Issues Raised by Media Ownership. - Homework.

Disney - Synergy

Disney - Synergy

InBetweeners - Cross convergence and Synergy.

InBetweeners - Cross convergence and Synergy.

To what extent does digital distribution affect the marketing and consumption of media products in the media area you have studied?

To what extent does digital distribution affect the marketing and consumption of media products in the media area you have studied?

Digital distribution is a distribution (providing / giving out) method in which media content is delivered without the use of physical media (E.g. Film tape.) These distribution programs are now being improved more to offer more secure on-line transactions, consumer licensing and anti-piracy measures.This digital distribution method is potentially minimum expense, This furthers results into consumers getting goods cheaply, easily and with increased profits, this also includes an increased artistic freedom. Moving through into marketing section, this marketing method is based around the action or business of promoting and selling products or services. This marketing also includes the market research and advertising. Finally the consumption of media products, is where the sum of information and entertainment media is taken in by an individual or group. This activities can be interacting with new media such as reading books and magazines, watching television and films but also listening to the radio. 

To begin with, the Digital distribution affects the marketing and consumption of media products due to the rapid change of consumption from the consumers. The reasoning behind this rapid change, is because more consumers are now choosing to consume more media product files on the internet or in the comfort of their own home, with the home cinema surround sound instead of going out to public cinemas to pay money to generally watch the same film. There is now a high dependance on the internet for many. With the film industry taking this into account and having to consider promoting and distributing the film digitally on the internet, there is actually less exchange from consumers at the cinema, which means a lower profit. This profit needs to be raised again, which means the film industry needs to find a sensible distribution method which can be made and completed rapidly but also stay digital for the now dependent digital consumers. These methods are now; DVDS, Blu-Rays, VOD (Video On Demand) and on television. The positive outcome of being able to digitally distribute the product to consumers is that, the product can now be be given around a broader scale such as going world wide, but also being cheaper to transport the products to the consumers through DVDS e.t.c. or even on VOD, because the money does not now have to be paid for transport of actual film tape. More profit is then taken and saved by the film industry. Skyfall as an example had decided to keep the budget of $2000,000,000, before earning the profit of $918,000,0000 in just ticket sales before selling 2 million DVD copies in the UK alone, for a higher price than a ticket in the cinema. This digital distribution based on the consumers way for Skyfall alone, has shown that the consumers way of consuming the film is an extremely important based section as technology advancement has made the consumers advance as well, wanting a more appropriate method of watching the film, compared to having to make a trip to the theatre to watch a film. 

On the other hand, digital distribution through the marketing side is pretty well important compared to the way this digital distribution is consumed. With the old marketing style of posters being printed across sides of buses, or in the under-ground tunnel walls, consumers are now too busy with their travels to work or to important occasions, that this advertisement does not even get noticed anymore like it used to be when consumers had spare time on their hands to actually look around. With the technology becoming more advanced and consumed more in the consumers life, the film industry has too look personally into how their own product can be marketed digitally and become noticed. For example, when the consumers are only waiting for a bus in public or even on a train, phone technology has taken over their lives as every spare second would be spent checking the internet and social networking sites. This is a break through, for digital distribution, as they could create fan pages to promote a film on a social networking site, so the consumers could send in private messages or even public messages on the page asking for information. Google has also linked in with many digital distribution advertisement, which takes information from pages people have mostly visited, either on phones or laptops, before revealing adverts 24/7, linking to an appropriate subject or film. The positive outcome for this digital marketing across social networking sites and pop up ads or even trailers being shown on the sidebar or television when consumers are at their most relaxed, makes the both the consumer trustworthy and more believable to what this advertisement has to say, but becomes a cheaper and quicker method for the institution. With the institution also being already creative and unique for their advertisement and the payment to show this a lot cheaper than having to print on the paper, the only problem the institution has to promote their digital product with digital distribution, is by placing their advertisement in certain areas at certain times to attract the right target audience they want. For example, a film with the classification of 15, would not be shown around about noon for younger children too see, instead it would be placed on in the late evening at around about 9 pm for those consumers who have had work, to return home, relax and see the digital distribution of marketing, before wanting to see more of the film from just the trailer. Harry Brown for an example, was made a digital fan page for advertisement and received 1534 likes from fans and 66 consumers have talked about the digital media product and had 'tagged' them as a link to what they had to say. This all does not include the posts in which are made by the fan page, that consumers have 'liked' and 'commented' on. 

How your experiences of media consumption illustrates wider patterns and trends

How your experiences of media consumption illustrates wider patterns and trends

In the consumption section, audiences are now changing the ways they would like to consume the media product due to the multiple choices they have with the newer and broader technology. An example would be through that home cinemas and downloads now battle against a trip to the cinema. Trends are also becoming well known amongst the audience such as Netflix and DVD's, but also the synergy techniques such as Orange Wednesdays at the cinema. The main danger and problem for institutions are Illegal downloads, which most of the audiences have taken on. I, myself have consumed the film Skyfall in these multiple choices of consumption. 

With the cinema being the main chose of my consumption for Skyfall, the production of this film had to be carefully thought about, to make it the correct viewing for the consumers at the cinema. The budget of this film was $200,000,000, before the overall worldwide gross over took this, giving them an exceeding amount of profit. With the film being recorded on the Arri Alexa digital video camera and the Sony Digital Cinema 4k digital video projector, the expectations and overall film product was shown to be in high quality, resulting into the consumer and myself wanting to watch this film again. The CGI which had around 500 CGI shots against a green screen were also shown to have a more realistic appearance compared to previous films, which made it more acceptable for such a growing audience around my own age to want to consume more of the technology used. The only negative factor with the production, was the fact that Barbra Broccoli the producer, believed that Skyfall was not 'ready' to be produced in 3D. The reason this is actually negative, is because us as the audience are becoming more focused on consuming films which have a more realistic grabbing effect upon us but with also a higher quality. The reason I, as the audience prefer 3D, is because I find it more unique and entertaining with the way it is produced with different technology. The fact that the cinema already produces a bigger screen and a louder and more clearer sound system in placed with the silence of the audience, the consumer such as myself can find it easier to watch the film without disruptions and background noise but also feel the full effect of the screen. 

