AS FILM INDUSTRY OVERVIEW
Through specific case studies, candidates should be prepared to demonstrate understanding of contemporary institutional processes of production, distribution, marketing and exchange/exhibition at a local, national or international level as well as British audiences’ reception and consumption. There should also be someemphasis on the students’ own experiences of being audiences.
STUDENTS SHOULD PREPARE DETAILED CASE STUDIES OF WORKING TITLE AND WARP FILMS, PAYING PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO THEIR PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION MODELS AND HOW THEY ATTRACT A (BRITISH) AUDIENCE AND HOW DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY HAS AFFECTED THESE COMPANIES.
KEY WORDS:
Vertical Integration – where a studio owns all stages of a films production, distribution and exhibition.
The Paramount Decree 1948 – Tried to put a stop to vertical integration (movie studios had to sell off their cinema chains)
Conglomerates – a collection of diverse companies (usually with an overall owner) not bound by common activity or product, but often reinforcing even promoting each others interests.
Oligopoly – the control of the market for a particular product by a small group of companies e.g. the hollywood film industry: Disney, Universal, Warner etc
Horizontal integration – where companies develop by buying companies in the same section of the market.
Synergy – using a range of diverse companies to promote a single product e.g. Warner – spiderman film and ride in theme park.
Disney’s Pirates of the Carribean started out as a ride in a theme park then promoted throughout Disney’s conglomerate including in Disney stores.
WTF used synergy to promote The Boat That Rocked through web site and music CD/download/playlists.
Viral campaigns
Cross Media Convergence - We no longer live in a world where TV, phones, films, games exist seperately on seperate devices.
G322 Part B Case Study Revision
Revision for G322 part B (45 mins to write)
The questions you must independently research and be ready to answer:
- What types of problems caused by ownership (money) do film companies Working Title and Warp Films have to deal with nowadays?
- How do Working Title and Warp films work together with other companies, and use different parts of the company, in making and promoting films as well as getting them to the audience?
- How do Working Title and Warp Films use new equipment and digital media to make, promote and show their films to an audience?
- How important is it for Working Title and Warp Films, and for you the audience, that there are loads of ways to see films?
- How important for Working Title and Warp Films is it that things like phones, computers, iPads, etc. can be used for lots of different things – especially watching films on?
- What problems do massive global companies (and WTF and Warp) have in getting their films seen by a British audience?
- What is it like for you when you go to the cinema, download a film, watch one any other way? How are you targeted by global media conglomerates and WTF and Warp?
(You could also research how these questions affect 1st Sight Films)
Some Key terminology explained:
Technological convergence refers to the process where new technology is moving towards single platforms delivering multiple media outputs that can be used to reach audiences, for example, a PS3′s primary function is video gaming but you can download and watch movies from Lovefilm.com on it and also watch catch up TV and music videos.
Convergent technology is technology that allows an audience to consume more than one type of media from a single platform.
Lots of aspects of the internet e.g. social networking, YouTube, online editions of newspapers and magazines are convergent but candidates cannot quote the internet as the sole aspect of their answer. The answer needs to be linked into the media area you are talking about (Film). E.g if talking about film, candidates could, for example, point to facebook campaigns advertising a film or viral marketing spread via the internet.
Digital projection is convergent technology because films that are produced digitally have moved away from the physical film medium and can be supplied to theatres in digital format (lower costs for distribution versus higher start up costs for theatres switching to digital technology). As the film is in digital format there are also cost savings as potentially less work needs to be done on the film to get it onto Blu-Ray, DVD, internet trailers etc as no physical conversion needs to take place because the film is already in digital format.
Cross Media Convergence is really a Business Studies term and refers to companies coming together vertically or horizontally (or both). The example often cited in exams is of Working Title making use of its parent company(s) to gain access to bigger stars and a better distribution network for their films.
Synergy basically means working together to achieve an objective that couldn’t be achieved independently. Cross-media convergence can help with synergy if companies are wise enough to take advantage of the links they have forged. Disney is an obvious example of a synergistic company from the top down from Film Studio to Kids’ TV Channel (where it further plays and promotes its films) to the Disney Store (in the street and online) where your kids can pester you to buy all the merchandise and DVDs/CDs they’ve seen on the TV/Web or in the cinema.
This page contains all the introductory docs with broad background info on the film industry.
Please click on these links to separate pages dealing in more detail with your Case Studies etc
Working Title Films Page
Warp Films Page
Film Industry Key Themes & Essay Plans
You will write one essay, and need to leave about 45 minutes to write it. There will be no choice of question.
Warp Films Page
Film Industry Key Themes & Essay Plans
You will write one essay, and need to leave about 45 minutes to write it. There will be no choice of question.
What should you write about?
- answer the question; don’t just tell them everything you know.
- try to demonstrate your understanding of the film industry and the issues it faces.
- make specific references to at least one of your Case Studies: WORKING TITLE FILMS, WARP FILMS but feel free to also write about the UK FILM COUNCIL and any other companies/organisations that you have encountered. Use Working Title / Warp as examples rather than writing essays on Working Title /Warp.
- use appropriate terminology
- try to demonstrate awareness of the impact that ‘new media’ is having on the industr
- include your own experiences/perspectives
- don’t assume they know you are going to write about Working Title/Warp . Don’t even assume they know who/what they are….
- don’t write a waffley introduction but try to set up the essay by establishing which Case Studies you will be using to support your writing.
- try to be as detailed as possible about your Case Study rather than just having a broad idea of what they do. Use:
- Statistics
- Quotations
- References to specific films
- References to specific marketing…
- Examiners Comments: ‘…more able candidates could develop an argument which could discuss and evaluate how technological convergence enables effective digital distribution, supports viral marketing campaigns, such as the Dark Knight or The Simpsons, creates media synergy and, for example, the use of Sony BMG to record the soundtrack, and merchandising tie in deals. These able candidates could also evaluate how institutions and audiences used media technology across different platforms, for example on the iPod and other mobile devices/phones and the use of social networking sites to share and offer fan comments. Candidates also discussed downloading (including the issue of internet piracy) films, but did not give specific examples of websites or how you could subsequently watch the movies. On occasion candidates could offer criticism that independent and often British film releases which do not have the budget of major conglomerate film studio’s had to find alternative non- convergent methods of distribution and marketing.’
Presentation1 from staylorchs
What should you revise?
Use the documents on this page to make sure that you understand:
- the key roles in the film industry
- the impact of new media technologies
- detailed knowledge of Working Title Films and Warp Films (and if you want more security revise stuff on UK Film Council) too
- some useful stats and quotes that you can throw into your essays
- statistics
COURSE OVERVIEW
Here’s a really brief overview of this part of the course/exam including past paper questions:film industry unit intro
If you are in the mood for some questions, here are some broad film industry questions that raise issues that you should be ready to discuss.THE FILM INDUSTRY QS
You need to make sure that you have a good grasp of terminology. This has all the key terms that you need to revise.film-glossary
You must have a good grasp of the film industry and the key roles involved involved in getting a film made, distributed and seen. Here is a a comprehensive overview of the industry and try to pick up and learn some terminology from this for use in your exam.filmstuds
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