- How can Media ownership impact the success of a films release?
- Cross media convergence is essential in this day and age for a films success at the box office. True or false?
- True, convergence such as the ability to access all types of social media on someone’s phone has opened up huge opportunities for marketing films in ways that are constantly changing. A film like Suicide Squad only made the amount of money at the box office that it did because of it’s extensive marketing campaign – the name of DC doing nothing to allow it to sell better because of the reputation they have. Tailoring their marketing campaign to suit more teenagers and young adults helped them sell that would otherwise be a flop of a film. Alongside this, films such as GOTG2 were successful with their marketing as they exposed the film to the fans from day one – creating something of a hype around the film that they built throughout the production stages. Marvel are well known for their successful films, and the way in which they marketed GOTG2 using sneak peaks, competitions, exclusive posters, character art and numerous jokes aimed at the film itself was only possible because of the fact that the film was exposed to social medias across the globe. A film can only do well at the box office if it is marketed throughout all the stages of production (production, distribution, marketing) as this is what the audience have come to expect from the conglomerates creating the films.
- Cross media convergence allows the subsidiary companies owned by conglomerates to do their jobs more efficiently as they have more opportunities to expose the work they are doing. For example, the sound track for both SS and GOTG2 were highly sought after pieces of material from the films – both of them being released by subsidiary companies and sporting well known names from opposite ends of the spectrum. Whilst SS created its own songs for the film’s release, GOTG2 used older, more well known songs that also attracted older audiences to watch the film as they will recognise the songs.
- Marketing and exposure will completely effect the success of a film at the box office – cross media convergence now makes it possible for that exposure to be reached because of how accessible the internet and social medias are to the general public now.
- Technological convergence has created more opportunities for filmmakers than there were 30 years ago, discuss this view.
- Technological convergence over the years has created hundreds of types of new technology that filmmakers can use to create films than there ever has been before. From the development that now allows people to had advanced editing software on their computers at home to having something as simple as a camera on someone’s phone that they take everywhere with them – technological convergence has vastly increased the opportunities available for people.
- For example, A Field In England with its relatively small profit of £30,000 compared to more mainstream productions – was filmed and edited on Final Cut Pro at the director’s home. This would not have been possible 30 years ago as it was almost unheard of for someone to create a film that, despite making a net loss, was relatively successful in the number of screens it was released on and even gaining prime time TV viewing. It’s no longer only possible for multi million dollar conglomerates to make creative material for larger viewing audiences, technological convergence has opened doors for people such as students to make their own films at home without having to fork out their entire savings to create something they love.
- However despite this new opportunity, these lower budget films are still not as successful as those created by larger budgets corporations such as Disney and Comcast . So the chances for opportunities – no matter how many more there are – still remain narrow and closed off to those that do not have the knowledge or equipment necessary.
- How has the development of hardware impacted cinema admissions in the past decade?
- Initially, films were shown on 35mm film to show them to their audiences – however as it costs roughly £1000 to print a film to show to cinemas on 35mm film – this option is no longer viable because of the high cost to demands. Digital screenings have quickly become more popular choices – proving to be cost and time effective and making for a more efficient showing. The BFI introduced funding for digital screens in the attempt to make digital screenings more viable and popular for audiences – giving roughly £120 million to fund this.
- Hardware such as cameras have improved dramatically over the last 10 years, with the introduction of 3D filming and showing – IMAX cameras offering high depth viewing and allowing filmmakers to create more visually pleasing products at the end of production and even more advanced slow motion cameras allowing for more detailed shots. It is both cheaper and more efficient to show a film digitally as it allows more money to go straight to the profit of a film rather than into a 35mm reel that needs to be shipped about.
- Making more digital screenings at cinemas has attracted more people to watch films there because of the higher quality of the film when it is shown. This has increased admissions dramatically as it is cheaper for the cinema to show films, for people to buy tickets and for the distributors to distribute their films. For example, Jason Bourne was available on both 2D and 3D screens as well as in IMAX screenings worldwide – this opened up huge opportunities for the distributors to show their film and even more opportunities for people to view them.
- How are audiences able to interact with films during the production, distribution and marketing stages?
- With the advance of convergence on such things as phones creating constant exposure of a film and its content during marketing stages of production, the audience are able to interact with the film in many different ways. Social media has opened up huge opportunities for this to happen, with the chances winning competitions to visit the sets of films during production being opened up to them. There are also opportunities made open in the purchase of exclusive items. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol2 offered up exclusive merchandise for the audience members willing to spend the money. They also posted videos of the cast on set, behind the scenes and allowed for sneak peaks of the film to go live during the marketing stage to allow for interaction between the fans and the cast and crew.
- GOTG2 had a section on Marvel’s official website that allowed for exclusive videos, character bios and exclusive character art and posters for download. The audience were also able to interact with the cast and crew through social media that allowed for instant connection between audience and cast. This allowed for an interaction between the cast and audience that is only now being used because of the accessibility of the internet to everyone.
