony is crucial in understanding the ability to synergise with the film promoting the Adele soundtrack, promoting the DVD, promoting the computer game, Sony Phone (and many other non-media ties ins e.g. Jaguar and Coca Cola) and promoting the TV – all owned by Sony. The CD was released at the same time as the film while a new Sony TV featured Skyfall in the promotional adverts.  Even the Daily Mail used the film to launch a British Tourism promotional campaign while Empire and Total Film magazine dedicated several covers to Skyfall as a globally successful film reflecting a global brand.
While synergy is very much a key factor in my cross media study, the commercial success of all texts are not exclusively dependent on it – moving image media is still seen as the best way to sell moving image texts, e.g. trailers selling films and video games but print media is increasingly dependent on synergy and convergence while circulation continues to decline and is replaced by online variants and other new media. Empire and Total Film for example will often direct audiences through convergent links to online media and interactive social networking through Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook. Online film streaming sites like Netflix go from strength to strength using synergy, with their latest venture producing its own range of original feature films. There is already a Facebook sharing feature to the Netflix interface with the announcement of further institutional synergy planned for 2015 involving Disney and Marvel TV providing Netflix with live action series.

 

G322 REVISION ACTIVITY: PROLIFERATION

"The increase in hardware and content in media industries has been significant in recent years. Discuss the effect this has had on institutions and audiences in the media area you have studied." June 2014

 How can we use our case studies to respond to this question?

What relevance, if any, do the following have?
 Jurassic World case study, the presentation on new distribution methods and our knowledge of '71 to answer the following exam questions?

 

G322 ISSUES RAISED IN THE TARGETING OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCES

EXAM REVISION: AUDIENCES

Today you should plan an exam essay answer on issues relating to how national and local (specifically British) audiences are targeted by international or global institutions. Remember the bullet points? Here they are below. 

We are looking at the last one, just above 'refer to candidates' own media consumption' (which means = your film-watching choices, the platforms that you use to watch films, and what your family and people of your age do'). 

How to plan? Write a list of topic sentences then the paragraph writes itself. See underneath!

Your list of topic sentences on targeting national and local audiences might go like this: 

• The 'big 6' Hollywood studios chase mass mainstream audiences often with formulaic films that Dalecki called 'the 4S megafranchise model'. Hollywood is renowned for producing blockbusters with strong narratives, often part of a sequel, usually with larger than life characters, using exciting, complex sets often in exotic or extravagant locations
• Distributors target audiences via an interconnected web of companies which all promote the film as a package of products. (Give as many details as possible from our Case studies Avengers )
• Distributors of big-budget movies like Jurassic World target audiences through multi-pronged campaigns (the Waterloo launch, website, OOH media, social media).
• Issues include the commodification of films via product placements (give details from our Case study Skyfall). Film critic Kevin Maher attacks global giants like Amazon, Google and Hollywood for such 'obscene corporate products that violate the cultural life of this country' (see his 'boycott the blockbuster' article in my screenshot below).
• Issues include 'cultural imperialism' or the imposition of one world view and set of values on the rest of the world; this is why we need a national cinema that serves the cultural life of this country.
• Certain British films target both national and international audiences. '71 was marketed to national and international audiences by Warp (open link): despite being a film about the Troubles in Ireland, it was marketed as a film about the radicalization of ALL young people, especially relevant to UK and US audiences who live in fear of terrorist attacks.
• Working Title released Legend in the knowledge that US audiences would relate to the 'rat pack' theme and UK audiences would buy into the gangland glamour: " Brian Helgeland’s film certainly benefits from the UK audience’s existing awareness of, and interest in, the film’s subject – the Kray brothers remain the most notorious London gangsters. However, Hardy is also a key selling point: given his reputation as a highly committed actor, his performance in the dual roles of Ronnie and Reggie Kray exerted a powerful curiosity factor."
• The Hobbit evokes national nostalgia for old-world values and rural idylls (say how it is quintessentially British) but also addresses international audiences (through spectacle, story, sequel).
• Some films appear to compromise artistic integrity in favour of commercial success with one eye on the international market, selling a predicable or sanitised vision of Britain. The Boat That Rocked (Richard Curtis) clearly targeted middle England baby boomers & seems even more seedy in the light of current DJ scandals. Critics attacked Curtis for failing to use his influential position to direct 'more challenging' films like Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle) that introduce audiences to more important, real issues. 
• When David Cameron visited Pinewood, the home of the successful James Bond franchise, he called for British film makers to make 'more commercially successful pictures' and warned that government money would be rebalanced to support 'more mainstream films', there was an outcry that several huge recent British hits might not have seemed commercial & therefore might not have received lottery funding. Neither an exploited Indian teenager nor a royal with a stutter sound like box office gold - but both Slumdog Millionaire and The King's Speech won top Oscar honors.
• Working Title productions capitalize successfully on a particular vision of Britain that is readily marketable internationally, such as literary adaptations (Tinker Tailor), period drama, history (Mary Queen Of Scots 2014) , romcom, humour (Jonny English). Bridget Jones's Baby (2014) illustrates how WT uses Hollywood model of sequels, unsurprising as its parent company is Universal
• WT also produces films for a more local market; currently The World's End is in production, targeted at audiences of Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead.
• Smaller production companies with micro budgets target more local audiences (Tortoise In Love £160,000 received BFI funding to screen for local audiences but secured red carpet premiere in Leicester Square; even smaller budget for Shifty  of £100,000 led producer Eran Creevy to target niche London audiences very specifically through risky personal emails; distributors of The Disappearance of Alice Creed for new director J. Blakeson detected audience hotspots around Southampton Uni via interactive website material and premiered in Southampton to reward local audiences.

Kevin Maher attacks global products

G321 TV DRAMA

We look at representations of ethnicity in East Is East (directed by Damien McDonnell, written by Ayub Khan Din) and of disability in Extras (BBC TV Drama, Ricky Gervais).
We practise the three-point exam technique as recorded on the class whiteboard.