Cinema Listings (Saturday) - Sunderland Empire

Sunderland empire
- Need for speed 12a
6 times (11:45-21:15)

- 300: rise of an empire 15
3 times (15:10-19:50)

- The grand Budapest Hotel 15
3 times (15:30-20:15)

- Non stop 12a
5 times (11:10-20:40)

- The Lego movie U
4 times (10:20-17:40)

- Escape from planet earth U
2 times (10:50-15:15)

- The book thief 12a
1 time (21:20)

- 2d Walking with dinosaurs U
1 time (10:30)

- Frozen pg
1 time (10:30)

- A long way down 15
4 times (12:35-20:10)

- Elton John - The million dollar piano 12a
1 time (20:00)

- Labor Day 12a
4 times (12:45-20:25)

- Mr Peabody & Sherman U
2 times (10:40-13:00)

- Muppets most wanted U
12 times (10:00-20:00)

- Ride along 12a
3 times (12:50-20:30)

- Starred Up 18
4 times (13:20-20:35)

- Tinkerbell + the pirate fairy U
2 times (11:15-13:10)

Marketing

Promotion for films takes many forms:

• Print advertising (posters + ads in newspapers & magazines)
• Trailers (screened at cinemas + on TV/radio)
• Internet sites (including Facebook 'fan' pages)
• Viral Videos
• Merchandising — the list is endless books, t-shirts, food, soundtrack CDs, computer games, toys, cars, mobile phones, anything that can be associated with the brand of the movie

The publicity department of a studio can use the talent (actors, director, screenwriter) attached to a movie (they have contractual obligations to do what the studio asks) and will try to gain maximum benefit from the following:

• Star Interviews — in print, online and broadcast media
• 'Making Of' documentaries, set reports and viral videos add to the hype
• Gala Premieres — who's wearing what frock
• Reviews and profiles —Empire front cover anyone?
• News stories - who did what on set and what records has this movie broken?

British and Hollywood Films

British Films are Films made by money only from the UK and it tends to be set in the UK. Some well known British Films include Gravity, Skyfall and Shaun of the Dead.

Hollywood Films are made with money from the USA and tend to use a lot more money than British Films. They also are normally shot in the USA. Some popular Hollywood Films include The fast and the furious, Taken and Robocop.

Ways of Watching Movies

- Cinema
- DVD's
- Online
- Downloads
- TV

Media Institutions

A media institution is an established, often-profit based organization, that deal in the creation and distribution of advertising, entertainment and information services.

• BBC

• ITV

• BSkyB (commonly known as sky)

• ESPN

• EMI

• Sony

• Universal

• Microsoft

• HMV

Exchange

Definition: The unintended use of an institution’s media text (i.e. a film) by OTHER PEOPLE who use the film or parts of it to form new texts. What happens to a film, etc. after the public get their hands on it using digital technology. 

People unconnected to the institution/ film using WEB 2.0 applications such as YOUTUBE, Blogger, Amazon film message boards, TWITTER, Face-Book, discuss the film or edit parts of together to form a new text which the may then put a new soundtrack to and publish on YOUTUBE, etc. When you add a trailer from a site like YouTube on your blog you have been engaging with exchange.

Consumption

Media consumption or media diet is the sum of information and entertainment media taken in by an individual or group. It includes activities such as interacting with new media; reading books and magazines; watching television and film; listening to radio; and so on. The principles to be an active media consumer include capacity for skepticism, judgement, free thinking, questioning, and understanding. Among other factors, a person's access to media technology affects the amount and quality of his or her intake. In the United States, for instance, "U.C. San Diego scientists in 2009 estimated the 'average' American consumes 34 gigabytes of media a day.

Conglomerates

A media conglomerate, media group or media institution is a company that owns large numbers of companies in various mass media such as television, radio, publishing, movies, and the Internet. Media conglomerates strive for policies that facilitate their control of the markets around the world.

According to the 2013 Fortune 500 list, The Walt Disney Company is America's largest media conglomerate in terms of revenue, with News Corporation (now News Corp & 21st Century Fox), Time Warner, CBS Corporation, and Viacom completing the top five. Other major players areComcast and Sony's Sony Corporation of America subsidiary.

