Information on Exam

Synergy and Cross Media Convergence

Section B Revision

Proliferation in Hardware and Content

Case Study

Homework Media Ownership

Cross Media Convergence and Synergy inbetweeners

Homework

 June 2012


 Section B: Institutions and Audiences Answer the question below, making detailed reference to examples from your case study material to support the points made in your answer. 2 “Cross-media convergence and synergy are vital processes in the successful marketing of media products to audiences.” To what extent do you agree with this statement in relation to your chosen media area? You must choose to focus on one of the following media areas. You may also refer to other media in your answer. Film - Music - Newspapers - Radio - Magazines - Video games  

Cross-media convergence and synergy I believe has a big impact on how successful film marketing is. Cross-media convergence and synergy are very similar topics however, synergy is the simultaneous release of different products this  benefits for all products and cross-media convergences is the combining of two or more mediums and can happen at any of the three stages (production, distribution and exhibition) also this but also includes non-media related products such as, the coke advertisement of the film Skyfall.
   
Without cross-media convergences and synergy marketing a film would be difficult. The film Skyfall used both synergy and cross-media convergence a lot, the film had, a well-known artist release a song which was featured on the film, advertisement with coke, a James Bond fragrance, games, t-shirts, toy cars and many more marketing projects. All these benefited the film because they promoted it but it also benefited the product, for example: the coke advert would be associated with a popular film which would have promoted coke as-well. 

Skyfall was a very successful film which took a profit of about 1 billion worldwide, in comparison to ill Manors which took just under half a million. These two figures are totally different and I think this was mainly down to the budget the films had but how the film was marketed. ill Manors used synergy when Plan B released an album alongside the film however Skyfall did the same and much, much more. 

The release of Adele's single, Skyfall, created a wider range of possible consumers, but this also benefited Adele because her music was heard by a wider range of consumers and promoted her music. Adele is signed with Columbia Records which is owned my Sony and Eon productions are partners with Sony, this is an example of vertical integration. I believe that when companies work together the more people become aware of there products and this is a win win situation.

In conclusion I believe that cross media convergence and synergy are very important fro the marketing stage of promoting a film when it is used in the correct way and the film has a  significant  budget.



  

Notes on Section B

Section B (45mins- 50marks)

Notes

Marking:

20 marks for analysing, arguing and explaining.

20 marks for use of examples

10 marks for use of terminology

Fox:

Fox Searchlight Pictures whose parent company is 20^th Century Fox, which is part of the Fox Entertainment group, a subsidiary of News Corporation, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch. It is the 2^nd largest Media conglomerate in the world.

New corporation is a huge Media conglomerate, a mass-media multinational company.

Their assets are worth over 56 Billion dollars.

Despite their owner being a global mass market corporation Fox Searchlight specialise in British film, horror films, Dramedy and non English Language films.

Cross media convergence and synergy:

Production- being part of a conglomerate means that the money for productions is available for searchlight. Bigger budgets can also attract larger stars, utilise the newest and best technology for special effects and shooting.

Films are generally developed by a smaller production company (often set up just for the film itself) who then seek more finance and or distribution with Searchlight as they have a film with British content or 'independent film' content or a non-English language/ horror/dramedy film that has done well outside of America.

In many cases FSP can 'pick-up' a film that has already been developed(script, budgeting , stars attached) and has a lot of potential or they can help distribute a film that has done well in other regions already and is a 'sure-fire' hit (it may have won film festival awards previously or 'opened' a festival with it's premiers).

Ultimately, it means working with other companies through synergistic horizontal integration as oppose to the old style of vertical integration where every aspect of film making was done by one major company.

360 degree marketing:

Example- the black swan released teaser trailers and multiple trailers and features on TV and on-line.

Synergy -working with a number of companies: horizontal integration.

Cross- media promotion(below- the-line-strategies): working in synergy with other companies for the benefit of both.  

Representation of Ethnicity Homework (Not finished)

Ethnicity is the fact or state of belonging to a social group that has a common national or cultural tradition.

How camera shots are used to represent ethnicity:
The first shot is a long shot which moves into a tracking shot. These shot show that the black man is serving the older white man which represents white people in this situation as having a high authority. 

