Consider how imaginative techniques are used by media products from your cross-media study to attract and maintain audiences. Support your answer with reference to a range of examples from three media platforms. [32 marks] The Theory Of Everything:
Eddie Redmayne's performance being highly outstanding and very realistic to Steven Hawkins life.
The way he fuses past and future makes this a triumph of sympathetic imagination.
The Theory of Everything keeps you attracted and maintained by how it dramatizes Hawking’s gradual physical disintegration.
Posters being elegant.
Royal Colours
Exaggerated magical skylines
Bright stars lighting the actors
Interviews with the Hawkins family
Behind the scenes footage
Trailer being dramatic with elegant, royal, classic british music.
Ill Manors:
Album & Soundtrack for promotion - synergy.
Radio: Music, Plan B as a artist.
Jonathan Ross, Focus on being a director, personal experiences, higher class.
Tag London interactivity, attracting whole of London, getting everyone involved, expressing out views like the film.
Ted X lecture, different demographics, values, ideologies.
SBTV: urban audience, authenticity.
Mens Health, focus on health, different approach, new audience.
Film Poster, representation of place & setting, street life, typography, brand image, social realism.
GQ: mens health, different approach, new audience.
Logos, Flats and Council houses being "L" letters.
Puking over London with puke being logo.
Introduction:
Imaginative techniques are used by different types of media in order to keep the audience engaged and attracted to the type of platform. Platforms such as E - Media, broadcast and print will be analysed with the cross media study of Ill manors, a field in England and also the theory of everything. Each film use their own imaginative techniques but some have similarities as well as differences.
THE BASICS: 1) What is the name of the film, the director and notable stars? James Marsh is the director of The Theory Of Everything and Eddie Redmayne is the lead actor of the film, he also won the 2015 Oscar for best lead actor for his role as Stephen Hawkins.
2) When was it released?
The Theory Of Everything was released on the 1st Of January for 2015 New Years.
3) What genre is the film? What are the generic conventions that tell you the film belongs to this genre?
This film is categorised as a Drama, Romance & also Biography. This film may be classed as a Drama And Biography because the director is telling the story of Stephen Hawkins life with a cinematic edge with a lot of role play, it also goes under Romance to attract more of a female audience and also because Stephen Hawkins had a strong yet complicated love life.
4) What was the critical reception? What is the film rated on IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes?
The Theory Of Everything was rated a solid 7.8/10 on IMDB which is actually very high, it received very positive attention from critics in reviews as well as positive reviews from the audience and viewers. BROADCAST: 1) Write a close-textual analysis of the trailer using the MIGRAIN key concepts of Media Studies. The trailer uses a simple piano soundtrack that you will mostly find in British films, also the trailer shows old buildings, vintage clothing and old schools, this suggests that the film will be set in the past. The trailer also shows a lot of romance which helps broaden the genre and attract a larger audience of couples and females. The use of using very posh, strong British accents also helps re inform the stereotype of British people having these strong accents. 2) Find examples of television promotion on YouTube (adverts, chat shows, ‘red carpet’ interviews etc.) and post them to your blog along with an explanation of how these promote the film.
This form of broadcast is a youtube video which is an nterview of the cast talking about meeting Stephen & Jane Hawking who are the people they will be acting as in the movie, it helps promote the film as it shows how real the film may be at rein-acting the life of Stephen Hawking and how the movie production team have been accurate.
This video is a on set clip of when Stephen Hawkins himself came to the shooting of the scene where Stephen takes Jane on his first date, this once again informs the viewer on how dead on accurate the production team has re created memories of Stephen Hawkings life.
This video is a interview Q&A with Jane Hawkins and it is based on The Theory Of Everything, it helps promote the film by showing how genuine it is. 3) Does the broadcast promotion use stars to create interest in the film? The promotion uses the real life people that are based in the film to help promote the film, this is because the film is a documentary drama therefore by using Stephen & Jane Hawkins they are able to tell the audience that the film is very real and accurate on capturing memories, it will make the audience believe the story more and help interest them to watch the film.
PRINT:
1) Read at least THREE reviews of the film and provide a quote from each one.
"This wonderful production, so well scripted and paced throughout, serves to explain that vital anomaly in Hawking's life. And it is made all the more poignant as it is based upon the account written by his wife who has borne so much."