Proliferation

A sudden increase in the amount or number of something

Exhibition

Definition:  showing films in cinemas or on DVD. Media attention through opening nights and premieres How the audience can see the film: in cinemas, at home, on DVD, through downloads, through television, including premieres, the box office take in the opening weeks; audience reviews which includes those of the film critics, ordinary people, cinemas runs; awards in festivals, The Oscars, BAFTAS, etc.

Distribution

Definition: the business of getting films to their audiences by booking them for runs into cinemas and taking them there in vans or through digital downloads; distributors also create the marketing campaign for films producing posters, trailers, websites, organise free previews, press packs, television interviews with the "talent", sign contracts for promotions, competitions, etc. Distributors use their know-how and size to ensure that DVDs of the film end up in stores and on supermarket shelves. Distributors also obtain the BBFC certificate, and try to get films released as the most favourable times of the year for their genre, etc.

Media Ownership (Big 6)

Convergence

Cross Media Convergence is the process by which a range of media platforms are integrated within a single piece of media technology. For example the new X Box 360 is a games console, a DVD player, an internet modem. The iphone is a phone, a camera, a video camera, an mp3 player, an FM radio, a games console, a web browser, a palmtop computer. This demonstrates ‘convergence’ of a wide range of technologies. Media institutions recognise that audiences enjoy using converged technology, want to consume media in a variety of different ways (including ‘on the go’) and provide short form content for downloading eg video clips, trailers, music videos, jingles, wallpapers, music tracks etc...

Technological convergence is the tendency for different technological systems to evolve toward performing similar tasks. Digital Convergence can refer to previously separate technologies such as voice (and telephony features), data (and productivity applications), and video that now share resources and interact with each other synergistically.

Synergy

Synergy (from the Greek syn-ergos , συνεργός meaning working together) is the term used to describe a situation where different entities cooperate advantageously for a final outcome. Simply defined, it means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It’s the ‘strategy of synchronising and actively forging connections between directly related areas of entertainment’. New Technologies support this process – web, dvd, downloading. Media institution exploit various platforms to sell various products related to one film (e.g. film and soundtrack and video game). Symbiosis is the linking up of various companies to make profits from one product.

Symbiosis

This is when different companies work together to promote a range of related products. Eg High School Musical the film will enable spin-offs like Happy Meals, Easter Eggs, bedlinen, toy characters etc and the distributor will agree licensing deals for companies to make and sell this merchandising. A % of the profits will go back to the distributor Walt Disney pioneered symbiosis marketing techniques in the 1930s by granting dozens of firms the right to use his Mickey Mouse character in products and ads, and continued to market Disney media through licensing arrangements. These products can help advertise the film itself and thus help to increase the film's sales. For example, the Spider-Man films had toys of ‘webshooters’ and figures of the characters made, CD soundtracks, video games, DVD’s and other merchandising. 

Vertical & Horizontal Integration

Vertical integration is the process in which several steps in the production and/or distribution of a product or service are controlled by a single company or entity, in order to increase that company’s or entity’s power in the marketplace.

Types of Vertical Integrations:

There are basically 3 classifications of Vertical Integration namely:

1. Backward integration – The example discussed above where in the company tries to own an input product company. Like a car company owning a company which makes tires.
2. Forward integration – Where the business tries to control the post production areas, namely the distribution network. Like a mobile company opening its own Mobile retail chain.
3. Balanced integration – You guessed it right, a mix of the above two. A balanced strategy to take advantages of both the worlds.

Horizontal integration (also known as lateral integration) simply means a strategy to increase your market share by taking over a similar company. This take over / merger / buyout can be done in the same geography or probably in other countries to increase your reach.

An example of Horizontal Integration will be You Tube, which was taken over my Google primarily because it had a strong and loyal user base. 

Working Title

Working Title Films, co-chaired by Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner since 1992, is one of the world’s leading film production companies.

Founded in 1983, Working Title has made over 100 films that have grossed nearly $6 billion worldwide. Its films have won 10 Academy Awards (for Tom Hooper’s Les Misérables, Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina, Tim Robbins’ Dead Man Walking; Joel and Ethan Coen’s Fargo; Shekhar Kapur’sElizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age; and Joe Wright’s Atonement), 35 BAFTA Awards, and numerous prestigious prizes at the Cannes and Berlin International Film Festivals.

Working Title’s 2012/2013 film slate includes About Time, directed by Richard Curtis starring Rachel McAdams and Domhnall Gleeson; Edgar Wright’s The World’s End, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost; John Crowley’s Closed Circuit, starring Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall; Hossein Amini’s The Two Faces of January, starring Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst, and Oscar Isaac; and Ron Howard’s Rush, starring Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl.

