The people that own the media companies influence the type of film that is made and its success because it will have the input of their opinion. For example; anybody that works for the Marvel Studios will have some interest in superheroes, comic series, and the marvel industry itself therefore may have input from their own opinion about what is made and why it is made. Another influence that could make a film successful is the actual size of the company. For example; Marvel is a very large media company and they made a lot of merchandise and films for that company. This meaning that the films will be bigger as they have more followed up from them. In my opinion I do feel that bigger companies are more likely to make more money however some smaller companies succeed too and some big companies end up having failed films. I think this is due to audience in some ways as if a particular company are focused on say; action films, and then they make a film of a different genre, people/the audience won’t be interested. What I mean by this is that a smaller company could be failing with a particular type of film but then if they made something different it could be huge, therefore succeeding. This would be the same type of thing for bigger film companies.
The importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing;
Companies work together as organisations to produce, distribute and publicize films by advertising each other’s films perhaps on the DVDs or just before the film begins. Another way they can work together to publicize is through sponsorship. Sponsoring each other as film companies to make a profit and encourage both of the company’s audiences to watch the other company’s film. Disney can use their size as an advantage to promote and publicise a film because people already know about the company and it world famous. What I mean by all this is that, for example, if someone was to go and see Wall-E, they may also be interested at the new film, Big Hero 6. Both of the films are similar in terms of who their audience would be and what the film is actually about. Similarities could also include the colours within the film. Where I’m going with this is that Wall-E itself was a very big film, produced as a big film, therefore doing something similar, but very different will help that particular film become bigger. Another example of this type of example is Frozen, a Disney princess film, and 2015 film, Cinderella (newer version). Smaller companies, yes, will struggle more in promoting particular films due to audience interest but they can work together as companies themselves and create a film slightly bigger, with a bigger budget etc. Making sure that it would meet all the criteria it needs to become a blockbuster hit.
The technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange;
The introduction of digital film, 3D, DVD, Blue Ray, internet streaming, downloadable content, home cinema has influenced the types of films made, the way we watch them and the way we 'buy' them in many ways. I think it has influenced what type of films are made because they can see what people buy more clearly through ratings, purchases and profit. Many years ago films were made more for the entertainment of the audience and less for the profit but nowadays its more about the profit than it is for the entertainment. So this will affect what films are made. The film industry and the companies within it will make their films to make money so they have to make sure that they meet the criteria needed to get a high quality film that’s going to make a lot of money. When they make their films they also have to make sure they can be 3D in some cases, and are able to play on Blu-ray. If they weren’t compatible with these things it could lower the chances of the film being sold therefore they spend more money on cameras just to make this possible. Most people these days, in my opinion, stay at home to watch films rather than going to the cinema and that’s where streamers and packages for a television come in. Examples of this would include; Netflix, Now TV, and Love Film. This means we are more likely to buy a package so the film companies actually miss out on income here. As well as this, a lot of people tend to download films legally or illegally, one paying, one not. This again means that the film industry and the companies that make the films are missing out with money because their film isn’t being bought.
The significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences;
Nowadays a lot of people decide to watch films on their phones and they often get the films from YouTube or from illegal sites. This is affecting film industry’s in the way that people are just waiting for the film to become available on their rather than going to the cinema and spending money when the films initially come out. Some companies now have to make their films differently slightly so that people can’t watch them for free on their phones so easily. They have to change the quality they use because some phones can’t show certain things and they have also started charging some YouTube accounts for the videos they have on them just to save the film companies money for themselves. Audiences in cinemas now are often a lot smaller than they use to be because of these new technologies so some cinemas are having to charge more for the same thing just so that the film companies are still making the money they need to be successful.
The importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences;
The film industry itself has adapted and many different technologies have come together to help it out to improve it and help it develop further. The industry itself appears to be shifting towards two separate things. This is firstly to do with higher quality visuals that, using technology, are being worked on and the other shift is to do with experiences that an audience has when watching the film itself. Whether its high-tech, more personal, and it will also impact peoples film experiences at home. There are, in my opinion 9 different technologies that have come together with the film industries to help it out and make it more popular and modern. The first technology that will help the film industry is simply IMAX cameras. Making more films with IMAX cameras will improve the visuals of the films instantly making a film more appealing to an audience. Another different technology would be digital cameras that the camera crew can run with. This will make a film seem more realistic when watching it in my opinion as the audience will feel like they are running with the characters or scene. Now, watching films on your phone is quite a popular thing to do but new technologies are making it available for people to film on them in good quality also. This will have a great impact in two ways on the film industry. It could have a negative impact as more people will be interested in using their phones, and then a positive impact would be that people won’t necessarily like the software on the phone and instantly watch normal films at the cinema. However this won’t help out the industry in a massive way it could get people or an audience more interested in a film. Another technology that has come together to help the film industry would be experience apps. There are now second screen experience apps that you can download while watching a film, to let you interact almost with it and play games to affect what the film does. This is a very expensive way to create a film but in the long run it could potentially really help out the film industry in terms of profit. Another technology that can also help the film industry out is the ability to project films onto any surface. This will help the film industry in the fact that people will buy films of perhaps a higher quality so that when they project them on a larger scale they will look better. This makes more money for the industries and companies and it is also keeping the consumer happy. One very clever and important development that has occurred recently is being able to watch 3D things without the use of 3D glasses. This will be good for the film industry because sometimes people don’t go and see 3D films because they don’t like to wear the plastic glasses so they don’t spend as much money on the tickets. Therefore having ability to watch a film 3D without wearing the uncomfortable glasses will encourage people to pay more for a better quality film that will give the audience a better reaction. Along with this they have also developed a technology to help the film industry by creating a better and more realistic audio experience. What this means is having audio that makes the audience feel more connected to the picture as they feel also like they are there, within the scenes. This will again encourage people to go and see a film rather than staying at home with an average sound system. Going along with the 3D experiences they have also further developed the films, making them 4D. 4D is when perhaps things happen whilst you’re watching the film, e.g. the chairs shake, things grab your legs under the chairs etc. This will give an audience a more ride thrill as well as the experience of watching the film. This will benefit the film industry as people will spend their money at 4D cinemas instead of 2D and 4D cinemas are generally more expensive to go to. The final development that can help out the film industry is the new use of interactive film screens. This is a very complicated thing to have people of how vast an audience can be however you can sometimes get them with buttons in the chairs and you as an audience as a whole can decide what will happen next with the on screen choices. This is a good thing to have because it can potentially keep children who visit the cinemas, more entertained and less likely to fidget as they have something to do as the film is being shown. This will help the film industry because it will encourage people to take their children to see an interactive film.
The issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically, British) by international or global institutions;
Film companies attract there audiences in many different ways, whether it is through marketing or having an advert for another film within a film. What I mean by this is having at the end of a film, a clip that is introducing a story line for an up and coming one. An example of this would be Marvels’: The Avengers. At the end of this film you see ‘a problem’ that gives away what the next avenger’s film will be about. Marketing that helps attract audiences includes basic and obvious things like trailers and bus adverts but another includes places and events like comic con. Comic con is a convention all about comic books and things like that and the majority of the people that go are comic fans. So having an advert for a comic based film here would be a great way to attract an audience because you would be relating to the audiences interests. The Avengers itself was advertised and marketed at this event therefore made more money from audiences.
The ways in which the candidates’ own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour.
Overall my opinion of the film, the avengers is that it has met, to begin with, the rules it needs to in the fact that it has; an a-list star of Robert Downey Jr, spectacular action involved with it, a decent budget that was met and it also isn’t a film based on comedy. On the other hand it does include aspects of humour throughout between the characters. I feel that this was done to make the audience have different opinions and it could also attract different types of audiences too. The film itself does have a slight development happening with it as it is being extended through more avengers’ films.