Moving on from this, the main distribution of Skyfall, well known as Columbia Pictures, distributed 'Skyfall' through the popular method of using emails on the internet digitally, due to the film being already filmed in digital. This distribution can be a negative factor, due to the advanced technology of hacking into email accounts, before exploiting the films illegally through piracy websites. I have previously watched other films through pirate websites, but have found that most of the quality is extremely bad or have previously been filmed by other consumers in the cinema, so it included a shaky experience, people moving in the audience in front of the camera and muffled sound. Another negative factor of this being digitally exported and watched, is that the quality is more negative compared to original way of the film actually being filmed and placed on film to be watched. The positive factors of the distribution of a digital film, is that it cannot be lost, there is no fuel expensive, the film can be digitally sent out to wider places around the world. Skyfall was actually released to 85 different countries, worldwide. The distribution company Columbia pictures is also well known for distributing other films such as; The Grown Ups 2, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, The Smurfs 2. The fact that this distribution both has a record of distributing the second sequels of films, and is well known with the audience, this makes us all including me except the highest quality and expectations when their logo is shown on the screen in a trailer. My experience with this distributor company, is that when I see their well known logo, I automatically believe that the films the distribute would be excellent and worthwhile too watch, due to previous films they have shown. 

With Columbia Pictures being the distribution company of the film, they are also in charge of marketing. This marketing is focused on raising awareness of the actual film but to also target a certain group of people for the audience. This is all done through creating publicity in various methods. With the target audience for Skyfall being between the ages of 15 - 60 year olds but also for both genders, this movie has been aimed at my own age group in which can cause discussions between my group of friends. The various methods of marketing were through; Bonding with Coke ( Became the appearance of the can), Sony previews 4 minutes of Skyfall at the CineEurope, Trailers, Posters, Clips shown on social networking sites such as Facebook, (These clips, can be shared onto other mutual friends walls, shared so it appears on everyones timelines, tag people into the clip so they can also watch it). With everyone in the target audience's tastes being different, I found that by using trailers mainly located on T.V but also my well used account on Facebook the social networking site, I became enticed to actually watch the full film from watching the trailers repeatedly or watching the other films. 

After the film has been marketed, the exchange (Point of sale) becomes the main sector. This point of sale includes, downloading, receiving the DVD through post and buying the ticket online or in box office. As an overall worldwide gross, Skyfall had earnt $918 million in ticket sales, sold 2 million DVD copies in the UK and a high unknown amount of unknown illegal downloads. This then follows through to the Exhibition (The way we watch a film as the paying audience). 

Gender Homework.

In this clip shown, the representation of Gender is shown through the use of camera work e.g. Camera shots, movement and angles. but also editing, sound and finally mise-en-scene.

The first shot used, was a medium long shot. This medium long shot was to reveal the feminine gender in a stereotypical view of a women. This shot is also used to show the mise-en-scene on how this feminine character obeys to the stereotypical rules by wearing an extreme amount of make-up against her red silk dress, to show the expensive taste this character has but also how she is very classy. The connotation of the  colour of the dress also symoblises danger and emotion with it's striking colours which shows how the feminine trait can not be trusted, but also that she must be the 'villian' which goes against societies stereotypes upon women, due to the male gender being the evil ones. Moving on from this a contrast was used by comparing this with a medium close up camera shot of a masculine dressed women, as she is shown in a more of a suit sort of costume with the mise-en-scene which links in with her leather jacket. This shows masculinity through the fact that she is covered up and more formal to show off her strength and power but also to be feared of. The outfit also shows how the female character does not link in with the feminine trait about having to be self conscious with her appearance, making her more masculine. The denotation, automatically shows the audience to expect that this masculine female to have been a part of a male dominated work place in which she has managed to be apart of, solving crime.

Another representation of gender through camera work is a high angle camera shot which is shown to be focused upon the male character. The way this camera is placed, is to exaggerate the fact that this male character can be feminine and looked upon as he does not show an extreme amount of power and strength. The vunerability of this male character makes him extremely feminine and it's stereotypical point is always placed upon the feminine role. The mise-en-scene of this character contrasts against the camera work, as he is shown to wear a suit which shows control and power, which is also a masculine trait. Continuing on from this, the stereotypical feminine characteristic is also shown in an extreme close up of the masculine appearanced female character who goes into a flash back of struggle and fear. This contrast well against her masculine appearance, as this flash back is linked with emotions, which is then shown only with the feminine characters.

The last shot that really stands out is the medium close up shot, due to her body language and the way she is shown to confront the male character. The masculine traits of braveness, power and control are all shown in the confrontation of her domination over this feminine male character. This shows a role-reversal between stereotypes in the clip as the females are now shown to be masculine while the male characters are shown to be feminine. This also links clearly into verisimilitude, as the construction of the action shown, constructs a believable world that people are living in as this resembles the problems many families or students in school have, when female show the masculine role of taking control and becoming argumentative, whilst males are more sensitive and can become easily upset.

The representation of gender is also shown to be used through editing. Things such as eye-line matches are use constantly between the switches of camera shot angles. An example of this eye-line match would be between the man in the suit and the masculine female character. During the actual eye-line match, the man is shown to be at a higher level, dominating over her with more masculine traits where else the masculine women becomes more feminine with the lack of power. Another editing skill was through the montage edit of the flash back as the women is shown to be both feminine with emotion but masculine with the flash back action of her. A following cross dissolve was used to portray two lots of action to show the difference between her feminine side and masculine side.