WTTV is based in London and LA and is a joint venture between NBC Universal International, Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner.

The UK office is headed up by Juliette Howell, the LA office by Liza Chasin. The UK office is currently developing projects across all UK broadcasters. Productions include the critically acclaimed and BAFTA-winning Birdsong, adapted by Abi Morgan,  The Borrowers, BBC ONE’s highest rating single film of Christmas 2011, and Dominic Savage’s series True Love.

Warp Films

Warp Films is one of the UK's most critically acclaimed independent film production companies, and is based in Sheffield & London, UK, with a further office in Melbourne, Australia. Warp Films have been behind an array of critically acclaimed and award winning films, including several BAFTAs.

Warp Films was established by Warp Records' founding partners, Rob Mitchell and Steve Beckett and is run by Mark Herbert & Robin Gutch. The first film, shot in 2002, was Chris Morris' BAFTA winning short My Wrongs #8245-8249 & 117. Soon after, Warp Films' debut feature Dead Man's Shoes was released to critical acclaim, awards included the Hitchcock D'or (Dinard Festival) and the Southbank award for Best Film. Warp Films expanded in 2006 with Warp X, the low budget digital 'studio' backed by Film4, UK Film Council, Optimum Releasing, Screen Yorkshire and EM Media. A number of projects were created under the new label, including A Complete History of My Sexual Failures, Donkey Punch,Hush, Bunny & the Bull, She A Chinese and All Tomorrow's Parties. The company's breakthrough came in 2007 with Shane Meadows' This Is England which won a flurry of awards including Best Film at the British Independent Films Awards, the Special Jury Prize at Rome Film Festival and Best British Film at the BAFTAs. At the same ceremony Paddy Considine's Dog Altogether won the best short film BAFTA. Also released in 2007 was Grow Your Own, written by Frank Cottrell Boyce. This Is Englandwas such a success that in 2010 and 2011, Warp Films broke through into television with the sequelsThis Is England '86 & '88 for Channel 4.

In the last five years the company has gone from strength to strength, other films to receive awards and critical acclaim include Chris Morris' debut feature Four Lions, which won the 'Outstanding Debut' BAFTA award, Richard Ayoade's debut feature Submarine (BIFA for Best Screenplay), the 2011 Warp X productions Kill List, written and directed by Ben Wheatley, Paddy Considine's Tyrannosaur (BAFTA for Outstanding Debut) and from Warp Films Australia, Justin Kurzel's Snowtown (4 Australian Academy Awards)

In 2012 Warp Films produced three 30-minute television dramas for the Sky Arts Playhouse Presents season; The Minor Character (written by Will Self and starring David Tennant), The Snipist (directed by Matthew Holness) and Care (starring Gina McKee). A new comedy series The Midnight Beast, recently aired on E4 and Peter Strickland's highly acclaimed Berberian Sound Studio has just been released in cinemas in the UK. Warp Films currently have two films in production: Paul Wright's Seaside Storiesand Shane Meadow's contemporary documentary about the reformed The Stone Roses.

Key Media Concepts

AS Media Mock Exam on week before Easter holidays - Section B (45 minutes - 50 marks)
Past Papers - Moodle

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Research Warp (Small independent British film production company)
- Look at films and websites produced
- Research working title

Look at Institutions
- Oden/Tyneside Cinema/etc

How you watch movies
- DVD's
- Cinema
- Downloads

Audience
- People who go to the cinema or view in any other way

Your own experience as an audience member can be discussed.

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Research 

- Vertical & Horizontal integration

- Synergy

- Convergence
*Cross media convergence
*Technological convergence

- Media Ownership (Big 6)
*Timewarner
*CBS
*Disney
*News corp
*General Electric
*Viacom

- Distribution

- Exhibition

- Proliferation

- Conglomerates

- Consumption

- Exchange

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UK and Hollywood practices
- Really good British or Hollywood Film I enjoyed.
- How they marketed that Film (Facebook, Youtube, Adverts, Word of mouth, etc)

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3 key things we will look at:
- Production. How the company funds the Film, how and where it was filmed
- Distribution. How Warp & Working Title get their films seen. How the Film physically gets to the cinema and how it is marketed (Posters, Twitter, etc)
- Exhibition. How the audience sees it. Also exchange of Films.