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.