1. WWW: Good writing; attempting to use theory/terminology LR: Focus more on the question - especially Audience Question. Answer the question all over again.
2. No, I didn't meet my target grade of C
3. Question 1: I met the anticipated answers but I need to talk more about camera angles. Question 2: I vaguely met the anticipated answers required. Questions 3: In this question I did not cover the anticipated answers. Question 4: I need to focus on the question here.
4. Question 1 was my strongest question as there was a strong knowledge of cinematography shown.
5. Question 2 was the weakest answer for me.
6. Question 2: Institution Activision and Infinity ward are featured in the end of the trailer they are the production company who produced the game Call of Duty Ghosts. This is done to attract the fan base of these two institutions as they have constructed loyalty with the brands and would have trust in the product on display in the trailer. They have produced other Call of Duty games such as Black Ops and Black Ops 2. The audience who enjoyed those games could feel that they are the people being targeted directly. The trailer uses the actress Megan Fox. Megan Fox is used in the trailer because of her significant female role in the action film "The Transformers". Furthermore, using Megan Fox could also be used to help promote both Megan Fox and Call Of Duty, this is because Call Of Duty has had previous incidents where people blamed them for being sexist in not having any female roles in their games. This promots them because it shows that they are targeting not only males but females as well. The song used 'I'm gonna live till I die' creates the atmosphere required to show Las Vegas as well as create excitement. The use of the sound being non diegetic to the trailer and the lyrics would be parallel to the trailer as it describes life and death. The fast paced sound intertwines with the gameplay on display as people are running to cover for safety and it would hype an audience as they want the main protagonists to succeed and win the war. Therefore, the song is there to suggest the game will also be fast exciting fans of the Call of Duty franchise as they are familiar with this type of gameplay. This could be the preferred reading of a Call of Duty game by audiences. In addition to this, the use of having Frank Sinatra could be used to get Frank Sinatra's fan base to go out and purchase the game in order to hear his music.
7. No I did not cover all three platforms.
8. Nope I didn't use the key words that are shown.
9. Question 1: camerawork used to show the facial expressions of the characters to entice audience Question 2: Megan Fox could be considered a brand. Question 3: the use of four male friends having fun. Question 4: The protagonists are laughing and playing about whilst killing the enemy. Question 6: Plan b Tag London campaign.
How far does the platform on which they are consumed determine the construction of media products in your cross-media study? Support your answer with reference to a range of products from THREE media platforms.(32 Marks)
The three media case studies which I have studied are Ill Manors, A Field In England and The King's Speech.
The first film I will talk about is Ill Manors as it's been promoted through a variety of ways particularly using the print platform such as magazines and newspapers. The director Ben Drew (Plan B) appears on a magazine called Men's Health which is mainly targeted at a 20 to 45 age demographic of 85% Male and 15% Female. The article is based solely around the artists clothing size and how he was able to get thinner. This promotes Ill Manors as it gets the audience to relate more to the producer of the film. It also entertains the audience because it provides the audience with information regarding Ben Drew's lifestyle and his dress sense. It also shows plan B with the determination he had to have to lose weight, viewers can also learn to become more dedicated and more successful. Ill Manors has also been promoted through the way Plan b is shown in an NME article to have two middle fingers up with a cigarette in his mouth. This gives him a very strong, urban and street look in which the youth can easily relate to. The target audience for this magazine are mainly young people this is effective as it gets the core target audience to feel like they are being directly addressed and are being asked to back him up. This reinforces the dominant stereotype of young people being rebellious and this sometimes causes a moral panic because the adults and parents are not willing to see the younger generation in a different light so they are subconsciously putting a negative representation of the younger generation. Plan B is used to promote the film because he doesn't have much experience in on the film industry as this is his first time directing and making a film. He is a lot more popular in the music industry and has a big fan base which would also watch a film if he made it. He is the unique selling point of Ill Manors. Ill Manors was also promoted through newspapers, an example of this is when the The Daily Mail had wrote an article about how Ill Manors was a total disaster. This was done to support the ideologies their audience have on young people being criminals and menaces to society. This was done because print is a traditional way of reviewing films and as the newspaper's core target audience would probably be older middle class men, it would make sense to create a review based on their beliefs and assumptions. They had wrote 'Plan B is going to need to contemplate Plan C' which infers the film isn't good and an audience would be satisfied with a negative review. This unlike any of the other articles written in left wing news papers suggests that it is trying to divert a moral panic as the wrong people may take Ill Manors as a movie agreeing with rioting,vandalism and drugs.
