Film

Film Industry

revision

HistoryBritish• The Regent Street Cinema is

celebrated as the ‘Birthplace of British Cinema’ as it was used by pioneering filmmakers, the Lumière brothers, to perform their first ever moving picture show in the UK on the 21 February, 1896 – 118 years ago

• Mass public consumption- • The Lumiere brothers envisioned

movies as public showings. The two approaches are like the difference between listening to an I-pod on your headphones versus sitting in a theater and listening to a concert

USA

• original Nickelodeon opened in Pittsburgh in 1905

• April 12, 1914 Mark Strand Theatre, New York, The Spoilers (Movie Palace)

• Edison's interest in movies was to sell his Kinetoscope machines, designed as individual 'peep shows" in which a person looked into a box and saw a moving picture.

Funding-impact on the industry & audience.

British• Working Title $30m (UK+US)• Warp £1m

• Low/modest budget, modest return – limited screenings in cinema, typically Art house cinemas. Sales generated through DVD.

• Is British filming stuck in a rut?• Encourage new talent• Film Festivals• UK Film Council • BFI & National Lottery (Production,

Distribution & Exhibition )• Tax Relief – why?

USA

• Massive budgets which generate massive profits in a cycle of self- sustaining profit.

• $100m +

Green LightBritish

• Funding• Risk – shared• Rights• Script• Cast & Crew• Location• Appeal to audience• Certificate – BBFC• Exhibition/Exchange

Hollywood

• Director• Script/Genre• Star appeal• Location• SfX• Rights• Budget• Risk• Certificate• Projected profit• Appeal to mass audience

Industry Overview – Historic Examples • Small Independent Low Budget British Film:

Genre: Social Realist Drama - ‘This is England’ Budget £1.5m, takings £1.5m. Institutions: Warp Films + Film 4 + various small UK media companies.

• Successful UK Studio: Working Title

Genre: string of blockbuster Rom-Coms: ‘Four Weddings & a Funeral’ budget $6m, takings $244m Post-Universal take-over ‘Love Actually’ budget $30m, takings $244m. Produced 100 films, but several non Rom-Com flops.

• Successful US Blockbuster Film(s): ‘Star Trek’

Genre: Science Fiction / Action Studio: Paramount: massive marketing campaign – budget $140m, takings $280m+.

• Successful US Blockbuster Film(s): ‘Avatar’Genre: Science Fiction / Action / Romance Studio: 20th Century Fox: massive hype, digital, 3D, massive budget $300m, massive takings $2.7bn.

• NB: ‘Paranormal Activity’ as Indie case study...

Film Licencing

• BBFC, 1912• Cinematograph Act 1909,

which required cinemas to have licences from local authorities.

Big 6

• http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/the-biggest/the-10-biggest-hollywood-studios/

Ownership issues

• P, D, E (E)• Concentration of media ownership in that the

global media market is increasingly dominated by a small number of Western (mostly American) conglomerates.

• Is this positive or negative for the film industry?

Horizontal Integration

• Companies all owned at the same level• Example: Warner Bros. Interactive, Warner

Bros. TV, Warner Bros. Animation

• Film, TV, Magazine, Video Game

Vertical Integration P, D, E (E)

• Warner Bros Entertainment calls itself a fully integrated broad based entertainment company which owns film studios and the means to distribute the films as well as some of the cinemas in which they are shown. Warner Bros in itself is part of an even bigger conglomerate called Time Warner which is a huge media conglomerate institution which uses horizontal Integration to consolidate its power and profits.

Web 2.0

• allow users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators

• Social networking sites, blogs, wikis, video sharing, forums

etc etc

• Prosumer

Technological ConvergenceGadgets to watch films on:• Smart-phones (iPhone etc)• MP4 players • Portable Games Consoles (PSP

etc)• Laptops (Airbooks etc)

Multimedia devices, films at home:• Games Consoles (Xbox 360, PS3

etc)• PC (via DVD, BluRay, il/legal

downloads)• Home Cinema (Plasma TV /

Projector + digital TV)

Multiplex vs Arthouse

• Experience• Cost• Screenings• Location

• Digital screen – satellite • Experience• Limited screenings• Cost• Location

Production

• Film actually being made and has been given the green

• 35mm• 3D, Imax camera = costs• Digital camera = costs

Distribution

• A film distributor is a company or individual responsible for the marketing of a film.

• The distributor may set the release date of a film and the method by which a film is to be exhibited or made available for viewing

• Distributors can take 50% of box office sales – this does vary though.

Cross media convergence

• Conglomerate working together horizontally/vertically or both.

Synergy

• Media synergy is the way in which different elements of a media conglomerate work together to promote linked products across different media.

• Synergy works when different elements within a media conglomerate promote (e.g. film studio, record label, video game division) create linked products (e.g. film, soundtrack, video game).

• Each distinct element promotes the others.

‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ (2001)In 2000 AOL and Time Warner merged. The promotion of ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ by AOL Time Warner is a good example of synergy.

Adverts for the film were shown on HBO and the WB, both American TV channels which are subsidiaries of Time Warner.

The soundtrack was released on Atlantic Records, part of Warner Music.

Articles about the film appeared in newspapers and magazines owned by Time Warner.

AOL’s internet service was offering merchandise, and ticket promotions tied to subscriptions for AOL’s services.

Marketing

• Synergy & cross media convergence• Viral/ARG

Exhibition (Exchange)

Audience

• Cinema 2D, 3D, Imax, Premiere Seats/Standard

• Cost• Options to view• Control/influence the industry?

Essay Approaches.• The exam board want to know what you understand about:• Media Institutions: Hollywood Studios (20th Century Fox etc.),

British Studios (Working Title + Warp Films etc).• Media Audiences: UK film viewers (either in cinemas, or via

PC / TV / Phone etc)• Media Technology: Digital filmmaking (CGI, 3D, Imax, DV-

Cams), Online Films (LoveFilm, iTunes, YouTube, piracy), Convergence (gadgets to watch films on)

• Marketing Campaigns: How Studios advertise their films (Synergy, TV + Internet trailers, Print ads – newspapers, magazines, posters, Premieres, junkets, word of mouth, USP, merchandising etc).

ALL OF THE ABOVE NEED SPECIFIC EXAMPLES.

Past Questions

• Discuss the issues raised by an institution’s need to target specific audiences within a media industry which you have studied.

• Discuss the ways in which media products are produced and distributed to audiences, within a media area, that you have studied.

Past Questions

• How important is technological convergence for institutions and audiences within a media area which you have studied?

• “Media production is dominated by global institutions, which sell their services and products, to national audiences.” To what extent do you agree with this statement?

Marking Grid for Qu2.Band / Grade Argument Examples Terminology

Level 1: U

Minimal understanding& reference to study

(0-7)

Limited range and use of examples

(0-7)

Minimal use of terms. Inaccuracies

(0-3)Low Level 2:

E > DBasic understanding. Some relevant points.

(8-11)

Some relevant examples

(8-11)

Some terms used. Some inaccuracies

(4-5)Upper Level 3:

C > BProficient argument,

well supported.(12-15)

Good range of examples(12-15)

Mostly accurate terms(6-7)

Level 4 : A

Excellent, relevant, sustained argument

(16-20)

Frequent use of relevant examples

(16-20)

Relevant and accurate terms

(8-10)