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James Taggar Seven Key areas Man of Steel Man of Steel (2013) 1. The issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice Warner Brothers are a prime example of one of the biggest and renowned companies in the filming industry, Warner Brothers have been involved in some of the most well know movies of all time including: Harry Potter; The Dark Night trilogy and the Matrix collection; all very successful films that made huge amounts of profit. Films such as these have gained Warner Brothers a strong fan base as they consistently provide good films which will therefore increase the likelihood that viewers will be more interested to watch more films made by Warner Brothers regardless of what film is being released. Man of Steel is a prime example of a film that was produced by DC Entertainment, Legendary Pictures, Syncope and Cruel and Unusual Films and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. This film had a budget of $225 million and grossed $668 million to make a profit of $443 million. As Warner Brothers were involved, this film was publicised greatly to the extent that the viewers wanted to watch Man of Steel regardless of as they have high expectations in Warner Brothers. The Harry Potter collection spanning a total of eight films, had a total budget of $1.155 billion and grossed approximately $7.723 billion at the box office alone. The total eight films gained a

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Page 1: Man of Steel

James Taggar Seven Key areas Man of Steel

 Man of Steel (2013)

1. The issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice

Warner Brothers are a prime example of one of the biggest and renowned companies in the filming industry, Warner Brothers have been involved in some of the most well know movies of all time including: Harry Potter; The Dark Night trilogy and the Matrix collection; all very successful films that made huge amounts of profit. Films such as these have gained Warner Brothers a strong fan base as they consistently provide good films which will therefore increase the likelihood that viewers will be more interested to watch more films made by Warner Brothers regardless of what film is being released. Man of Steel is a prime example of a film that was produced by DC Entertainment, Legendary Pictures, Syncope and Cruel and Unusual Films and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. This film had a budget of $225 million and grossed $668 million to make a profit of $443 million. As Warner Brothers were involved, this film was publicised greatly to the extent that the viewers wanted to watch Man of Steel regardless of as they have high expectations in Warner Brothers.

The Harry Potter collection spanning a total of eight films, had a total budget of $1.155 billion and grossed approximately $7.723 billion at the box office alone. The total eight films gained a profit of over five times the budget; this is a very impressive profit that any filming company would be more than pleased with. The Harry Potter collection contained a variety of ‘A List’ stars such as: Helen Bonner Carter and Maggie Smith. Some became ‘A List’ stars through being involved in Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe is the main actor that has become increasingly famous and is now seen in various other films such as The Women in Black and the 2013 film, Horns.

The entire Harry Potter collection mimics Mark Kermode’s theory. A theory where all a film needs to be successful is a - Newsworthy budget; cannot be a comedy; has spectacular visuals and must have

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James Taggar Seven Key areas Man of Steel

at least one ‘A List’ star. Harry Potter has all of these features. Each film had at least $10,000,000 budget which is a substantial amount for any film; Harry Potter is fantasy film and not a comedy; three of the eight films won awards for the Best Visuals Effects and finally includes various ‘A list’ stars as previously discussed. The amount each film grossed also emphasizes Mark Kermode’s theory.

2. The importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing

Man of Steel, is a 2013 American superhero film based on the DC Comic book superhero, Superman. Man of Steel is a reboot of the original ‘Superman’ films that originate from 1948. The new Man of Steel was produced by: DC Entertainment, Legendary Pictures, Syncope and Cruel and Unusual Films and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

All advertising and marketing methods were created by Warner Brothers. This filmed had a very large budget of $225 million so it had the ability to advertise heavily (which it did). Advertising methods such as magazines were used very efficiently. The lead actor Henry Cavill in costume was seen on the front page of all top movie magazines with the mentioning of other major films in the background. Adverting for the movie was also promoted on billboards and in elevators.

Warner Brothers were in charge of marketing for the newest Superman instalment, Man of Steel. Some have said that Warner Brothers have taken marketing to a new level. Man of Steel has acquired over 100 global promotional partners and has dedicated $160 million to fund the promotional aspects of the film. The teaser trailer for Man of Steel was released on the 21st July 2012 onto YouTube for all to see, more trailers were released closer to the time of release. Social media sites such as Twitter, were used to create pages specifically for the advertising of Man of Steel, some Twitter pages are still active even up to this day. Content such as YouTube links; magazine covers and movie release dates were posted, social media networking sites such as twitter aided in the profit that the Man of Steel made as it increased public awareness for the film.

A specific app for the Windows Nokia Lumia has been created that includes character information, trailers and various other features relating to Man of Steel. In addition, Chrysler the U.K car company has designed and created two Superman cars. One called the S-Series and the Delta. These cars are to be given away in the form of a prize.

