PrimeEvil Exam question

http://www.slideshare.net/marymedranag321/primeval-clip-analysis This is a response to the prime evil clip it is fairly detailed and provides good information on details such as camera and editing

Synergy and Convergence in my case studies

This shows how synergy and convergence is used in my case studies and also provides definitions for them both.

Integration

Horizontal Integration: it's a complementary business. In relation to film this means one large company owning several other companies in different types of media (a film production company and a magazine owned by one company) Verticle Integration: When a company own's all stages of the production, distribution and sale. Or in the case of cinema, exhibition of it's product.

Representation issue of gender research

http://www.etfo.ca/Resources/ForTeachers/Documents/Gender%20Issues%20in%20The%20Media.aspx
  This article explains alot of issues involved in the represention of gender which is displayed in the media.
 http://www.glyndwr.ac.uk/RDOVER/MED-STUD/represen.htm
This articles explians why we think of men as men and why we think women as women and what steretypically we associate with the different genders.

http://www.slideshare.net/smcmediastudies/the-representation-of-women-in-the-media
Again this slideshare blog shows all of the stereotypical things expected to surround a women when used in the media, for example it shows women are seen throught the male gaze and how this sells a product more than if a man or a masculin women was advertising it http://www.slideshare.net/smcmediastudies/the-representation-of-men-in-the-media This slideshare explains all the stereotypical things expected to surround men when in the media, mainly films. http://www.slideshare.net/fleckneymike/the-male-gaze-laura-mulvey This slideshare explains the male gaze and the theorys behind it

Warner bros (Lego Movie) and BBC Films (mrs brown) essay improved

The two production companies I am going to be talking about are Warner Bros animation and BBC films. First of all Warner bros animation produced the animated film The Lego Movie and furthermore BBC films produced the British film Mrs Browns Boys D’Movie. I will also be comparing the production, distribution such as marketing, synergy and convergence and the exhibition of a low budget British film and the high budget American film.

Warner bros animation is the animated section of the major producer Warner Brothers. Warner bros animation is the successor to Warner bros cartoons which created many famous cartoon series such as The Looney Toons. It now focuses purely on the production of television and feature animation. The founder of Warner bros animation is Hal Geer, who is a American producer and filmmaker who most famously worked on Warner bros cartoon’s The Loony Toons. Warner bros most famous and successful film that they have ever produced is the series of Harry Potter films. Warner bros animation films usually have a budget of around $40 million to $90 million depending on the profile of the film. These expensive films usually make a gross profit of around $10 million to $30 million. However there has been the odd exception, for example The Lego Movie made around $468 million gross profit and the film Space Jam made around $230 million gross profit.

This is the feature film making part of the British Broadcasting Co-operation. BBC films have produced some of the most successful British films of recent years; this includes films such as Billy Elliot. It also co-produces around eight films a year by working with major international and UK distributors. The head of BBC films is Christine Langan, she is responsible for the development and production of the company. BBC films are based at the broadcasting house in London.  BBC films produce films on a fairly small budget which is usually around £2 million to £10 million and they very rarely produce a film which produces such a gigantic profit they way Warner bros do.

First of all The Lego Movie is a huge profile American blockbuster film produced by Warner bros animation this particular film raised over $468 million at the box office. The film it’s self was a basic idea by the directors to connect audiences together, the way actual Lego does. In February 2014 Warner Bros animation released their first animated film, which was more of a trial to see how they would compete against giants such as Disney Pixar. The Lego Movie became a box office success because of its large variety in target audiences. The context of the film was to show how Lego can connect parents and children together during play time. Ideology was presented by the directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were they said in an interview that connecting people through Lego was the main aim of the film. Because The Lego Movie had a wide target audience of anyone with a connection to Lego a huge variety of comedy and stereotypes had to be used to engage the large target audience.

Next BBC films Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie was high profile British film which followed on form the television series meaning a huge fan base was already built. It was a idea developed by the main character Brendan O’Carroll back in the early 1990’s. The character Agnes Brown appeared in stage plays, radio plays and books before the film was released. Around £9.2 million was made at the UK box office on this film. This film had a target audience of mainly British people meaning a lot more British comedy and stereotypes were used to help sell the film. The idea of the main characters appearing on stage is very common because many BBC Films become successful on stage.

