Selected Key Terms for Institutions and Audiences - The Film Industry

An institution (in the film industry)

Definition: any company or organisation that produces, distributes or  exhibits films.
The BBC makes films with their BBC Films arm; Channel4's Film Four produces
films, Working Title also produce films, as does Vertigo Films, etc. Some institutions
need to join with other institutions which distribute films. Vertigo Films is able to
distribute its own films, Channel Four distributed Slumdog Millionaire through Pathe.
Working Title's distribution partner is Universal, a huge US company which can
make, distribute and show films. The type of owner ship within an institution matters
as, for instance, Channel 4 and the BBC are able to show their own films at an
earlier stage than other films made by other institutions. They are also better placed
to cross-promote their in-house films within their media organisations.

Examples:
Universal distributed Working Title's The Boat That Rocked; Pathe distributed Film4
and Celadors'  Slumdog Millionaire after the original US distributor, Warner
Independent went out of business.

Distribution and Marketing

Definition: the business of getting films to their audiences by booking them for runs
into cinemas and taking them there in vans or through digital downloads; distributors
also create the marketing campaign for films producing posters, trailers, websites,
organise free previews, press packs, television interviews with the "talent", sign
contracts for promotions, competitions, etc. Distributors use their know-how and size
to ensure that DVDs of the film end up in stores and on supermarket shelves.
Distributors also obtain the BBFC certificate, and try to get films released as the
most favourable times of the year for their genre, etc.

Exhibition
Definition:  showing films in cinemas or on DVD. Media attention through opening
nights and premieres How the audience can see the film: in cinemas, at home, on
DVD, through downloads, through television, including premieres, the box office take
in the opening weeks; audience reviews which includes those of the film critics,
ordinary people, cinemas runs; awards in festivals, The Oscars, BAFTAS, etc.

Examples:
The Boat That Rocked opened on wide release in over 400 cinemas in April 2009.
The film flopped at the box office for a number of reasons: the critics' reviews, poor
weather putting off cinema goers, and perhaps the lack of a strong female character.
The film also flopped on American release in November 2009. However, young
people and older people like the film: sales in Morrisons and other supermarkets
seem brisk before Christmas as many are buying the DVD as a present to cheer
people up during  these dark winter months. Slumdog Millionaire almost never got
distribution. Its early US distributor, Warner Independent was a victim of the
economic downturn and went out of business. The film's makers then struggled to
find a distributor! Then Fox Searchlight stepped up and "the rest is history". The 8
out of 10 Oscar nomination wins ensured that the film has been the greatest British
success in awards and in box office for nearly 60 years.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/boyle-reveals-slumdog-
millionaire-was-nearly-never-made-1331821.html

Exchange
Definition: The unintended use of an institution’s media text (i.e. a film) by OTHER
PEOPLE who use the film or parts of it to form new texts. What happens to a film,
etc. after the public get their hands on it using digital technology.

Examples:
People unconnected to the institution/ film using WEB 2.0 applications such as
YOUTUBE, Blogger, Amazon film message boards, TWITTER, Face-Book, discuss
the film or edit parts of together to form a new text which the may then put a new
soundtrack to and publish on YOUTUBE, etc. When you add a trailer from a site like
YouTube on your blog you have been engaging with exchange.

Vertical and Horizontal Integration

Definition: Absorption into a single firm of several firms involved in all aspects of a
product's manufacture from raw materials to distribution. 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. Horizontal Integration is the form of
expansion and contrasts with vertical integration by which the firm expands into upstream or
downstream activities. Horizontal growth can be achieved by internal expansion or by
external expansion through mergers and acquisitions of firms offering similar products and
services.

Example:
Vivendi Universal have integrated film, music, web and distribution technology into
the company, including owning big stakes in cables and wires that deliver these
services. Therefore they are vertically integrated because they own all the different
companies involved in film, from production to distribution to exhibition. They are
also horizontally integrated because they have all the expertise for producing media
content under one roof – films, TV, magazines, books, music, games thus being able
to produce all the related media content for one film under the same roof (see
synergy). This is important for the control the institution has over their product/film.

Synergy/Synergies

Definition: The interaction of two or more agents (institutions/companies) to ensure

a larger effect than if they acted independently. This is beneficial for each company
through efficiencies in expertise and costs.

Examples:
Working Title know how to make films and they have formed a business partnership
with Universal, a massive US company, who have the experience and size in the
marketplace (cinemas, stores, online, etc.) to distribute them. (They create the
marketing campaign to target audiences through posters, trailers, create the film’s
website, free previews, television and press interviews featuring “the talent”, drum up
press reviews, word of mouth, and determine when a film is released for the best
possible audience and the type of release: limited, wide, etc.) Channel Four’s Film 4
and Celador Films (Celador also produce Who Wants to Be A Millionaire and films,
too) benefited by pooling their know-how, experience and expertise to jointly produce
Slumdog Millionaire. These companies formed a business relationship with France’s
Pathe to distribute this film. In the UK Pathe helped create the poster, trailer,
website, etc. In the USA the film found another distributor after being nominated for
the Oscars.