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James Taggar Seven Key areas Man of Steel

Man of Steel had a male dominated audience at 60% however vast amounts of female still went to see the movie in cinemas. Man of Steel has a film certificate of 12A, Therefore excluding all children under the age of 12 and most that are 12 years of age as they would need adult supervision.

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James Taggar Seven Key areas Man of Steel

3. The technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels o production, distribution, marketing and exchange

IMAX theatres

An alternative and enhanced cinematography that allows the viewer to view the film on a screen that is roughly ten times larger than the usual screen therefore becoming more indulged into the movies as it takes up a larger amount of your surroundings

3 dimensional/ 3D

Where the viewer has to wear specially designed glasses that are designed to make the movie more realistic as some of the special affects will enhances the illusion and change depth of perception so that the film is more entertaining

Blu-ray

Blu-ray is a high definition version of the standard DVD it is preferred by many as it is said to deliver a picture that is sharp and detailed therefore increasing the realism of the movie

Internet streaming

Allows the audience to experience the film from home using the internet, this can be in the form of Netflix which is commonly used and is becoming more and more popular as it is more financially viable

Downloadable content

Amazon prime is an example of downloadable content as the viewer has to purchase so they can watch the film. Other means such as ITunes can be used to purchase a soundtracks or even specific songs that have been featured in the film.

Each of the multimedia distribution methods aided Man of Steel and increased the profits dramatically. Within the first week: 1,368,864 units of Blu-ray were sold already making a profit of $28,732,455; 598,567 units of DVD were sold making another $10,319,295 of profit. On its opening weekend Man of Steel man $17.5 million from IMAX theatres alone. In addition a Walmart screening program was introduced which applied to 3,700 Walmart stores where exclusive screening of Man of Steel would be on sale, this programme made Man of Steel $56.1 million which was the third highest of 2013.

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James Taggar Seven Key areas Man of Steel

4. The significance proliferation in hardware and content for institution and audiences

The significant increase of technology has made films viewable on a various devices. Warner Brothers made the content for Man of Steel viewable on almost all devices (if not all). Man of Steel was available to view at the cinemas in 2D, 3D and for further enhanced viewings IMAX screens. The content was available on DVD and Blu-ray which were released soon after the movie was in cinemas. Man of Steel was offered onto Amazon Prime – Also known as LoveFilm to those who have paid subscription. However Man of Steel still isn’t available to view on Netflix for possibilities that the number of DVD and Blu-ray would decrease and lose profit. Alternative methods of viewing included ITunes and BBC IPlayer which are apps that is accessible through ‘Smartphones’. Piracy has also made some movies available on certain websites (Piracy is illegal and websites will be closed down if found) Sky Movies offers a range of films and Sky Store is available for those who own a Sky box and are willing to pay a certain price for film that have recently came out.

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James Taggar Seven Key areas Man of Steel

5. The importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production distribution and marketing

Man of Steel was rated the 8th best film in 2013. Man of Steel is owned by DC Entertainment that has a parent organization with Warner Brothers studios are one of the 6 major film studios. They are a multibillion dollar company that are expected to be involved in large budget films. They are known for being strong at marketing, licensing and the distribution of films. Warner Brothers were in association and worked alongside other companies that could do tasks that Warner Brothers cannot handle themselves.

Warner Brothers worked with Legendary Pictures who are a motion picture company that was in co-production with Syncopy which is another motion picture company that is owned by Christopher Nolan who was one of the producers for Man of Steel. These companies also worked alongside Cruel and Unusual Films which had the task of production and distribution of the film. This company is owned by Zach Snyder who was the producer fro Man of Steel.

To conclude the smaller companies that worked alongside Warner Brothers didn’t get the full recognition that Warner Brothers received. This is primarily due to the awards that Warner Brothers were nominated for (some of which Warner Brothers won) compared to the other companies such as Legendary Pictures that won no awards and weren’t even nominated however without these smaller companies Man of Steel wouldn’t grossed as much as the production wouldn’t have been as affective or successful.

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James Taggar Seven Key areas Man of Steel

6. The issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (Specifically, British) by international or global intuitions

For the United Kingdom Man of steel was released onto cinemas on the 12th June 2013 whereas America was two days behind and the film was released on the 14th June 2013. Even despite the US delay there are no differences between the two trailers that were provided to the US and the UK.

7. The ways in which candidates’ own experience of media consumption illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour

I personally watched Man of Steel in the comfort of my own home using Sky on Demand; this was a viable option as Man of Steel had already left the cinemas so we were unable to watch in the preferred environment where we could indulge ourselves into the movie. Sky on Demand was however the less costly option as we didn’t need to pay to watch the movie.