A close up shot then a medium shot shows one man kissing another man on the head, this shows the different ethnicity because it seems the other man doesn't appreciated this but the other man doesn't stop showing his affection. Kissing people when you to say hello is a cultural thing also the different hats represents different authorities and the mixed face man has a higher authority then the white man, this represents white people as having a lower authority. However the half cast man is showing the white woman around the kitchen and this goes against my previous observation. 

How the editing is used to represent ethnicity: 

There is a quick cut to a man who sighs to what another man says. This editing helps to represent that the ethnicity of the man with the black and white hat has a higher authority to the man who sighs because the man does not stand up to him. The use of shot reverse shot at the beginning of the clip when the two men are talking helps to show the movement of the men as they talk. This helps to represent ethnicity by 

How sound is used to represent ethnicity:

There is a scene where a man with a different coloured hat then everyone else says to a woman "welcome, welcome, welcome to my engine room" the use of the diegetic sound represents to the reader that he has a higher authority then the other men. The use of the word "my" and the shot that follows (the man sighing with annoyance) shows this to. The conversation between the two men (diegetic sound) helps to represent ethnicity because the contrast of how the black man spoke to the white man and then to the other black man is different and shows the difference in ethnicity. 

How the mise-en-scene is used to represent ethnicity: 

Towards the end of he clip their are a group of men in a kitchen and all but one have a white hat one. The man with the black and white hat is a different ethnicity to the other men, this represents the man to be the odd one out and could be in charge or shown as being "lower in class". When listening to the diegetic sound of the man the reader finds out that he is in charge.  

Homework Part B

  “Successful media products depend as much upon marketing and distribution to a specific audience as they do upon good production practices.” To what extent would you agree with this statement, within the film area.

 You may make reference to other areas in your answer. • Film • Music • Newspapers • Radio • Magazines • Video-games.

I fully agree with this statement, looking at the development in videos to DVD the two main suppliers were VHS and Betamax and due to the superior marketing and distribution skills of VHS, Betamax lost the majority of the market. The Video Home System (VHS) is a consumer-level analogue recording videotape-based cassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan (JVC). Betamax is a consumer-level analogue video-cassette magnetic tape recording format developed by Sony, released in Japan on May 10, 1975. 



Looking at the video above, throughout the Betamax images they had a better picture quality and this suggests that VHS had marketed their product far better then the rival company Betamax. This example shows that the marketing of a product and distribution can make a product sell or not. 

Films come out all the time and only a hand-full reach the cinema. This, I believe is mainly due to the the lack of money provided to the marketing team. In the half term holidays kids films are released in the cinema because there is a higher demand likely in the target audience. Also on valentines day there is a new romance film to be released which has been released purposely to get couples to the cinema.

In my opinion if I hear about a film and see it advertised I automatically think its going to be a good film.  If a film has a sizeable marketing budget which allows for TV adverts, the main stars featuring on TV programs like Graham Norton then interest is built and more tickets are sold. All films state the actors involved, if you can pay for a successful; actor their fan base will follow i.e. Kiera Knightly in Pirates of the Caribbean and her new film Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. 

Homework Part B

To what extent does digital distribution affect the marketing and consumption of media products in the media area you have studied? Candidates must focus on the following media areas: Film

Digital distribution affects the marketing of films in a positive way because there are more possibility of ways to market a film for example: television trailers and social media. With the development of new technology, such as internet on phones, social networking, film suppliers (netflixs, lovefilm), the ability to record and others there are more ways to get information to a wider range of people about up and coming film. On social media sites film trailers and posters are shared around which advertises films. 

Digital distribution affects the consumption of films in a positive way and a negative way. The positives are there are DVD's that provide the costumers to watch films in the comfort of there own homes. Also there are film suppliers such as netflixs and lovefilm that provide a selection of films at a fixed monthly rate, this is a new way to consume films. 
The negative way that digital consumption has affected the film industry is the ability to watch films illegal on-line. This losses profit for films because people are not paying to watch the film. 

Marketing is the process of communicating the value of a product or service to customers, for the purpose of selling that product or service.

