Essay: What impact does media ownership have on the area you have studied?

In this essay, I am going to explain how media ownership affects the film industry. I am going to use two British films to support my analysis; the films chosen are Skyfall and The Woman In Black. Both of the films were released in 2012 and were both successful. However, the production, marketing and distribution were handled differently for both films. Sony Corporation (one of the biggest multinational conglomorates in the world), was behind Skyfall's promotion and distribution whilst Eon Production handled the film's production. Skyfall received over $1billion in the box office whilst the budget was over $200million. Sony, being a massive media conglomerate, had a massive impact on Skyfall's success. For instance, Sony had the money to send the filming crew on various places such as Turkey or even China. This might have had an impact on Skyfall's global success as the inhabitants of those countries might have been informed of the filming taking place, which helps promotion.

Indeed, Sony possesses dozens of subsidiaries which operate in lots of different sectors such as entertainment and video games (cross media ownership). This enabled a synergy to occur in Skyfall's marketing strategy. When Skyfall was released, its theme song was also released in the same month by Columbia Records, which is a company under the ownership of Sony. Adele was chosen as the singer and that choice might have enticed Adele's fan base to watch the film. As well as that, the Sony Xperia T and the Sony Vaio (both Sony products) could be seen at some point during the film (product placement), which allowed Sony to advertise their own brand without paying anything. Owning subsidiaries in different sectors like Sony allows the company to reach markets effectively.

For the case of The Woman In Black, Its film production company (Hammer Film) is not part of a media conglomerate and didn't get help from one so they had a handicap. However, their main key to success was the presence of Daniel Radcliffe, a renowned actor from Harry Potter. Daniel Radcliffe was invited to many chat shows around the film's release time to promote the film. They had a budget of $17,000,000 and they got over $127,000,000 in the box office. The film became successful partly because of partnerships Hammer Film created to promote the film. Indeed, they partnered with Alliance Films for the distribution over in Canada, partnered with CBS Films for the United States and Momentum Pictures for the UK.

However, media ownership can affect the film industry negatively. Indeed, as the competition might not be apparent or even threatening to media conglomerates such as Sony or the Walt Disney Company, this might lead to slow innovation. It also can affect independent film companies, as they are less likely to succeed due to a highly competitive market.

Therefore, media ownership affects the film industry positively as well as negatively. Massive companies can practically help any film achieve success thanks to their power on mass media. However, independent film companies can have a harder time achieving success as competition is almost constant due to conglomerates.

How did the PRODUCTION and MARKETING/DISTRIBUTION of "The Woman in Black" influence its success at the box office?

The reasons as to why The Woman In Black was so successful was due to its effective promotion:

• Daniel Radcliffe, a well-known actor from the Harry Potter series, was cast as the main character which means that the film's audiences will already include his fan base 
• Momentum Theatrical arranged to have six seconds cut out, sound level reduced and lighting enhanced in some of the shots in order to qualify for a 12A certificate, to appeal to Harry Potter fans
• Hallowe'en competition, which consisted of finding the scariest ghost story and allowed the promotion to be more effective
• The Sun home page featured The Woman In Black advertising attention-grabbing banners and posters which enabled visitors to be aware
• Social media campaign: Twitter, Facebook pages"
• Press advertising (cross-media convergence)
• Radio advertising (cross-media convergence)
• The film being based on the play and novel of the same name, might attract fans of the novel/play
• Interviews by Daniel Radcliffe on TV, magazines...
• Soundtracks
• Merchandise (cups and t-shirts created)
• Competitions (HMV)
• Out of home advertising (6-sheet, large format)

How did the PRODUCTION and MARKETING/DISTRIBUTION of "Skyfall" influence its success at the box office?

The reasons as to why Skyfall was so successful was due to its effective promotion:

• The Skyfall debut is the 50th anniversary of Dr.No and the Bond Film series which could have hinted that this film was bound to be a special one
• Adele singing the theme song might have attracted her fans
• Sony, one of the most influential media conglomorates was behind the distribution of Skyfall
• Daniel Craig, a well-known actor, was cast as James Bond, which could have attracted his fan base
• James Bond is a popular and successful ongoing franchise
• Screened in IMAX venues
• The Sun, a popular British tabloid newspaper, had posted a 60-second TV spot for Skyfall which premiered on ITV, one of the most popular networks in the United Kingdom
• 4 TV spots were created for Skyfall that were broadcasted in the UK and US
• Being partly filmed in China, the most populous country in the world, people in China would have been informed of Skyfall and subsequently went to watch it at its release
• During the Olympics 2012, there was a short film starring Daniel Craig and the Queen, which could have contributed to its success

The Woman In Black / Skyfall Facts

Sony Corporation

Sony Corporation is a multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, and one of the world's largest media conglomerates. 

As of March 2010, Sony Corporation has made 92 acquisitions while taking stakes at 56 companies. The company has 83 divestitures since 1983. Sony's biggest acquisition to date is that of Columbia Pictures, valued at U$3.4 billion at the time of purchase.

Media Conglomorates

A media conglomerate, media group or media institution is a company that owns large numbers of companies in various mass media such as television, radio, publishing, movies, and the Internet.

Examples of large media conglomerates:

Representation of gender

Our next focus area will be the representation of gender. This is an interesting and demanding area and, to fully engage with representations of gender, you need to be aware of gender stereotypes.