Viral Marketing
Definition: A marketing technique aiming at reproducing "word of mouth" usually on
the internet and through existing social networks. YouTube Video pastiches, trailers,
interviews with cast members, the director, writer, etc. You can find interviews of “the
talent” trying to gain publicity for your case study films on YouTube.

Guerilla Marketing
Definition: The use of unconventional and low cost marketing strategies to raise
awareness of a product. The aim is usually to create “buzz” and “word of mouth”
around a film. Unusual stunts to gain publicity (P.R.) on the film’s opening weekend,
etc.

Examples:
Sasha Baron Cohen created “buzz” before the release of his film “Borat” by holding
fake press conferences. The studio also accessed the popularity of YouTube by
releasing the first 4 minutes of the movie on YouTube, a week before it’s release,
which can then be sent virally across the nation. At a special viewing of “Bruno”
Cohen landed on Eminem “butt first” from the roof MTV Awards venue, dressed in as
an angel outfit with rents in the rear end. 

Media Convergence
Definition 1: Convergence of media occurs when multiple products come together
to form one product with the advantages of all of them.
Examples:
More and more films are being marketed on the Internet and on mobile phones. You
no longer need even to buy the DVDs or CDs as you can download films and music
directly to your laptop, Mac or PC. Blue Ray DVDs can carry more features than
ordinary DVDs  and can be played on HD televisions and in home cinemas  for
enhanced/cinematic picture quality. You can save films on SKY digital, Free-box
digital players, etc. You mobile phone has multiple features and applications. With
media and technological convergence this is growing year on year. Play-Stations, X-
Boxes and the Wii can can connect with the Internet and you can play video games
with multiple players.

Technological Convergence
Definition 2: The growing interractive use of digital technology in the film industry
and media which enables people to share, consume and produce media that was
difficult or impossible just a few years earlier.

Examples:
For instance, the use of new software to add special effects in editing; the use of
blue-screen; using new types of digital cameras like the one Danny Boyle used in
“Slumdog Millionaire” (The Silicon Imaging Camera to shoot high quality film in tight
spaces); you can use the Internet to download a film rather than go see it in the
cinema; you can watch it on YouTube; you can use special editing programs like
Final Cut Pro to edit bits of a film, give it new soundtrack and upload it on YouTube;
you can produce illegal, pirate copies on DVDs from downloads and by converting
the film’s format; you can buy Blue Ray DVDs with greater compression which allows
superior viewing and more features on the DVD; distributors can use digital software
to create high concept posters; cinemas can download films to their projection
screens and do not have to depend on a van dropping off the film! There are tons of
ways in which technological convergence affects the production, distribution,
exhibition and exchange by prosumers. ( A prosumer is someone who not only
consumes (watches films) but also writes about them the Net, blogs and make films
out of them, often uploading them on sites like YouTube, etc.

A Mainstream Film
Definition: A high budget film that would appeal to most segments of an audience:
the young, boys, girls, teenagers, young people, the middle aged, older people, the
various classes in society. Distributors often spend as much or more than the film
cost to make when distributing mainstream films that are given wide or universal
releases.

Art House Films

Definition: A low budget independent film that would mostly appeal to an educated,
higher class audience who follow unusual genres or like cult directors that few
people have heard of. Therefore it is usually aimed at a niche market. Foreign films
often come under this category.

Example:
 The Boat That Rocked was a mainstream idea and was given the mainstream
treatment on wide release. The film flopped at the UK box office on release ( and has
not done too well since mid November 2009 on release in the USA. This was mostly
because of its poor reviews, particularly from “Time-Out”. However, when young and
older audiences see the DVD they generally like the film because of its uplifting
storyline and the well-chosen soundtrack.
Ratings bodies BBFC - The British
Board of Film Classification
How your institutions films are rated will affect audiences in so far as WHO can see
them. Remember that sex scenes, offensive language, excessive violence, the use
of profanity, etc. can affect the rating and certificate the film receives and therefore
affect who is able to see the film.

Examples:
The low budget film, Once (2007) which found a specialised, boutique distributor in
Fox Searchlight fits this label. (FOX the mainstream company usually distributes big
budget film and blockbusters); So does “Juno” from 2008 which began as a low
budget film about teenage pregnancy that the big studios thought too risky to touch –
but it found popularity through its touching storyline, engaging music and its Oscar
nomination for best script. Like “Slumdog Millionaire” the film crossed over between
art-house cinemas and audiences to mainstream ones because of the recognition it
received from Canadian film festivals and award ceremonies like Britain’s BAFTAS
and the Hollywood’s Oscars.