AS Media Studies 2022

Technology is advancing to a large extent. This is largely seen in the move from film to digital technology, which has brought great advancement to the likes of visual effects (VFX) and computer generated images (CGI) as well as the proliferation of the internet and Web 2.0 which goes hand in hand with Shirkys theory which states that audiences are no longer are no longer passive but interactive, both consuming and producing as prosumers. As a result of this technological convergence now is changing the way audiences consume media. Different directors all have differing opinions and feelings towards shooting digitally. For instance, George Lucas, who directed Star Wars Episodes I–IV, shot Star Wars Episode 2 digitally in 2002 because he thinks it's the future. Another director, Christopher Nolan, who is known for his work on "Inception," "Dunkirk," and the "Dark Knight" Trilogy, prefers to use film as long as he can. The main conflict here is whether o...

What is a usual release strategy for Hollywood big budget films? Having a very successful opening weekend at the theatres before the drop in audience numbers after the weekend. Typically numbers fall 40% to 70% after opening weekend so this is the most important and financially large period of the film's life. What are some examples of Indie films that did really well? Jojo Rabbit, The Favourite, Darkest Hour, Won't You be my Neighbour?, Call me by Your Name, Moonlight. They won Academy Awards. The premiered in a couple of theatres in  New York, Toronto and Los Angeles and played in theatres for several weeks after the attention they attracted. Why do smaller films, like Jojo Rabbit, winning awards, create a problem for award show ratings? They are blamed for falling broadcast ratings as they tend to not have many red carpet stars. Why do they suggest Indie films are even more vulnerable? Independent films need to be playing in theatres for consecutive weeks to build recognitio...

How is the War of the Worlds example of 1938 a good example of audiences relating to a media product? What was the context of this event?  In 1938 Orson Welles did a radio broadcast based off the novel War of the Worlds by H G Wells. Most of those who started listening did not hear the notice that it was a fictional story and believed that aliens really were invading the US. This caused national panic and Welles had to reassure everyone that it was just fictional and nothing was out of the ordinary. This is an example of; in Stuart Hall's reception theory; a media product that did not have a Preferred or Dominant reading and rather interpreted a fictional story to be reality. This means that audiences will not always take to the preferred reading. This also links to the "hypodermic syringe" that means that audiences are given information through media and their behaviour corresponds to the media consumed. In this case, the audience was told there was an alien invasion and...

 Gen Z aka Zoomers Movies and TV are Zoomers 5th favourite form of in-home entertainment They enjoy watching movies less but are more likely to go to the cinemas 2019 study 75% of Zoomers reported seeing one movie a month They have a willingness to pay for experiences 87% play video games weekly 48% most popular two screen activity of choice Average of 7.2 hours of video a day If having 8 hours sleep then half of waking hours on screens TikTok or Reels in the morning, YouTube around lunchtime, then Netflix or Hulu in the evening Gravitate to user generated content

  The film industry is dominated by the Big 5 conglomerates, Disney, paramount, universal, Sony and Warner bros. These conglomerates have acquired many subsidiaries over the years which has created an oligopoly that effectively acts as a monopoly, controlling the majority of media output and raking in billions of dollars each year. Part of understanding the media industry, is understanding the contrast of the Big 5 and the independent film making industry. The Big 5 have the financial means to hire A list actors and buy top quality equipment. Independent filmmakers do not have such advantages and this makes it much harder to compete with the likes of the Big 5. However it does not guarantee success for a Big 5 film, or failure for an independent film. Passion of the Christ was one such independent film that succeeded in the Hollywood stage. It was the highest grossing R-rated film for several years before being dethroned by Deadpool. The Interview is an example of a Hollywood f...

There are three distinct generations of media use: SVOD = Streaming video on demand 15-39s where digital media dominates – 82% use online video daily, 72% SVOD and 68% music streaming. Radio is at 36% and TV at 35% 40-59s who use a wider range of media – TV is still top at 61% but online video is at 58%, and SVOD and radio are equal on 48% 60+ where traditional media dominates and digital is not growing – 83% use TV daily and 65% radio – online video 26% and SVOD 22%

 TWO SIDES TO GAUNTLETT'S IDENTITY THEORY Audiences get a sense of their own identity from media products they consume Eg. "Women's Realm" when women read in 1960s they'd get the idea of what it was to be a                     housewife        People reading modern magazines and seeing different representations        Strengthening stereotypes in the past (men, strong; women, unimportant - housewives) Representations have changed over the years from simplistic to more wide and diverse representations Past = Straightforward, simple representations Past = Simple, stereotypical, binary gender representations Present = Diverse, complex representations (particularly gender identity) 

 hbo max and discovery + are merging to create a streaming service cancellation of $90 million Batgirl and $200 million Demimonde It’s reported the new, as-yet-untitled streaming service  will launch in the US next year,  followed by Latin America, Europe and, in mid-2024, all Asia-Pacific countries (HBO Max didn’t respond to a request for a more specific timeline).

