Media studies - exhibition

Media studies - exhibition

What happened in the summer of 2007?

• Cinema attendance rose to its highest point in 40 years

What do exhibitors need and what are the problems facing them in the 21st century?

• what they is
• The problems they are currently facing is piracy and how to deal with the wide distribution of pirated films which are causing the industry to take less risks when developing a film.

What has driven the rise in cinema audiences since 1984?

• The opening of multiplexes and the release of good films

location
Why were the older multiplexes out of town? What did they need? Whats happened in recent years?

• Multiplexes were out of town because of the size of them and also because they were very expensive to build
• Multiplexes need a nice viewing experience to do well, this includes a large screen, comfortable seats, good sound and picture quality and also a well thought out placement of seats.
• Multiplexes have been moving back into town centres in recent years.

Curzon Cinemas/City Screen are niche exhibitors - how do they compete against the majors?

• They would show a mix of blockbuster and art-house films.

Audience
Who are an increasing part of the changing audience of cinema goers?

• The Baby Boomer generation

How do film bookers decide what films go where? How far in advance are films booked? When are their decisions reviewed?

• Films are booked 2- 4 weeks ahead.
• The decide what films go where by working out what film would appeal to the local demographic.
• They make their decision via opening weekend stats.

The vue cinema chain spent millions doing research called mosaic profiling. What did they discover?

• The vue discovered by appealing to a certain ethnicity they can fill their cinemas - showing bollywood films in a predominately Asian area may increase the size of your audience.

How do people decide which cinema to go to? Where does brand tend to be in the top ten?

• People decide on which cinema to go to by taking in such questions into consideration; how am I going to get there, what films are showing etc.
•   Brand names tends to come 8th in the top ten.

How do Curzon cinemas attempt to differentiate between themselves and the majors?

• By screening specialised films.

What percentage of audience leaving a cinema did not know the name or brand of that cinema?

• 75 %

Whats going to happen with the arrival of digital projection?

• It will allow cinemas to show live sports and events or show films based on a simultaneous audience vote.
•  Digital 3D will make film going more like an event

How will the digital screen network help niche exhibitors like Curzon reach a wider audience than their typical 25-45 age range?

• It will allow Curzon to store more films and set up viewing easier.

How are cinemas attempting to differentiate themselves from home entertainment?

• Cinemas are attempting to differentiate themselves from home entertainment by making cinemas much more event like.

Cutting it analysis

 Cutting it analysis

Cutting It is a tv drama series set in Manchester, England, following on the lives of a group of people running a hairdressing salon. It ran for four series between 2002 and 2005. 

Editting

Prezi from wolfgang1

Visual effects

• ring recolouring - the ring has been recoloured with a blue tint furthermore the ring is very bright; foreshadows a bad event that may tear apart his relationship.
• slow motion- in the running to shows the mans futile efforts  to save the woman and to enhance the drama.

Mis en scene
Location

• The interior of the consultants office and taxi are both studio builds
• The cafe and hospital were shot on location
• The cafe connotes a calm environment in contrast to the office which conveys a sense of worry.
• The scenes set in the taxi allows viewers to gain an insight into the relationship between the two characters.  

Objects and Props

• Scattered flowers- symbolise death; flowers reminiscent of flower reaths at funerals 
• Her floral dress also emphasises this link

• Wedding ring -shown  in several symbolic shots, during times of uncertainty, man's ring is the main focus. showing its importance in the show.

 Lighting

•  Light placed away from the taxi - if light is used as a symbol for life it could be suggested they are moving away from life and or leaving it behind.
• The woman's face is slightly shadowed before the doctors appointment - foreshadowing her death.
• Doctors place, unnatural light - emphasise the cruelty of her death

  
Camera shots and movement 

• Two shot in the taxi -frames conveys couples intimacy and allows audiences to make a connection between the two characters.  
• Ariel shot - contrasts with the taxi shot as audiences are distanced from the couple and also conveys the woman's vulnerability.
• Extreme close up of the ring - the man is fiddling with the ring; he is holding onto their marriage. 
• POV shot - creates tension; puts the audience in the drivers seat, we get to feel the shock he is feeling.
• Crane shot of the doctors office - we do not hear any speech nor do we see the full interior, this could interpreted as the woman having an outer body experience because of how surreal her news is.
• Close up shot of the woman crying - the emotion on her face is mixed and conveys neither happiness or sadness; from this we don't know if its good or bad news this as an effect creates tension.
• Establishing shot of the exterior of hospital - establishes location and gives us and idea of where they are going as previously mentioned in the taxi shots.
• Alternating shots of the couple - allows audience to see both characters interacting with each other. In the shots that centre on the man we can see the woman, however in the shots that centre on the woman we cant see the man. Perhaps this relates to her feelings towards the man; shes just not interested in him nor is he even part of her world.
• Close up of them holding hands - reinforces their intimacy.

