30 questions

1.What % of global box office was the British film industry responsible for?

Claim 15.3% global office in 2012.

2. What was this % in 2009?

In 2009 the percentage was 6.8%, therefore we see that the amount has risen in the last 3 years.

 3.What might this change indicate about British films?

It indicates that British films are getting better as they are making more money at the box office when the British companies release their films to the public. This is an almost 10% increase.

 4.What films have been responsible for this change?

 These films were Skyfall being Britain's highest ever grossing film. Skyfall accounts for $1.1bn of the UK's tally, a tenth of which came from its record-breaking takings in the UK. Another film that contributed was The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which was aimed at those of an age of 45 and over.

5.What % of the British film industry makes a profit?
Lower budget films make less than £2m and therefore this means they wont make a profit. When the budget increases, 17% of films that cost more than $10m make their money back.

6.What % of Hollywood films make their profit?
17% because they are most likely to have a bigger budget than £10m.Therefore guaranteed to make money on that particular film.

7.How does that % differ between £2m and £10m budget British films?
A £2m budget only has a 4% chance of making a profit because the money situation isn't enough to have good production practices and marketing, whereas a £10m budget has a 17% chance of making a profit.

8.What might we infer from this difference?
When companies have more money to work with on a film they can be sure to provide good marketing skills and top 'A' List stars, also will have more advanced technology and a better overall director.

9.What age group makes up the UK's largest cinema goers?
Most films that are shown in cinema's are aimed at 10-25 year olds.

10.Why do you think this might be?
Because these age groups refer to the four quadrant picture, these are films that are suitable from all ages up to 25. Also film companies know that these age ranges are the people who mostly visit the cinema's.

11.Which film has seen an 18% drop in attendance?
3D films have seen a drop.

12.Within that type which genre has seen the biggest fall?
Big family films have seen a drop because the story starts to become familiar as its all about cartoon characters.

13.What did Charles Grant put this decline down to?
The price of 3D tickets meant that families weren't going to the cinema. This was because they wanted to save as much money as possible due to the economy becoming more difficult.

14.Who is Paul Greengrass?
A British film director who directed: The Bourne Trilogy, Captain Phillips and GreenZone.

15.How did he describe the British film industry?
He described it as being a 'success story' and even said that it will definitely see international growth, especially in China.

16.What did a BFI spokesperson say was the point of less profitable low budget British films?
He said they were important because they develop skills and add artistic and cultural experience to the film industry.

17.What was the budget for Filth and how much money did it take?
It made £4 million at the box office, which was more than twice its budget.

18.What advantage did James McEvoy feel £100m films have over low budget films?
James who was the actor and co-producer in Filth felt that big budget films have the advantage for all the special effects that the audience wants to see.

19.What is VOD?
VOD stands for Video On Demand, it enables the audience to pick their own entertainment through menas of the internet or special TV. For example Netflix.

20.What % increase did VOD see last year?
VOD saw a 50% increase last year, enabling us to see how popular modern technology is becoming as Video On Demand is becoming more used and not as many people are going to see the films in the cinemas.

21.What impact might VOD have on distributors and studios?
Video On Demand will most definitely have a negative impact on distributors and bigger companies (big six) as members of the public will have a choice to make to go and see a new film. No longer do people have to go to the cinema they can simply stay at home and watch new releases at home on Netflix or Sky Demand etc. However for the smaller studios this could be a good advantage as its a way of getting themselves known by selling film rights increasing their chances of making more of a profit out of each film they produce.

22.What impact has it had on Blockbuster rental stores? 
Rental stores like Blockbuster have seen a drop in sales and profit and even some stores are being shut down because no one ever comes to rent films anymore as it seems much simpler to watch the films through VOD at home. Blockbuster will have to make improvements to make sure their profits don't drop too much, a possibility could be to somehow create their own Video On Demand like Netflix. Giving the audience a selection of what to use when watching a film.

23.What was unique about Ben Wheatley's 'A field in England'?
It was unique because it was released on different formats at the same time. Meaning it was released in cinemas, VOD and on DVD at the same time which has never happened as for a film to be on DVD it is usually in cinemas for a good month before.

