Independant films vs Hollywood films

Independant films vs Hollywood films

An independent film is a film that has been produced from outside any major Hollywood companies. These films are therefore Independent films are distinguishable by their content and style and the way in which the filmmakers' artistic vision. Usually, independent films are made with considerably lower film budgets than major Hollywood studio films.Generally, the marketing of independent films is characterized by limited release across the country, but can have major marketing campaigns and a wide release. Independent films are often screened at local, national, or international film festivals before distribution. An independent film production can rival a mainstream film production if it has the necessary funding and distribution. Examples of a famous independent films are The Texas Chainsaw, Cube, Reservoir Dogs and Mad Max.

A Hollywood film is a film that is made by a Hollywood company. These films tend to have a much bigger budgets then independent films, and have a different context, style and artistic vision to independent films. This is because they have a bigger budget and can therefore afford to get professional artists in and make the film look distinguishable from independent films with a lower budget. Hollywood films typically have a larger advertising campaign then independent films, all due to there budget being larger, allowing then to pay for more advertising. Examples of Hollywood films are: Skyfall, Avengers Assemble, The Hunger games, Ted, 21 jump street and many more.

 Examples of Hollywood films - http://www.imdb.com/list/fGMpE8COV0Y/

Examples of independant films - http://www.filmsite.org/independentfilms.html

Film Distribution

How films are produced and distribution to the consumer

Prezi - http://prezi.com/yqdpf_4wiwhy/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy



second link - http://prezi.com/yqdpf_4wiwhy/present/?auth_key=j3vrvvh&follow=icod78thkcxv










Film Marketing -

Synergy

Synergy

Synergy is the combination of two products in order to make a better profit or viewing. A example of this is a video game and film. They may make a profit of £100 million each, but if they combine together through harry Potter, or Batman, the profit made could be £300 million.

Formula: 1+1=3

Therefore the product value of combined products is more than the value of two separate products.

Different forms of Synergy:

 

Product Placement

This is when companies pay to feature their product in a film, which often leads to a deal in which the film’s protagonist or other characters are featured in their advertising campaigns, or using the product.

Tie -Ins

Promotional Partnerships, where the film or its characters will feature on existing products. This may be in the form of competitions.

Spin-Offs

Products based on the original, the Film. A film may be a spin-off of a television series, or a television series may be created as a spin-off of a film. This is known as media convergence.

Pre-Existing Property

If a film is based on pre-existing material, for example a video game, novel or comic book the pre-existing material is often re-released featuring imagery from the film on its cover, or a special edition is released in synch with the film’s release.

Merchandise

Companies created products specifically for the film, for example toys, calendars, video games. These products not only help market the film, but the audience’s knowledge of the film brings their awareness to the merchandise. 

Media Institutions

Media Institutions

A media institution is a part of the media that has a big influence on peoples lives. These can come in the form of newspapers, films, the internet, music and broadcasts on the radio or TV. The owners of these institutions have therefore have a lot more power  and control over what people think everyday.

One of the most powerful figures in the media institutions is Rupert Murdoch. He Is the owner of Sky and The Sun newspaper. The Sun newspaper is very controversial, as  he uses page 3 to show how he wants to represent women in his newspaper, and thereby influence how the public view women.

Some media institutions are the BBC, BskyB, CNN, Bauer, PC Media and Future. These are all institutions because they influence peoples lives everyday.

http://www.slideshare.net/RachAH/media-institutions-7086169

Famous film institutions include: Warner Brothers Studios, Walt Disney, Paramount Studios, Universal studios, and DreamWorks studios.


Conglomerate companies are that own many institutions on different levels. Examples are Warner Brother Studios and News Corp. These companies have a lot of control over what the media thinks. The reason they have so much control is because they reach out top audiences over different forms of media.  This allows then to reach out a larger audience, and therefore have control over a larger audience so influence more people.



http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Examples_of_institutions_in_the_media

The BBC is a huge institution as it does not just have TV channels, but also radio stations, which also attract huge audiences to listen, and possibly be influenced by this institution called the BBC. This institution therefore has a lot of influence over what peoples representations are of different topics, through different media.                                          
     

Audince Postioning

Created with Padlet

Representation of Women in Thriller

Women In Thrillers

In 2012, women represented less than one-third of the speaking characters in thriller films. For every one female on screen, there were two and a half men. And when women were on the screen, a third of them were in skimpy, sexualized clothing, as is the way females are represented in thriller films,and films in general.

For a while, things were looking up for women in the thriller films. Bridesmaids, a movie written by, for and about women, did well at the box office. The Hunger Games  had a female heroine. Disney’s Brave won Oscars with a strong female protagonist.
Other examples of thriller films with distinct female character roles are: 

• The silence of the lambs,                                           Pulp fiction
  
  
  

The Bourne Ultimatum

• The Sixth Sense

How Men Are Represented in The Thriller Genre

Men Representations in Thriller Films

Looking at the 53 films released in 2012, we see that the majority of characters were male, and only 7 were female. This further proves that men are still dominate the cinema. Men are seen as the protectors, the saviors, the breadwinners, and the "know-alls" in films, which is portrayed right through the film genres, including thriller.