Ben Drew’s film Ill Manors is promoted on E-media using a variety of methods to attract and maintain his audience.
Perhaps the most creative aspect of the film’s marketing was the Tag London
campaign. In synergy with the film’s soundtrack album, fans of Plan B (Ben Drew’s
hip hop/rap stage name) were encouraged to tweet their views on the state of
modern Britain using the hashtag #illmanors. A selection of these tweets were
then recreated by graffiti artists and projected on to major London landmarks
such as the Houses of Parliament and Tate Britain. This helped to emphasise the
political aspect of the film’s narrative as well as creating a visual spectacle
that generated additional media coverage for the film and soundtrack album.
This campaign was supported by its own dedicated website that offered links to
the audience to buy, watch or listen to Ill Manors-related products. This
campaign was particularly successful due to the use of user-generated content
and the feeling the audience was in control of the campaign. The graffiti and
references to ‘broken Britain’ would appeal to the core target audience of Ill
Manors of young, disaffected, urban people. However, additional ‘lines of
appeal’ (Dyer) might be ‘art’ (linking to the graffiti) and ‘glamorous
locations’ (the iconic London landmarks). This would perhaps attract and
maintain the interest of a more middle-class, left-wing intellectual audience. Another key aspect of the Ill Manors e-media promotion was
the use of celebrity endorsement. Ben Drew asked celebrities to tweet and
re-tweet references to the film to generate interest around the premier of the
film and the cinema release date. Later, this was used again for the soundtrack
album. This is a great example of the two-step flow theory with ‘opinion
leaders’ (celebrities) being used to promote the film to a wider audience.
A Field In England, unlike any of the other films promoted there film through there unusual methods of distribution. A Field In England's release was different to the release of a typical film release because it distributed it's film on every platform at the exact same time. This means that it was streamed online, on the TV, Cinemas and was available for purchase in stores on the same date day and time. This was a very different form of distribution because it meant that anyone with the right technology would be able to record the film and make it available for the public to view illegally. This may have been a very unusual method however it had a positive affect because it meant that no matter if someone was to redistribute the film illegally it would be futile because it has already been made available to the audience on every platform.
In conclusion, the three media platforms are all as important as each other. However, each platform is dominated by a certain age demographic; print is usually dominated by the older generation, broadcast is usually dominated by the middle age whilst E-media is usually dominated by the younger generation.
Case study research tasks The basics The film that I will be studying as my independent case study will be 'The Kings Speech'. The King's Speech was written by David Seilder however it was directed by Tom Hooper. There were 3 stars who played there roles in this film astoundingly. The first being Colin Firth, who stared in many successful films such as, 'A Single Man' and 'Shakespeare In Love'. The second being Geoffrey Rush, who also starred in many successful films such as, 'Shine' and 'Elizabeth'. The third notable star is Sir Michael Gambon, who starred in Harry Potter: The prisoner of Azkaban. The King's Speech was first released at the Telluride Film Festival on the 6th of September 2010. However, it was released for viewing in the United Kingdom by the public on the 7th January 2011. The genre of The King's Speech is a hybrid genre of; Biography, Drama and History. The King's Speech was rated 8.0/10 on IMDB. Whereas, The King's Speech was rated 95% on the TOMATOMETER and the 92% on the audience Score
Broadcast
The cinematography used in The King's Speech trailer is effective as it helped give the audience a clear view into when exactly the film is and of what is expected of a film in that time. This is effective as the audiences expectations of a film like The King's Speech have been met as it relates to the power a King in those times would have. In particular the shot of London during the war enhances the power that the King has and how a whole nation is relying on him. On the other hand the shot of the King standing next to his aid sort of suggests that the King is just a figure face and that it is Geoffery Rush who is calling the shots. This is then enhanced in the way at first whenever Geoffery Rush is talking to the King it is a low angle shot however when he sits in St Edwards chair it goes to a medium shot which suggests that the King and Geoffery Rush have equal strength.
It also shows the trailer at the start of the clip to show the audience what the film they are talking about is actually like.
