EVALUATION QUESTION 2 audiences and distribution

How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?


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What I cover in this post:

• Different ways films can engage with audiences
• Uses and Gratifications theory (applied to 2 case studies, Tyrannosaur and Jurassic Park)
• Stuart Hall's theory of readings
• Intertextuality
• how different films achieve distribution
• Our target audience (and how we target them)
• different types of distribution (conglomerates vs. indies)
• digitisation, disruption and convergence
• Web 2.0
• How we would distribute our film

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Creative use of technologies:

This is my creative input, the points covered are:

• how different films achieve distribution
• conglomerates vs. indies
• different types of distribution (wide release, self-distribution, film festivals, digital, theatrical)
• how budget/funding affects distribution (government agency finding/subsidy vs conglomerates, cultural value)

For creative use of technologies I recreated an episode of the game show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?", where I appear on a celebrity edition as the director of an upcoming indie film The Journey.

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2A How does it engage with audiences?

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Eval Q2 - audience from harriet Barlow

Web 2.0
Web 2.0 describes how the internet has become driven by users, converging the line between producer and consumer. An example of this is user-generated content, like the fan-art that was made for the Cornetto Trilogy, or the poster for Hinterland which was also fan-made. This web 2.0 theoretically allow indies more of a chance at achieving successful distribution online, by setting up twitters, instagrams and being able to engage with audiences directly.
We did this through our Instagram page, and the different software/online resources which we used throughout, shown in this vodcast (also used in the evaluation question 4):



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OUR TARGET AUDIENCE

Gender/Age
Primary target audience: males, 18-25
Secondary target audience: females, 18-25

Initially we wanted our film to be a 12+, but we did some research on the BBFC
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BBFC Indie Social Realist Ratings from harriet Barlow

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Because nearly every indie social realist film we looked at received an 18 or 15 rating, we would hope for a 15+, but it is likely that our production would also be pushed to an 18.

To put this into some context, these are some of the rating Big Six/Subsidiaries received:

Conglomerate/Subsidiary BBFC from harriet Barlow

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As the main character is male, uses and gratification theory would suggests that a primarily male target audience would be interested in this film as they would either identify with the protagonist, or aspire to be like him.

The other central character is his partner, Cathy, and she is a significant enough character to draw in a secondary female target audience.

Ethnicity
We have an ethnically diverse cast (Caucasian, Chinese, Indian), and as caucasian is the hegemonic demographic targeted, we wanted to both represent and target multiple ethnicities. This is something we found to be conventional of the social realist genre (My Beautiful Laundrette, Slumdog Millionaire), and helps to widen our target audience.

Sexuality

Initially we wanted to have non-heteronormative representation (taking influence form My Beautiful Laundrette), with the protagonist, Tanay, being with another man, but due to casting issues and a need to film we had to scrap this idea and include heteronormative representation.

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2B How might it achieve distribution?

"Film distribution is the process of making a film available for viewing by an audience. This is normally the task of a professional film distributor, who would determine the marketing strategy for a film, the media by which a film is to be exhibited or made available for viewing, and who may set the release date."

(Wikipedia)

Some of the different types of distribution:

• Theatrical
• Television
• Personal home viewing (DVDs, Video on Demand, Download e.g. iTunes)
• Self-Distribution

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Eval q2 - distribution from harriet Barlow

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The Big Six/Big Five:
Although this is debated (Disney recently sealed the deal with 20th Century Fox now owning it, but Lionsgate is sometimes included) the Big Six are all present in the top 10 distributors of 2018 list. They are the largest conglomerates of the film industry in both production and distribution.

• Buena Vista (Walt Disney)
• Warner Bros.
• Universal
• Sony/Columbia
• 20th Century Fox
• Paramount

top 10 distributors of 2018

Their films typically use the tentpole model (costing more then $100m), and the majority of their films are extremely commercially successful - you can see that collectively they own about 80% of the market in shares.