"What a wonderful accomplishment of a film by James Marsh (Man on Wire) who brings such depth and beauty to the life/love story of Stephen and Jane Hawking."
"The film acts as a moving oil painting. Benoît Delhomme shoots to utter perfection. Intimate in scenes requiring the viewer's undivided attention, and taking the liberty to capture the essence of the time where the innocence of love offers many possibilities. The scenes ultimately feel as if we're in a dream sequence, sleeping silently as these two lives play out in our minds."
2) Find examples of print promotion (e.g. film poster, billboard adverts etc.) on Google images and post them to your blog along with an explanation of how these promote the film.
This poster helps promote the film due its incredible acting and by placing the oscar nominations it helped justify its quotes.
3) Choose ONE print advert and write a textual analysis of what it communicates to the audience.
The simplicity and basic style to the poster suggests that the film will be a documentary, also by using the main centre image as the couple it also suggests that there are elements to a romance genre. By using `A Triumphant Film" as the headline and critic quote it tells the audience that the film will be fulfilling, also triumphant is a word that can describe Stephen Hawkings life very well. Also, by releasing the film on new years day it gives the film a more magical touch then what it already is, it also relates to the story of the film as Stephen Hawkings theory was about time and space.
4) How is the film’s brand constructed? What does the brand connote? Does it remind you of any other brands or similar films?
The brand is shown to be very minimal and elegant, its shown to be royal and straight to the point as they use very simple colour schemes and fonts, the elegancy works well as the film has beautiful dreamy cinematography throughout which is very simple yet effective.
E-Media
1) Research the film’s presence on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc. How does the film’s social media presence help promote the film? The social media accounts for this film helped promote the film by constantly pushing exclusive content prior to the release of the film, they uploaded behind the scenes, interviews and clips to help engage the audience for release. There was also a number of celebrities that tweeted about the film, this helped gain more attention and overall success for the film.
2) Analyse the official website for the film. How does it use the film’s brand? What examples of synergy can you find with the other platforms?
The brand is represented to be successful as its main page has a large banner of the awards it has won, it also has a link to these awards with a still from the movie of the couple watching fireworks, also the use of the gold and white colour theme shows elegance.
4) Can you find any examples of the two-step flow theory online – did celebrities or journalists tweet or post about the film in order to promote it to their followers? Most tweets were posted by the viewers of the film tweeting about how good the film is and what they would rate it. Also there was alot of retweets for when Eddie won his oscar for best male actor.
Audience
1) Who is the target audience for this film? Demographics and psychographics.
The target audience for this film may be male and females due to the romance concept and of the age criteria of 15-50 year olds. Reasons being that many students may be interested in the film and also that stephen hawkins was very famous in the 1980s -2000s. The psychographics would be Reformers and Mainstreamers.
3) What audience pleasures does the film provide? Think about the BFI lecture on audience pleasures in British film. Diversion and Personal Relationships are the audience pleasures the film went for.
4) What similar films would the target audience enjoy? Justify your suggestions.
A Fault In Our Stars would be a perfect example of a relatable film as its based on a couple that face problems due to health problems. This is the same equilibrium that is faced in the theory of everything.
Institution
1) Which film studio produced the film? What other films have they produced? Do they have a track record with this kind of film and this target audience?
Working Title Films & Studio Canal produced the film, They have produced films like Paul, Hot Fuzz and United 93.
2) Which company distributed the film in the UK? What other films have they distributed?
The film distributors for the UK were Universal Pictures, they have worked with films like ET, Jurassic Park, Jaws & Despicable Me.
3) Do they have a track record with this kind of film and this target audience?
They do have some films that suit the category like "A Beautiful Mind" and Universal have some of the top grossing movies of all time.
4)What was the budget for the film?
$15,000,000
5) How successful was the film financially? Why do you think this was?
The film made $117,200,000 in the box office making it very successful, I think this is because of the time of release and that they used romance as a key element of marketing, making it suitable for couples.
6) Was this film more successful in the UK or worldwide/USA? Why do you think this is?
This film was successful worldwide as Stephen Hawkins is known worldwide and the film is about his life, therefore it wold have attracted a lot more people worldwide as appose to just the UK.