Sounds 

Verbal Soundtrack

• Dialogue,voiceover,narrations
• The dialogue between the characters shows the viewer the characters thoughts and emotions. This also mixes with background noises.

Soundtrack  

•  Natural Sounds, pauses and silence
  
• Natural sounds -The car skidding shows something bad has happened even though audiences cant see what has happened.

Music Score

•  Stings - an extract of a song
•  Stings - a slow and sombre song played during the cafe and office scenes. This blocks out the dialogue so the audience can't hear whats being said.
• The last line of the song before it fades is "remember what you see"this may hold some relevance talking to the audience to prepare themselves for the "big shock".
• The sound of the heart beat - blocks out his surroundings emphasises his fear.
• When audiences see the man holding the woman body we hear dramatic music which builds the tension.

Ambient Sound

• General background noise
• Dialogue louder than the diagetic sound of moving traffic -sets the scene

What are the key features of certain sub genre dramas ?

What are the key features of certain sub genre dramas ?

Crime Drama

Location

Crime drama' are often set in an urban setting within these settings scene can generally take place within police stations, law courts and crime scenes.

General Plots

Often plots revolve around a crime or a mystery the protagonist has to revolve these crimes tend to differ depending on the type of crime drama for instance a one off crime drama normally focuses on crimes that would create the most anxiety among a viewing audience for example serial killings or murder. Whereas a long running tv drama will have various sub plots over time that builds on character development for example the crime drama "The Bill featured many subplots that focused on the private lives on the police officers.

Key elements and themes

• A mystery that creates tension throughout the viewing type and hooks viewers in ( the mystery is generally established in the first opening scenes i.e  a person covered completely by the darkness murders someone).
• A resolution to said mystery.
• Questions of morality.
• The binary opposition of Good vs evil.
• Struggle in the police department.
• Corruption and betrayal.

Character stock types  

• The troubled detective- this character tends to be a brilliant mind however suffers from a flaw that is sometimes the centre of a plot and the growth of their character e.g the character Monk and his OCD or the character Sherlock and his arrogance and anti- social traits.
• The sidekick - this tends to fill the role of the detectives short comings and serves as a sort of child to the detective e.g. Watson's relationship with Sherlock Holmes in the crime drama Sherlock.
• The crooked cop - this  character tends to be a policeman who uses more unconventional ways of dealing with crime - Detective Gene Hunt in life on mars.
•  The victim -the person who is affected by the crime; these characters serve as a mechanism for the plot to continue and may have a small role in the interaction of characters.
• The criminal -the person who has committed the crime and serves as the main antagonist for the narrative.

Medical Drama

General plots 

Plots based around staff who work in a medical institution and their personal life and relationships. However many character who don't work in the medical field can also be the subject of a plot for example the medical drama causality features many plots that revolve around patients dealing with life threatening disease and implications this may have on their loved ones around them.(This saturday's synopsis of causality is a good example of themes that are conventional to medical drama's)


Themes

• Plots that centre around the medical staff's interaction with each other - two doctors struggling as a couple is very common.
•  Loss - the implications of losing a loved one in the hospital
• Pregnancy - this tends to be a theme revolving around a woman on the verge of giving birth in an awkward location and tension is created here as we see the character hurry her to the hospital
• Terminal illness' or operations- this refers to illness' such as cancer or organ transplant which if not treated right could lead to death. The drama is created here as we see characters worry about losing their loved ones or the implications of living with cancer.
• Drug addiction - the effects it has on family, friends and on us.
• Plots that revolve around the emergency department (Casualty, ER, Holby city, Casualty 1900's) 

 

Fantasy

General plots 
Fantasy drama revolve around characters dealing with supernatural situations. This dramas tend to be set in different time periods such as the medieval like world of game of thrones or depict the present day with some supernatural differences for example the drama being human is set in the modern day however in the being human mythos werewolves, vampires and ghosts are real.

 Conventions

• Mythical creatures that capture the audiences imagination- These creatures tend to be creature from well known texts such as unicorns and dragons and thus allow audiences to easily recognise and identify them.
•  Superhumans or super powers - This theme tends to feature in more modern dramas due to the sudden rise of popularity of comic book figures and themes. An example of shows that feature these themes are the us drama heroes and the UK drama misfits. This serves as escapism for viewers; giving them hope that they can one day achieve said powers featured in these shows and once they do thay can sort out their problems using these powers.
• Magic - This feature is generally used to immerse viewers in the setting and shares a similar purpose with the theme of super powers.
• Good vs evil - a key concept that allows the narritve to continue and engages viewers to see how good will ultimately triumph over evil.