Keywords that need to be included from now on.:

Realism - do the different techniques used make these piece realistic? - Is the setting realistic 

Verisimilitude - the construction of a believable world, bearing resemblance to real world - Is the action believable. Stereotypes - how people are expected to be or represented in larger groupsDenotation ( or denotes) - the meaning of something eg we could see that from the empty bottles they had been drinking.Connotation ( or connotes) - the implication of that meaning eg they are all alcoholics and will die due to lover failure!

Film Production Company Case Study

Film Production Company Case Study

Sket Overall. - Unfinished.

Gender Homework. ~ Dr Who

Homework

In this clip extract of Dr Who, the gender is shown through camera angles, sound, mise-en-scene and editing. 

To begin this clip, a medium camera shot was used upon a female character who is shown to have two male security guards behind her. This shot alone shows the audience how the masculinity is shown only with the males as they are shown to dominating and powerful over the feminine character who is shown to be captive. A tracking shot of two maids and another imprison-er was shown to be standing with another guard. Once again these three characters were shown to be vulnerable with their facial expressions whilst the guard on the other side resembled a masculine pride as he holds the gun up to them. A low angle of a medium shot was placed in straight after this shot, of a male character containing a masculine appearance and behavior. This was through the stereotypical outfit he wore e.g. the suit but also how the camera angle makes him look more dominating and fearless unlike the camera movements and shots upon the feminine characters. The tracking shot in which was used to follow the feminine women's character's movement, was used for a sense of reality to the characters but also glide and show how she becomes more feminine based on appearance with the contrasts of the obvious masculine characters but also how she walks across to the main character with a glide but also her body swinging with every movement. 

Furthering on from this, a low angle shot was used to establish the difference between the masculine characters and the feminine characters. Whilst these gender's were stereo-typically placed between both sexes, the masculinity was mainly shown through the action seen as he lean down a little with his arm out-stretched which shows commanding and authority over the victim. As he is shown to be the masculinity, he is also shown to have the power and plans as he becomes over dominating and stronger. This contrasts hugely against the female character in the background, who is shown to be more quite and less involved, who also stands there, like she's casually 'eye-candy'. She is also shown to be more vulnerable and weak to the audience as she does not take the reign of having power and domination over the victim like the masculine character does. Once again this also contrasts against another women known as the victim who's outfit through mise-en-scene shows that she may be in the lower status, but she continues to have power through her masculinity with the way she dresses which in fact can actually hide any strength or any secrets from the villain.

Continuing on from this scene, we are introduced to the masculine Doctor through a medium camera shot, who is shown to be surrounded by an extremely radiant blue light through his transformation of an old man to a younger version of himself. Even though this is shown to be a power, the masculinity of the Doctor himself is still shown to over-throw the other male character as the other character starts to become more feminine with vulnerability and fear instead of standing up for his own ground. Even the quick medium close up shot's of the feminine female character shows how weak she really is in an object manner as she joins the more masculine Doctor in the end. This only shows feminine characters as objects in which would choose who's more masculine to stand by and become protected by, as they are unable to fight for their-selves or say a word in which would cause corruption. Moving on from this as well, when both the masculine characters are shown together, they are shown to fight each other in a more sci-fi powered way. This represents how masculinity is supposedly fought over and controlled by the most powerful. 

The editing used was mainly the quick paced cut ins of each scene. By using these quick paced cut in's, the audience can quickly see the power in which ranges between the feminine character and the masculine characters through different camera angles in their own conversations but also the speed in which shows how feminine characters are usually not meant to have the 'spot light' due to being to weak and vulnerable to control it. A flash back was also shown through editing with a crosscutting of the scene of a women struggling through rough weather. This women is only shown to be masculine due to her strength and ambition of getting to the finish line in this flash back as she is shown to not back down to natural problems. She continues to show this masculinity as she is able to perceive on-wards and tell other people of all ages her own thoughts and stories as she becomes the 'spot-light' and takes control. This whole clip shown continuity through out to show how the further time moves forward, the more sex of people change from the stereotypes they are placed through at birth, into the opposite genders. This continuity also gave a sense of reality to the audience, as the clips moving forward in time show a more real outcome.

Sounds were used in this clip throughout. The non-diegetic sound was used with mood music. This mood music was used to build tension with the masculine character to show the features of being feared of, aggressive, powerful and non-stoppable. With the mood music being strong with sharp noises from the first scene which appears, the audience are easily manipulated over, into believing that there is no hope for help with the feminine characters as they're too weak whilst the other masculine side characters are shown to be so feminine against the main villain. Continuing on, diegetic sounds such as the women's laughter shows how femininity can quickly change within certain ways. This diegetic sound of the feminine women's laughter is shown to be timid at the beginning before she becomes more powerful and feared of as the confidence is shown through her loudness. This reveals that feminine characters can and sometimes will over power the masculine characters in unique ways. This also fought against stereotypes laid in media, as the feminine character should never come into more power and reach of being the villain than the masculine character.

Sexuality Homework.

In this clip, there is shown to be camera shots, Mise-en-scene, editing and sound to display the sexuality throughout.

Camera work:

In the first shot of this clip, a two shot camera shot was used to establish the two ladies shown together, relationship with one another. Following on from this the expression of the younger female character behind is shown through the close up shot, to hint towards the audience her 'emotional state' as if she was going through something extremely tense and nerving. With the close up mainly focusing on the actual expression, her hand action was also involved as she stroked the women's shoulders. This starts to suggest to the audience the curious in look of sexuality for this other character. This alone starts the questioning of the females sexuality.

