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

Toy story 3 was produced by Pixar and Walt Disney pictures. These two production companies influence the type of film made and its potential success. This is because the bigger film companies are more likely to be successful because most of the films follow the rules that Mark Kermode said would make the film impossible to lose money. However, toy story 3 did not follow all of his rules but still did extremely well. This film is more pointed towards younger children or adults watching it with their children. Despite this difference it still managed to make $415,004,880 in the USA by 28th May 2012.

An example of a big film company is Walt Disney. This is one of the most renowned film production companies in the history of the business. Walt Disney managed to create very successful and popular films and films that will always be remembered by people. Walt Disney is seen by most people as being a film company that manages to produce good family films that are loved by millions of people. The fact that Disney is so well known may be a part to play in the film’s success. This is good because people automatically presume that Disney movies will be good so they go and see it at the cinema because of this reason. Walt Disney also then has a lot of money to spend on new films meaning that the films that they produce have a big budget.

Toy story 3 had a budget of $200,000,000 (estimated) in the US which is a huge budget and made a gross of $415,004,880 (USA) at the box office. This means that they made more than double their budget meaning they made a big profit on the film. This film doesn’t really contain A-list stars such as Johnny Depp, apart from the main character woody who is played by Tom Hanks but other than that it still did very well.

The film also had good visuals meaning that Toy Story 3 meets all four of the pieces which make up Mark Kermode’s criteria. This could be the reason to the film’s success or it could be due to the fact that Walt Disney is a very successful company anyway.

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

Toy story 3 is a 2010 film produced by Pixar and Walt Disney pictures. It is the third film of the set.

Toy story 3 benefited from being marketed in November 2009 with a trailer being released before the upcoming film showing the 3 main characters. However a few months later they released 3 new characters into the frame which got everyone talking about the ‘difference in the films’. On June 21st 2010 Toy Story was released in the UK for the first time ever ad it started an opening weekend at approximately £21,187,264 (UK) (25 July 2010).

3. The technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange:3D3D media is motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception. Derived from stereoscopic photography. It is when two cameras are used to film a scene from two different perspectives it is also a computer generated image. Special projection hardware is used to complete the illusion of depth such as glasses to use during the film. 3D films are not limited to just feature film; it can be adapted to be used in different aspects of media.

Blu-rayBluRay disc is a digital optic disk storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It is capable of showing high definition 1080p resolution; much greater than the original DVD’s which could only show 480p resolution. Another feature is the improved audio quality.

Internet StreamingInternet streaming is multimedia that is streamed y a receiver while being delivered by a provider. A client media player can begin to play or watch the chosen media before the content is fully downloaded.

Downloadable

This is a downloadable video game.

Content

Content is content for and films such as film soundtracks and character accessories on specific games. This could be on ITunes or Google play store or any other downloadable content provider.

All these types of multimedia distributors had a large effect on the success of Toy Story 3. The film is still making money to this day through downloadable content and internet streaming so they are a sustainable source of income as well as an easy one.

4. The significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences:

Since films were first released, film companies have had to alter the ways that they audiences are able to watch their films significantly. Common ways of viewing films now are things such as video on demand, DVD’s/ Blu-Ray, online streams and downloads. These ways generally tend to be cheap which is important as many families don’t have the money to all go to the cinema so for a considerably lower price they can rent a film via websites such as Netflix or LoveFilm or they could purchase the DVD from a shop. Toy Story 3 was released at the cinema in both 2D and 3D. It was then released on VOD websites such as Netflix or Lovefilm, this is usually the case when a film doesn’t do very well. The film could be released on a VOD website in the future when it has begun to stop making profit. This is a good way that bug film companies continue to make profit on older films.

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

Toy story 3 was produced and was one of the biggest films of 2010; it was produced by Walt Disney which already suggests a bug budget as they are one of the ‘big six’. Disney always has big budget films and toy story made more than double than its budget price.

Small companies were involved in the production of this movie, for example:

Gentle giant studios doing the special effects. Digital media service sorting the marketing part. Eastwood doing the sound and vision.

Overall the importance of cross media convergence is vital to film production as its all the small companies working together to produce posters, soundtracks etc. and larger global companies to work together and produce together which gets a larger global audience due to the size and popularity of the big size.

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

Film promotion is the practice of promotion specifically in the film industry, and usually occurs in coordination with the process of film distribution. Sometimes called the press junket or film junket, film promotion generally includes press releases, advertising campaigns, merchandising and media. They would also sometimes include interviews with the key people involved with the making of the film, for example directors and actors.

Toy Story was released on the same day in the UK and US.

7. The ways in which the candidates own experiences of media consumption illustrates wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour:

Firstly I think that the influence big companies have on the types of film made and its success is huge. A prime example of this is if you compare Dredd to The Avengers Assemble it is clear that due to the sizes of the

companies producing these films their success potential differed, The Avengers Assemble for example was released on the 4th of May 2012 but marketing however started when the film was promoted at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International, during which a teaser trailer narrated by Samuel A. Jackson was shown followed by an introduction of the cast.

Toy Story 3 is produced by the large company Disney Pixar and Walt Disney pictures. The main advantage that being made by a big company brings is their ability to invest large amounts in their budget. This is known in Toy Story 3 and Dredd as Dredd has $45 million and Toy Story 3 had a massive budget of $200 million. In my opinion the big companies only have a few guidelines to follow to make a film a success. Mark Kermode believes that big budget films only need to comply with his rules, whereas lower budget films need to do more for success.