AS Textual Analysis G322: Film Industry

General points about the market:

11 films are released in the UK in an average week - the market is saturated and too many get lost or shouldn't have been made in the first place; the first weekend is hugely competitive and decides all
Good filsm don't make money - big name stars and sequels do
Avatar - conceived by James Cameron before he made Titanic, but the technology didn't exist. Sky and The Sun used extensively to advertise the film. People are basically herd animals - they went to see it because of the amount of publicity and because of others going, not because of conscious choice
Films currently make around 25% from cinema, 50% from DVD sales and 25% from TV rights and spin-offs.
Consider the huge influx of 3D cinema/film - how important do you think this is in the market?

Convergence:

In how many different ways/in how many different places can we now watch a film?
Consider how portable films are now?
How interactive are film, compared to other media?
How much can now be taken from a film and used elsewhere, eg. in marketing or spin-off products?
How effective are websites dedicated to certain films?
How has technological convergence (the way in which different technologies work together to enable use to do something, eg. digital technology combining with television) benefited film institutions and audiences? (eg. downloading soundtracks, teaser trailers)

Synergy:

How much does it benefit a large company to be able to integrate its marketing across various media?
How can synergy develop the relationship between the soundtrack and the film in terms of helping each other's sales?
Why have all of the major media producers and distributors invested so much time and effort into their use of the internet in marketing films?
How does synergy increase convenience and reduce cost in marketing and distribution?
Music, newspapers, radio, television, magazines, video games, internet - in your case studies, how effectively have major Hollywood film studios and independent British studios been able to use and integrate these different platforms to promote their film?

Are convergence and synergy fair on independent film makers?

Production Company Information:

Working Title:

British Film production company
Founded in 1983
Part of Universal since 2000
Small Company
"free" to produce films with budgets up to $25 million without consulting Universal, but tends to consult them anyway
Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Boat that Rocked etc.
Has a subsidiary company WT2, which produced Billy Elliot and several other films

Universal:

One of the 6 major movie studios
Founded in 1912 - second oldest
General electric bought the controlling share in 2004. They also own NBC (US television and news channel)
When the Boat that Rocked was made, the remainer of Universal was owned by Vivendi, a French water and media company

Relativity Media:

The Social Network, Scott Pilgrim Vs the World, Jonny English: Reborn, Limitless
American, independent motion picture production company
Founded in 2004
In 2010, Relativity Media and Netflix announced a long-term PAY-TV deal
It started to distribute its own movies in 2010

For each Case Study make sure you include information on:

For each film, note down:

What can you tell about the audience?
What can you tell about the genre? Write down scenes that fit each genre that the film could fit into.
Which characters engage the audience and how?
How does the film use music?
What is there in the plot to keep our attention?
How good is it? What works and what doesn't?