24.What does director of The Machine Caradog James think the toughest bit of film making is?
He said something along the line of 'the toughest thing is being able to connect a film to an audience.' Its possible to make a good film but can companies direct it towards a particular audience who are going to enjoy it.

25.Why have rules been relaxed on what makes a film British?
Changes made to what makes a film British are things like expanding criteria to include other European Union States. Films have to include 18 out of 35 in criteria to be classed as British.

26.How has the use of visual effects in films been encouraged?
They've been encouraged because when used they improve the film in many areas as there are many different types of visual effects that can be used. Unfortunately they are more expensive to include than special effects, which leaves them with a disadvantage depending on the budget of the film.

27.Name 5 of these rules, linking them to The Kings Speech, The World's End and Kill List:
All 3 films were set in the UK.
All had a majority of open dialogue in British.
Based on British subject matter.
The main/lead characters were all British or residents.
All represent or reflect diverse British culture, heritage or creativity.

28.What rules has chancellor George Osbourne announced for tax on British films?
 Announced a tax relief increase from 20% to 25% on the first £20 million of qualifying production expenditure.

29.What is the highest grossing film in UK box office history?
Skyfall was the highest grossing British film as it made £94.5 million on the first day it was released into cinemas.

30.How much has it taken and how many screens was it available on?
It was shown on 587 screens worldwide and made £94.5 million.







Essay Question

Successful media products depend as much upon marketing and distribution to a specific audience as they do upon good production practices.

I agree with this statement because the marketing and distribution stage of making a film is actually very important as it depends on whether the finance at the end is worthy and that you have gained a profit. In order for most films to make their money the process of marketing and distribution needs to be a success, also needs to be done to a high standard/quality so the audience will be impressed with what the final product that has been created. Also the production practices are also taken into consideration of film producing as they also have a big part to play on whether a film makes it money in all stages e.g. pre-production. Production practices includes the amount of money spent on 'A' List stars, special effects, different filming locations and even the director. All film productions want big directors for their film because they are more experienced and produce well e.g. people like Michael Bay (Transformer films) and John Favreau (Iron Man 1 and 2). Therefore again money is a big issue when it comes to this stage of film producing because bigger stars and a director means potentially the film will have more experience working on the final product which would persuade more of an audience to come and see the film in cinema's/screens.

Out of marketing and distribution and production practices, having to pick the most important one is most difficult because they both have their separate job to do and if one fails to produce well, then the overall film will fall and wont become a success, which is what the big 6 aim for when making a film. There is a good example in which these two processes work together well as 'The Avengers' was well marketed and distributed onto many screens but also included many special effects, top stars and now a very popular director- Joss Whedon. If either one of the processes had failed to do a reasonable/outstanding job then critics wouldn't have said the same things they did when we first saw this film on our screens. 'The Avengers' was on screens across the world for 6 months, approx. 22 weeks and 154 days this is all down to the marketing as the film was literally shown everywhere e.g. posters, endless trailers and many interviews. The opening weekend was very successful  as the film made $207,438,708 nearly as much as the production budget from the start. However the other side to this is the production practice, the amount of money spent on each actor and other important things. Robert Downey JR. was paid $50 million minimum for his participation in the film whereas his co-workers Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson were only paid a sum of $4-6 million. This was mainly because their characters within the film (Nick Fury and Black Widow) weren't as popular or important as Robert's character, Iron Man. This is because Iron Man was a popular film back in 2008 making $585 million worldwide.  Marvel wanted to see him back to create an even better film and make extra money.

A specific audience which was stated could be any age therefore the marketing has to be suitable for that particular audience otherwise this could conclude in bad reviews and potentially a huge loss of profit.

Walt Disney would be a good example to use also as they have made 158 feature films since being founded in the year 1923 and there marketing and distribution methods are well known and are vast all over the world. They have had some big actors featured in some of their films like Tom Hanks (Toy Story) which has been a successful franchise of family films across the world, and also Johnny Depp who played Captain Jack Sparrow in all of the Pirates of the Carribean films. This particular film would have had a lot of money spent on the special effects as Walt Disney wanted the film to look real when having different creatures of the sea. Disney have become influential to many children's life's and therefore received plenty of money when releasing each of their films. This has enabled them to upgrade their marketing strategies and given them the opportunity to start some unique ways of advertising, for example by owning their own clothing brand, shops, TV channel and not forgetting Disney World they have improved upon the other big 5 companies as they don't have the same ways of advertising. Therefore Disney media products can trust the marketing abilities and also the management on production practices. 

