Paper 1, Question 2: Media Contexts -The "film industry" question- Notes

 March 01, 2021

 Media Contexts: The Film Industry 

Section B we investigate the institutions and audiences of Hollywood and the British Film Industry. We learn case studies on certain production companies that produce and distribute film in the UK and globally. 

For the written exam you answer one question from a choice of two about the film industry. 

Case studies: 

1) Hollywood, Warner Bros: Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman 1984. 

2) Small British film production, Belstone Pictures: Tank 432, Tucked and Making Tracks.

Why compare these companies?

For the essay you write about  how Hollywood behaves vs how a small British film production company behaves.

Warner Bros Pictures is used as an example of how major Hollywood studio behave. 

Hollywood makes huge budget, high concept films aimed at global mainstream audience to secure max profits. The "majors" follow the tent pole movie strategy of focusing in two/three projects each year. They achieve figures near 1 billion dollars for the studios responsible.

vs

Belstone Pictures take a different approach. They target a specific/niche audience to offer something different to the cinema. Gaining traction through film festivals is the key importance. 

The question requires you to focus on 4 stages of film making:

• Production 
• Distribution and Marketing
• Exhibition 
• Exchange

Also need to write about 3 interlinked aspects:

• Ownership- the ownership of institutions and the relevance, how companies make products for different audiences
• Audience- how they engage at products from particular companies 
• Technology 

1. Ownership

• 80 to 85% of all box office revenue in America comes from films produced and distributed by the major studios. 20 to 15% of revenue comes from independent studios.
• A major film studio is a production and distribution company that releases a certain number of films annually and constantly gains a significant share of box office revenue in a given number. 
• In American and International markets, the major film studios ("the big six") are regarded as the six diversified media conglomerates.

The Big Six: 

Studio + Conglomerate

1. Warner Bros- AT&T
2. Walt Disney Studios- The Walt Disney Company 
3. 20th Century Fox- The Walt Disney Company 
4. Paramount Pictures- Viacom
5. Universal Pictures- NBC Universal/Comcast
6. Columbia Pictures- Sony

• These six studios are subsidiaries of major media conglomerates. They hold an oligopoly on the market share of film production globally. 
• The conglomerates have cross media ownership- they own other media outlets such as TV production, radio production, magazine production, gaming, etc. 

Case study example: "Warner Bros Pictures are a subsidiary of the conglomerate, AT&T who bought out Time Warner. Time Warner owned HBO, TBS, DC Comics, The CW Network and Water Tower Music. (Technically, Warner Bros have their own subsidiaries, to which DC Comics is one of them, but ultimately, they still all now fall under the AT&T ownership structure)."

Interpretation: Warner Bros have support of a parent company to keep them financially stable and have horizontal integration to expand into other media areas that AT&T own- this allow synergy between companies in the products it produces. 

vs 

Belstone Pictures is a small, independent British film production company

They have to find cheaper alternatives to produce, market, distribute and exhibit films. Significantly different to Hollywood model. Maybe raise the issue they can't compete with Hollywood to the same scale. 

2. Audience 

Audience and how they engage with the product is also always of key importance to your answer

Film audiences- how has improved technology improved our viewing experience? How has it changed how we find out about a new film? How has it changed how we consume and interact with film. 

What are the benefits an d negatives for the audience. 

3. Technology 

Advancing and improving technology and the influence on the film industry in each stage of the process.

Consider how films used to be produced, marketed, distributed, exhibited in comparison to now. The impact the new technology has had on film production, marketing, distribution and exhibition. 

What are the pros and cons for WBP? What are the pros and cons for BP?

Research Task: Further note-taking