AS G322 Key Media Concepts Exam

Section B: Audiences & Institutions

Focus: The Film Industry

• A study of a specific studio or production company within a contemporary film industry that targets a British audience.

Focus: The Film Industry

• Focusing on its patterns of:Production Distribution Exhibition Consumption by audiences.

Focus: The Film Industry

• Accompanied by study of contemporary film distribution practices (digital cinemas, DVD, HD-DVD, downloads, etc) and their impact upon production, marketing and consumption.

Film Four• Owned by Channel 4

• Started in 1982 when it was called Channel 4 Films.

• Has made some of Britain’s most successful and critically acclaimed films such as:

– Four Weddings and a Funeral– Trainspotting– Elizabeth– The Last King of Scotland– Slumdog Millionaire– Touching the Void

Film Four: ProductionRelies on joint partnerships with other companies to

make films:

• Slumdog Millionaire = Celador Films, Pathe Pictures

• Trainspotting = Polygram, Figment Films• Four Weddings = Polygram, Working Title

Production Cont.

Relies on American studios to distribute their films to an international audience:

• Slumdog Millionaire = Fox Searchlight• Trainspotting = Miramax Films• Four Weddings = Gramercy

Pictures

Exhibition (Theatrical)

• Majority of Film Four films are created for a western audience.

• Films are generally smaller than the big American films and will draw smaller audiences.

• Will only be released on a small number of screens because less copies of film are made.

Exhibition (Home) Consumption

Film Four uses its digital TV channel of the same name to exhibit its films, this enables them to:

• Promote new films soon to be released• Promote their own back log of films

through the channel• Be the first to premiere their films on TV,

thus drawing in bigger audiences.

Piracy

• Time span between a films theatrical release and retail release is much shorter, why?

• Effect of digital technology in every home, broadband internet.

• Internet allows for downloading of films, illegal and also file sharing sites.

Piracy

• Smaller British films suffer because they find it harder to get a film released on DVD.

• Piracy means that less revenue comes back to the distributor and the production company, what does this mean for Film Four?

Benefits of new technology

• Marketing a film through the internet is relatively cheap and reaches a very wide audience.

• Promoting your film through social networks provides a forum for promotion through word of mouth.

• Getting people to sign up means companies can send txts, emails to raise awareness of films.

Slumdog Millionaire• Promoters used a

company called Tug to promote the film through the internet.

• Banners placed on key sites such as the Google search engine gave optimum advertising for the film.

• Appealed to mass audiences through its key common themes and inter-textual reference of well a known game show.

Trainspotting• Released before internet

advertising the film was promoted through its music.

• The songs chosen for the film were so popular that the soundtrack went on to 20 million copies.

• Was the film for the 1990’s generation of young adults. Equivalent to Kidulthood in 2000’s.

Four Weddings and a Funeral• Used a famous American

actress, Andie MacDowell to:

• A – get made• B – draw audiences,

especially in the USA.

Was stereotypically British and relied on these to create the comedy and promote the film to international audiences.

Section B: Institutions and Audiences Exam question

• Answer the question below, making detailed reference to examples from your case study material to support points made in your answer.

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

[50] Marks