'The Kings Speech' which wasn't expected to do as well as it did, wasn't produced by a global institution, Bedlam Pictures were responsible for the film and were able to blow the audience away, proved by it winning 7 awards and best actor (Colin Firth). The reasoning for the film doing so well could be because of the production practice and how well the money was spent and not on the marketing/distribution. The budget was a very small amount considering on what Tom Hooper and Momentum Pictures created, they had $15 million for the whole film. Although the marketing was good the production practice was thought about well, they didn't use any special effects except for the card cut out people used to imitate a bigger crowd in a scene, therefore they were able to save money for bigger purposes. Also the actors used weren't really A List therefore didn't need to be paid as much as stars like Johnny Depp or Jennifer Aniston. However Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush gave an exceptional performance. The mise-en-scene however was very detailed, costumes and scenery looked immaculate therefore this could have taken a big chunk out of the budget, also the locations they used when filming, some scenes they were inside Buckingham Palace which wouldn't have been allowed for free. Therefore this could show that other smaller companies e.g. UK Film Council or Studio Canal that it is possible to make films amazing with a small amount of money provided.

 The audience of whatever film that is being advertised can engage and help on spreading the word across the country/world. The strategies that they can provide would be things like word of mouth which is the opinion of each individual that have seen the film already and want to get the word across on whether the film was good or bad. This can be done by just telling people face to face or through the social media, blogs and websites etc. this would get the word across more strongly as more people would see your personal opinion and judge on whether to go and pay to see the film. This whole process saves a bit of money for more expensive marketing strategies.

Star Trek into Darkness, directed by JJ. Abrams had many different ways of marketing their film so it would be distributed on to more screens worldwide. A new way was that they created their own app about the film which allowed you to unlock exclusive content and win prices. The description of the app was: Leading up to the film's release, you'll take part in scavenger hunt missions that include trivia, polls and Star Trek content in the real world like photographing outdoor billboards. By successfully completing these missions, you'll gain access to all exclusive materials, videos and content first! Although the app marketed the film before the release date the actual game itself didn't work as it just kept crashing. There were a lot more negatives in people's reviews also. Therefore sticking to the normal strategies or marketing maybe a better idea to use your left over money more wisely. However the film did make a lot of posters that were placed on the side of buses, outdoor billboards and in shops. The character posters showed each character in action during some part of the film with the release date on the bottom, these sort of posters were the ones on billboards and buses as they were horizontal and included more vibrant colours which would have caught people's attention. However the main poster produced showed Khan standing on a pile of rubble looking at the ruined city in the background, this effect added more drama as it was very mysterious and used dark, dull colours to express the feelings of what the poster was showing.

Successful films do rely on marketing and distribution just as much as they rely on production practising side of things, there both equally important and you couldn't have one without the other, however like I mentioned it does depend on the money situation and how you manage it.  The marketing and distribution process needs to be a wide system as it will potentially make the film more accessible to the intended audience and with companies like Walt Disney or another example from a global institutions doing so well you can't argue that the marketing side of things hasn't been influential or a vital component in creating a successful film.

The Kings Speech Research

Following the scandalous abdication of his brother King Edward VIII, Bertie (Colin Firth) who has suffered from a debilitating speech impediment since he was a young boy, is suddenly crowned King George VI of the United Kingdom. With his country on the brink of being at war in desperate need of a strong leader , Bertie's wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) seeks out the help of eccentric speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush).
Britishness:
The Kings Speech is a British film because it was made in Britain, the film was mainly aimed at the UK and the US audience, this was because the Americans enjoy the British accent and therefore enjoyed watching the film, another reason why was because there was the idea of royals involved. The director, Tom Hooper is also British. You don't expect The Kings Speech to be a good film as the title doesn't sound interesting however as soon as you get the feel of the film, you immediately become attached as you begin to feel sorry for King George VI because of his unfortunate stammer therefore you want to find out if he overcomes his problem at the end. 