Following on from the establishment of the two women, the movement of a steadi-cam was used to both capture the mise-en-scéne of the scene but also once again the expressions the women pulls. With her chest actually rising high, her posture being straight and her facial expression being near to gasping, the audience can see the frustration but yet excitement as she reads further in depth with her book. The fact that the steadi-cam is used to display the scenery and her inside as it travels around, only shows that this small secreted area, is where she is able to release the tension and frustration of her sexuality away as she is also able to curiously look further in depth about the way her sexuality has finally become, in a more private manner.

The action shot was then simply used with the movement of the zoom in and pan to follow this young women's hand in a closer view as it travels down the other women's body. By using such subtle camera movements and shots, the sexuality of this young female can be shown in a relaxed but yet positive light to the audience. This then shows no threat, as they find it easier to relate to the calm action being shown as this female goes to explore in a subtle and unknown way without being forceful. The shot then ends to the women's hand slowly falling onto this other female's leg.

After the main focus on showing the female's sexuality of becoming a 'Lesbian' is shown in such a peaceful and calm manner, the camera work is taking outside as a close up on the 'lesbian' female's concentrating face.







Following on from the moment, the audience have experienced the different sexuality in a more defined way, an asynchronous sound was used, this asynchronous sound of only a few small birds tweeting is used to reveal the time of day that this scene is taking place in but also shows how calm the atmosphere really is, creating the audience to relax more. A few close up shots were used in this scene, to show the women who is revealed as painting starring at the other female model in a gaze of interest. This gaze of interest, intrigues the audience into believing that she is in a day dream of some sort as her love for this female model becomes overwhelming. This sexuality once again is known to be lesbian. Continuing on from this, the action matches used to show both the women painting and looking towards the female model, is followed quickly by a close up of the women's breast which shows the focus point of the painter who's interest has fallen onto the body features. The atmosphere is then interrupted with anger in an extreme close up shot as the women drops the paint off her paint brush before extravagantly, exclaiming to the female model that her sexuality lies on being lesbian. Whilst this part of the clip is shown, audiences would have released that this 'Lesbian' women could have been frustrated with the 'teasing' of other women in simple situations and become so overwhelmed that they stopped keeping it secret and staying shy about this situation.

Furthering on, the next scene is shown to reveal a sexuality of a heterosexual male, in a long shot as his actions show him to be stronger as he holds a female character up against the tree, whilst trying to kiss her. With the male trying to kiss the female, the male is only trying to represent his sexuality whilst also showing the frustrated attraction towards the female. With the female moving away from this action can only create the audience to wonder on two points. Is her sexuality different or is she not interested? This is soon answered in the following scene with the lesbian women shown to be covering her body right up to her face with the quilt. This is actually a way of representing her emotion and sexuality in a prop as she actually tries to hide away and keep her own thoughts and opinions to herself, without fear of judgement. This whole clip kept the mood music of a piano playing to release tension at the beginning but also show the way sexuality is not actually extravagant enough to create loudness and tension. The only time this music becomes tense in the clip is when the heterosexual male is shown to become angry.

In this clip, every female character dis-including their sexuality is shown to be wearing dresses which actually cover their whole body. This shows how their own bodies are kept up tight to their selves until they can find someone of the sexuality preferences, who their passion also leads them too to reveal their true self. This can always lead to fascinations from those who's passion lies on them instead. The lighting was used carefully through out to set the atmosphere. This was shown specifically through the very dark setting of the scene where the female becomes to scared to show any section of her. This creates the atmosphere to look and feel mysterious and inviting to the audience as they become ever so curious.

As an overall look upon this clip, the producer represents most of the female characters sexuality to be lesbian in a stereotypical outlook, as they become scared to reveal their selves as no one actually agrees with it. The same is also shown for the heterosexual male as his character is shown through the stereotypical light of being dominant and frustrated which can always lead to anger. This heterosexual man is also revealed to be shown to not actually accept the nature of any other sexuality.

Hotel Babylon - Homework.

Hotel Babylon - Homework

Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs the representation of ethnicity.

Throughout this clip, ethnicity is shown through camera angles, mise-en-scene and editing as well as sound.

The first camera angle which represented ethnicity was the long shot. To begin with, the producer of this film fights against stereotypes in society as he represents a black worker to be serving a costumer in a more formal suit but also with manners. The pan shot quickly follows with the smooth sounding non-diegetic sound of background music to show the steadiness and calmness of the worker alone. This actually leads up to the build up with what can happen next. 

Following on from this, the close up shot reverse shot is used to battle against the stereotype of society but also the reality of the ethnicity of these two dark colored men. This new character is to be seen wearing a less formal outfit with a 'less approachable' way of speaking with the shortened down words to 'blud'. This is used to show the contrast between what we actually think and what we actually see during society, whilst it also criticizes us for out judgement upon ethnicity.

Another interesting shot was also a long shot of the typical hotel cleaners in their uniform. Once a quick close up shot of the money is shown, the audience can still have an ambiguous meaning to what it's left there for. Most think for a tip. Once again the audience are pulled into shock as the two women are shown to strip in the long shot for the male customer. These two shots are only linked together to show that ethnicity can link in many ways, but especially money. Whilst this all started happening the left hand side women is shown to pause before deciding she would not proceed, this shows that even though money can be a huge ethnic problem, people in these groups have control over their own fate.

Moving onto mise-en-scene that really shone through the clip, would be the chefs uniform at the the end of the clip. This group is shown to be split between uniforms as the higher chefs are shown to wear white and the lower chefs are shown to wear black. This a very carefully thought about criticism from the producer. By showing the different levels in chefs, being shown to have split through different colours to make it understood, the clip is shown to criticize how ethnic groups are split in a very obvious way but which also stays in their own work places in society, as it has become more than just a stereotypical view the society had.

Homework - 13th February

“Successful media products depend as much upon marketing and distribution to a specific audience as they do upon good production practices.” To what extent would you agree with this statement, within the film area.