During the production phase of the film there were many similarities and differences between the two production companies, first of all BBC Films Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie cast were all family related and because they had previously all worked together on the television series they all felt comfortable around each other and could act to their best abilities. This high degree of realism was a huge unique selling point for the film, whereas in my other film BBC Films The Lego Movie the ‘star system’ was used to sell the film, huge household names such as Morgan Freeman and Will Ferrell were added to the cast list to sell the film in a complete different way. This shows the vast different ways in which American producers try to sell the film compared to British ones. However using the family cast was a lot cheaper to do compared to using the star system to sell the film. Furthermore The Lego Movie was a animated film which meant virtual sets had to be built. This was done using 3,863,484 actual Lego bricks on the computer program Lego digital designer. Around 11 sets were built but they can help boost the films synergy as it can help promote the film in different ways. In contrast Mrs Browns Boys D’Movie was filmed in Dublin the capital of Ireland on one main set to keep costs down, this shows the huge contrast between the high budget animated American film and low budget British films.

BBC Films Mrs Browns Boys had a budget of around £3.4 million this is nothing compared to Warner bros animation The Lego Movie’s $60 million budget. This shows how the American film industry are more willing to spend more on films and take more of a risk compared to British films. For Mrs Browns Boys this produced many different challenges, for example the amount of extras which were used had to be limited to keep costs down whereas The Lego Movie could afford to do anything they wanted, a good example of this was when the script had to be completely re written and as a result some of the plot was changed which if the budget was lower could had caused many problems. As a result of Warner Bros animation having more funding in this particular film compared to BBC Films the director would have more control in the American film compared to the British film.

Lastly the amount of CGI that had to be used in Warner bros animation The Lego Movie was far greater than Mrs Browns Boys mainly because The Lego Movie was a animated film however production time and costs were a lot greater which was a challenge which Warner bros animation had to meet which they did. Also the fact Warner Bros animation is the animated section of Warner bros this shows it’s more advanced and specialised in CGI and technology, whereas BBC Films are a general production company which means they aren’t specialist and are basically average at everything involved in producing and distributing a film which is exactly the case in my two case studies.

Both The Lego Movie and Mrs Browns Boys D’Movie had huge marketing and advertising campaigns.  First of all BBC Films didn’t have to spend as much on Mrs Browns Boys marketing campaign mainly due to the fact that they already had a huge fan base extending back from the original TV series and plays in the early 1990’s this meant that advertising had to be done only to raise awareness of the film compared to most new films were the production company usually have to advertise to raise awareness and to persuade the target audience to go and see it, so as a result only basic forms of advertising were needed this included: TV adverts, trailers, radio adverts, billboards, posters and newspaper articles but as I said  producers BBC Films gambled on the already existing fans of the already popular sitcom Mrs Browns Boys going to see the film. In contrast Warner Bros animation’s The Lego Movie had a huge advertising and marketing campaign because the producers had to combine: synergy, convergence, exhibition, distribution and exchange a lot more compared to Mrs Brown’s boys. For example many products were released simultaneously to promote the film a good example of this was when McDonalds released eight limited edition Lego Movie cups with every Happy Meal that was sold. Furthermore one similarity between The Lego Movie and Mrs Browns Boys D’Movie was the care to detail that was involved in the trailers for the films. They were both released to help outline the basic aspects of the film and try and sell it to their target audiences however because their iconography was very different, first of all in The Lego Movie there was more of a action/adventure feel in the trailer because the more action events which occurred in the film were shown compared to the many other elements in the in it. Whereas Mrs Brown used the comedy aspect to help sell the film because this was made the TV series so popular so was a huge selling point for the film. Furthermore the trailer for The Lego Movie used a lot more diegetic and non-diegetic sounds such as the over emphasis on elements such as fire in an explosion and the use of music to help tell the story of the film. For example it was a fast paced beat to show the action/adventure clips as more dramatic than what they are, this is compared to Mrs Browns boys which predominantly used a narrative which helped explain the story of the film a lot more. Both the film trailers used mise-en-scene in roughly the same way. What I mean by this is that they both showed and explained the main characters as much as possible to sell the film. For example The Lego Movie used the star system a lot and the trailer was built around this because they knew actors such as Morgan Freeman and Will Ferrell would sell the film as the audiences would know what sort of film to expect.

The Lego Movie had two main distributors these were: Warner bros pictures and Roadshow Entertainment. Warner bros pictures are an American producer of film they have been very successful over the years and have distributed many famous films such as Harry Potter and Sesame Street. Furthermore Roadshow Entertainment is part of the Australian media company Village Roadshow; they have helped distribute many films such as the terminator and First Blood.  Mrs Browns Boys D’Movie had one main distributor Universal Pictures this is classed as one of Hollywood’s big six distributors. They have distributed many famous films including Jaws and E.T.