Wired episode with Ryan Reynolds

Marketing campaigns are often extremely expensive, and the star names which usually feature in their films are a large part of this (star billing): trailers are made for national and international audiences, cast and directors appear on chat shows, but cheaper more inventive methods are also used by conglomerates similar to indies. Youtube videos, with cast members are often a popular way of raising awareness of a star featuring in a upcoming film: for example Ryan Reynolds appeared in an episode of Wired a little before Deadpool 2 started being talked about .In the game celebrities see the web's most searched questions about them - these videos are cheap to make and don't take much time to produce/consume.
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Indies:
Indie companies like Warp don't even make it near the top 10 lists when it comes to distribution, but there are ways they achieve distribution:

• Arthouse cinemas
• Direct to Itunes
• Direct to stream
• Straight to DVD
• Self-distribution (e.g. through social media)

The main reason indie films often don't even get a wide release or even a theatrical release is due to budgets being too small. Even though the BFI offers out grants to many indie films for production and distribution, it is difficult to generate interest in small budget films when films like Black Panther, with extensive SFX and large action sequences, are also showing in the cinema.

Some other reasons though may be more to do with the actual content of the films: controversial topics that may include darker themes are not as commercially viable as films do not have political or controversial themes, making it difficult to generate interest in a film, drawing in only niche audiences.

This is England - an example

This is England takes the point of view of a young boy who joins the skinheads in the 80s. There is cussing throughout (C-word and F-bombs), and the climax involves a violent race-based assault. Although the message of this film is condemning this kind of violence, the brutality of it would be too difficult for a 4 quadrant audience to digest.

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Digitisation, Disruption and Convergence:

• As technology is constantly advancing, production, distribution and exhibition are becoming increasingly cheaper and more accessible to more people - expensive reels no longer have to be bought to make films, and even our production has been made digitally.

This allows films with micro-budgets to have a greater chance at distribution - Le Donk and Scor-Zay-Zee is an example of this, with a micro budget it still managed to have a theatrical trailer and then a straight to DVD release. Professional equipment used was extremely limited.

An example which took it even further is Hinterland, which had a budget of only £10k, filmed using a 15 year old camera and then released in indie cinemas with director Q+A sessions. The film was never released on DVD, but given a simultaneous release on iTunes. The film definitely achieved some successful distribution, as it made it onto a top indie films of the year list.  

As it is so easy now for anyone to make their own films relatively inexpensively and self-distribute them, the term convergence is used to reference this: the line between producer and consumer is blurring as cheaper technology becomes available.

The importance of Netflix and Amazon Prime in this disruption cannot be overlooked, as they offer films directly to audiences, without theatrical releases, and are still massively successful. This threatens theatres, as if people are able to watch Oscar winning films such as Roma at home on Netflix, there will become increasingly less need/want for people to go to cinemas.

Although this disrupts conglomerates, it can be beneficial for indies, who are able to market and sell their films completely online, like the example of Hinterland, which did have a mall theatre run, but the majority of its marketing was one online through twitter.

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How we would distribute our film:

Self-distribution would be a good method for the distribution of our film for some of the following reasons:

• Do not have the budget for a theatrical release
• No star billing
• Digitisation has made it easier for creators to use innovative methods to cheaply promote their films
• Darker themes as possibility for a high age rating significantly lower audience interest, making it more of a niche audience film

As we have a micro-budget for our production, it is unlikely that a large distribution company would be willing to help distribute our film. Due to the accessibility of social media however, getting in touch with a film festival has been shown to be possible, which would get the film viewed by critics and journalists who could generate discussion of the film in the press. We created twitter and instagram pages to promote our film, similar to Hinterland or the Cornetto trilogy, and the example of Coz Greenhop showed how successful a method this can be in generating interest in a film.

Making deals with arthouse cinemas to do director Q+A sessions which would be mutually beneficial, accompanied by a simultaneous Video on Demand/iTunes/digital release of the film has shown to be a successful method in promoting a film and achieving distribution (Wandering Rose, and Hinterland).

