Task 2: Audience and Exhibition

The top 5 grossing films of 2015

1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
2. Jurassic World
3. The Avengers: Age of Ultron
4. Inside Out
5. Fast and Furious 7

1.  Star Wars: The Force Awakens

The release of this film was on Thursday 17th December, which was the day before the Christmas school holidays began...how convenient.  Successful films plan the day that they release their film as this shows they know when to release a film that will attract a higher audience, as much more people will be off school and work therefore more people will go to the cinema, therefore they make more money.  The film was directed by J.J Abrams, who is an american director, producer, write and composer.  He is known for his work in the genres of action, drama and science fiction.  It cost $201 million to make the film, yet they made $517 million worldwide just on its opening weekend.  Star Wars is a sequel of eleven films.  Due to the amount of Star Wars films that are already out, they are under a lot of pressure to make this film successful, plus their will already be loyal fans to the films which means they wont have any trouble attracting an audience.  Star Wars is a blockbuster film with the genres of action, science-fiction, adventure, thriller, fantasy and space opera.

2.  Jurassic World

The second top grossing film is the blockbuster Jurassic World, it is certified a 12 and cost a total of $652 million to make.  It is directed by Colin Trevorrow, written by Rick Jaffa (screenplay), Amanda Silver (screenplay) and Colin Trevorrow.  Jurassic World was released on June 12th 2015 which is unusual as this is not near any of the school holidays therefore, many people will be in education or at work.  It is an american, science-fiction adventure film and is the fourth film to be released of the Jurassic Park series.  After the opening weekend, had the film grossing over $500 million worldwide, and it has generated $1.6 billion in box office revenue.  Therefore, it stands as the fourth highest grossing film of all time and the second grossing film of 2015.  The next sequel is due to be released in 2018 on June 22nd.  Universal spent a total of $34.9 million advertisements for the film which evidently and obviously paid off.

3.  The Avengers: Age of Ultron

This film is ranked number three in the top grossing films and was released on the 5th January 2015. The distributor is Walt Disney and it is certified as PG-13. This is a blockbuster film and sold 54.5 million tickets. The film genre is action and the profit made was $459,005,868. There are a few films in The Avengers series. 

4.  Inside Out

This film is ranked number four in the top grossing films and was released on the 19th July 2015. The distributor is Walt Disney and it is certified as PG. This film was released the day that most children broke up from school and the planned this on purpose. This is so that they'll have more sales as more teenagers will be home from school for the summer holidays meaning they'll make a higher profit. There is only one film and no sequels. This is a blockbuster film and sold 42 million tickets. The film genre is adventure and the profit made was $356,461,711.


5.  Fast and Furious 7

This film is ranked number five in the top grossing films and was released on the 4th March 2015. The distributor is Universal and it is certified as PG-13. There is only 7 films in this series. This is a blockbuster film and sold 41 million tickets. The film genre is adventure and the profit made was $351,032,910.

Media Terminology

 Technological convergence refers to the process where new technology is moving towards single platforms delivering multiple media outputs that can be used to reach audiences, for example, a PS3's primary function is video gaming but you can download and watch movies from Amazon Prime on it and also watch catch up TV and music videos. Convergent technology is technology that allows an audience to consume more than one type of media from a single platform.

Lots of aspects of the internet e.g. social networking, YouTube, online editions of newspapers and magazines are convergent but candidates cannot quote the internet as the sole aspect of their answer. Their answer needs to be linked into the media area they are talking about (Film, Music, Magazines, Newspapers, Radio, Video Games). E.g if they were talking about newspapers you could link in to their online editions and talk about how this differs from the traditional paper version and the opportunities it presents or if talking about film, candidates could, for example, point to Facebook campaigns advertising a film or viral marketing spread via the internet.

Digital projection is convergent technology because films that are produced digitally have moved away from the physical film medium and can be supplied to theaters in digital format (lower costs for distribution versus higher start up costs for theaters switching to digital technology). As the film is in digital format there are also cost savings as potentially less work needs to be done on the film to get it onto Blu-Ray, DVD, internet trailers etc as no physical conversion needs to take place because the film is already in digital format.

 Cross Media Convergence is really a Business Studies term and refers to companies coming together vertically or horizontally (or both). The example often cited in exams is of Working Title making use of its parent company(s) to gain access to bigger stars and a better distribution network for their films.

Synergy basically means working together to achieve an objective that couldn't be achieved independently. Cross-media convergence can help with synergy if companies are wise enough to take advantage of the links they have forged. Disney is an obvious example of a synergistic company from the top down from Film Studio to Kids' TV Channel (where it further plays and promotes its films) to the Disney Store (in the street and online) where your kids can pester you to buy all the merchandise and DVDs/CD's they've seen on the TV/Web or in the cinema.

Tech convergence: Is where a single device enables the user to perform more than one (expected) task or role E.g. the iPhone let's users call, access Twitter, scan 3D bar codes and access augmented reality content, run app's made by Media institutions, Take photo's, access websites. Thus, technological convergence means accessing and interacting with your chosen media in more than one way and being able to do so on one device rather than many.

Media Convergence: (Not 100% on this) Media institutions delivering their product on more than one media channel. E.g. A magazine firm (say) Grazia or Heat also having a web presence, Twitter, YouTube etc. Same concept but with a focus on media institutions instead of technologies.

Synergy-2 or more brands coming together to promote a specific event or product together, thus broadening their audience by reaching the audience of their partner brands as well as their own audience. E.g. Beats by Dr Dre headphones are made by Monster and marketed under the Dr Dre name. Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber have also released under the "Beats" name, therefore people who wouldn't usually buy Monster or Dr Dre products are now attracted to and buy into the brand. Lots of case studies for Grazia e.g. Grazia with Estee Lauder during London Fashion Week.

Representation Acronyms

When analysing representations, you must explore how they are created and refer to the following subjects:

• Camera, angle, shot, movement and composition
• Mise-en-scene
• Editing
• Sound

There is one important representation acronym to remember when analysing a person:

D - isability

R - egional identity

C - lass

A - ge

G - ender

E - thnicity

S - exuality

Camera work acronym:

F - rame

A - ngle

M - ovement

S - hot

Mise-en-scene

C - lamps
L - ighting
A - ctors (appearance and body language)
M - ake-up
P - rops
S - etting

Editing

S - creen time
T - ransitions
O - rder of narrative
P - ace
S - fx

Sound

M - usic
C - ontrapuntual/parallel
D - iagetic/non-diagetic
O - ff screen/on screen
V - oiceover
E - motion
D - ialogue

Exam Advice:  For the question on TV Drama, you should at least have three or four PEE points on each of the sections above when analysing the film.  This would enable you to get top marks.

TV Drama

A TV Drama is a dramatic programme which has an ongoing narrative over a series of episodes.  Each episode commonly ends on a cliff hanger which draws in the viewers to want to watch the next episode.

Examples of TV Dramas:

90210

Doctor Who

Breaking Bad

Eastenders

Misfits

Skins

There are any sub-genres of Drama:

Period Drama:

• Downton Abby
• Mr Selfridge
• Call the Midwife

Medical Drama:

• Holby City/Casualty
• ER
• Doctors

Crime Drama:

• Criminal
• Luther
• NCIS
• CSI
• Sherlock

Teen Drama:

• 90210
• PLL
• Skins
• Gossip Girl
• My Mad Fat Diary