Gender stereotypes are simplistic generalizations about the gender attributes, differences, and roles of individuals and/or groups. 

Stereotypes can be positive or negative, but they rarely communicate accurate information about others. When people automatically apply gender assumptions to others regardless of evidence to the contrary, they are perpetuating gender stereotyping. Many people recognize the dangers of gender stereotyping, yet continue to make these types of generalisations. We see gender stereotypes regularly being reinforced in television drama.

Traditionally, the female stereotypic role is to marry and have children. She is also to put her family's welfare before her own; be loving, compassionate, caring, nurturing, and sympathetic; and find time to be sexy and feel beautiful. 

The male stereotypic role is to be the financial provider. He is also to be assertive, competitive, independent, courageous, and career‐focused; hold his emotions in check; and always initiate sex. 

These sorts of stereotypes can prove harmful; they can stifle individual expression and creativity, as well as hinder personal and professional growth. 

The weight of scientific evidence demonstrates that children learn gender stereotypes from adults. As with gender roles, socializing agents—parents, teachers, peers, religious leaders, and the media—pass along gender stereotypes from one generation to the next.

An example of gender stereotypes is shown in this extract below:
The women wear make-up which includes bright red lipstick. Another stereotype is the pilot being male.

Self-Assessment

I found the task relatively to explain as there was a lot to talk about and the task was explained to me. I found it difficult to talk about the editing, as I thought that editing was part of camera shots. I thought my response was basic, as I didn't plan my answer enough and accurately.

Research: Mediation and Representation

Mediation and representation from kbamediastudies

Drama Extracts



 

 

 

This is an extract of a series called Father Brown. It began airing on BBC Three on the fourteenth of January 2013. It is a period drama, which means that costumes, sets and properties are featured in order to capture the ambience of a particular era. Downton Abbey is also a period drama. Downton Abbey is set in the fictional Yorkshire country estate of Downton Abbey and depicts the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the post-Edwardian era (1901-1910).
 

The drama genre is often combined with other genres. For instance The Vampire Diaries, a series developed by by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, is a supernatural drama. This genre deals with ghosts and other supernatural topics, but without the tone and scares associated with the horror genre. Supernatural dramas may use creatures of folklore that are displayed as neutral or evil rather than creatures of fantasy which are perceived as good natured (such as fairies, leprechauns, or elves). The beings usually seen in supernatural dramas, or rather just the genre of supernatural itself, are apparitions, spirits, witches, warlocks, superhumans, demons, gods, angels and, miracles.
 

Waterloo Road - Maths Teacher Analysis

• Sensitive
• Easily-influenced/Naive
• Trying to please everyone
• Lack of power and authority as a teacher
• Simpleton
• Insecure 
• Awkward
• Ridiculous
• Has several complexes 
• Sceptical

How The Exam Works

The exam is 2 hour-long. It is divided in 2 sections and will be roundabout the fifteenth of May 2014.
It is out of 100 marks and the two sections have 50 marks each. My target grade is a B so I am looking for getting 70 marks on this paper. To exceed my target grade, I need to get at least 80 points.

Section A is an hour long and is about television drama.
There is only one question, it is compulsory and worth 50 marks.
Here is an example of what the question might be like:
"Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs the representation of age using the following:

• Mise-en-scene
• Editing
• Sound (speech and music)
• Camera shots, angles, movements and composition.

 As well as age, we also might be asked to discuss the representation of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, physical ability, class and status or even regional identity (accents).

Before writing my piece:

1. I will be allowed two minutes to read the question for Section A before the extract is screened.
2. The extract will be screened four times
3. First screening: I will watch the extract but not make notes
4. Second screening: I will watch the extract and make a few notes
5. There will be a brief brief for note-taking
6. Third and fourth screening: I will watch the extract again and take notes. (There will be a brief break for note-makingafter the third and fourth screenings.

This whole process should last thirty minutes.

My TV Viewing Preferences

I would not call myself a heavy television consumer, but I do enjoy watching TV from time to time.

I like to watch major shows such as the X Factor and the Voice, and reality shows such as Big Brother or I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here when they're on as they are series. I also like to watch game shows such as The Cube and Deal Or No Deal when I have free time. If i don't, I usually just record it. I also like to watch animal documentaries in my spare time, but that happens occasionally.

Whenever I feel nostalgic, I would watch cartoons such as SpongeBob SquarePants, but that doesn't happen frequently.
I try to avoid soap operas as I don't find them very interesting.

Genres in Television Programming

The word "genre" comes from the french word "genre" which means "type/class".
Our mind contains a set of exciting ideas we have picked up over the years from experience. We became rather conditioned to expect certain things to happen within a particular genre. For instance, in a science fiction program, I would expect to see aliens, lasers, planets and robots, and would highly question the nature of the program if they were not on the program. 

On ITV Player, the programs appear in categories such as Drama, Children's and Lifestyle and Leisure. There are also sub-genre to make the search more accurate. For example, for Lifestyle and Leisure, its sub-genre could be cookery/food or DIY/Property. 
There also can be hybrid genres. Hybrid genres are genres that cross over such as Horrible Histories. It is a children's program, which is also a factual and a comedy program. 

Drama programs: 

• Catch Me if You Can
• Eastenders
• Silent Witness
• Doctors
• Father Brown
• Broadchurch
• Downtown Abbey
• The Vampire Diairies
• Lucan
• The Poison Tree