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(SAM'S WORK)
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This is Sam's online job interview covering the same topic
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SAMPLE SCENE training 2

This is our second attempt at filming the tennis training scene (link to first sample scene here)
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Changes

• Coach
• we added the character of the coach to this one, for verisimilitude, 
• but also to appeal to a secondary older target audience
• Script
• we added dialogue so there is more semblance of a plot
• this also adds to verisimilitude
• More shots
• we got way more shots this time for variety, and because it comes close to being an action scene we want fast-paced editing, with lots of short takes
• we also got shots of Tanay warming up
• Shots of the building
• we got shots of the outside of the building, with the coach smoking before he goes in to train with Tanay
• Directing
• this time we got much more involved as directors, demonstrating to Tanay what we wanted him to do 

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Feedback

• Sound
• there are issues with the sound, and it is a little difficult to hear the dialogue
• there is the loud wind sound outside the building
• but, the ambient sound of the tennis balls in the other courts came out nicely
• Costume
• the costumes are realistic looking, and work very well
• Acting
• Tanay really looks like he's playing tennis, achieves verisimilitude
• The acting during the dialogue is good, Tanay seems really frustrated
• Positive feedback
• one audience member picked up on the heavier themes from just this 45 second clip, thinking it could be about the difficulties and pressure of professional sport
• people like the shot variety and angles

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ROUGH CUT 1

This is the first full rough cut of our film opening The Journey, with credits and idents.

Originally we wanted to have the jogging cross-cut throughout, but when we tried it made it extremely hard to follow what was happening, as it looked like Tanay was out jogging, and then was also playing tennis at the same time, so we removed the jogging we had cross-cut throughout the opening.


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Feedback
Upload the version with the cross-cutting that made it difficult to follow
Get audience feedback

Idents:

• Maw Productions - too short, add toyCo ident
• Red Films - sound needs fixing (hiss) add music
• Journey Films - cannot read the paper, looks too much like it's part of the film, the paper doesn't work. better lighting, things going into suitcase, when bag is dropped and spilt open, picked up, on ground says Journey Films
• fade to black, fade up from black - more conventional for social realist

Titles:

use this post for help

• Font - too simple, make company name in upper case, make names bigger than the rest
• could use sans serif for non-names
• add film title
• more cast names (with, introducing, featuring)
• Harriet B. - stands out, no reason why it is written like that

make post with all titles, font, case, size, reasoning

Sound:

• There is no sound in the first scene, no diegetic, Foley or ambient - unnatural. Sound of footsteps and packing - get sound of cars going past, a dog barking. Add to verisimilitude
• sound of Cathy sighing needs to be louder
• jogging - exaggerate breathing and footsteps 
• don't include music unless you have a shot of switching it on - music when he is jogging must be lower
• camera wind sound - have to rebuild audio
• all sound has to be louder
• music does not work at all
• audio is not synced up

Editing:

• need to trim wiping face shot of tear, because otherwise it looks like she's just wiping her face
• packing scene drags on
• training scene does not need to be linear chronologically - put in shots of him hitting the ball. Acting is not super convincing so this will help with maintaining verisimilitude
• use shot of convo from other side
• transition to jogging is very episodic, not smooth - fade needs to be quicker (maybe try a cross-fade, audio-bridge (start next scene audio before end of scene)
• Start jogging scene with extreme long shot
• PACING - needs to be quicker, shorter takes or cut some out
• keep bits of guy in car shorter - threat of danger, foreshadowing - even hybridity style (verging on horror e.g. Dead Man's Shoes), make film more widely appealing
• speed up car (maybe add gear clunk sound) - add engine sound
• shot is very bright, keep shots of driver short
• shaking camera - cut off end of ELS jogging
• can see jogger from inside the car
• speed up car
• could make 2 stopping events - show determination. taking breath is too long
• can cross cut between accident and hospital (flashing back to trauma)
• ENDING - too abrupt, maybe hands bring gripped, or his eyes shutting again

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USES AND GRATIFICATION THEORY

Uses and gratification theory suggests that an audience will actively seek out media they wish to consume, based on certain criteria – the audience is active, not passive​

What they wish to consume is based on 4 specific gratifications:​

• Escapism​
• Personal Identity​
• Personal relationships​
• Information​

Conglomerates aim for 4 quadrant audiences, so aim to fulfil as many of these as possible in their productions​

Indie productions on the other hand, do not always aim to gratify the audience as much, so only some of these will be fulfilled​

This isn't to say that the audience is not viewed as active, only that smaller audience will find appeal in indie productions​

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Uses and Gratifications Applied - Jurassic World from harriet Barlow

