A Field In England

‘A Field In England’ is directed by Ben Wheatly and was released on July 5th 2013. The film is set in the Civil War in 17th century England. In the film, a group of deserters flee from battle through an overgrown field. Captured by an alchemist, the men are forced to help him search to find a hidden treasure that he believes is buried in the field.

A Field In England is relevant as a case study because it was released on all platforms at the same time. It didn’t use a conventional release and that is what made it effective. It was released n 17 independent cinemas, on DVD, on VOD and on free-to-air TV at the same time on Friday the 5th of July 2013. Because it was released in such a unique way, it was discussed on breakfast TV and more people talked about it which in turn advertised the film and made people more interested in it.

Section B of the exam

Section B of the AS Media Studies exam is called Institutions and Audiences. We will concentrate on the topic of Film. You will answer one mandatory question, making detailed reference to examples from your case study material to support the points made in your answer.

Here are the questions from recent examinations:

June, 2015:

To what extent does media ownership have an impact on the successful distribution of media products in the media area that you have studied?

Media Ownership

June, 2014:

The increase in hardware and content in media industries has been significant in recent years. Discuss the effect this has had on institutions and audiences in the media area you have studied.

New Technologies and Digital Distribution

June, 2013:

Evaluate the role of digital technologies in the marketing and consumption of products in the media area you have studied.

New Technologies and Digital Distribution

January, 2013:

What impact does media ownership have upon the range of products available to audiences in the media area you have studied?

Media Ownership

June, 2012:

“Cross-media convergence and synergy are vital processes in the successful marketing of media products to audiences.”

To what extent do you agree with this statement in relation to your chosen media area?

Media Ownership

January, 2012:

To what extent does digital distribution affect the marketing and consumption of media products in the media area you have studied?

New Technologies and Digital Distribution

June, 2011:

“Successful media products depend as much upon marketing and distribution to a specific audience as they do upon good production practices.”

To what extent would you agree with this statement, within the media area you have studied?

Media Ownership

January, 2011:

Discuss the issues raised by media ownership in the production and exchange of media texts in your chosen media area.

Media Ownership

June, 2010:

What significance does the continuing development of digital media technology have for media institutions and audiences?

New Technologies and Digital Distribution

January, 2010:

“Media production is dominated by global institutions, which sell their products and services to national audiences.”

To what extent do you agree with this statement?

Media Ownership

June, 2009:

How important is technological convergence for institutions and audiences within a media area which you have studied?

New Technologies

January, 2009:

Discuss the ways in which media products are produced and distributed to audiences, within a media area, which you have studied.

 

Digital Distribution

Red State

Although the Big Six dominate the film industry, other independent films exist. To make a film, you need to be financed some how and the people who finance you want to be sure they will make their money back. It is also difficult to distribute independent films because the cinema are film of films from the Big Six. To distribute an independent film, you could try and sell your film to one of the Big Six or take it to a film festival and hope that a company there is interested. An example of a successful independent film is Red State directed by Kevin Smith. He chose not to sell his film but to try and make his money back in his own creative ways. He decided to show his film exclusively and the do a Q and A afterwards so the tickets would be more expensive but it would be worth it for his fans. He also built up the audience for his film through a podcast that he did that became very popular.

The State We’re In

Production is the making of films, marketing is getting people to want to watch the film, distribution getting the film out there and exhibition is show you show the film. The Big Six are the six biggest and most powerful film companies. The make a portfolio of films, some big, some small and some tentpole releases. They are more or less always sure to make back the money they invest into a film. The only thing they really have to worry about is tentpole releases that are no where near as successful as they are supposed to be, if a tentpole release fails, it can destroy a company. The Big Six, like any other film company make their money back through cinema, VOD, retail, subscription and free to air TV. However the Big Six are so powerful that they are the companies that fill the cinemas and fill the popular shelves in places like HMV and have the most films on Netflix etc, so they are always more guaranteed to make their invested money back. They are good at protecting their investment. Piracy does however make an impact on the money they make, although it is a relatively small impact, it still makes an effect because people are stealing their intellectual property. The Big Six also sort of control when other companies will release their films because a company that releases a film at the same time as one of the Big Sixes tentpole release will not be successful.

Definitions of Terminology

1. Horizontal integration – Much more common and simpler than vertical integration, Horizontal integration (also known as lateral integration) simply means a strategy to increase your market share by taking over a similar company. This take over can be done in the same geography or probably in other countries to increase your reach.
2. Vertical integration – Vertical integration is the process in which several steps in the production and/or distribution of a product or service are controlled by a single company or entity, in order to increase that company’s or entity’s power in the marketplace.
3. Symbiosis – Where 2 unconnected businesses work together for something that benefits them both. For example film companies and McDonalds.
4. Media conglomerates – A company that owns numerous companies in various mass media; i.e. television, radio, publishing, motion picture, and the Internet.
5. Theatrical exhibition – Cinemas.
6. Non-theatrical exhibition  – Retail, rental and subscription.
7. ‘The big six’ – 6 biggest film companies, usually said to be: Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros, Walt Disney,  Columbia Pictures, Universal Studios and 20th Century Fox.
8. Guerrilla filmmaking – Films that are not produced by big film companies and high budgets. ‘DIY filmmaking’.
9. Synergy – Different elements of a media conglomerate work together to produce linked products across different media.
10. Exhibition – Showing films
11. Distribution – How films get to being shown.
12. Concentration of ownership – The process by which an increasingly smaller number of companies own most media outlets.
13. Technological disruption – New technology that effect other companies revenue.
14. Technological convergence – The process by which existing technologies merge into new forms that bring together different types of media and applications.
15. Cross-media ownership – A company that produces two or more types of media.
16. Cross-media convergence –
17. Targeted advertising – Advertising that is used to attract a specific audience, they are advertising to that audience.
18. Un-targeted advertising – General advertising.
19. ‘Tentpole releases’ – Films that will almost certainly make back the money that was used in the making of the film. Films that people know will be big hits.