Box Office in the UK:

No one was expecting the film to make as much as it did on the opening weekend as Momentum Pictures made an estimate that was exceeded as The Kings Speech made £3.52m on the opening weekend in the UK alone, which was more than how much money it made in the USA however overall it became more popular in America. 

The Films Reception:
This is the overall view of what the audience thought about the film when seeing it, like a review it tells others about what happens and whether it is worth paying to see in cinemas. On IMDB the rating for this film was 8.1.

Awards and BAFTA's: 
The Kings Speech won many awards at the BAFTA's and also 4 time academy award winner. The academy awards it won were best picture, best actor (Colin Firth), best director (Tom Hooper) and best original screenplay. The film won 7 BAFTA's including best film and yet again best actor, Colin Firth wasn't expected to be as good as he was after his performance in a Single Man, the last film he starred in however his performance in The Kings Speech was extraordinary.

There were many good reviews that over powered the criticisms:
 http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_kings_speech/

• The King's Speech features a fantastic, awards courting performance by Firth and is also brilliantly written, resulting in a surprisingly tense and very entertaining watch.
• Tom Hooper delves beneath the pomp and circumstance to root out the essence of his characters.
• It is a wonderful entertainment, a fascinating history lesson and a showcase for several delightful performances.
• A powerful back story does not necessarily improve a movie, but The King's Speech has a pretty irresistible one. It might even end with a dramatic night at the Oscars in February.

Criticism of the film:
Not all of the public feel the same about every film, therefore there will be some people who hate the film and will think that it was a waste of time, these people will be those who don't like the genre and prefer action/adventure.
As this was a successful film, there wouldn't have been much to talk about that was wrong with the film. The criticisms are very harsh as they pick out very small details like errors about the historical accuracy. 

Web 2.0 and Exchange:
The film itself had its own Facebook page created to attract more of an audience to see the film when it eventually came out onto our screens, they added things like posters, trailers and both director and actors comments to what they thought of the film and how it turned out, this was all available for those who are available on social websites. The film also had clips published on YouTube, these were things like reviews from random people and trailers which boosted the advertising. Also on YouTube the actual interviews with the actors have been added, one with Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter shown below:

Watch it from 1:25 onwards

The clip above was also seen on the news therefore shown too thousands of people who enjoy watching the film. This particular video has over 70,000 views on YouTube.

The films origins:
Its based on King George IV who becomes the King of England but suffers from a stammer which enables him to speak in front of people, the film follows the story of how Bertie overcame his stammer with help from Lionel Logue, to finally become our trusted leader who would help us fight in the war with Germany.

The Finance:
The money situation for this film was actually a low amount to begin with however because of the huge success it made a huge profit and was actually very successful. Prescience saw the success before the film was finished and therefore became the key financier to the film. Also Momentum Pictures were large investors who were supporting the film every step of the way. All together they created the budget of just £15 million which wasn't a lot, perhaps this was why it was such a shock when during the opening weekend it made £4 million straight away. 

Production Companies:
The institutions that made the film were See-Saw and Bedlam Productions. I had never heard of these two since now meaning there very small companies but they are British therefore this is why they were helping to create this film because the director wanted it to be 100% British. The film was distributed by Momentum Pictures, this institution also being British, they created the films marketing and plan and also marketed the film to the UK audience.

Distribution and Marketing Issues:
There were too different trailers both for the US and the UK, each trailer was completely different because of what each set of audience wanted to see.
Firstly the UK trailer:

In this one we see Colin Firth's character the most and how he overcomes his stammer, it shows us his journey and the problems he faces with his family throughout. There isnt as much on Geoffry Rush's character as the US one as really people want to see the main character because by showing others it can give away key parts of the film.

The trailer above shows us the International/US trailer, i feel as though it wasn't as good as the UK one because we dont tend to see King George IV (Colin Firth) journey as much. This one is more on how Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) helps him with his speech problems, which gives the story away because we don't want to find out what happens.

There were many different posters that were published to advertise this film. One of the most iconic ones would be where it shows us the two main characters (Bertie and Lionel) standing at a window with a London landmark in the background as it shows us how British the film really is. Also it gives us information on what newspapers thought of this film, showing the star ratings clearly on the front.

The importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences.

Frank Ocean Pyramids

 

 

This official music video by Frank Ocean is set mostly in a strip club, this is because they will get a wider range of men viewing it as there a loads of half/fully naked women on camera with a few explicit bits in parts.

 

Most of the girls always have their eyes fixed onto the camera doing the super smiler expression, their smiles are big and inviting towards the male audience also there is a lot of drama involved e.g. girls stroking their bodies and throwing their heads back, all filmed in slow motion to give more of the sexual effect and also giving the male audience a longer viewing time to look at the women who are being presented before them on this music video.

 

Their body language is also positive, they are never turned away from the camera lens unless they are showing off their behind. There is also a slight gesture when the coloured woman is standing next to the pole with her hand on it.

Unfortunately the chopped video didnt work, therefore i have had to upload the full video of YouTube- to see the main clip, skip into it to 2:44 and wait till it finishes at 4:10. 

The Four Facial Expressions used in Media

 

Chocolate box:
Its either a half or full smile however the teeth a barely showing, the camera is positioned so that the woman face isn't directly pointing towards the lens, it turned to the side very slightly. Its sort of a sweet smile hence why its called chocolate box it doesn't present the woman as showing off at all. Cheryl Cole on Vogue magazine beneath has her head slightly tilted with her lips slightly parted, giving us a good example of the chocolate box expression.

Invitational:

This expression is all about the eyes, the woman doeskin show any hint of a smile and has there back facing the camera, showing the men that there not interested as there not giving you any body attention suggested as being mysterous and up to mischief. This expression allows the women to hold all the power as they arent giving anything away to the male audience.

Super Smiler:

This expression is used for attention, its able to grab the males vision almost instantly as the look is sexual and demanding. Its also very dramatic as they have their hair blowing in the wind and sometimes even covered in water to make them look sweaty like they have just had sex. To add more drama they sometimes have their head thrusted forward or their chin thrown back showing more of the body. Super smiler shows us that the women have an open face with a wide toothy smile.

The picture below shows Eva Mendes modelling for Calvin Klein underwear, although her smile isnt huge, it definitly shows how dramatic it can be, having her touching her leg is invotational. It could also show that its orgasmic as her eyes are only slightly open and shes also lying down.

 

Romantic or sexual: A fourth and more general classification devised to include both male and female, having both man and woman adds more sexual tension. It can be very dreamy and sensual as they know they can attract even a female audience if they can add a half naked man with big abs into the picture.

They dont tend to look at the camers as they should be more interested in each other, also they dont smile because they want it to look as romantic as possible, its serious.

The Four Quadrant Picture

What is it?
A four quadrant picture is a film that is targeted at all ages, these are mostly popular with families as they involve different age groups, the four quadrant age ratings are: men over and under 25 and women over and under 25.
A good example would be Shrek as it was so popular it managed to keep the story going, overall making four equally as good films, this was because not only are they a good sequel of films but they were also aimed at all the audience quadrants.

The effect of it
Like ive mentioned the audience for these types of film are huge and the film industry want to maximise their target audience for each individual film so they can produce a bigger profit. The films attract men, women and children of all ages because the imagery and language is all appropriate, without huge, gory violence also. They are able to bring in massive amounts of revenue on opening weekends because everyone will be free meaning parents can take their children to go and watch the film. The Four Quadrant term associates with gender and age. Studio's need to make each four quadrant film appropriate meaning they need to address the correct age rating, too high and there would be complaints for it being unsuitable. However if they are able to reduce a PG 13 to just a PG, this can produce huge amounts of money because parents would feel much more comfortable to take their children to the cinema to watch it.

Well known examples
There are a few four quadrant picture blockbuster that have been extremely popular, one of the most famous example would have to be Star Wars, this does contain violence but it is only moderate, there isn't any blood or overly scary scenes throughout each of the 6 films that were made. Another blockbuster example is Back To The Future 1, 2 and 3. The other more recent examples that weren't blockbusters unfortunately are: Pirates of the Caribbean, WallE, Shrek(1, 2, 3, 4) and the Spiderman films.