Uses and Gratifications Applied - Tyrannosaur from harriet Barlow

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SAMPLE SCENE 2 Packing scene - 2nd attempt

This is the 2nd attempt at filming the scene where the tennis player's partner (Cathy) is leaving him



CHANGES

• Much more set dressing:
• tennis equipment is placed throughout the room
• photos of the couple and the tennis team have been added for verisimilitude
• female beauty products and jewellery were placed on the surface in front of the mirror
• stereotypically female books were placed on one side of the bed, and stereotypically male ones on the other
• the wardrobe was changed so that there is a clear divide between men's and women's clothes
• a larger suitcase that is more realistic for a permanent move
• Character creation had more detail:
• we prepared a business suit (black trousers, smart shoes with modest heel, shirt and a blazer)
• and a long, smart looking coat for when they leave the house
• a watch, something teenagers do not usually wear
• modest make-up (lip gloss and mascara)
• More directing for the acting:
• there was more demonstration of the actions (e.g. wiping the tear away)
• there were issues in following direction with the actress previously playing the tennis player's partner (saying she felt uncomfortable in front of the camera) so a change in cast was a good idea
• new shots:
• close-ups of the set dressing
• shot of the suitcase being slammed onto the bed so that we can attempt an almost match cut from the joggers foot landing on the ground
• 
  

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FEEDBACK

• Genre/target audience:
• the people we asked all though it was aimed at teenagers, though one though the target age would up to 20 - this could be because the lead of this scene is played by a teenager, though we have gone to a lot of effort to dress the character so that they seem older
• Improvements
• the sound editing has clear issues - make the ambient sound quieter and the music louder
• the lighting got mixed reactions - one said it seemed good, the other not realistic
• we did use the lighting to create some shadow on the face of the lead as she wipes a tear to show the gloominess, but the rest is the lighting we had available, which is the natural lighting of the room
• Positive feedback
• everyone said that the music fit
• there was no confusion as to what the narrative was - it was clear that she was leaving
• no one said the set dressing seemed posed or unreal - it fits in
• the genre guess was never far from accurate, but we did not expect teenagers to be able to guess if it was a social realist film

• on recording audio (google details) - noise reduction in FCPX - reduce background hiss
• dutch angle, varying focus and set dressing good (first shot)
• trim hand opening cupboard door - pauses unnaturally
• maybe trim door and keys in post box
• maybe quicker cross cut between crying bits to make it more convincing as you can't see tears
• do not want to lose verisimilitude. Maybe get 2 shots of her wiping face, not continuous shot - loses convincingness as its continuous
• slight continuity breach between hand wiping face in the 2 shots
• start music when she is holding the picture
• ring, earrings and office clothing good (power point embedded to show all things added)
• lighting is bad, lense might have been blurry. quite dark except for bright zones
• maybe try some non-linear editing? or don't as in rough and final cut all is cross-cut with jogging
• focus work - some is bad some is good
• about blur - see if sharpening tools in final cut
• maybe shorten takes or transition/cross them over to disguise
• maybe film a drop of water falling onto picture, very tight focus, to show tears
• maybe bring clang in earlier when she drops the keys then trim take slightly 
• trim unnecessary movements so time
• for second instrument ask music teacher what instrument she thinks is the second one in Tyrannosaur 
• ask if students play is
• direct them to record long, sad notes and then record

MAIN ISSUES:

sound and out of focus shots

music could be better - the music is a little dull - look at Tyrannosaur and spacing between notes and pacing, use 2 instruments - better simulacrum 

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Music update

A review of the second attempt at the packing scene showed us that we needed different music - the music we were using was very repetitive, but got the tone right.
Using the same chords, but a different finger picking pattern, I created this music to use in future cuts



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GENRE EG2: This Is England

(SAM'S WORK)

Production: Big Arty Productions, EM Media, Film Four, Optimum Releasing, Screen Yorkshire, UK Film Council, Warp Films
Distribution (US): IFC Films, Netflix, Red Envelope Entertainment, IFC First Take
Distribution (UK): Optimum Releasing
Lighting: attempts to reproduce naturalistic lighting for example at the beginning in Sean's house, in the school and in the cafe are lit to make them look as naturalistic as possible.
Setting: often on location in urban areas somewhere in the north of England to add a strong sense of realism.
Hand held shots: making the audience feel they are part of the action

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BoxOffice: $329k(US) /  £3,1m(UK) / $8,2m(Worldwide)
This Is England made around 10 more in the UK than in the US. It didn't perform well in the US is because the choice of the central protagonist (young boy, ginger) which doesn't make it glomerate and something Working Title [WT] would never do. Also the choice of cast (no A-list stars) and their accent makes it hard to understand for a lot of viewers and the social realist genre doesn't appeal to the US film market.