Within the film industry the importance of marketing and distribution paired with good production practices are vastly recognised and appreciated. Production and distribution can influence a film's success majorly, and this link between which is more important can sometimes vary from one film to another. So all three, Production, distribution and marketing are extremely important factors for companies to take into account when trying to create a popular film. 

An example of a large well known film company is Disney. Disney's marketing and distribution skills are known to be vast and play the key role in contributing to the success of their films. This large company was actually founded in 1923 and since this founding has happened, they have created over 158 feature films.  Once the first animated classic films Lion King and Robin Hood, Disney grew into a popular household name. Many of the animated classic films became timeless, whilst this was timeless, the target audience was young and the stories shown were suitable for children all across the world. The film Robin Hood is a clear example on how wide Disney's distribution tactics have stretched, with the film being translated into over sixteen different languages. 

The large company also used a wide variety of horizontal (A market diversified so that the products created are able to meet the needs of more than one industry.) and vertical (A group of companies which serve each other's specialised needs, but yet do not serve a broader market. The vertical market is tightly focused on meeting the needs of one specific industry.) marketing, to ensure that the distribution was wide with it's productions. With Disney owning their own studios, record labels, shops, clothing brands, radio stations and TV channel, Disney have a wide scope to advertise with, as they own these companies they are ale to distribute through them with ease. The well known example for this is the High School Musical. High School Musical was premiered on the Disney channel and also had it's own sound track released. 

Disney also use a variety of Viral Marketing (A marketing technique used by companies which involves the information about a company's goods or services is passed electronically from one internet user to another.) to appeal their audiences with an online presence. By using an online presence, the company are able to keep the young audience targeted up to date with new releases and teasers, while also keeping the company up to date with the development of technology and trends.  With the Viral Marketing being at the grips of the company's hands, the company began releasing it's own fan pages on the social networking sites e.g. Facebook. An example of this was the page for 'Loyal followers of the Red Queen.'. By creating fan groups for all the films Disney creates, the company allows for an even wider audience and are able to use these pages for spreading awareness and introducing people to the films, it creates.

In juxtaposition to how Disney markets and distributes its films, the Bedlam productions use very different tactics in marketing and distribution. As the Bedlam productions are a small independent film company founded in 2009, they manage to blow the targeted audience away with their own drama film 'The King's Speech'. Unlike many Disney films, this film only appeals to a smaller and more select target audience. This involved Bedlam taking this into account by using marketing techniques that would reach people in their target audience range. The film was advertised on posters and newspapers more so than the films directed at younger target audiences. The fact that 'The King's Speech' was shot in the same year as the Bedlam Productions was founded, while considering the succcess of the films itself and the fact that the it was not from a well known company, it leads me to wonder whether it is in fact the production practises and not the distribution that makes a film successful. Bedlam productions teamed up with another independent film company, See-Saw Films, and distributed 'The King's Speech' through Momentum Pictures.

When regarding Disney as a whole we see that it has received over two hundred Oscar nominations, but has only won just over fifty of them, when comparing this to the 'The King's Speech' alone whilst taking into account how many films Disney has made in comparison to Bedlam Productions it becomes clear that even with a vast array of marketing and distribution chains at your disposal you cannot guarantee the response to the film. Indeed marketing and distribution are highly important in getting people to want to see the film, but if the film lacks in quality then the success will be short-lived. Quality films such as 'The King's Speech' are films that become timeless through their appeal. Films such as these are living proof that although marketing and distribution is important, it can lose all of its worth once the film has left cinemas as nobody will want to see the film again or buy the DVD to a film they dislike. I therefore conclude that good production practices hold more wealth over distribution and marketing techniques as they guarantee a lasting success for a film as opposed to a short-lived one.

Part B - Homework.

To what extent does digital distribution affect the marketing and consumption of media products in the area of media you have studied?  - Film

The digital distribution in films affects the marketing and consumption of media products. This affect shown, is actually a positive factor due to the possible outcomes and methods used. This main advantage wrapped around this is, the Internet. By using the internet, film companies are able to stream their own films through websites such as Netflix, for a long period of time which is also cost's a less amount than the cost to duplicate film prints and for the petrol/ diesel to send them to available cinemas for a small period of time. Due to the access of internet, film companies are now able to send a digitally produced film through the a 'lock email', which is shown to be a quicker release and access, private and a lot more secure.

Continuing on from this, Digital distribution attracts consumers into watching the media product by marketing the product, through many different ways. The first easy accessed way is through film trailers on many different websites with advertisement linked in. E.g. YouTube. By revealing the same trailer over many websites, the consumer themselves would become attached to the film trailer itself as they would have been pulled, by the amount of times the film has revealed itself. As well as this digital distribution through the marketing, by using the same trailer on most used internet sites or social networking sites e.g. Facebook, the consumer can become so wrapped up in the film information, that they use 'the word of mouth' to spread the information itself around, to colleagues, friends and family.

The disadvantage for using the internet for Digital Distribution, is the outcome of money after the film has been shown through cinemas has rapidly fallen. The reason for this is because that more resources are available for the consumer inwhich they can access the film through without having to leave the comfort of their own home. This could be from them having to wait till the film comes out through sites like Netflix, through DVDS soon after so they are able to keep a copy of the film or the main important problem, the film is leaked due to the 'lock email' being carefully hacked, before the film is placed on illegal sites. Once uploaded onto an illegal site, the film can be leaked further across the internet sites such as YouTube for even more easier access to those who cannot illegally download. This lowers the rate of consumers rapidly, creating the profit of money to fall rapidly down with them. This is shown to be an extreme problem amongst digital distribution.

The Hustle - Homework.

