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. 

Behind the Film (Money.)

Production of High budget/ Low budget films.

Avatar:

To create the film Avatar, the production budget was $425,000,000 (£259399600.00)

Proceeding from this, the domestic gross based in America only earnt $750,507,625 (£457,793,890.59) from the viewers watching the created film

For the worldwide gross, the film managed to earn $2,783,918,982 (£1,699,170,518.50)

The production managed to earn the profit of: £198,394,290.59

The page all this information was found from, was: http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/budgets/

Trainspotting:

To create the film Trainspotting, the production budget was £2,136,232

Proceeding from this, the Domestic gross in England was £10065363.66

For the worldwide gross, the film managed to earn £43,946,433.48

Altogether, this film managed to make the profit of: £41,820,201.48

The pages this information was found from, is the following:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117951/business
http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=trainspotting.htm

The differences between the two films, that give the audience view of Avatar being high budget and Trainspotting being low budget is as follow:

Trainspotting:

• Not high definition 
• Basic camera shots.
• Childish writing across the characters screenshots as introductions.
• Simple and constant flashing on the credits and title.
• Older than Avatar.
• Plain / Basic settings shown. 
• No known well actors used.
• Simple action shown throughout. 

Avatar:

• High definition
• Computer Generated
• A lot of action revealed
• Briefly known Actors used from other films
• A lot of future technology shown. 

New Media Technology.

New media technology, are used to reveal the work created by the industry. These are as follow:

Newspaper industry:    - Used to be printed out in a booklet and bought from the shop.

• Apps
• Twitter
• Tablets
• Official website
• Mobile Phone

Magazine industry:  - Used to be printed out as a 'magazine' and bought from the shop.

• Apps
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Tablets
• Official website
• Mobile Phone
• Instagram

Film industry:    - Used to be only shown through the cinema or T.V.

• Cinema
• T.V.
• LimeWire (Pirate Copy.)
• PirateBay (Pirate Copy.)
• LoveFilm (Online, legal.)
• Netflix (Online, legal.)
• Youtube
• Mobile Phones
• Xbox
• Playstation
• DVDS (Buy or Rent.)
• Tablets
• Laptop / Computer 
• 3D
• ITunes
• VOD. - Video on Demand.
• Twitter (Promotion)
• Facebook (Promotion)

Music Industry:    - Used to come out on discs/ records.

• SoundCloud
• Cd's
• Youtube
• Spotify
• LimeWire
• ITunes
• Mobile Phone
• Laptop
• Mp3/ Mp4
• Tablet
• Ipod
• Cassette player
• Walkman
• Radio
• Xbox
• Playstation
• Cd player
• Tape

Television Industry:   - Used to be programs played on the T.V.

• T.V.
• Laptop
• Tablet
• Phones
• Internet
• IPlayer
• NetFlix
• DVD's
• Youtube
• Illegal downloads.
• CatchUp
• On Demand
• Recordings - On the T.V box.

Push Marketing: When the industry push out their products to the audience and force you to watch it.

Pull Marketing: The audience research the film they're seen promoted to watch it.