LO1 : media products in the audio-visual industry
Task 1 P1:
Here I am investigating media products in the film industry.
A conglomerate is a parent company which owns smaller companies called subsidiaries. These subsidiaries are often used to promote and market a product the parent company produces, this is vertical integration. As conglomerate companies are so large they usually cover a wide range of different media platforms/products. Whereas an independent is a company which works alone and so often focus on one type of media platform. As they only focus on one media platform they often partner up with other companies, in joint ventures, to advertise their products.
An example of a conglomerate company is 21st Century Fox, some of the subsidiaries of this are: 20th Century Fox, Fox TV, STAR TV, Sky, BlueSky studios. These subsidiaries help to promote and advertise products through horizontal integration from different parts of the company, films by 21st Century Fox such as Deadpool would have been advertise on Fox TV/STAR TV and other TV channels owned by them as part of this, this is because it is easily advertised on these platforms. An example of an independent company is WARP Films, they primarily produce film products. On the film 'This is England' Warp created a joint venture with FilmFour productions to make the film, this was so they had enough resources and money to create it. Also with this film they had a joint venture with Optimum releasing, this was used to help with distribution of the product as they would not have the resources to do this alone.
20th Century Fox and Marvel produced 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' based on the Wolverine Marvel comic, this was first produced as a comic series and later became a spin-off film. As this was originally a popular comic so it would already have an audience interested in the characters/narrative, this is advantageous of the company producing it as they would already know they have a fanbase which would be interested in seeing the film when it was released, this is important as they need an audience to see it to create profit (which is the end goal in any production). This may be beneficial for the 20th Century Fox as there is already an audience with enough disposable income to be purchasing the comics and so they know they are targeting an audience with enough disposable income. This adaptation may be advantageous for the audience as well as they already know the narrative of the film/comic as they will understand and appreciate the film better. Also this could benefit the audience as they will have an idea whether they would like the film and whether they would want to spent money to see it.
The Walt Disney Company created a brand with the film Frozen, this film has a target audience of 5-10 y/o primarily females. This brand has uses different cross media platforms to advertise their product as they have branched from the film trailers to posters to toys to merchandise/clothing/games and to character appearances at Disney parks or Disney on Ice. They target the audience by using mainly female characters, this is because the young female audience will look up to them as see them as ideal self’s as they are perceived as princesses, this is used throughout a lot of Disney films. When advertising the film they first released trailers and posters, this was to gain the audiences interest. This would have been advertised on children's TV (such as Disney channel), this is used to target the target audience as the TV programmes it was advertised on would be targeting a similar audience. Next Disney released merchandise/clothing and toys, this would happen when the film had just been released, this is because the children are most interested in the film at this time and are more likely to want to have toys/merchandise when the film is popular. This again would still advertise the product as children walking around in costumes/ with toys could attract the attention of other children and so they may want to see the film or buy the products. Disney created an app game to be downloaded on the App Store, this would appeal to the audience as they get there parents to download it on their devices to play, this fits with the digital native community we live in. Finally Disney continue to advertise the film by doing character appearances in their Theme Park and on Disney on Ice, this not only attracts fans to their park and events but also continues to advertise the film as they may buy merchandise or the DVD after seeing the character. As Disney do a lot of merchandise, events and games the audience would have to have a high disposable income. 20th Century Fox created a brand with Star Wars, this was created through comics, films, TV series, merchandise and events. There are multiple different types of comics and films for the Star Wars as they created a series of them. The target audience for this is wide, 16-30y/o primarily male. They would advertise the film release through posters and trailers, these would be advertised on Sky TV and appropriate films (such as Wolverine, Spiderman or other sci-fi films), this is to reach the correct audience. There would be multiple trailer released, these would be teaser trailers, these are used to create interest in the film before the full trailer is released. Another platform used to advertise is comics, the comic are used to promote the next upcoming film, this is because it gives the audience an insight into the narrative of the film which creates interest. Also this can be used to predict how many people are interested in the film by how many buy the comic. Events and merchandise would be used when the film was just released and after, this is used so fans continually promote the film by wearing/having the merchandise and attending events linked to the film.
The brand Frozen appeals to its audience as it offers escapism (McQuail) to the audience, this is because they are a young (5-10 year old) female audience and so they want to be in the princess world of the film as they see the characters as ideal selves. As the audience see the characters as ideal selves they are able to build a personal identity from watching the film. The mode of address used in the film is mainly peer-to-peer, this is to reach the young audience, as they would see the characters a friends. This film is supposed to give the audience emotional pleasures such as happiness, this makes the audience want to watch the film. Star Wars also offers the audience escapism, as it is a sci-fi film genre so the audience is interest in the world of the film, they may want to be in the world of the film. In parts this film would offer visceral pleasure (Rick Altman) as when there are tense moments, this is not used in Frozen, as children do not want to feel this way. As Star Wars is popular it offers a chance to build personal relationships with other people who are interested in it, this is shown in events such as comic-con as they can meet and build relationships (McQuail) with people who like the same characters/narratives/films/comics as them. This reaches to an older audience (16-30 year olds) and also those with high disposable income, as they are the ones who are most likely to go to these events.