Consumption of a film is the when customers watch films. 

Gender homework

About fourteen seconds in there is a woman asking how much a dress is and a man telling her the price, this is shown by an over the shoulder shot of the woman. The way the camera angle is tilted down towards the woman suggests the man has more authority (higher class) then the woman. When continuing watching the viewer finds out that the woman can’t afford the dress which also shows that the man has a higher status then the woman because he is wealthier. This stays with the stereotype of men and woman. 

As the woman walks out the shop there is a close up of another woman’s hand to show a very expensive ring on her finger. This tells the viewer that she is married to a wealthy man and the fact that she is shopping in an expensive shop also shows this. After this there is a close up of her face to show her feminine beauty. A tilt shot is used to show the woman wearing the dress. This shot is used to show her feminine beauty and for the masculine viewers.

After this there is an establishing shot of two men in a bar which shows their masculinity because there wealthy, are drinking and are smoking which are all stereotypically masculine things. 

Back in the shop the shop owner is looking for the woman lost ring on the floor when two feet come in the close up shot of the man’s face. There is a tilt shot of the man as the shop owner looks up at him from the floor, this suggest that the man has a higher status then the shop owner. This shows that the man is more masculine then the shop owner because masculine because are stereotypically competitive and dominating. Also the tilt shot is used to show the clothing of the man, to show the viewers that he is wealthy because of the things he is wearing.  There is another shot (over the shoulder) over the shoulder of the man looking down at the man on the floor this also shows the man’s higher status in this situation.  

When the woman and the shop owner are talking prices there is the use of the eye line match shows that the woman is looking up at the shop owner and the shop owner looking down at her. This correlates with the idea that the shop owner has a higher status then the woman because of her wealth and because of their gender.

When the woman is looking for her ring the different shots are quickly changed to another to show her panic about losing the ring. The quick changes in the editing correlate with her being in such distress. This stays with conventions because stereotypically woman are more emotional whereas men, stereotypically are more hard and emotionless.  

The use of diegetic sound is used when the shop owner is talking to the woman who wants to buy a dress. The voice of the shop owner is very dismissive towards the woman and this shows his lack of interest in the woman in contrast to the interest he has towards the typically more beautiful, younger woman.The tone in his voice and the long sigh, tells the viewer that he is not interested in what the woman wants and wants to put the woman off the shop because he believer’s that she isn’t in the right class to be shopping there.

The woman wants to please people with the way she looks because she wants to buy a new dress for her daughters wedding, this is stereotypically feminine thing and the use of diegetic sound gets this across to the viewers. This also links to the other woman because she also wants to look nice and she wants to please her husband with not losing her ring and buying a new dress. 

The woman, that loses the ring, has a very seductive voice that she uses to help her get what she wants. Her voice is very feminine and in this situation she has a higher status then the masculine man because of her wealth. This goes against the conventions. 

In the shop there is non-diegetic music playing throughout and its quit upbeat music, however when there’s the scene of the two men talking links to the fact that masculine people don’t listen to that type of music and its just them talking in the scene. However right at the end of then scene some Jazz sounding music starts to play to lead into the next scene and to add to the atmosphere that there in a masculine setting and there doing masculine things (drinking and smoking) in a men’s club.

As the woman losses her ring the music picks up the pace to correlate with her rushing around and to show her femininity. The non-diegetic sound also links to the quick cutting of the shots because they’re both fast and shows the panic. Also there’s a scene with a man doing some electrical work and when something goes wrong he seems calmer then the woman because stereotypically men are calmer.

When the two men drinking seem to have to much to drink the music is upbeat to fit with there moods and they don’t seem to care about what time of day it is and just seem calm which links to the masculine representation. As the man in the shop is walking to meet the woman there asynchronous sound of a man asserting his authority on the other man, telling him what to do. 

The arrangement of scenery shows that there is only feminine clothing in the shop and this suggest that shopping is a feminine thing to do. The fact that the shop owner is a man suggests that he could be a bit feminine to be working in a clothing shop. However the clothing that he is wearing suggest otherwise. The women in the shop is wearing very feminine clothing for example the red nail polish which suggest romance and the skirt suit is fitted to show her figure which stereotypically females care about what they are wearing. The dress that the woman tries on is feminine because it’s backless and fitted and stays with the idea that feminine people want to look nice for other people.