WHAT ARE ANCILLARY RIGHTS IN FILM? Ancillary rights represent film-related rights. Such as merchandising, multimedia rights, television rights. And the rights to things like soundtracks, music publishing, stage play rights, and the rights to video games or other interactive experiences that are based on the film. Ancillary rights are often negotiated during the negotiations between a script or screenplay author. Or the author of some other copyrighted work. Upon which a filmmaker expresses interest in purchasing the film rights to, and the filmmaker themselves.  ANCILLARY RIGHTS MA Y INCLUDE: Sequels and spin-offs. Including live events, movies, and series.   Digital products.   DVD, Blu-ray, and VOD products.   Video games and interactive products including Apps.   Print books, e-books and read aloud components.   Merchandising including t-shirts, toys, and other products. WHY ARE ANCILLARY RIGHTS IN FILM IMPORTANT? Ancillary rights are incredibly valuable...

helping indie filmmakers with gaining success in streaming distribution not very much options in cinemas, dominated by the likes of Marvel. Oscar-winning directors like Steven Spielberg and Ridley Scott, earn $76 million and 430.6 million at box office respectively while Spider man: no way home at $1.901 billion Big expensive movies are the ones that can succeed at the cinema, less smaller movies can

  5.03 billion people connected to the internet Netflix 222 million global paying subscribers (up about 8.3 million) 75.22 million paid memberships in U.S. and Canada (increased 1.19 million from last quarter) Average revenue per user, or ARPU, for U.S. and Canada is $14.78 (up $0.10 since last quarter)                   Disney Disney+, including Hotstar: 118.1 million subscribers (up 11.7 million from last quarter); $4.41 global ARPU (up $0.29 per month from last quarter) Hulu subscription video on demand, or SVOD, only: 40.9 million subscribers (up 1.2 million from last quarter); $12.96 ARPU (up $0.21 from last quarter) Hulu SVOD+Live TV: 4.3 million subscribers (up about 300,000 from last quarter), $87.01 ARPU (up $2.12 from last quarter) ESPN+: 21.3 million subscribers (up 4.2 million from last quarter), $5.16 ARPU (up $0.42 from last quarter Amazon Prime Video Amazon increased the price of its annual Prime membership for the first t...

 Avengers (2012) - CGI and motion capture for the creation of the Hulk Toy Story 3 (2010) - Extensive use of synergy to promote the film - Toy Story Day on Disney Channel the day before release - promote Disney Channel and the film at the same time\ Disney bought Marvel entertainment in 2009 and oversaw the release of films like Iron Man, and Hulk which led up to the release of The Avengers.  Avatar (2009) - Rise of 3D films

  "To what extent has cross-media-convergence and synergy played a part in the success of the media texts you have studied?" - terminology (all we have discussed from our notes) What is cross media convergence? What is synergy? Explain - Examples to back up your points from NZ + Blockbuster films   - WWDITS example <-- (notes on how to market) - Air NZ example (for the Hobbit films) <-- (viral safety video - characters and actors, movie promotions on their planes) - Disney   <-- Talk about Disney's monopolisation/acquisitions over the years/Big 5/largest market share - Vertical + Horizontal integration  - funding (issues around budgets for Blockbuster vs. Indi films)  <-- Blockbuster have funding from big Hollywood                                                                ...

 Pre-studio era release, standard release, simultaneous release, straight to video release, internet release. (Types of release) Theatrical release window is shrinking; originally conceived as 6 months as of 2019 it is 3 months. (How release strategies change with developing tech) Rights relating to the distribution of a film. (ancillary rights) The period of time that a film is exclusively in theatres. (theatrical window)

 Theatrical films usually get pirated after about 2 months after release Streamed films can be pirated after 2 hours Risk of viruses --> Inconvenient to say the least Netflix used to have everything when they moved to video on demand Piracy had reduced by 50% Subscribing to multiple services is not ideal for everyone General approach, subscribe to a couple and pirate the rest Netflix has also tried interactive movies Disney+ pulled all of their movies from Netflix when they started

  Who are the NZFC and what is their primary purpose? It is a Crown entity whose purpose is to help grow the New Zealand film industry.   What films have they funded in the last 5 years that did really well internationally? Jojo Rabbit (2019), Power of the Dog (2021) What films have they funded in the last 5 years that you have seen or that you know have been popular? Power of the Dog (2021), Jojo Rabbit (2019), Mortal Engines (2018) (I enjoyed it but it was a box-office bomb/grossed $83.7 million on a $100 million budget. What services do the NZFC offer to help NZ filmmakers in the production process? Funding, film festivals, support for feature and short films

 Audiences are no longer passive (they want to interact with media) More active audience technology has changed our expectations and behaviour Magazine/newspaper is declining Digital versions are preferred because of being more active audiences Audiences also like to speak back to producers of media We can interact now (social media)

The Dark Knight Directed by: Christopher Nolan Release Date: 24th July 2008 Budget: $185 million  Alternate reality game --> 10 million players Joker building an army of henchmen around the world  Phone number in the sky Have to prove their up to the task of being a part of his crew Request to hit major landmarks in Joker makeup Campaign to take back Gotham city from Harvey Dent 33 cities in the country Protests in support of Harvey Dent and change Clues led people to a trailer that the Joker defaced Bat signal on building also defaced by the Joker and everything Gotham  75 countries Highest grossing movie of the year Most advanced pre-sale tickets ever

13,509,777 views made in 2012 Big 5 are interested in making as much money as possible and aren't interested in marketing their country. Air NZ were marketing themselves as the airline of middle earth as shown at the end and in the meantime promoting new zealand as middle earth --> tourism The safety video's purpose was to inform passengers of safety on the plane but adding some entertainment aspects. Having the passengers dressed as people from middle earth, having an actor from the movie and the director with the ring and Gollum sneaking around in the dark are examples of these factors.

Synergy simply means working together Relates to marketing of a media product Where different companies of a conglomerate work together to market or advertise a brand/product thus maximising exposure and profit The aim is to create a consistent and recognisable image of the brand example: Horizontal integration Black panther movie, book, comic, video game, Captain America film, animated series Collaboration with other companies Action figures Car ad (Lexus, used in the film)