The Hustle - Homework

During the Hustle clip, gender is represented in a stereotypical way. This is all shown through mise-en-scène, camera shots, editing and sound.


One of the beginning shots taken, was the medium close up shot. In this medium close up shot, we are able to see the close appearance of the first female character revealed. This shot follows the stereotypical outlook towards women. This shot also links back to the comment, Kilbourne (195) made, that the media representation of women were that the women are always shown with perfect hair and teeth but also skin with out a blemish. The mise-en-scène, also reveals the female character to have an independence in society as she is shown to wear a suit. This all changes, when the front of the suit is shown to be revealing which keeps the idea of females being a  sex object continuous.

The next shot which stands out with the representation of genders, is the high angle shot, which is over the shoulder. That shot alone shows the dominance and power the male figure has as the camera stays at his shoulder and looks down upon the working class female. The media decides to keep the stereotypical view of the working class women by showing it through mise-en-scène, by creating the older women to look unattractive, unfilled and unstable money wise. 

The close-up shot of the marriage ring during this clip resembled the women to be a consumer but also defined through marital status as if the women was an object. The mise-en-scène for the actual costume in this clip was carefully chosen through, so the ring was the biggest and most eye-catching diamond ring going. This hide the code within that she is also higher class and a  lot different compared to the working class women, shown earlier. The watch upon the females wrist also screams out to the audience, 'money.'

The tilt movement that took place in this clip, only verified Wolf's (1995) comment that women are viewed as sex objects. This tilt was specifically used to not only show Wolf's idea but also Kilbourne's (1995.) idea that women in the media are shown as mannequins by being tall and thin, but also containing very long legs and skinny. This shot also shown the money as a huge subject, as the dress was revealing, full of diamonds and kept her figure tight and revealing. 

Contrasting against the constant women sexual appeal in this clip, the men's club was briefly shown on odd occassions. The action shot was used to reveal the men in this personal gender based club, smoking and drinking like the stereotypical view. This would be the retributive masculinity, as the men keep to the traditional masculine authority by celebrating the traditional concerns in their content. 

The next action shot was used quickly after, which really shown how the stereotypical women can be stressful, on-edge and uncontrollable in public areas. This would suddenly become the tracking shot, as the female is shown to become worse as she starts to tear away the clothing from their specific placing, to look for this ring in an indirect way. This shot also showed that even though the male figure that worked in the dressing shop was calm, the media really shown him as being the metro-sexual man as he becomes more fearful and worried for the clothes as they get thrown to the floor, than the actual women's missing ring. 

Harry Brown - Notes.

During the Harry brown film we watched, a lot of scenes and characters were portrayed to contrast against each other. The lighting was also used carefully as well as the chosen camera shots.

During the beginning of this clip the first amount of film shown was shown to be a group of hooded people (Representing rebellious youth through clothing) taking un-known chemical substance which is also shown to affect their actions. While the lighting was dark and only a little shown to show the bottle, smoke and gun the camera shot was shown to be a hand held camera. This hand held camera shot against the lighting created the sense of a mobile filming by one of the hooded youths but also a sense of reality as if the clips were actually evidence/ real footage compared to a studio set up production.

Progressing on from this, the rebellious youth are shown to be once again using the hand held camera, to create the sense of once again a real footage 'mobile film' of them shooting a gun but also riding the small motorbike in a circular motion against an innocent victim. The hand held camera really focused on the small explosions from the gun which can be seen as quick sparks but also the mother in the distance trying to protect the baby until she was actually shot dead. The reality of the sense of real footage really represented the emotions of fear towards the audience as they began with fear for the victim before it began to become an anger towards the youth. This reality continued as the camera was used in a blurred motion, only revealing the movement of the floor but also the bottom section of half the bike as they picked up speed, and spoke about her death.  This became a lead up to the main use of the hand held camera. The lorry accident. Even though the lorry was shown briefly in a close up shot of the movement of the camera, the camera was quickly used in a response that the lorry hit them. The fact the camera kept the constant movement of tipping over / flipping sides, while it moved in the air before landing on the floor, kept the shear panic of emotion but also let the accident become a realistic situation that was sudden and did not last very long.

Contrasting against the actions of this extreme situation of hate and stupidity of rebellious youth, the basic and boring life of an old aged man was shown. The lighting continued to range from a realistic feel to the point, the audience was able to locate the windows. Even though the basic movements from moving in the bed to cleaning the crumbs, show a small story. The cleaning of the crumbs alone, really show the audience even though they may be consciously acknowledging the situation, the cleaning of the crumbs represents that he likes to keep the area clean. This led to the point that he was almost going to be cleaning the rubbish from society. Later on during his daily routines on Harry browns ordinary life on visiting his wife, the shot of the underground was focused on mainly on his many walks. The shot of him checking his watch before it reverse shots back to the tunnel represents his need to take the tunnel due to the lack of time, whilst his own intuitions tell him different as he knows the actions of his own area too well.

Even though the many scenes reveal dark lighting in rooms and only the natural lighting from a window is shown, I believe the main focused scene with lighting is when Harry Brown is shown to run to an empty room, where his wife once laid. Whilst the room is shown to be a dark, shadowed room with only a small amount of amber lighting, the pale white lighting falls onto the empty hospital bed with no covers. This scene can really tug at the audiences emotional strings, as the loss is shown to hit Harry like a beating from the rebellious youth he lives among.

Another scene which was really shown, was the close up shot of the two fish in the tank. In this close up shot but also depth of field, one fish is shown to be swimming around in the emptiness, catching air while possible, while the fish in the depth of field is shown to be placed upside down and dead. This shot reveals the life of the old man but also other older residents living the area, dying whilst the younger youth can keep up and cause chaos to keep on surviving in such a rough area. This fish scene can also hint the future scenes like a prediction of a future death in the big area of chaos, whilst the smart ones continues to breath air and survive. ›

Part B - Homework.