The King's Speech is promoted in this clip through the use of having two of the main distinguishable characters talk about The King's Speech. The two main actors Collin Firth and Geoffrey Rush constantly talk about the film and how long it took to produce such a high budget production.
The King's Speech is promoted in this film through the use of having the director ,Tom Hooper, and the writer, David Seidler, talk about the production and how proud they are of the accomplishment and it goes on to talk about how they put there blood sweat and tears into this movie and they hope the audience like it. This promotes the film as it gets the audience to feel sympathy for them thus resulting in them going to watch it.
The King's Speech uses stars to promote and maintain the public's interest in the movie. Some of the main stars that were used are Collin Firth, Geoferrey Rush and Hellena Bonham Carter. These were a few of the stars that were used because they are very notable due to there successes in films such as Harry Potter, The Kingsman Secret Service and Shine.
Print
"It's an uplifting audience pleaser that also showcases film-making arts and crafts at an exalted level"
"A fascinating period drama that will mostly please everyone (and find few detractors), with a very fine dialogue and exquisite " "This is a powerful, hilarious and deeply moving story, told against the backdrop of a critical juncture in modern history, of the emergence of a deep friendship out of a professional relationship between two men who would otherwise never have socially interacted"
This print advert promotes the film as it shows the three most notable stars. This is effective because each of these stars already have an established fan base(audience), so the advert is targeting those particular groups. This promotes The King's Speech as the title of the production is in another language, this suggests that the film is an internationally recognised film. This promotes the film as it targets more than one type of audience This promotes The King's Speech through the way it uses the three most notable stars in the film as its central image for the front cover. This is effective as each of the three stars already have a substantial fan base which will be willing to explore and watch The King's Speech as it is something new for them to go and watch. 3) Choose ONE print advert and write a textual analysis of what it communicates to the audience. The use of mise-en-scene in this advert is effective as the use of a dark gritty background behind the second character foreshadows the impending doom that is to come over Britain during the film and how it is the job of the King to help change Britain so that does not happen, this further heightens how important the King's role is in a war and strengthens the narrative. 4) How is the film’s brand constructed? What does the brand connote? Does it remind you of any other brands or similar films?
E-media The King's Speech unlike any other art house has hardly any presence on social media platforms. The films presence only seemed to be on one social media platform which is Facebook. This could suggest to the audience that the core target audience for The King's Speech is the older generation. On the other hand The King's Speech presence was shown here and there on other social networking platforms such as Twitter as some 'Opinion Leaders' chose to talk about The King's Speech in either a positive way or a negative.
The King's Speech website shows synergy with The King's Speech DVD. It promotes the film as it gets the audience to feed in comments regarding the movie and then it talks about the questions which have come up more than once. For example, one of the questions that came up were "What is a Speech Disorder?" The King's Speech did not run some kind of E-media based campaign. The characters in the The King's Speech are the only ones to have promoted The King's Speech on social media. The particular characters that promoted The King's Speech are Collin Firth, Geoffery Rush and Hellena Bonham Carter.
Audience
I believe the target audience for this film are 55% Male and 45% Female between the ages of 25 - 55. Firstly I would say that this is a fairly accurate target audience for The King's Speech as it uses Facebook as one of its promotional methods. This is because Facebook is not the go to social media website for the younger generation as more and more older people started using it. The psychographic group that are targeted in The King's Speech is Explorers, Succeeders and Aspirers. This is because Explorers are willing to try anything. I had picked Succeeders and Aspirers because the film is about a person who has overcome his stuggles to forge a way forward. The audience pleasures that are given are personal identification escapism and personal relationships. This is because the audience may be feeling upset over something they have just come across and they do not know how to get past it which is why they can relate to the character King George. Furthermore, I have picked escapism because the audience likes to get away from everything in life if nothing is going there way through another persons struggles. A similar film to The King's Speech that the target audience may like is Suffragettes. Suffragettes: The target audience would enjoy this movie because it also talks about a persons struggle and how they overcame that struggle. Which in like The King's Speech is also about how a person, the king, over came his struggle which was his stammer.