A technological convergence Jenkins (2010) is when technology comes together to perform multiple tasks which once would have been done on separate devices. A prosumer is someone who not only consumes products but can also produce them. Technological convergence can positively impacted the prosumer and producer as products can be cheaper and more accessible as it is all on one device. Another advantage for the producer is that products can be spread more widely, therefore reaching more people as they are linked.
Web 2.0 is the biggest example of a technical convergence, this is because it is interactive so you can produce and distribute content. Web 2.0 is the second stage of development of the Internet, this allows an audience to interact with content on the web which was not originally available in Web 1.0. Web 2.0 has impacted how easily work can be shared; this is useful in all stages of production (pre-production, production, post-production).
In pre-production when gaining the first ideas about a product it is important that everyone can be involved and contribute in order to get a wide range of idea, this is made easier by Web 2.0 as websites such as www.mindmapfree.com are made available, this allows members of the team to collaboratively view and add ideas to a mind map in order to share their ideas. Another document made available from Web 2.0 is GoogleDocs, this can be used in the pre-production of collaborative projects. This can be used to share documents such as a script, this is important so all members can add to it or edit it and so everyone is involved in the project. Before Web 2.0 people would have to share information in person, this is was more inconvenient as it took up more time as there had to be re-drafts each time something was changed. Also it was hard to work collaboratively as only one person has access to the document, this is very time consuming trying to transfer documents. ShotLister is an IPhone app which allows directors and producers to build production schedules, shooting lists and schedules, this is then able to be shared using Web 2.0 to other members of the team. This is important as it allows the production team to share ideas and plans in a more efficient way. Producers, directors, set designers etc, would use the app. Before they would have to do this by hand by it would be less efficient as it would take a lot of time and redrafts.
In production you can collaborate with people online to help you finish a product, for example, if you were making a film trailer but needed some backing music you may be able to collaborate with an artist over a website such as www.soundcloud.com as they can upload their music for you to use there. This can be used to gain assets along with collaborating with other people to create assets; this is advantageous, as it doesn’t have to be in the same location in order to collaborate on work, this was not possible before Web 2.0 as you wouldn’t be able to collaborate with people in different locations. Another software used in production is Filmic Pro, this is a mobile app with allows you to film on a tablet or phone but with cinematic feature and additional elements to make the production look more professional, this would be used during filming to add different elements to make it look professional. Filmic Pro allows you to add effects while filming to create professional look with effects like wave form, zoom rocker control and peak focus can be accessed through the app. Through this you can also share this footage with other members of the team, this is important as you can review the footage and see if you need to re-film, also you can all edit parts of the footage more accessibly. Before Web 2.0 you would not have be able
For Post production there are mobile apps such as Magisto, this is a free editing software which allows you to edit videos the same way they would be done on another device. This is important as it could save time and money in post-production, as you do not have to transfer files over to an additional device. A post-production app called WeVideo is used to share footage via the cloud, this is important as you can transfer different drafts of the film to different members of the team, this also allows you to store footage, this is an advantage as it means you have backups of the footage incase it is lost
M1:
Avatar uses motion capture technologies to create the characters; the actors wearing mobcap suits and skullcap with tracking dots to track their movement and actions do this. They also use 360-degree view of performances, so actors must play scenes with no idea where the camera will eventually be. Using motion capture technology is important, as these characters couldn’t be used with out Motion Capture technology, these characters create spectacle for the audience as it is realistic which makes the audience want to watch the film. The characters in Avatar are “Na’vi” this is a made up hybrid which would not have been able to be create realistically without this technology. An advantage of this technology is that these characters are made to look more attractive, this again is used to attract an audience, males are attracted by their ideal partner “Zoe” and females attracted by a “Jake Sully”, this creates a wide audience which intern will create more profit. Although a disadvantage to this is that the equipment is quite expensive, this is cost that smaller production companies cannot cover, but because of the effect of the film it may also make more money.
Motion capture technology is constantly developing and evolving as not only are films using it, it is also being used in TV shows such as “The Flash” which using motion capture technology to create characters. This is an advantage as it is evolving to different platforms to make the audiences experience better.
Social media such as Snapchat can be used when advertising a product; Snapchat has a unique feature where you can add a filter to your photographs to share with friends. An example where this was used is for X-Men Apocalypse film, this was made into a filter which people could take pictures with, this advertises and markets the film to a wide audience. This was put on Snapchat and other social medias as the target audience of around 14-20 year olds would use this app and therefore share their excitement for the film. This further advertises the film as it includes the day the film is released which informs the audience when they can go an see it first. This filtered photo could also be poster to a different social media (such as Instagram) which further markets the product; this is good as it is free/cheap advertising.