- Films such as Jason Bourne didn’t allow for much interaction at all, however it did have a website with links to preorder the DVD and also was set up on most social medias to allow for exposure of the film.
- A Field In England had a speciality ale brewed for the release of the film, allowing for another level of interaction for the audience who were going to see the film. Another thing that AFIE had was an in depth online production diary that allowed audiences to fully immerse themselves in the process of creating the film – again allowing another level of interaction between the crew and audience.
- Are films which are aimed at a niche, local audience likely to be successful at the box office?
- More local films aimed at niche audiences are less likely to be successful at the box office as they don’t target mainstream demographics that make up a large chunk of the people that view films at the box office. The content of niche films means that they are less likely to be a hit with large audiences as they have more narrowed plot lines and scripts that don’t work well with mainstream, larger audiences. A Field In England didn’t even make back half of it’s budget (£30,000) as it was aimed at a more niche audience – however it did succeed when it came to online viewings because the producers aimed at selling it in a different way to those that are more mainstream would. Despite not being successful so to speak at the box office, AFIE made all of its material available at the same time and it was also available online at the same time as it was in cinemas – this could suggest that perhaps they weren’t aiming for money or success in the box office and instead were aiming for the ‘art’ aspect of their film over the ‘money’.
- It all depends whether or not the people creating the more niche film want success at the box office – something like AFIE isn’t going to be popular at the box office because it can be classed as more of an ‘arty’ film rather than something that wants a more general appearance to appeal to a wider audience. It is impossible to compare a Marvel creation with something like AFIE because of the way that they clearly do not aim for the same demographic or success at the box office. Being an independent release, AFIE doesn’t have the budget to be aiming at multi million pound success at the box office.
Jason Bourne Mind Map
Media Conglomerates
- Which media conglomerate owns your film?
- Jason Bourne was distributed by Universal Pictures, which is owned by Comcast – this is the conglomerate that owns my film. Comcast also owns NBCUniversal, DreamWorks Animation, Venture capital and Professional Sport
- Jason Bourne was produced by:
- Captivate Entertainment (Based in Universal City in the USA – Also owned by Comcast)
- Double Negative
- Kennedy/Marshall Company, The
- Pearl Street Films (An American motion picture production company founded and owned by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon (Matt Damon just so happening to be the main actor in this film))
- Perfect World Pictures (Beijing)
- How did they used the subsidiary companies during the release of the film?
- Comcast used their subsidiary companies in both the distribution of the film and the production – Captive Entertainment being the Production Company owned by Comcast and Universal International Pictures being the distributor
- The soundtrack was released for the film in 2016 by Black Lot Music – a new version of the classic song associated with Bourne films (Moby – Extreme Ways) was recorded specifically for the release of this film
- There was only minimal merchandise released for the film – the main thing drawing the audience into the film being that of the past success of its prequels and the attraction to the storyline from people who have either seen or read Bourne things before.
- What is the benefit of the conglomerate doing this?
- Comcast releasing the soundtrack for Bourne was a huge boost to the profits that they gained from the film as there were huge hits from very popular artists in there – including an exclusive version of Moby’s ‘Extreme Ways’ which was the poster song for the first three films
- They stuck to their main audience’s preferences when it came to the merchandise release being small and hardly show stopping as their past films never sold well on merchandise for Bourne so they stuck to their past experiences with the same audience – their audience also being within the age range that aren’t likely to go out and buy action figures of characters or want to walk around with Matt Damon’s face plastered over their chests
- Why would a British release be disadvantaged by the success of media conglomerates?
- A British release that is released around the same time that a release from someone like Comcast, is likely to be very easily overshadowed by the hype created from audiences around the film. This means that they aren’t likely to get the expose from their audience that they need because they are being overshadowed by their competition in the form of Universal
10 Key Facts About Distribution
- It costs roughly £1000 to print 34mm film to show in cinemas
- Costs spent on internet advertising for films has fallen over the last three years in favour of advertising on TV and using other methods
- In 2013, cinema admissions earned 157.5 million for the UK Box Office
- The top three distributors in 2015 were Universal, Walt Disney and 20th Century Fox
- The top three distributors of Independent UK films in 2015 were StudioCanal, 20th Century Fox and Lionsgate
- The top 10 distributors had a 95.5% share of the market in 2015
- Opening weekends represented 30% of the total box office in 2015
- Universal produced four of the top ten films of 2015, one including that of Jurassic World
- There were a total of 922 films released in 2015 by all distributors in the UK
- The year’s top film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, took £33.9 million on its opening weekend
Pre-Production
- Pre Production on the film began in January 2015
- Principle photography on ‘Jason Bourne’ began on the 5th of September 2015 and filming concluded on the 1st of February 2016
- There were five production companies used, including that of Captivate Entertainment, Double Negative and Perfect World Pictures (based in Beijing)
- Post production began during March 2016, during this time the film would have undergone edits and multiple functions which would have aimed to start up the distribution process to expose the film to as many people within its target audience as possible.