Exam Part B, research questions - Homework.

1. What constitutes a British film and what are the different categories?

The constitution of a British Film or where it seems to be made, (filmed in a different country.) is very important, but in different ways. The following ways are:

• Cost effective
• Better marketed 
• More well known
• A result in an influx of viewings.

Classification is also involved in this process. For the classification, the film is viewed then judged upon whether it is classed as being from that country. This is particularly important for British films, as for a film to be classified as British it has to follow the rules given by the UK film council. 

The different categories that a British film can be placed under are;

• Cultural content
• Cultural contribution
• Cultural hubs
• Cultural practitioners 

2. What are the different ways a film can be marketed or promoted? 

The different ways a film can be marketed are;

• Trailers. - The overall purpose of a trailer, is to make the viewer want to watch the complete film. In this short 2/ 3 minute clip, the trailer would show a brief summary of the film, but only enough to entice the target audience.
• Viral videos. - Similar to a trailer, the viral videos are based upon the film itself. These are created by film based websites, before being broadcast over the internet, for the audience to find or come across.
• Promotion tours. - Promotion tours are where either the producers, main film actors or directors appear for television, print-media interviews and radio.
• Merchandising. -  Promotional give-aways are used to draw in the attention of the target audience. E.g. branded drinks, cups and toys. 
• 360 degrees - This marketing way is based on the films promotion around the world with their own film. This film promotion is a way in-which to get the audience to engage to watch the actual film itself. In this method, the marketing hits the viewers from all different directions for an extremely long period of time.

3. What are different ways a film can be exhibited or consumed?

Originally films could only ever be exhibited through cinemas and consumed. Now with more technology, films can be exhibited and consumed through;

• Television
• XBOX
• Playstation
• Legal Internet streamers.
• Tablets
• YouTube
• Downloadable apps.

Films can also be rented or purchased from stores such as BlockBusters. With today's technology they can also be re-watched on Demand, which is an online recorder. 

Distribution - Recap.

Distribution - Recap

• Film distribution, describes everything in between production (The film making) to the exhibition (People watching the films in cinemas e.t.c).
• Distribution involves all the deals done, to get this film shown while promoted. (The promotion includes the 'above the line' advertising, which is funded as part of the project. e.g. Trailers, posters, billboards. 
• Distribution also includes related merchandising and 'below the line' publicity which is not paid for. (This generates mutual interest.)
• These films are loaned out to cinemas for a finite period and release deals are done that secure access to a certain number of screens at a time. (While in the UK film market, an increase in the quantity of screens showing films, there has been an increase in the number of films shown.)
• The five major distributors who dominate the UK film industry are: United International Pictures (Universal being a part of this), Warner Brothers, Buena, Vista, Twentieth Century Fox and Sony. 
• In many cases shown, these distributors are linked directly to the Hollywood production companies who actually make the films.
• Many Blockbuster films that are familiarly known with, are distributed via 'Blanket Release', so even if the the small UK independent company manages to get its product into cinemas, it is usually competing for attention with one or more films that take on the status of an 'event'.
• On of the outcomes of the distribution arrangement outlined above this fact, is that half of the films released in Britain do not actually reach the whole country. 
• One of the obvious problems that smaller companies face is known to be a rather old fashioned ones. While major companies can afford to produce far more prints, than the smaller companies. 

Keywords:

Prints - Producing physical copies of a film for cinema/ home release and finding the exhibitors/retailers to sell the film.

Marketing - Raising audience awareness and anticipation of a new release

A distributer may:

• Be a part of the same parent company as the production company
• Have a long term arrangement with a production company and provide financial assistance for many of their productions
• Provide financial assistance for a single film by a production company 
• Acquire a film after it has a completed production

A film is likely to have different distributors for:

• Releases in different countries 
• Cinema releases 
• Home-Video releases

360-Degree branding:

• Films promotion seeks to surround us with their brand, multi-platform, converged media forms.
• Your case studies should show this.
• They want to 'trigger engagement' (Csigo), in audiences. 
• You watch a film for half price from your orange phone contract, then join in the trending.  #convergence.

360-Degree marketing:

• It communicates with your prospects and customers from all directions and across long periods of time. 

Distribution - Homework

Distribution - Notes

Website link is as follow: http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/distribution/distribution1.html

1. What is distribution? 

• Distribution is releasing and sustaining films in the market place.
• Distribution is the third part of the film supply chain. (Referred to as 'The invisible art.')
• This process is only known within the industry.
• Distribution is the most important part of film industry.
• In the UK, distribution is very much focused on marketing and sustaining a global product in local markets.

2. Licensing:

• Licensing is the process by which a distributor acquires the legal right to exploit a film.
• In distribution, licensing can take a place on two levels.
• Major US studios generally have their own distribution offices in all the major territories.
• Independent produces have to sell their films to different distributors in each territory.
• International distribution ensures that films make their way to 90+ market territories.
• Instead of Independent production companies doing the work themselves, they choose to hire a specialist sales agent. (Specialist sales agent's function is to understand the value of the film in all the different markets.)
• 'Local' distribution, involves the distributor acquiring the license to release and exploit the film in a particular country. 
• The local distributor will usually pay the producer a minimum guarantee for the licence.
• A distributor will usually be offered theatrical rights, for showing the films in; Cinemas, video rights, video and DVD exploitation and TV rights (Only if the distributor is able to sell the film to a broadcaster.)
• The licence will stipulate that the distributor will also pay royalties to the producer, taken from the profits that the film generates. 
• Once the license has been agreed, it is then the distributor's job to launch the film.