  

Soap

General plots
 Soap opera narratives tend to be open ended and can cross over each other and lead into further developments. An  episode of a soap opera will generally switch between several different story lines that can occur within the same time frame these stories can link and affect one another or may run entirely independent of each other. Each episode may feature some of the show's current storylines but not always all of them. Generally around the Christmas season the years plotlines resolve with new one being conceived as an aftermath of what took place place earlier for example someone dying on Christmas day and in the new year the shows cast must deal with the fallout.

Conventions 

•  Open endings- also known as cliff hangers; aimed at retaining audiences
•  Multiple Plots and Characters - Storyline which are usually interwoven. Scenes and events move
  continuously between different characters and plots.
• Simplified and stereotypical characters - audiences can easliy identify who is who and their role.
• Domestic and social locations - House, pubs, shops and motels can offer a wide variety of situations in which character can interact in. 
•  Stories which allow moral judgement - This allows the viewer to comment on whether what the characters themselves do is right i.e. teen pregnancy and is it right to abort an unplanned child.
•  Strong Female Characters - women shown as relatively powerful either in domestic or
  professional settings e.g. Peggy Mitchel in the soap Eastenders.
• The constant illusion of real time.
• The dominance of digetic sounds .
• Stories that focus on current socail issues e.g coronation streets current storyline on the domestic abuse of men.
• The dominance of two shots and over - the shoulder shots of conversations.
• Highly symbolic costumes and set designs i.e audiences can identify peoples social status can class via the costume they wear - a man wear a suit could connote he is of wealth.    

Youth

General plot 
Youth drama often focus on problems and situations that revolve around teenagers and the youth. This range from dealing with school to gangs, sex, drug addiction and domestic issues.

Conventions

• Social issues of concern - these tend to be issues that generally affect teenagers and allow character to be much more relatable  to their viewing audience. Some social issues include teen pregnancy, crime, relationships and fitting in school.
• Domestic issues and their impact on the youth - This refers to issues such as domestic violence or divorce in the family and how they can impact teenagers. These stories can also serve as aid for teens; showing them that these situations are not uncommon.
• School setting - the school tends to serve as a setting for teen characters to interact, this is also where most of the drama is created.
• Stereotypes of teenagers - These make the character to be easily identified and allow audiences to relate to them easier.

 

Issue Based
General plot
Issue based dramas cover a wide range of topics and contraversial issues that may affect its viewership.

Themes and conventions 

• Debates on ethics and morality
• Political issues - these explore current politcal issues and sometimes political issues of the past.
• Youth issues -these tend to crossover with issues seen in youth dramas. These issues include drug addiction, relationships and teen pregnancy. However in issue based dramas these issues are treated with more care and can sometimes be less sensationalised.
•  Gender representation - the role of men and women in relationships and society. These generally depict inequality and male dominance.
• Social class divisions
• Stereotypes - this helps depict a general idea of certain demographics; these stereotypes can depict certain social groups well but others not so great. 
  

The film industry

The film industry

Production

What is the role of the producer ? What different elements does it contain? What are the four 'blocks' that Nick Powell talks about?

Producer- The person who oversees the entire film production; this includes the development of the initial idea raising money for the film, making the film and then distributing it.

This role also includes protecting the directors artisitc vision throughout and to make sure everything is possible logistically.

The idea

What makes a good script? What must it include?

What makes a good script is a good story told well to the screen.

A script must include a big idea about it; what  about it makes it significant to the writer or to audiences?

The package

What does the package involve and who is it aimed at?

What is 'script development'?

The package refers to the logistics of creating a film i.e

• Who will be in the film
• Who will direct the film
• Whats the estimated budget of the film.

The package will be aimed at potential investors and financiers to the film as well as the producer.

Script development is the act of creating, developing and editing a script. up to 12-15 re drafts is common to a script.

Attracting investment

• Who can UK film producers go to for finance?
• How many partners is typical within a film
• what is a co-production deal? Where might a UK film producer find it?
• What is the negative side of having a single investor?
• How does a UK film producer decide on the best deal for each film?

Uk film producers can see  places such as channel 4, BBC film and regional film productions for finance.

Around 3-10 partners is typical for a film.

A co-production deal is a deal in which the UK producer finds a producer from abroad to help them with there production.

The negative side for having a single investor is the said single investor can have complete control of the film.

Planning

• What's the role of the producer in planning the shooting schedule?
• Who is the directors right hand?

The role of the producer when planning the shooting schedule is to work out which scenes will be hardest to shoot.

The directors right hand is known as the cinematographer.