Next is distribution this is about how the film gets to the target audience. For The Lego Movie this has been done in many different ways, first of all synergy was used in a very creative way. This means simultaneous products were released to boost the film. So in this particular case Lego themed events were held in many different shops across the globe to raise awareness of the film and promote the brand of Lego. Next McDonalds released eight limited edition cups which came with every happy meal to also help raise awareness of the film and its characters. The next aspect of distribution is convergence; this includes combining two or mediums to promote the film. Because more technologies have been released in recent years many different aspects can be used to help sell the film. In the case of The Lego Movie a video game was released to help the audience understand the story of the music better, also many different videos on YouTube were released of the main cast talking about their particular characters to help the audience gain a better understanding of them, lastly a theme song was released this is called ‘Everything is Awesome’ this helps show the ethics of the film and that you should think positive on life no matter what the circumstances. The next aspect of distribution is exchange this is the unintended use of institutions media text by other people, this has been unintentionally done by The Lego Movie because many copies of their theme song ‘Everything is Awesome’  have been released which helps raise awareness of the film. The last part of the distribution cycle is distribution its self, this is getting the film to the audiences and having a good marketing campaign. In the case of The Lego Movie this was done very well for example of the 6^th of February they had their release date and the film was screened in millions of countries around the world, however there was still more to come because other countries couldn’t use the subtitles they needed the whole script to be read done by new actors speaking their native language. Also over $400 million was made on the film which shows how successful it was at box office.  To keep distribution costs down they didn’t give the target audience actual Lego pieces for free, instead they made sets of the film up and these are sold separately which is good because the film is actually staying to it’s roots of actually building Lego compared to exaggerating the use of digital technologies which could had been done by Warner bros animation which would have ruined the brand image of Lego.

Furthermore the type of distribution used by BBC Films Mrs Browns Boys D’Movie is really different however also have many similarities. First of all synergy was used in a very creative way. This means simultaneous products were released to boost the film. In the case of Mrs Brown products such as a calendar of actions shots from the film has been released, a fancy dress costume of the main character Agnes Brown has been released and lastly many T-shirts with the Mrs Browns logo or picture have been released to promote the film and is a good of synergy by the producers and distributors BBC Films. The next aspect of distribution is convergence; this includes combining two or mediums to promote the film. Mrs Browns Boys have released a soundtrack of the film this includes all the hit songs which were played during the film to promote the particular film. Also an autobiography of the main character involved in the film ‘Brendan O’Carroll’ was released shortly after the film was made and released this helped promote the film because the people reading the book will find things out about the film and then hopefully will be persuaded to go and watch it. The next aspect of distribution is exchange this is the unintended use of institutions media text by other people, this has again been unintentionally done by Mrs Brown fairly similar to The Lego Movie because they have a famous catchphrase of ‘That’s Nice’ which has been released on many different platforms of media such as videos on the internet of people saying it in humours ways and on products such as T-shirts which all helped sell the film in its particular genre of comedy.  BBC Films used these types of products to distribute the film because it attracted the target audience a lot more than other types would have done, for example if they had released something which could have been built this wouldn’t have attracted Mrs Browns target audience because they are a lot older compared to my other case study The Lego Movie. Both production companies identified their films target audience and really recognized this and found it important for the films distribution, synergy, exhibition and exchange to be successful.

The premiers of the films helped the exhibition aspect of the two films I have been researching, first of all Mrs Browns Boys had the premier for the film in the Savoy cinema in the capital of Ireland Dublin, this was done to show that it hadn’t forgotten its original Irish roots which is a huge unique selling point for the film. In contrast the high budget American film of The Lego Movie was first released in Copenhagen were the premier was held, this is because of the history of Lego and Denmark. The first pieces of Lego were first made in Denmark so the film about of Lego would more than defiantly first be shown there.

