Discuss the ways in which media products are produced and distributed to audiences within the film industry

From a historic high post-war of 1.64 billion cinema viewings in 1946, UK cinema admissions gradually declined to an all-time low of just 54 million in 1984. Since this time, the convergence of new technologies and the growing theatrical experience adopted from America, in cinemas has recovered admissions to above 150 million. Production and distribution methods are continually improving, enticing institutions to use these new technologies to their advantage and increase revenues of their films. Disney studios have continuously adopted new technologies allowing them to produce and distribute the highest grossing film in history, ‘Avatar’ (produced and distributed in digital 3D) grossing £1,800,000,000.

Working Title is a part conglomerate British film production company, that focuses on many social aspects of Britain, often aiming towards genres like romantic-comedies-one example of this is ‘Love Actually’. The company’s mid-range budgets, assisted in funding by its conglomerate partner, Universal Studios, allows the institution to target a large variety of audiences, including American audiences of many ages through the use of Universal studios as a distributor. For this reason, the company’s films tend to create a positive representation of Britain, as this is preferable to an American audience, for which there may be a larger audience. The company’s mid-range budget is reflected in the production of its films. The Boat that Rocked a period comedy genre film, with a budget of £32 million, was filmed using two handheld digital cameras to allow filming in smaller areas on the ‘Boat’, due to the portability of digital cameras. The use of digital cameras also decreases production costs, due to the high price of 35mm cameras and production of films reels (up to £2000 per reel), also allowing the editing process to be faster, due to easier transport and capture of digital data onto computers (it took only a week from filming to editing with The Boat that Rocked), allowing a faster film release. In comparison to Hollywood films, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace cost around £5 million to film using 35mm cameras for 220 hours of film, however Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, cost only £15,000 to film in digital format, due to the lower production costs, assisting with increasing profits. However, digital cameras are known to marginally decrease picture quality, which may make some audiences, particularly those interested in the film industry, feel that the film is less of an experience, which may account for the film’s low gross revenue of only £23 million. With this mid-range budget, few special effects have been used as they could have been extremely expensive and may not have fitted into the budget. Synergies are also evident in this film, in which institutions have worked together to increase the success of the film, for example, the use of 1960s style music that older audiences of the film may appeal to, such as ‘The Beach Boys’. In addition, with decreased production costs from filming, the Boat That Rocked could afford to feature synergies with its ensemble cast, with a majority of famous actors such as Bill Nighly (who is a frequent cast member with Working Title films-e.g: Love Actually) and Phillip Seymour Hoffman (who may appeal to the American audience), who may each account for a large percentage of the film budget but will be beneficial time-wise for filming.

Conversely, Vertigo films is an independent production company which relies mainly on its own revenue to fund its films. This smaller budget is reflected in its production methods, where films are usually focused on horror or action film genres with an age rating of either 15 or 18, targeting more niche audiences. One of the company’s first films, The Football Factory, had a budget of only £500,000 and cast Danny Dyer, an actor with a particular masculine representation that relates to the film’s genre (the film However, Vertigo films is currently producing Streetdance 3D. This film aims towards a less niche audience, aiming towards a younger audience, as a certificate 12, where particular production methods that aim towards this age are evident. The increased budget from revenue of its previous films (The Football Factory grossed £300,000 in its opening weekend, allowing for the reinvestment of profits) has allowed Vertigo to film Streetdance using 3D cameras. Since ‘Avatar’, produced in digital 3D by 20th Century Fox, the popularity of 3D films amongst all audiences is evident, and many production companies have begun investing in 3D technologies. The film was also shot using IMAX cameras, which produce the highest available quality images, which will appeal to many film fans, and make watching the film a better experience. Also, Vertigo cast popular dance groups, such as ‘Diversity’ to star in the film, made famous by British television program ‘Britain’s Got Talent’, which will also act as a unique selling point for the film, and appeal to younger audiences.