This is an example of the X-Men filter used on Snapchat:
Another social media used to advertise X-Men Apocalypse is Facebook, this was mainly advertised through gifs and posters, this is to reach the target audience (14-20 year olds) as they may share these with their friends if they like it. This again is free advertising as it allows the audience to share to other friends which may reach a wider audience. they used a page on Facebook to share photographs, posters, videos and infomations to inform the audience, this plateform also allows the audience to share and omment on the content, this helps to again share the content with a wide audience as they will let their friends which is advantageous as a wider audience creates more profit which is their end goal. By posting on social they are using above the line advertising in order to reach a wide audience.
A Video On Demand such as Netflix or ITVhub is advantageous to the audience as the audience gets to decide when they want to watch a TV programme, who they want to watch it with and where they want to watch it, this has lead to the 'death of the schedule', this means the audience do not watch a programme when it is first broadcasted due to these VOD distributers. Web 2.0 has allowed this new form of distributers to grow and therefore the audience has become fragmented due to a lot of people watching different shows on different devices and in different locations.
The rise of the black box has made that all the different media platforms to be all on one singular device, this increases the audience experience as it is much more simple to navigate between platforms. Audiences can access products through so many different outlets due to technological convergence, an audience can access most products effectively and cheaply without having to buy lots of different devices. People can now download products to be viewed offline, this can normally be accessed on devise such as tablets and phones, this is advantages for the audience as they will then have a copy to watch whenever and wherever they want. A similar way to view products is by streaming, this uses the internet to stream a film/TV programme, streaming is different to downloading as with downloading you have a copy of the product forever (unless you delete it) whereas you do not with streaming. Simulcasting is where a product is broadcasted at the same time on different platforms, this is often used with the news as the same news programme can be viewed/listened to on both a TV or the radio. An Example of this is BBC One as they broadcasts the morning news on both the television and the radio at the same time.
Assassin's Creed is a brand created around an action videogame which has now been adapted into a film. This brand has been cross promoted, as the same audience has been targeted for both products, this is shown through the similarities in promotion materials and distribution of promotion material. This consistency creates a recognisable brand for the audience which may make an audience who enjoy the game go and see the film (visa versa), this is important as if the company already know they have an audience interested in the narrative/characters/game then they know they have an audience who will watch the film, this is important as they can already predict to make profit from creating a film.
This is a promotional billboards for the Assassin's creed game and film, this shows one of the main characters in the game very large, this is so the audience can recognise the character and recognise what the billboard is for. Both these billboards use the colour red, this could be used to connote blood, this is because it is an action game and so there would be violence. Also they may have used red on both billboards to create a recognisable brand over the two promotion material. Both billboards look quite similar, this is so they would attract the same audience and an audience who interested in this genre of film/game. The font is kept the same throughout the different promotional materials, this is to again create a recognisable brand to the audience so they know what the billboard is about.
Assassins Creed was mainly marketed through billboards and posters, this is above the line advertising as it targets a wide audience, this is used to reach a wide audience, they had these posters in both print and web format so a lot of people would see it. This brand had advertisements for both the game and the film shown in the cinema, this was because they had to reach an audience who had high disposable income to either go see the film or buy the game.They distributed the game on Xbox and PlayStation, this is so the audience can accessibly play it. The film was distributed through the cinema as it was a film.
The target audience for this would be ABC1 15-25 year old males, this is because they would need disposable income to buy the game or watch the film and as this is a action game it would stereotypically attract a male audience. The audience has changed as the game would have attracted a dominantly male audience although as the film has a love story within it now appeals to females too. Another reason the film now appeals to females is that they use attractive male protagonists, this means the audience may see these as ideal male partners which may motivate them to go and watch the film. The audience could access these different products from online streaming/downloads, this is due to web 2.0, this helps the audience as it means they can view it on the same device. Also the game is available on different types of platforms and devices, this is advantageous for the audience as they can get it on the device they already own and so they would not have to buy a separate device
Assassin's Creed film had a worldwide total of $240.7 million, against a production budget of $125 million, although gained a lot of negative reviews due to it not being exciting. Most adaptations from game to film usually aren't as popular as regular films and games. Although Assassin's Creed film gained bad reviews the brand is still quite popular with 10,133,409 likes on its Facebook page.
My role as a photographer is far down on the hierarchy diagram, this means a lot of people will rely on me in order for them to do theirs.My job role involves planning pre-production, taking photogrpahs, directing and helping with editing, even though i am below the photograph editor our jobs are still collabrative together meaning we work closely. In the process of making a magazine the photographs are important as a magazine needs photographs in order to draw the audience in to the magazine and article so my role in the process of creating a magazine is quite important. My role impacts others such as a Photograph editor, they cannot edit photographs if haven taken them, similarly if the graphic designer and journalist haven't informed me about layout/content of the page I am taking photographs for I may not be able to take photographs as I will not be able to plan who to use, how to pose them, what to connote as I need it to link to the page content. Finally if the art director has not informed me of the style or art direction of the photoshoot then i cannot take photographs which meet the client requirements. Everybody on this hierarchy is important to eachother and their roles as if one does not do their job then another may be be able to do theirs. 