In conclusion I feel that Warner bros animation’s The Lego Movie were a lot better at using distribution to engage the films target audience and help sell the film, however due to the fact Warner Bros animation is a lot bigger company compared to BBC Films it’s not surprising because they are able to afford to trial things and can bring out more and more things because the generally the American film industry have a lot higher budgets for their films compared to the British industry, which is the exact case for my two case studies. For example Warner bros animation had the budget to produce their own song and video game meaning the exhibition phase for The Lego Movie was a lot grater compared to BBC films and their film Mrs Browns Boys. However they also have many similarities, for example the television trailer was similar in the sense of mise-en-scene and ideology however the more finer aspects such as editing and iconography was very different due to the fact they different genre of films. Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie is a comedy and the trailer had to portray this also The Lego Movie is an action/adventure film which had to be portrayed but in a complete different way. However the biggest difference in the two films are the actual cast which were used, in The Lego Movie the star system was used to help sell the film, however Mrs Browns Boys D’Movie used a more low profile cast which produced a more realistic feel to the film compared to if they had used the star system. Due to the fact the Lego Movie is an animated film they are able to use the famous actors whereas because Mrs Browns Boys is more of a sitcom, using these famous actors wouldn’t have the same appeal and if less well known actors were used in The Lego Movie no one may be interested in going to see it, so for both films the right actors have been chosen. This again also backs my point up about the huge significant difference between American and British films because again in this case the American production company for the film had a lot more money to spend on more high profile actors compared to the low budget British film.  Lastly because Warner Bros animation is a global and international film the films they produce have to be aimed at such a enormous target audience because if they weren’t only the areas were Warner Bros is based would understand the comedy and stereotypes in the films meaning sales would be lower as none of the target audience areas the films are being distributed and exhibited too would be interested in them. Whereas in the case of the BBC films it is a more national institution meaning the films it produces can be more iconic and specific to certain areas because the area their films are being produced in are the areas the films are being distributed and exhibited to.

Lego Movie and Mrs Brown Essay

The two production companies I am going to be talking about are Warner Bros animation and BBC films. First of all Warner bros animation produced the animated film The Lego Movie and furthermore BBC films produced the British film Mrs Browns Boys D’Movie. I will also be comparing the production, distribution such as marketing, synergy and convergence and the exhibition of the low budget British film and the high budget American film.

Warner Bros animation:

Warner bros animation is the animated section of the major producer Warner Brothers. Warner bros animation is the successor to Warner bros cartoons which created many famous cartoon series such as The Looney Toons. It now focuses purely on the production of television and feature animation. The founder of Warner bros animation is Hal Geer, who is a American producer and filmmaker who most famously worked on Warner bros cartoon’s The Loony Toons. Warner bros most famous and successful film that they have ever produced is the series of Harry Potter films. Warner bros animation films usually have a budget of around $40 million to $90 million depending on the profile of the film. These expensive films usually make a gross profit of around $10 million to $30 million. However there has been the odd exception, for example The Lego Movie made around $468 million gross profit and the film Space Jam made around $230 million gross profit.

BBC Films:

This is the feature film making part of the British Broadcasting Co-operation. BBC films have produced some of the most successful British films of recent years; this includes films such as Billy Elliot. It also co-produces around eight films a year by working with major international and UK distributors. The head of BBC films is Christine Langan, she is responsible for the development and production of the company. BBC films are based at the broadcasting house in London.  BBC films produce films on a fairly small budget which is usually around £2 million to £10 million and they very rarely produce a film which produces such a gigantic profit they way Warner bros do.

First of all The Lego Movie is a huge profile American blockbuster film which raised over $468 million at the box office. The film it’s self was a basic idea by the directors to connect audiences together, the way actual Lego does. In February 2014 Warner Bros animation released their first animated film, which was more of a trial to see how they would compete against giants such as Disney Pixar. The Lego Movie became a box office success because of its large variety in target audiences. The context of the film was to show how Lego can connect parents and children together during play time. Ideology was presented by the directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were they said in a interview that connecting people through Lego was the main aim of the film. Because The Lego Movie had a wide target audience of anyone with a connection to Lego a huge variety of comedy and stereotypes had to be used to  engage the large target audience.

Next BBC films Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie was high profile British film which followed on form the television series meaning a huge fan base was already built. It was a idea developed by the main character Brendan O’Carroll back in the early 1990’s. the character Agnes Brown appeared in stage plays, radio plays and books before the film was released. Around £9.2 million was made at the UK box office on this film. This film had a target audience of mainly British people meaning a lot more British comedy and stereotypes were used to help sell the film.

During the production phase of the film there were many similarities and differences, first of all Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie cast were all family related and because they had previously all worked together on the television series they all felt comfortable around each other and could act to their best abilities. This high degree of realism was a huge unique selling point for the film, whereas in my other film The Lego Movie the ‘star system’ was used to sell the film, huge household names such as Morgan Freeman and Will Ferrell were added to the cast list to sell the film in a complete different way. However using  the family cast was a lot cheaper to do compared to using the star system to sell the film. Furthermore The Lego Movie was a animated film which meant virtual sets had to be built. This was done using 3,863,484 actual Lego bricks on the computer program Lego digital designer. Around 11 sets were built but they can help boost the films synergy as it can help promote the film in different ways. In contrast Mrs Browns Boys D’Movie was filmed in Dublin the capital of Ireland on one main set to keep costs down, this shows the huge contrast between the high budget animated American film and low budget British films.