The props in the scene with the two men correlate with the fact that there masculine because they have cigarettes and glasses of alcohol. Also the arrangement of the scenery shows that the men are in a living room setting so there probably at a men’s club and it’s an expensive club to be in. The old-fashioned decor and the smart suits the men are wearing shows masculinity.

Everything in the scene, in the shop, shows that it’s expensive because of the lack of clothing, well presented and the fact that there’s not a lot of people in there shows that only wealthy people come in.

The History of the British film industry

Homework Distribution

What is distribution?

• Distribution is the third part of the film supply chain and is often known as 'the invisible art', a process mainly known only to those within the industry and barely written about. 
• Distribution is the most important part of the film industry. Its where completed films are brought to life and connected with an audience.
• Distribution is about releasing and sustaining films in the market place.
• "In the practice of Hollywood and other forms of industrial cinema, the phases of production, distribution and exhibition operate most effectively when 'vertically integrated', where the three stages are seen as part of the same larger process, under the control of one company. "

Licensing

• "Licensing is the process by which a distributor acquires the legal right to exploit a film."
• "International distribution ensures that films find their way to the 90+ market 'territories' around the world."
• "Then there is 'local' distribution, which involves the distributor acquiring the licence to release and exploit the film in a particular country. The distributor will usually pay the producer a minimum guarantee for the licence."
• "In addition to paying a fee to secure the film, the licence will stipulate that the distributor will also pay royalties to the producer, taken from the profits that the film generates."

Marketing

• "The marketing of a film release revolves around Two key questions: 'When?' and 'How?'"
• The distributor will try and position a film to avoid a release date is occupied by other films with similar genres and storyline. 
• "The costs of theatrical distribution, met by local distributors, are often referred to as 'P&A', or Prints and Advertising."
• "P&A also represent the bulk of the distributor's investment, after paying the initial fee for rights, and can range from less than £1,000 to over £1 million for the release of a film in the UK."

Prints and Advertising

The key elements of Prints and Advertising (P&A) that a distributor must consider at this stage are:

• The quantity and production of release prints and trailers
• Press materials, clips reels, images, press previews, screener tapes
• The design and printing of posters and other promotional artwork
• Advertising campaign - locations, ad size and frequency
• Press campaign / contracting a PR agency
• Arranging visit by talent from the film

The Logistics of Distribution

• "The distributor will enter into an agreement with the cinema to screen the film on certain 'play-dates'. It is the responsibility of the distributor to arrange the transportation of the film to the cinema, as part of its wider coordination of print use across the UK."
• "Logistics represents the phase of distribution at its most basic - supplying and circulating copies of the film to theatres, of tapes and DVDs to shops and video rental stores, and managing the effectiveness of the supply."

Case Study: Bullet Boy

• "Bullet Boy is a low budget, independent feature helmed by first-time feature director Saul Dibb. The film stars UK rapper Ashley Walters as Ricky, a young man newly released from prison, but unable to extricate himself from the cycle of gang violence that has become an everyday feature in some parts of inner-city London. The film describes, with particular insight, the effects of Ricky's life on his mother and, especially, his younger brother."
• The film got a reputation as the first film to look at the difficult subject of contemporary gang and gun crime in Britain's inner cities. 
• "The film was released on 8th April 2005, opening on 75 prints UK wide, in a combination of established independent cinemas and multiplexes concentrated in greater London and other major urban centres."
• "The poster design aims to convey the look, subject and tone of the film, supported by key press quotes, while also foregrounding the major presence of Walters."

Digital Distribution

• "Digital technology is seen to offer a more cost effective and logistics-light alternative to the tried and trusted, but unwieldy model of 35mm print distribution described above. It will, eventually, be cheaper and much less stressful to send films as computer files to cinemas across the UK, than to transport 20-25kg tins of film in the back of a van."
• "All this suggests that in the future, more titles, both mainstream and specialised, will receive wide theatrical openings, and that this broadening of access at the point of release will dramatically reduce the overall theatrical period from 3-6 months to perhaps 1-3 months."
• "The shortened first-run period will in turn bring forward the distributor's release of the DVD."
• "The adoption of digital technologies offers greater opportunities for distributors to create joined-up campaigns for theatrical and DVD releases, in which, increasingly, the theatrical opening is used as a way of providing a loss-leading marketing platform for the highly lucrative DVD leg."