7) What certificate was the film given (12A, 18 etc.)? What was the reason for this certificate? Is the certification important for this film in terms of targeting its audience? Why?
This film was given 12A age rating, this will not effect the overall targeting of the audience as this film is entirely aimed at people in education or people that are interested in the life of Stephen Hawkins, therefore not many children under 12 will be into this film. Also, as they used romance as a targeting technique 12A is a suitable range to fit the couple target audience.
Representation
1) What representations of people, places or groups can be found in this film?
This film gives a strong representation of the middle to higher class people in the 1960s, it represents educated and also white people as there was hardly any diversity of race and ethnicity throughout the on screen time of the film. It also shows the lifestyle of university at the time and what it was like to live in the 1960s.
2) What representation of ‘Britishness’ does the film contain?
The film was almost entirely set in Britain within oxford university. The film gives strong representations of british people being very clever and smart. They represent British people to be quite rich and elegant. I also feel that some accents were a bit too forced and very strong.
3) How does the representation of Britain differ to Ill Manors?
This representation of British people differs a lot to ill manors as the theory of everything represents elegance, posh and higher class britons that are smart and in education or working. In Ill Manors, the britons are represented to be strugglers that hardly have anything and hustle for a living. They also show to be very thug and to be criminals that do very bizarre things for a living. Also shown to be around a lot of sex, drugs and violence and not any sign of education or positive meanings were represented towards these births characters.
4) What values and ideologies can you find in your chosen film? (E.g. The King’s Speech is extremely patriotic, pro-monarchy etc.)
The dominant ideology in this film would be education and overcoming problems, this film is very inspiring and motivational with concepts of romance.
Case study comparison
1) What similarities and differences can you find between Ill Manors, A Field In England and your chosen case study film? List all that apply.
I similarity is that all these films are British and show aspects of Britishness in each film. They each individually show they're own representations of Britain in they're own ways. A difference is that they're representations are completely different, with ill manors showing a negative side and The theory of everything with a positive side, and then a field in England showing history in England..
A Field In England is a film by Ben Wheatley and the producers of Film 4 and Channel 4. The film is set in the Civil War era in rural England and offers a trip into magic and madness for the viewers. This filmed gained a lot of recognition due to it being the first film to be distributed by various platforms simultaneously on the release date. The film was shot over a period of 12 days with the Film 4.O production company. It then took a further 9 months of editing to completely finish the film.
How was A Field In England’s release different to typical film releases?
A Field In Englands release was different as it was the first film that was released the same day in Cinema, DVD, TV and also on demand.
What are the advantages to releasing the film across all platforms on the same day?
What are the disadvantages to this approach?
The disadvantages may be that the film may-not receive high profits and a large amount of success.This is because people are most likely going to watch it for free on TV or on demand and it may also be easier for hackers to gain illegal copies of the film as its going to be distributed more publicly than just privately to cinemas.
What target audience would A Field In England be aimed at? Demographics and Psycho-graphics.
I think the film will be targeted to males in the 21-39 age group as its set in the 17th century and has a lead male dominant group of actors. The psycographics may also be reformers.
Do you think all films in future will be released across all platforms simultaneously in future?
I highly doubt that films will be distributed simultaneously on ALL platforms the same day as it decreases box office and sales of the film, people may not want to buy the DVD if they don't even enjoy or like the film. Although i think films will be available to stream on day of release for the near price of a cinema ticket as more and more people are watching films on-line due to companies like netflix and Amazon on demand.
By the BBC using the behind the scenes footage, they are able to achieve some positive brand images. They are showing that they are able to entertain, educate and also inform. This is because they use various techniques like comedy, slow motion and settings to entertain its audience, but also use the settings and penguins in the clip to educate the audience along with the voice-overs by David Attenborough. All of these techniques help fulfil their remit overall. Also, by using these behind the scenes footage it shows BBC's high production values and how they spend a lot of money into their big gear and crew members equipment. These high budgets also show how the BBC gets its money from their license fees and this may arise some questioning to how they get such high budgets. Finally, the BBC also show a good use of Personification which allows the BBC to show how their crew members are very dedicated and happy to do their work, this shows how the BBC treat their crew well and that they will do whatever it takes to give high quality shots for the BBC.