Institution
The two main film studios that produced The King's Speech were: See-Saw Films Weinstein Company See-Saw Films have a track record of producing films that are associated with the past. A few examples of this are; Macbeth, Shame, Tracks, Mr Holmes and Life. Weinstein Company have a track record of producing films of different time frames. A few examples of this are; Macbeth, Woman In Gold, Shanghai and Southpaw. The only company that distributed The King's Speech in the UK were Momentum Pictures. Momentum Pictures have distributed films such as; Bling, Area 51, The Woman In Black 2: Angel of Death and Forbidden Grounds.3) Do they have a track record with this kind of film and this target audience? Momentum Pictures does not have a track record with this type of film and target audience as they distribute films from different genres. An example being; Insidious: Chapter and Arthur and Mike.
The film The King's Speech had a budget of fifteen million US dollars. The film The King's Speech was said to be very profitable as it made a substantial amount of seventy five million dollars profit. I believe that this happened because the film was effectively produced in a way that would fit the audiences perception on Britain. I also think that it made a substantial profit due to the acting of the main characters and there original fan bases. There have been many reviews suggesting that Collin Firths acting as the King with a stammer made them genuinly believe he had a stammer. The film was more successful abroad in the US as it fits the audience perception of Britain. This is reinforced by how only the 'High End' areas of Britain were shown. The film certification that was given to The King's Speech was a 12A. I believe this is because during the speech in therapy context is very strong. Furthermore, I believe that it would not affect the target audience of the film because it just opens the film up even to a younger audience getting them into the genre biography. Which would increase the more people that would watch the film.
Representation
The representation of people that are found in this film are of the upper class and of white males and females. However the lack of any coloured people could also be a form of representation of them. The King's Speech shows 'Britishness' through the dialogue and the actors movements and costume.It also reinforces the 'Britishness' through the use of having iconic British landmarks. This represented Britishness in a positive way as it reinforced how regal and powerful the King is. However, the fact that the King shows weakness also subverts the ideology they use to have back then of Kings being like Gods. The representation of Britain differs to Ill Manors because unlike Ill Manors The King's Speech shows the 'High End' sides of London. This differs to Ill Manors because it shows what is expected by people that do not live in London, this meets there expectations of the film which would get them to watch the film just by seeing the advert. Ill Manors, however, shows and portrays Britain as being broken and corrupt. This representation is not seen often in movies as it could cause a moral panic and 'scare' off tourists or people wanting to go and visit London. The King’s Speech is extremely patriotic, pro-monarchy, anti-war, passive and it believes in equality. Case study comparison 1) What similarities and differences can you find between Ill Manors, A Field In England and your chosen case study film? List all that apply.
A Field In England, unlike The King's Speech and Ill Manors, distributed their film on every platform at the same time which resulted in a maximum amount of viewers on its first day of release. Ill Manors and The King's Speech may have distributed their productions the same way however the ideologies and values that were portrayed in each countered each other as one was reinforcing the British 'myth' of being regal elite and fair. Whereas, Ill Manors challenges the very ideas of The King's Speech as it gets them to wonder about what is not being shown in Britain.
Multiplex cinemas are cinemas which are Blockbuster and target a mainstream audience for the purpose of entertainment.
Crossover cinemas are when cinemas that show nominations and award related films (prestige)
Uses and Gratifications theory is an approach to understanding why and how people actively seek out specific media to satisfy specific needs. Uses and Gratifications theory is an audience based approach to understanding mass communication. This theory can be applied to a national and International. US audiences are specifically significant as they have one of the largest audiences, however their audience pleasures may be different in comparison to the UK pleasures that are on offer, so this is why it isn't unusual to see large American stars in various British Films.
A British audience
A British audience would appeal to a culture proud film. These kind of films or shows would be The King's Speech, Downton Abbey where it shows British history and it's old culture. The target audience within this segment is an older generation as there are able to relate to some of the stories being portrayed in these films or are proud of the Royal's of the country.
An international audience
They would want to see the way British culture is/used to be as its an alternative way of living but more specifically to British culture, its uniqueness. The history of Britain amazes Americans (for example) which means they may be prone to watch films situated around a storyline of British history. However, Americans are known for having high enthusiasm and a British film like James Bond would be able to fill their appetite for action and chaos.
BBC Films, Revolver Entertainment, Film London Microwave.
There is a huge difference between the budget of Skyfall ($200m) and Ill Manors, due to the stunts and equipment needed to produce quality videography for a franchise that is globally known.