This Is England are rarely funded by the studio's system since they don't make much in Box Office, so they are often funded independently or through organisations such as the Film Council, National Lottery, Channel4. 

In addition, the film was a critical success winning many awards, and also a commercial success making over $8m on a cost of $1.5m

This is England is an Indie, low financed and social realist film. Being a social realism, the film tackles various issues within society, and looks at the points of view of different generations and social classes from the same time the movie was set. However, the movie was made around 2006, because certain political parties such as BNP and UKIP started to form in the early 2000's and there was a lot of controversy around them due to their racial policies and views. Because the movie is set in the 1980's it connotes how culturally diverse England was at that time, it therefore makes the viewer aware of the issues surrounding immigrants and certain people extreme view on them.

The movie addresses the culture and attitudes of the 'skinheads' and the English Nationalists and the consequent effects that this has on the various characters throughout the film. 

Narrative

Shane uses Todorov's narrative theory to make the movie even more realistic.
Equilibrium: Sean lives with his mother and his father was killed in the war which makes him very upset and in addition he gets bullied at school.
Disruption: Sean meets Woody and his gang, they befriend him and enrolled him into the gang and giving him a 'skinhead' uniform.
Recognition: Sean joins the gang around Combo and gets drawn in to the racist national front and their cirminal activities
Repair: Sean witnesses the violent attack on Milky and realises that Combo is a vicious racist bully
Restoration of a new equilibrium: The new equilibrium is that Sean rejects the racial ideology of Combo, symbolically throwing the flag into the sea.

Representation

The opening sequence is important is representing the social, historical and cultural context of the film. The montage of archive footage from 1980's TV series is shown in low and grainy quality which signifies the historical context. Also the music, typical late 70's SKA reflects the skinhead culture who adopted this genre of music.


Denotation
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The ripped wallpaper, old furniture and the fact that he is using a chair as a nightstand denote that this boy is not very rich.

Connotes/Connotation
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The font is worn off and gritty so we connote that it is a film about war.

Signifier
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The font is worn down so it indicates the environment is rough.

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Because the bicycle in front of the house wasn't locked and untouched it signifies that it is a safe area.

Binary Opposition/Opposite
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When Shawn(kid) meets Wally(adult)

Polysemy
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This is a picture of Shawn's father. It tells us that his father died during the war or just simply that he misses him.

Anchors/Anchorage
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The damaged wallpaper and old furniture shows that he is poor.

Commutation Test
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This first shot of Margaret Thatcher is confusing, we don't know if the movie is about her or what impact she exerted in the '80s.

Preferred Reading
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Nowadays people aged 60 could relate to this scene a lot more than teenagers.

Negotiated Reading
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The director is making fun of her but some people could interpret this in a different way but still get the same message.

Oppositional Reading
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This shot is quite odd. Probably the only reason why it's in the film opening is that it was made during the same time period as the film.

Narrative Enigma
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It only shows very little of the subject which makes the viewer want to know more.

Intertextuality
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Mise-en-scene links into the Boy George Culture Club which was a very famous culture followed by numerous teenagers at that time.

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(MY WORK)
Representation 
whether it is social realist or a rom-com, representation is always something artificially constructed by those creating the media text - lighting, costume, props, dialogue etc.

This is England poster

Demographics
Ways in which audiences are categorised (gender, socio-economic status, race, urban, rural, educated, uneducated, age etc.)