3.  Marketing:

• Marketing film releases revolves around two key questions: 'When? and How?'
• Schedule for forthcoming releases is coordinated and published by the Film Distributors Association.
• Consideration for scheduling a release is the seasonality of the film. (Greatest potential to reach audiences is during the academic year.) 
• The distributor will try to position the film distinctively and avoid a release date occupied by other films with similar traits.
• After the release date is set, the distributor works towards the theatrical release. (Investing in the materials and the marketing campaign to support is.)
• A distributor will assess this schedule to identify a friday release date where there only a few films scheduled for release.
• Theatrical distribution costs are met by the local distributors, are often referred to as 'P&A' or Prints and Advertising. 
• P&A represent the bulk of the distributor's investment, after paying the initial fee for rights. (This can range from less than £1,000 to over £1 million for the release of a film in the UK.)

4.  Marketing. - Prints and Advertising:

• The quantity and production of release prints and trailers:
 Specialised films will often be released with fewer than 10 prints into key independent cinemas. (These prints are 'toured' over a 6-month period to all parts of the UK.) On the other hand, commercial mainstream films will often open on over 200 prints, simultaneously screening in all of the UK.
• Press materials, clips reels, images, press previews, screener tapes: For most of the releases, favorable press response is a key factor in developing the profile and desirability of a film. Distributors consider both the quality and breadth of coverage. (This is often inscribed into the nature and scale of a press campaign.) 
• The design and printing of posters and other promotional artwork:
 The cinema poster is still the cornerstone of theatrical release campaigns. The poster design is highly effective in 'packaging' the key attributes of a film for potential audiences. Considerations are also made to consider using other poster campaigns, ranging from Underground advertising to billboards.
• Advertising campaign - locations, ad size and frequency: 
To raise awareness of a release, a press editorial coverage is used in advertising in magazines and local newspapers. For mainstream films, scale and high visibility is the key. The cost of print advertising in the UK is high, and is seen as making distribution in the UK a riskier business than in most other countries. In order to extend the reach of advertising distributors are looking increasingly to 'viral marketing' - different forms of electronic word-of-mouth via the internet, email and mobile phones. 
• Press campaign / contracting a PR agency:
 Many independent distributors do not have press departments, this then leads them into hiring a press agency to run a pre-release campaign. 
• Arranging visit by talent from the film: 
The use of talent - usually the director and/or lead actors is used in the editorial coverage to support a release. The volume of coverage can far outweigh the cost of talent visits. 
• Other preview screenings: 
A distributor will consider the use of advance public screenings to create word-of-mouth and advance 'buzz' around a film.

5. The Logistics of Distribution:

• It is the responsibility of the distributor to arrange the transportation of the film to the cinema. 
• Logistics represents the phase of distribution at its most basic. - Supplying but also circulating copies of films to theatres, of tapes and DVDs to shops and video rental stores. 
• For UK theatrical exhibition, the distributor typically handles 35mm film prints. These prints can cost around £1,000 or twice if subtitled. 
• In the UK, prints are all broken down for ease of handling into smaller reels. Each of these last around 18-20 minutes when ran through a projector. 
• Prints are hired by the exhibitor for the duration of their play-dates, and therefore each print is made for repeat use. 
• Any single print needs to be moved many times. This movement involves from the main print warehouse, onto a delivery van, to the cinema, onto an assembly bench, through the projector and then back through the process onto the next cinema. 
• 35mm theatrical prints can invariably suffer damage as they pass through different projectors, and by the hands of various projectionists. For this reason, each theatrical print has a finite lifespan. From this following point, the many used release prints will be destroyed, leaving only a small number to be used for second-run and theatrical bookings. This only happens through the remainder of the film's licensed period. 

6.  Case study. - Bullet Boy:

• Bullet Boy was a low budget, independent feature created by the first-time director Saul Dibb. 
• This film describes with the particular insight, the effects of Ricky's life on his mother and especially his younger brother.
• By this film, following the festival screenings at the end of 2004, the film quickly gathered a reputation as the first film to tackle the difficult subject of gangs and gun crime. 
• By the time the film was released, it had already accumulated both word of mouth and press coverage in the newspapers. 
• The release of Bullet Boy was handled by Verve Pictures. 
• Bullet Boy is a specialised film, its naturalistic representation of characters, time and place, and the use of authentic locations and language have drawn in comparisons. 
• In order to broaden the theatrical release of the film, Verve applied successfully for funds from the UK Film Council's P and A Fund.
• When the film was released on the 8th April 2005, the opening of 75 prints went UK wide, in the combination of independent cinemas and concentrated in Greater London and major urban centres.
• The chosen poster design aimed to convey the look, subject and tone of the subject of the film. Including this they also decided to foreground the major presence of Walters. 
• The AD campaign also aimed for diverse audiences who were interested in film and music but also urban black and white. 
• The campaign included the advertising in all of the national daily newspapers, plus two tabloids, an Underground campaign and extensive use of radio stations with a concentration on R 'n' B and Garage, the music forms with which Walters is associated. 
• Near the end of it's first six months of being a theatrical release, the film already had grossed an impressive £450,000 at the UK box office. 
• Most of the money engrossed in the first six moths was achieved in selected urban multiplexes rather than specialised cinemas. 

7. Digital Distribution:

• Turning to the end of 2005, the UK distribution and exhibition sectors were starting to move towards digital distribution and exhibition.
• In distribution terms, the advantages of digital technology is are shown to be clearer and perhaps longer term, as it is seen to offer a more cost effective and logistics-light alternative.
• Using digital technology for distribution, will eventually become cheaper and much less stressful to send films as computer files to cinemas across the UK. 
• From the force of this change, coupled with the new capacity of technology to replicate 35mm imaging, has led the UK Film Council to establish a digital distribution and exhibition programme for the theatrical sector at the end of 2005. 
• The comparatively low cost of film copies, and additional logistical effectiveness of digital distribution provide the distributor with greater flexibility.