A Field In England: Funding and production budget
What was the estimated budget for A Field In England?
Why did A Field In England manage to secure a higher budget than Ill Manors?
Where did the money come from?
Film London and Microwave Film
Film London is film agency which discovers and promotes film making talent through short and feature film production — the platforms on which it is based is film, print and e-media. It is a not-profit organisation and is supported by the BFI and Mayor of London.
Microwave is Film London's feature film making scheme and it helps produce films.
List three other films funded by Microwave Film and embed their trailers in your blog
Three films that were funded by Microwave Film are:
Mum and dad
Shifty
Freestyle
Choose one film funded by Microwave film and explain how it compares to Ill Manors (similarities and differences)
Freestyle is a film about how a boy and girl fall in love in an unforeseen way. By both competing against each other for the same dream they end up finding more and more of themselves in the other. The narrative is similar due to it being about council estate and as the costumes are urban and the music is too.Also another factor is that the main character sells drugs to maintain paying for his lesson to get better at basketball so its sort of different than usually drug film as it being for getting the girls and fancy and clothes.
Distributor: Vertigo Films and Warp Films
Vertigo Films are well known for three particular films:'Football factory' 'The Sweeny' and 'Spring Breakers'
The core target audience is British and 55% Male and 45% Female due to the fact that most of the films that are distributed by vertigo is predominantly male and would like these films because they are set in Britain.
Mainstreamers and explorers would watch these films because these films are fit to the stereotype of what the international audience would expect of British Culture.
Vertigo Films have worked on comical films, sports related films and even dance films such as 'Street Dance'.
There are two very notable successful films produced by Warp Films these include 'Deadmans Shoes' and 'Southcliffe'.
Warp Films has created and found new talents by creating a subdivision, Warpx. Warpx have had a significant impact in shaping the British Film industry as it is. A significant amount of the projects have gained various nominations within the film industry including some gaining BAFTA nominations.
The two films that have the most similarities between each distribution company are 'This is England' and 'The Football factory'. These are probably two of the most similar films because the type of genre and the year that both films are spoken about are roughly around the same time.
One final aspect of institution is the certificate the film was awarded for exhibition. This is decided by the British Board of Film Classification.
The BBFC examine each film in depth,in a generic comfortable environment, looking at the extent of which nudity, sex, drugs, violence etc are presented in the production. Through this they determine the age certificate of the film.
The BBFC would give a film a 15 certification if the explicitness of the film would be on a low-scale compared to how explicit a film would be if it was an 18 certificate. If the production is hugely explicit then it would result in an 18 certificate.
The advantage of having an 18 certificate is that explicit cinematography is not available for immature audiences who can suffer from the hypodermic needle issue, this theory suggests that the audience is passive and they they are vulnerable to the manipulation of the media. On the other hand, an 18 certificate can hold financial disadvantages as distributors would struggle to maximise their profits.
Ill Manors & A Field In England: Institution What are the similarities and the differences between these two films? Similarities Arthouse films Star Ratings Reviews Quote Selection Central Image Credits
A Field In England was fully financed and distributed by FILM 4.
Behind the scenes of Ill Manors there were a few institutions that were backing them. Two key institutions behind the making of Ill Manors were Film London, Revolver Entertainment. Film London provided some of the money to make Ill Manors through Microwave Film, their micro-budget film making scheme. Revolver Entertainment was then responsible for distributing the film and making sure it was successful. Film London is an organisation dedicated to promoting filmmaking in London. Some of this is persuading big Hollywood movies to film in London - The new Star Wars. However, Film London also has a scheme called Microwave Film to help new film makers create their first low-budget feature. Ben Drew used this scheme to help fund Ill Manors. Film Distribution is the highly competitive business of lauching and sustaining films in the market place. UK film distributors alone spend around £300 Million a year on bringing new releases to market, and building awareness and interest among audiences. Even if a film finds the funding to be made, without a distributor it may never reach its intended Target Audience. REVOLVER ENTERTAINMENT, UNFORTUNATELY MET ITS DEMISE IN 2013. IT MADE A LOSS IN REVENUE AND PROFITS BECAUSE THE DVD INDUSTRY WAS BEING OVERTAKEN BY ONLINE SITES.