Women are constantly being misrepresented as support of the male characters, and mostly as love interests that attract the male characters. In the few movies where we see strong lead female characters but mostly see them having the support of at least one male who is involved in their situation in some way where the female ends up needing their help.

An example of a thriller film with this representation of men is Robin Hood, who is the main character and protagonist of the film. He is seen as very brave and powerful, and has got a woman in a smaller role beside him. This is a very stereotypical representation of men and women in film, as men are often regarded as being the protagonist, brave and powerful, while the women often associated as minor characters with less importance then men. They are also associated as being very submissive and gentle, which is the case in this film.

The dark knight is another film that has a very clear conventions of a male character. he is show to be heroic, brave and powerful. These are typical conventions of a man in the thriller genre as this is what the audience expects to see from a male character  in a thriller genre. Women are also represented in this film in a very subversive way as  she is very much  a key character in the role to plot against the hero, Batman.

Fast and Furious 6 is another stereotypical convention of male characters. These consist of acts like being competitive, powerful and brave. These are shown when, near the end of the film, Dom, launches his car over the side of the bridge in order to safe his friend from being killed by the enemy. This act symbolises all of these conventions expected from a male character, and therefore is a very stereotypical act of a male in the film. 

 

Research Methods

Research Methods

We measure media in a variety of ways, some methods include, subscriptions, sales, ratings and figures.

NRS  (National Readership Survey) -http://www.nrs.co.uk/
The National Readership Survey was established in 1956 and today provides the most authoritative and valued audience research in use for print advertising trading in the UK. The survey covers over 250 of Britain’s major newspapers and magazines, showing the size and nature of the audiences they achieve. In a dynamic and changing digital media age, NRS was introduced in September 2012 to provide a unique measure of combined print and online audiences.

ABC (American Broadcasting Company) - http://abc.go.com/the
Information -

http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/American_Broadcasting_Company.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Broadcasting_Company

BARB (Broadcasting Audience Research Baord) - http://www.barb.co.uk/
Information -

BARB was set up in 1981 to provide the industry standard television audience measurement service for broadcasters and the advertising industry. BARB is owned by BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, BSkyB
that our users want, including the production of audience viewing figures.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BARB

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Views on YouTube
• Online forums

Quantitive research: E.g questionnaires

• Number based
• Closed questions
• Very Factual

Qualitative research: E.g Interviews, focus groups

• Analysis of existing products
• open questions to gather opinions
• individual preferences

Audience Engagement - This describes how an audience interacts with media text. Different people react in different ways to the same text.

Audience Expectations - These are the ideas that an audience have in advance of a film or media text. This particularly applies to genre pieces. Don't forget continually play with or go against audience expectations.

Film Ratings

Film Ratings

Film ratings provide parents with advance information about the content of movies to help them determine what movies are appropriate for their children at any age. After all, parents are best suited to knowing each of their children’s individual sensitivities and sensibilities to pick movies for them. Ratings are assigned by a board of parents who consider factors such as violence, sex, language and drug use..

Film ratings are the age limit given to a film, depending on who it is suitable for and how much refrence they have to sex, drugs, Grand Theft Auto, crime




The film ratings available for a film are U, PG, 12, 12A, 15, 18, R18 and 21.







The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), originally British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organisation who gives out film ratings

Rambo, is a film that has had its rating change from the main film to the final film. In the main film, the film rating was 15 but was changed to an 18, due to an increase in violence, language, drinking and smoking which was not suitable for a film rating of a 15.
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/Rambo










  The PG-13 rating: http://www.slashfilm.com/question-how-has-the-pg-13-rating-changed-over-the-years-if-at-all/

 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was deemed just a tad too graphic/violent for kids, but not so bad as to warrant an R rating. Since then, the PG-13 branding, which indicates that “some material may be inappropriate for children under 13, so the rating was therefore increased.








The reason we have film ratings is because film ratings provide parents with advance information about the content of movies to help them determine what movies are appropriate for their children at any age. After all, parents are best at knowing each of their children’s individual sensitivities and so pick movies for them that they think are sensible. Ratings are assigned by a board of parents who consider factors such as violence, sex, language and drug use.

Audience research

Audience Research

Audience research is a important part of any media company's work. They use questionnaires, focus groups, pre film screenings and spend a great deal of time and money finding out who would be interested in their product.

I have learned how audiences absorb media and are categorised.

Group A
1. lawyers
2. Doctors
3. Scientists
4. Well Paid professionals

Group B
1. Teachers
2. Middle management
3. Fairly well paid professionals

Group C1
Junior management
bank clerks
nurses
'White collar professionals'

Group C2
1. electrians
2. Plumbers
3. carpenters
4. 'Blue collar professionals'

Group D
 Manual workers like:
1. Drivers
2. post sorters

Group E
1. Students
2. Unemployed
3.Pensioners