The distribution of British films in cinemas across the UK can be an important determining factor in the success of a film. With many technological convergences, the film industry has extended into other medias and allowed for easier distribution, marketing and consumption but has also brought about some disadvantages to the film industry. With the availability of fast speed broadband internet connections, satellite connections and discs that store large amounts of data, digital distribution is possible, making a blanket release possible, with fewer transport and film reel production costs, decreasing the affects of piracy. In addition, film quality from repeating showings is maintained as the digital copy should not be damaged. Use of digital distribution to cinemas, however, can increase piracy as the internet may not be as secure as a physical copy, where a ‘virus’ may lead to the entire film being ‘leaked’ onto the internet, resulting in a large decrease of revenue for the production company.

Due to Working Title’s conglomerate partnership with Universal Pictures, The Boat That Rocked could be distributed in a large number of countries, including America, and the company could afford to produce a large number of film reels, due to its comparatively large budget. It most likely avoided digital distribution due to the small number of cinemas that are currently equipped to show films in digital (as it can cost up to £50,000 to upgrade a single cinema). The film was then distributed onto DVD and blu-ray across a large number of countries, where it could distribute on the more costly blu-ray discs due to its large distribution budget from Universal (where the older target audience is likely to own a more expensive blu-ray player as they would be able to afford it). Due to the large usage of the internet, the film could also be distributed on iTunes, where it is instantly available to users at £10.99, of whom a large percentage may be part of the target audience (because both older and younger audiences often have access to it), combating piracy. This also decreases distribution costs, because discs do not need to be manufactured and transported enabling the company to gain more profit from the film. It may be argued that this film had a better reception on disc release, where it gained 4/5 on Amazon, than at cinemas, where it grossed only £23 million. Due to the film’s relatively large marketing budget, it has promoted the film in various ways. Various character posters were produced, promoting its unique selling point of Hollywood actors and also produced theatrical posters, in which image editing is evident. The film was also marketed with teaser trailers and theatrical trailers, again making use of the soundtrack synergies available to the film, in which ‘Dancing in the Street’ is played over the theatrical trailer. iTunes was again used to market the film, where the technological convergence into ‘iPhones apps’ allowed the film to be marketing using these apps, in which a user (who is likely to be of the target audience, as they will be able to afford an iPhone) could download it and read the synopsis and view the trailer for free, stimulating audience interest. Furthermore, ‘Spotify’ was also used to market the film, whereby users could listen to music playlists from the film for free and view trailers from within the software. In addition, an interactive, official website was designed, again allowing the target audience to gain more information about the film. With film review sites and blogs, interest was also stimulated between members of the audience, on websites like ‘IMDB’, that allowed users to comment on the film and rate it.

Marketing and distribution for Vertigo’s Streetdance 3D is equally important, where it may be argued that the promotion of the film being the ‘World’s first 3D dance film’ is marketed more than the plot itself. Being released to cinemas in May 2010, the film is similarly being distributed on film reels rather than digitally. The film was marketed with both a teaser trailer and a theatrical trailer, which was in 3D, making it more aesthetically pleasing for the target audience and stimulating more interest around the film. Both of these trailers were made available online, relating to the younger target audience who may already own 3D glasses from going to see a 3D film previously. The highly interactive official website that was designed also relates to the younger target audience and the use of Facebook apps stimulate free, viral marketing for the film around the community of younger Facebook users with friends. A theatrical poster was also designed to market the film, where the use of image editing software is evident, making it appear aesthetically pleasing, which would appeal especially to the young audience.

It is evident that production and distribution affect the success of a film hugely, where it may be argued that The Boat that Rocked failed due to a bad marketing campaign or that Streetdance 3D may be a large success simply because of particular production issues, such as filming in IMAX 3D, enticing many to see the film, regardless of its plot. With such important on-going technological convergence, production companies and distributors both have to adapt around the film market, to conflict with the decreasing usage of cinemas, for example, production companies may begin using the new Apple iPad as a marketing and distribution tool, whereby users can purchase and watch films from the portable device. With an increase in profits to £1.7 billion in 2009, the increasing consumption of British films is evident, being helped by better production and distribution among institutions.