Wednesday, 30 April 2014

AS How does the film industry use new technologies?

Referring to examples from British independent cinema and from Hollywood industrial cinema, how does the film industry use new technologies?

1. At the production stage – digital cameras increasingly used as opposed to film but note that not everyone thinks is a good thing. Potentially lightweight cameras/editing on a computer – or a laptop/CGI and other effects? Look at the way Gareth Edwards was able to compete with big budget special effects. It’s easier to balance/alter the colour using digital technology than analogue. Google this – have any released films been shot with a flip camera or phone…?

2. Distribution and marketing – Advantages of? Websites, social networking, viral marketing. How do YOU see examples of this? On what kind of platform? Give specific examples from both types of film. WHY are these methods commonly used as opposed to only the older methods of posters/print ads/trailers/TV, radio and print interviews/features?

3. Exhibition – Why have cinemas been forced into switching to digital exhibition?

4. IMAX and 3D – expensive and limited, no matter how good it seems – Google it…

5. Look at the cinemas near us. The exam board like to think you can use examples from your own experience, so here you go: but look at this too – think about the effect on arthouse cinemas whose remit is not just to rely on modern Hollywood film. Although we have tried this – unsuccessfully so far – you could email the Tyneside Cinema (the board likes to see local examples) and ask them how it has been affected by digital technology.

6. Beyond that, remember that exhibition does not just include the cinema – so legal downloads/DVD/BluRay – how can film be watched and how does digital technology threaten the modern cinema - and how is the industry responding?

7. Finally, how does a local, filmmaking collective use digital technology -

Remind yourself of the stages of production:

Use these links – as well as your own research and your notes on Monsters - to help you, as well This is a similar question, but has a lot of good information in the plan…

AS The effect of the Hollywood Industrial Model on the UK Film Industry

In the practice of Hollywood and other forms of industrial cinema, the phases of production, distribution and exhibition operate most effectively when 'vertically integrated', where the three stages are seen as part of the same larger process, under the control of one company. In the UK, distribution is very much focused on marketing and sustaining a global product in local markets. 

British cinema had a considerable advantage over European cinema in that the American market is huge and English is the national language. Many people across the world speak English, so the potential audience for British film is huge.

However, there is a downside: American cinema has the same advantage and on top of this, American studios have enormous capital at their disposal. They produce more films, both of the expensive, mass-appeal kind, as well as the more risky films with an independent feel. One success will pay for approximately nine failures at the box office. While British cinema does experience boom years when our films and film-makers ate feted throughout the world, we are generally consuming an increasingly large diet of American films, from the excellent to the awful and everything in between. On top of this, because of the popularity of American films in the UK, the distribution of British films into our cinemas and of British DVDs into shops is dominated by US companies, who are obviously going to put their resources into pushing their own products.

Distribution 50% of money spent on a film often goes on promotion. Film is a business like any other; it doesn’t rely on waiting and listening to audience response before delivering the product; it relies on knowing which part of the world and the media need its products and will pay for them. Does market forces competition give the consumer more power and choice and, therefore, influence, what’s made OR does it convince us that what we want is being made for us? Do millions go to see The Dark Knight when it opens because it’s a great film or because it’s been well-marketed? Or both?

The film industry in the UK – dominated by six multi-media conglomerates: Universal, Columbia, Paramount, Warners, Universal, Fox and Disney

They work for themselves and collectively under the umbrella of the Motion Picture Association of America they are an institutional force.

The set the technical standards for film production, distribution, marketing and exhibition. For example, they want their films shown via digital projection so cinemas have to have the facility to do this. Although there are directors, like Christopher Nolan, who still prefer 35mm film, they are running against the tide in the move towards digital film-making. The studios' bottom line — they no longer want to pay to physically print and ship movies. It costs about $1,500 to print one copy of a movie on 35 mm film and ship it to theaters in its heavy metal canister. Multiply that by 4,000 copies — one for each movie on each screen in each multiplex around the country — and the numbers start to get ugly. By comparison, putting out a digital copy costs a mere $150.

Of course, Nolan is tolerated because his work is immensely successful and brings a lot of money into the studio, either through profits from the film or promotional partner deals. Digital cinema is becoming standard all over the world.

Art-house and repertory theatres, however, which play classic and older movies, are largely dependent on print loans from studios. Increasingly, the prints are remaining locked in studio vaults. Last November, 20th Century Fox sent its exhibitors a letter to that effect: "The date is fast approaching when 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight will adopt the digital format as the only format in which it will theatrically distribute its films. ... We strongly advise those exhibitors that have not yet done so to take immediate steps to convert their theatres to digital projection systems."

They establish budgets for films. The average budget of a standard Hollywood mainstream film is about $50 million and on average, 50% of that budget is spent on promotion and marketing. What chance does independent cinema have?

Their releases dominate UK cinema over the summer - and these summer blockbusters are now released as early as May.

Large multi-media conglomerates can take a loss - Disney's The Lone Ranger for example, performed poorly at the box office, but the company is diverse and has many ways of making money from its many strands of business. A similar failure - a comparative/proportional one - for an independent film could wipe out the company.

They have created an oligopoly situation and the question is – how can other film-makers compete?

They control distribution in most territories; in fact, they often distribute films by independent film-makers – for a cost. To get the backing of a major studio is often essential if you want your film distributed.

They have set the standards for DVDs and digital downloads.

In essence, they have created the business model for the industry which their product dominates.

Three mini-majors: EOne (Canadian/British), Lionsgate (Canadian/American) and Studiocanal (owned by the Canal+ Group (which is owned for the most part by Vivendi, and Universal Studios (part of NBC Universal)). They have distribution outlets in several territories.

Big Hollywood films get saturation release and are heavily promoted that first weekend. They dominate holiday programming – starting in mid-May through to September. They can be shown in more than one screen in the same cinema and in several screens in the same city/town. 14 weeks later they are typically relaeased on DVD orBluRay, then they’re released to PayTV then to free TV.

Wednesday, 2 April 2014

AS Questions on Monsters (Gareth Edwards, 2010)

Monsters (2010)

1. Why did Vertigo produce Monsters?


3. How was it funded?

4. Why was it cheap to make?

5. How was digital technology used throughout the stages of production?


7. How was it distributed? Note the use of film festivals to build its reputation?

8. How was it released in the UK?

9. How was it promoted in the UK?

10. How was viral marketing used?

11. How was the website used to promote the film and – later – the DVD/BluRay? Look at the features available.

12. What were the negative points about the film’s exhibition, distribution and critical reception?

13. Look at the booklets AND the links given below. You can find ‘making of’ features on YouTube.

Tuesday, 1 April 2014

A2 Evaluation - what you need to do by April 24

A2 Planning
There’s no rule about what kind of digipack you use (reference sites like, but be consistent within your group – unless one of you wants to produce a limited edition – and produce variants of the cover in that particular style. Song titles can exist ones. 
A2 Evaluation



Finally, some key points:
Ensure that you haven’t used ANY images that you’ve downloaded from the internet; this includes backgrounds or background patterns – with the honourable exception of barcodes. - a promotion and digital distribution resource. It will help you consider your music promotion work in the digital age.
Genre quotes:
Music video quotes:
           Andrew Goodwin, (1992):






Documentary Quotes

Possible models or narrative strategies:   