Film marketing and distribution in the digital age

The internet is one of the biggest disruptive technologies to have been made especially for the film industry. The internet made it much easier to pirate films. Piracy has always been happening but the internet made it much more easy to do. This effected the cinema industry because people were able to see the films on some pirating sites before they were realised in the cinema. Pirating is so easy because so many people do it and it is seen as being anonymous. Another way the internet effected the cinema industry is by having video streaming sites such as YouTube where you didn’t have to download anything, everything was just there so watching things were instant. People didn’t need to get up and go to the cinema, everything was right there on the internet in front of them. However the internet did help the cinema industry in some ways. It made everything digital and therefore better quality. There was no need for big heavy reels of film anymore.

Films can be distributed in many different ways. The first of which is theatrical exhibition. Films are shown exclusively in places such as cinemas for a certain amount of time, this means that people will not be able to view the film anywhere else so will therefore pay for a ticket at the cinema and this is the main way film companies make their money back. ‘Tentpole releases’ are favoured by theatrical exhibitions because they are almost certainly going to make a lot of money. Theatrical exhibition focuses on t experience it provides so is therefore HD and on a big screen and has certain special effects which means the experience cannot be recreated at home so people will not just wait for the film to be released on DVD or on TV. The next step in the distribution of films is retail. This is where films come out on DVD and Blu-ray, people wold usually buy films in this was as gifts or if they are collectors or what to the special effects and other added features the DVD may provide. Everything is also available on DVD and you always know that you can find a film if it is released on DVD whereas on internet sites some films aren’t available. The next step after retail is VOD (video on demand), so rental or subscription sites. Examples of rental sites would be iTunes, Sky Movies, Virgin Media, BT Vision, Xbox store and PlayStation Store. Examples of subscription would be NowTV, Sky Movies, Mubi, HBOGo, Amazon Prime, Curzon On Demand, Netflix and YouTube Red. Subscription is cost effective, instant, easy to use, unlimited and can be tailored to your interests.

Film: a century of disruption

To first create films, people realised that they would have to play 24 frames a second to make images look like they are moving. To start with these films were very short and would’ve been shown in towns in things such as travelling circus’. Eventually theatres were built in towns and a film would be made and then passed from town to town, there would not be multiple copies so the film would not be shown in more than one place at one time. These films were still very short, they were more just moving pictures than films. However by 1920, films were more similar to how they are today, they became longer but still only around 20 minutes and they were in black and white and were silent. 

Due to different disruptive technologies, technologies that come along and disrupt other companies revenue, film started to become more advance until they became what they are today. The first disruptive technology to effect the film industry was radio. The radio was a source of free, unlimited home entertainment. The technology made people crave sound, as films didn’t yet include any sound, the introduction of the radio made people want sound. From this cinema needed to find a way to include sound into there films. Although it needed to do this in a different way to radio as radio was broadcasted sound and film would have to use recorded sound that was in sync with the film. However the cinema industry did eventually catch up and films had sound. But now people wanted to see films in colour. Technicolour was the first colour film industry and by the early 1930s colour film became the norm.

Television was the next big technological disruption that nearly ruined the film industry. The BBC first started in 1929, however the average person didn’t have a TV until the 1950s. Television caused such an issue for the cinema industry because why would people go to the cinema when they had a TV at home?

All early films were filmed in an aspect ratio of 4:3 (1.33:1), this made the picture almost square. TVs used the same aspect ratio to start with and were black and white as colour was too expensive. Cinemas tried to compete with television by showing films on a bigger scale and different shape. For example they used aspect ratios of 1.66:1 and 1.85:1. This made the films slightly wide screen. Cinema today usually still use the aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Cinemascope used the aspect ratio 2.33:1. This was the way in which television didn’t ruin cinema because while cinema changed its aspect ratios televisions stayed the same, its only very recently that they have changed. Cinema also used 3D and 4D, although this was not a very good technology, it differentiated cinema from TV. Flat screen TVs only became affordable around 10 years ago and have an aspect ratio of 16:9.

So even with technologies disrupting film, the cinema industry has never been ruined as they still found ways to improve and stay more advanced.

Evaluation Contributors

Question 1: Me, Maddy, Vicky and Chloe

Question 2: Me, Maddy, Vicky and Chloe

Question 3: Me, Maddy, Vicky and Chloe

Question 4: Me, Maddy, Vicky and Chloe

Question 5: Me, Maddy, Vicky and Chloe

Question 6: Me, Maddy, Vicky and Chloe

Question 7: Me