"As well as working to support film, television and animation production across the capital, Film London has a national remit — delivered through the British Film Commission.
The British Film Commission (BFC) is the UK Government's national agency responsible for maximising and supporting the production of international feature film and television in the UK."
"Microwave is Film London's ground-breaking feature filmmaking scheme. It has helped to produce Hong Khaou's critically-acclaimed Lilting, BAFTA-nominated Shifty and Plan B's directorial debut, iLL Manors. This unique scheme doesn't just fund films; it offers the next generation of filmmakers a proven programme of training-through-production, as well as distribution support.
Aiming to champion London's unique film making population like never before, we are undertaking a targeted outreach campaign in the lead up to the deadline for applications. For the first time we will be offering development funding for successful projects, and offering distribution support to green-lit films." Taken from http://filmlondon.org.uk/feature-film-funding/
List three other films funded by Microwave Film and embed their trailers in your blog.
1997 in the Uk but went into administration in April 2013.
Revolver Entertainment enjoyed a lot of success with the UK urban drama genre. Find three Revolver films that fit that genre, embed the trailers from YouTube and write about why they were successful.
Choose one film distributed by Revolver Entertainment and explain how it compares to Ill Manors (similarities and differences).
Kidulthood compares with Illmanors as it uses similar locations with hood urban areas, only shows violence and many problems that occur within the narrative.Why did Revolver Entertainment go out of business in 2013?
This may be because of their lack of staff and cuts they have made or due to the amount of competitors in the film industry.
How is new technology changing the way films are being distributed?
Revolver have used new technology to hit a new audience, they were the first company to premiere a movie on a online streaming site the day of its release in cinemas.
Gunslinger
Visit theGunslinger websiteand list the three films currently in development (click on theSlate tab).
Electric, The London Syndrome & Bootneck.
Research the Gunslinger/Revolver film Shank. Embed the trailer in your blog and explain how it compares to Ill Manors (similarities and differences).
This film links to ill manors due to its london youth audience, also the trailer is uploaded to SBTV which was a channel Ill Manors used in order to promote the film, this means they share the same audience demographics and psychographics.
List other Gunslinger films that fit the UK urban drama genre. Why does Gunslinger focus on this genre in particular?
Offender - Gunslinger focuses on this genre due to the major success with other films like kidulthood and adulthood, these genres created a whole new market for the UK and specialised in the urban youth for a target audience, targeting youth for a film is good because they are one of the most groups of people that go to the cinema, they also have the ability to spread films and make them go viral.
Research the British social realism genre. How do Gunslinger films fit into the social realism genre?
Why does the UK urban drama genre appeal to an audience?
Social realism is an international genre that is popular in British and French cinema. The genre bases around real life, the stories are fictional but are made out to be in the real world. All the characters, dialogue and settings are made up but inspired by real life. UK urban drama appeals to its audience as they are the youth that may be of the working class, this is because the film is set to be of people in the working class, this helps give a realistic approach to the audience and makes them believe what they see,
Certification
One final aspect of institution is the certificate the film was awarded for exhibition. This is decided by theBritish Board of Film Classification.
How does the certification process work at the BBFC?
Films for cinema release are normally rated by at least two Examiners using the BBFC’s published Guidelines. Examiners look at issues such as discrimination, drugs, horror, imitable behaviour, language, nudity, sex, sexual violence, theme and violence when making decisions.
Think about the certificate of Ill Manors (18 certificate). What is deemed acceptable for an 18 certificate? What is the difference between a 15 certificate and an 18 certificate?
15 Age Rating:
Strong violence.
Frequent strong language (such as f**k).
Portrayals of sexual activity.
Strong verbal references to sex.
Sexual nudity.
Brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence.
Discriminatory actions or behavior.
Drug taking.
18 Age Rating:
Very strong violence.
Frequent strong language (f**k) and/or very strong language (c**t).
Strong portrayals of sexual activity.
Scenes of sexual violence.
Strong horror.
Strong blood and gore.
Real sex (in some circumstances).
Discriminatory language and behavior.
What are the advantages and disadvantages for a film in being given an 18 certificate?
As a wide variety of the youth audience is below the age of 18. This means a film isn't likely to be as successful especially if its a UK urban drama.