Comparing Production Value (Avatar and Trainspotting)

Avatar

• CGI is used to create avatar and this is a very expensive process
• Recognisable actor and actresses 
• The length of the film suggests high value
• Well known director 
• Sci-fi films are usually more expensive 

Trainspotting 

• Not well known actors 
• Comedy films less expensive 
• 
  

Trainspotting

Production Budget-$3,500,000
Domestic Gross- $16,501,785
Worldwide Gross-$72,001,785
Profit- $68,501,785

http://www.worldwideboxoffice.com/movie.cgi?title=Trainspotting&year=1996

Avatar

Production Budget -$425,000,000
Domestic Gross-$760,507,625
Worldwide Gross-$2,783,918,980
Profit- $2,358,918,980

http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/budgets/ 

New Media Technology

Newspapers Industry

• Apps 
• Internet 
• Social Media

Magazine Industry

• Apps 
• Internet 

Film Industry

• Internet 
• Trailers
• 3D
• 4D
• Better Special Affect
• DVD
• Blu ray 
• Apps (love film)
• DVD rental 
• Social Networking (promotional) 

Music Industry

• Internet 
• Apps 
• iTunes 
• Videos 

Television Industry

• Internet 
• On demand 
• Apps 
• HD
• 3D
• Recording 

Representation of Gender Wire In The Blood

How shot types help to represent gender:
There is an over the shoulder shot of the man walking away and he also is walking up a hill which shows him to be higher then the woman. This represents masculine people to have more authority over feminine people because of the angle of this shot. The women (the feminine person) is looking up at the  man (the masculine person) and this correlates with the fact that she is asking for the mans help. The stereotype of a feminine person is to do dependent on others and the stereotype of masculine is to be independent, this links to this shot.

There are some medium and close up shots of the man on his own talking to his self about the case the women wanted help on. These shots help to represent masculine people to be independent because the man is on his own and he is trying to solve the crime by himself, without help.

The next sequences of shots it shows the women to be looking after her kids and being stressed out. These shots show her asking for help again with babysitting, which stereotypically should be the woman's (the feminine persons) job. In this clip feminine people are represented to have jobs as well as looking after her kids and the house.

There is a close up of the mans face when the woman asks him to babysit and his facial expression shows that masculine people to not want to have the responsibility of looking after someone else and his facial expression looks shocked and confused.


The the sequence of shots showing the criminal men represents masculine people to be criminals and to be aggressive in contrast to the next sequence of shot where the man is babysitting. This sequence shows that some men have a feminine side and this represents feminine people to be caring.

How editing can help to represent gender:
Mostly all the shots are connected by a simply cut. At about 30 seconds in there is an eye-line match between the man and the woman where the man is looking slightly down at the woman and the woman is looking up slightly to the man. This represent feminine people to look for masculine people for advise and help

How sound can help to represent gender:
Diegetic sound is used when the man and woman are specking and this shows the tone in there voice. When the woman (the feminine person) speaks she sounds stressed but when the man (the masculine person) specks he sounds relaxed. This correlates with the stereotypes of masculine and feminine. When the criminals are in the shots the non- diegetic sound is playing and this music links to the agressive behaviour of the men. This non- diegetic sound helps to represent masculine people to be aggressive.

How mise-en-scène helps to represent gender:
When the woman is in her house the toys (the props) on the floor indicate that she doesn't have enough time to work and be a mum and this represents feminine people to be always busy and stressed out. The fact that the woman is wearing jewellery represent feminine people to care about what they look like and this correlates with the stereotype of a feminine person.

When the sequence with the criminals is showing the lighting (candles) links to the fact that they don't pay for anything and there criminals. Also there body language also suggest this. This represents masculine people to not care about the law and not care what they look like.