This Is England

• Large portion of the budget was a grant
• Warp production
• Had no IP or franchising initially (did become a tv show)
• Social realist
• Set in the North of England
• Not a huge amount of selling potential 

Opening montage
All footage shown on the television of the Falkland wars painted the English in a positive light, showing men with lost limbs, all footage showing them in a negative light would have been censored.
Shane meadows selects footage which does not paint the English in positive light (a criticism of Margaret Thatcher).

opening montage screenshot

• Denotation: 4 white men in a tank
• normative idea that military is a male/masculine territory
• exclusively Caucasian
• all aged 25-30
• younger ones are only soldiers, higher ranking officials would likely be older
• representation of tie with age and authoritative power
• appears heteronormative (although sexuality is not really made reference to)

Some reasons for success

• Protagonist:
• did not have a Northern Irish accent despite the film being set in Ireland
• McCarthyist ideology of Us and Them, with the local northern Irish population being the violent, wild, backwards and uncivil Other
• reinforces negative northern Irish stereotypes
• is more accessible to more audiences 
• BUT: at the end of the film throws the medal he earned for killing a bunch of Northern Irish people into the ocean
• creates a parallel
• symbolic of rejection of these values
• Reviews:
• was reviewed by the guardian (ABC1) on release date

Protagonist 

• Northern accent (not southern)
• unglamorous 
• In mainstream studio films this character would likely be the Other, butt of a joke, a negative stereotype, a 2 dimensional character
• e.g. Grimsby (a Working Title production): the father of a lot of bastard children, bad hygiene, lazy, extended joke at expense of the working class

The Skinheads

• All swear, drink underage, smoke, act aggressively, 

  

  having just shown up with beer he
  had to wait an hour for he then bullies Sean 

• is part of the social realist aspect:
• is not a 2 dimensional stereotype as this is not all there is to the characters
• a "warts and all" representation - complex characters

Industry
More niche representations have less chance of being successful as fewer demographics are able to identify with the characters

• Studio films have less varied representation of minority demographics as less people go to see them
• Indie films are more able to
• Britain used to set legal minimum if films screened in cinemas that must be British productions
• was a safeguard for British film cinemas
• without such protection American film would dominate
• when this law was dropped British cinemas nose-dived, and American cinema practically monopolised it
• This similar to laws in France and China
• a yearly quota of national films met be shown in cinemas, otherwise American products would dominate and national business would collapse
• Free market ideology is not successful for domestic market
• Without grants from BFI indie films with diverse representation would not exist 
• they are not commercial and unlikely to make profit
• would not be made without subsidy
• e.g. Tyrannosaur would not have been made due to the representation of the protagonist (a racist, violent, unemployed middle aged working class man)
• large audiences not able to identify
• Southern English accents are more normalised for international appeal due to companies like Working Title
• The control of the media industry by mostly American companies assures a certain degree of positive representation for them
• allows for some level of global power 
• idea of world police can be perpetuated
• e.g. the majority of sci-fi films are set in America or have America as the 'hero' of the world (Independence Day, Evolution)

Mickybo and Me vs. Son of Rambo

Mickybo and Me poster

A good example of how representation can limit a film is Mickybo and Me vs. Son of Rambo (blog post on it here).

in Mickybo and Me:

• 2 boys from northern Ireland are obsessed with a film
• did not get any screenings outside of Northern Ireland (only in cinemas for 4 weeks)
• WT2 production (indie style subsidiary of Working Title)
• accents were problematic, lack of identification
• budget was 5m pounds
• would not get a red carpet release, no stars so would not be on chat shows
• too difficult to market
• Most of the cast was English in an attempt to make it more marketable

in Son of Rambo:

Son of Rambo poster

• normative representation
• Caucasian boys, non-problematic accents
• Studio production

Universal/Studio Canal stopped funding Mickybo and Me distribution as they did not think it would be successful for wider release - were not prepared to take the risk with prints and marketing. The audience did not make the decision

Exceptions

Billy Eliot

• is a social realist
• set in County Durham (problematic accent)
• abut an effeminate boy who wants to do ballet (transgressive)
• BUT: had a fairytale American Dream ending
• made large international and domestic profit 
• Shows that less mainstream representation can be successful

Tyrannosaur

Olivia Coleman's fail to get a Bafta trended globally on twitter

• really only has star value in England
• Is not glamorous so even then her star status is limited more
• Obscure indie social realist film 

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