 

Budget 

•  What is the significance of the budget?
• How is the budget broken down?
• What are 'above' and 'below-the-line' costs?

The budget is significant to a film as it determines how much your film is going to cost in an open market.

The Budget is broken down via analysis of script - cost of actors, scenes, special effects.

Above the line cost - the creative package i.e. script, rights to the novel, creative team

Below the line cost - people who put together the shoot (cameramen).

Audience

• What question should an executive producer ask for every film?
• Why is audience so important?

Executive producers always ask the producer who will be their potential audience for their film .
Audience is important because they determine whether the pitched film will be made.

Marketing

• Why is marketing considered a hidden cost?
• What is the importance of genre in marketing?
• What is the 'Need to see' and how does it work?
• What are the significant differences between Hollywood and the UK film industry?

Marketing is considered a hidden cost as not every company thinks about it when they are formulating the budget for their film.

The importance of genre in marketing is that say if you are marketing a film that falls in the horror genre there are certain times in the year in which your film will be noticed the most and therefore make the most money for example you would release a horror film during the Halloween season, in which audiences are the mood to be scared and not really the Christmas season in which audiences are more likely to want to get into a festive mood.

The term need to see in film refers to the idea that audiences would watch a film due to names attached to it such as directors like Spielberg. Not only this but positive reviews can increase 'the need to see factor' of a film.

The difference between the Hollywood and UK film industry is that Hollywood thinks about how the are going to sell their films before it's green lit whereas the UK film industry ignores this factor after the film has been made.

What is a distributor's job?
To bring a film into the film marketplace.
Distributors acquire film by visiting film festivals and buying the rights to said film.

Marketing -where do distributors start when marketing films?
First the distributor must find the usp- the hook to market the film, genre is also important as it helps to find the right potential audience.

Target audience -Who are the most frequent cinema audience?
15-24
Students
Families

Release date- Why is it so important? Why are school holidays so popular?
Release date is important as it determines how big your audience will be i.e by releasing your film during the summer you gain a mass audience in contrast to releasing it in January in which you audience will be very niche .

School  holidays  are popular since families will be off work and will have time to take their children to the cinema producers gain a mass audience.

Film research - Why does it happen? What does it involve?
Why does it happen - to find out if a film will work financially.
It involves, test screenings and questionnaires.

Marketing budget

•  How is the budget decided upon?
• Once its estimated, what tends to be the percentage spent on marketing?

The budget is decided on by an estimate on how well the film product would do on its own in the box office.
25-30% of the budget tends to be spent on marketing.


Advertising/publicity- what three sections does this involve?
Advertising
Cost of producing the adverts
Media promotion

The Marketing campaign

• Why do distributors find it so difficult to get their message to stand out?
• What remains the most important marketing tool for a film?
• Why is synergy important?

The reason why distributors find it difficult is because of the mass competition out there.
The most important marketing tool for a film is the trailer.
Synergy is important because a film and its asserts such as its type can be easily generalised and recgonisable if done well.

The poster

• Why is poster art important? Why do they tease? What should a good poster reveal?

Poster art is important as they are the first impression of the film audiences will have.
A poster teases by depict the characters on the poster in a way which convinces audiences to watch the film.
A good film poster must reveal the the release date of the film.

The trailer

• Why is the trailer important?
• What three different types of trailer do you have?
• Why would the perfect trailer not have a voiceover?
• How is a TV trailer different?

 The trailer is important as it is the first exposure of what audiences are going to buy into when they see the film.

3 different types of trailer:
Teaser
Main
Short trailer

The perfect trailer has no voice over because the visual should carry the narrative of the trailer.

A TV spot trailer generally has more scenes in it because the film has already been finished however these trailers tend to be shorter in length.

Multimedia

•  What two basic uses can distributors make of the internet?

Creating official websites for their film.
Viral marketing - creating content that could be easily shared from one another.

PR

• How can you get free publicity for a film

  By creating editorial space on the internet, newspapers,  TV,  magazines and radio

Tracking
When are tracking figures first released? What are they tracking?
Why is word of mouth king?
How do distributors create buzz?
Why is the opening weekend's three day figure so important?

Tracking figures are released six weeks before the films release,they track how many people are aware of the film and if they are going to watch it.

Word of mouth is considered king as it determines the films reputation (bad reviews of a film equals to the possiblity of people not watching it although this isn't true in some cases).

Distributors create buzz for a film by hosting advanced screenings with the hope of gainig good word of mouth.

The opening weekend is important as it signifies if your film is going to do well or not. Your film in that cinema has to be on top of the list during the opening weekend, if its not, its not likely that it will do well in the future and may be pulled from cinema screens.