- The very first trailer for Jason Bourne was shown during the American Super Bowl on the 7th of February 2016, the trailer being aired to millions of fans across the world during that day. The fact that it was aired during the Super Bowl also suggests to audiences that the producers have a good deal of money – enough to buy the film a trailer spot during one of the biggest sports events of the year on the American calendar.
Distribution Plan
- As it was given a certificate of a 12A by the BBFC, Jason Bourne is likely to have had a target audience of younger teenagers – despite the title being well known with people of an older age due to previous films from the same series. Creating their film with a certificate of 12A made the film more attractive to families as a film to go and see which made it easier for older people with families to go and see the film when it was released in cinemas.
- The Marketability of ‘Jason Bourne’ was very high as it is a well known title within older generations who are likely to be aware of the films production and release when it was advertised online. Despite it being a continuation of a series, ‘Jason Bourne’ fills in a lot of stereotypical roles expected of an action thriller film, the rugged male protagonist and action filled plot and trailers made it highly attractive to TV channels to show its trailers during evening TV. This made it appealing to teenagers and allowed for more exposure to different audiences and helped to increase how much it earned in the Box Office over that which was expected of the hit film from a well known series.
- ‘Jason Bourne’ was released on DVD on the 6th of December 2016, Video on Demand was released roughly around the 29th of July 2016 on places such as Amazon.
- ‘Jason Bourne’ was shown at the ‘Festival del film Locarno’
- The film was released on the 27th of July 2016, at this time, students are likely to be getting ready to go on their school holidays meaning that families are more available to go and see the film during this time which makes the film exposed to more of an audience during its opening week at the box office.
Jason Bourne – 10 facts
- Released on the 27th of July 2016
- Directed by Paul Greengrass
- Written by Paul Greengrass and Christopher Rouse
- Has a 6.7 IMDb score
- Matt Damon, who plays Jason Bourne, was originally not going to do another Bourne film unless Paul Greengrass was directing after the Bourne Legacy was released under a different director
- Earned $415.5 million in the Box Office over its run in theaters
- Had an estimated budget of $120,000,000
- The fourth film in the Bourne series originally written by Robert Ludlam
- Was most popular with audiences aged under 18, but was also highly popular with women aged 45+ (likely because of Matt Damon’s performance and the history the series of films have)
- Classed as an Action Thriller film
Genre
- What was the first main genre?
The first main genre of film was Drama with films such as ‘Oliver Twist’ and ‘Cleopatra’
- When did the sci-fi genre explode?
Sci-fi exploded in the 1950’s, around the time in which technology started to gain momentum and visual effects increased in quality. It exploded at films such as ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still’ and ‘Destination Moon’
- When did musicals go out of style?
Musicals began to go more out of style in the 1980’s and 90’s, the last notable release being that of ‘Annie’ before the genre lost popularity
- When did Horror movies become popular and what were some titles?
Horror films saw a surge in the 1950’s with titles such as ‘The Thing from Another World’ and ‘House of Wax’
- Why do you think Sci-Fi has recently had a resurgence?
The key title to take into account when suggesting why sci-fi films have recently had a resurgence is James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ as the highest grossing film of all time that took full advantage of the recent development of 3D cinema. I believe that this film is the key reason that sci-fi films have hit a resurgence, along with other hit titles such as ‘Inception’ and ‘The Hunger Games’ as these were what began to create a new interest in new audiences for sci-fi films – in particular, teen audiences have been targeted.
- When did animated films become popular?
Animated films became popular in the 90’s with Titles such as ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ and ‘My Neighbour Totoro’
- What were the first animated films?
The very first animated films include that of ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarves’ and ‘Gulliver’s Travels’
- Which genre has decreased production the most?
Western films have hit a dramatic drop in production rates – one of the largest of all the genres.
2015 Statistical Data
Figure 1:
UK cinema admissions went up from approximately 158 million to 170 million from 2014 to 2015
Figure 2:
UK cinema admissions were at an all time high during the 1950’s with the highest figure hitting approximately 1650 million admissions
Figure 3:
In 2013, UK Independently produced films hit a low on just 5% of the films produced that year being Independent UK based films
Figure 4:
Universal Pictures produced the most films within the top 20 for 2015 at 6 films total
Figure 5:
20th Century Fox had the most films within the top 20 highest grossing films in the UK at 5 films
Figure 6:
SPECTRE was the highest grossing film released in the UK and Republic of Ireland with 72 releases
Figure 7:
The most UK Independent Films released in 2015 were Documentary films
Figure 8:
Universal Pictures released 44 films in 2015, grossing a total of 283.5 million for the year in total
Figure 9:
2004 saw the highest total value sale for retail videos at roughly £2309 million value total for the year
Figure 10:
In 2014, digital rental of films hit a high at gaining 25.8% of revenue
Institutions and Audiences 