Mrs Browns Boys had a budget of around £3.4 million this is nothing compared to The Lego Movie’s $60 million budget. For Mrs Browns Boys this produced many different challenges, for example the amount of extras which were used had to be limited to keep costs down whereas The Lego Movie could afford to do anything they wanted, a good example of this was when the script had to be completely re written and as a result some of the plot was changed which if the budget was lower could had caused many problems.

Lastly the amount of technology that had to be used in The Lego Movie was far greater than Mrs Browns Boys mainly because The Lego Movie was a animated film however production time and costs were a lot greater which was a challenge which Warner bros animation had to meet which they did.

Both The Lego Movie and Mrs Browns Boys D’Movie had huge marketing and advertising campaigns.  First of all Mrs Brown’s Boys had a huge fan base extending back from the original TV series and plays in the early 1990’s this meant that advertising had to be done only to raise awareness of the film compared to most new films were they have to advertise to raise awareness and to persuade the target audience to go and see it, so as a result only basic forms of advertising were needed this included: TV adverts, trailers, radio adverts, billboards, posters and newspaper articles but as I said  producers BBC Films gambled on the already existing fans of the already popular sitcom Mrs Browns Boys going to see the film. In contrast The Lego Movie had a huge advertising and marketing campaign the producers had to combine: synergy, convergence, exhibition, distribution and exchange a lot more compared to Mrs Brown’s boys. For example many products were released simultaneously to promote the film a good example of this was when McDonalds released eight limited edition Lego Movie cups with every Happy Meal that was sold. Furthermore one similarity between The Lego Movie and Mrs Browns Boys D’Movie was the care to detail that was involved in the trailers for the films. They were both released to help outline the basic aspects of the film and try and sell it to their target audiences however because their iconography was very different, first of all in The Lego Movie there was more of a action/adventure feel in the trailer because the more action events which occurred in the film were shown compared to the many other elements in the in it. Whereas Mrs Brown used the comedy aspect to help sell the film because this was made the TV series so popular so was a huge selling point for the film. Furthermore the trailer for The Lego Movie used a lot more diegetic and non-diegetic sounds such as the over emphasis on elements such as fire in an explosion and the use of music to help tell the story of the film. For example it was a fast paced beat to show the action/adventure clips as more dramatic than what they are, this is compared to Mrs Browns boys which predominantly used a narrative which helped explain the story of the film a lot more. Both the film trailers used mise-en-scene in roughly the same way. What I mean by this is that they both showed and explained the main characters as much as possible to sell the film. For example The Lego Movie used the star system a lot and the trailer was built around this because they knew actors such as Morgan Freeman and Will Ferrell would sell the film as the audiences would know what sort of film to expect.

 

The Lego Movie had two main distributors these were: Warner bros pictures and Roadshow Entertainment. Warner bros pictures are an American producer of film they have been very successful over the years and have distributed many famous films such as Harry Potter and Sesame Street. Furthermore Roadshow Entertainment is part of the Australian media company Village Roadshow; they have helped distribute many films such as the terminator and First Blood.  Mrs Browns Boys D’Movie had one main distributor Universal Pictures this is classed as one of Hollywood’s big six distributors. They have distributed many famous films including Jaws and E.T.

Next is distribution this is about how the film gets to the target audience. For The Lego Movie this has been done in many different ways, first of all synergy was used in a very creative way. This means simultaneous products were released to boost the film. So in this particular case Lego themed events were held in many different shops across the globe to raise awareness of the film and promote the brand of Lego. Next McDonalds released eight limited edition cups which came with every happy meal to also help raise awareness of the film and its characters. The next aspect of distribution is convergence; this includes combining two or mediums to promote the film. Because more technologies have been released in recent years many different aspects can be used to help sell the film. In the case of The Lego Movie a video game was released to help the audience understand the story of the music better, also many different videos on YouTube were released of the main cast talking about their particular characters to help the audience gain a better understanding of them, lastly a theme song was released this is called ‘Everything is Awesome’ this helps show the ethics of the film and that you should think positive on life no matter what the circumstances. The next aspect of distribution is exchange this is the unintended use of institutions media text by other people, this has been unintentionally done by The Lego Movie because many copies of their theme song ‘Everything is Awesome’  have been released which helps raise awareness of the film. The last part of the distribution cycle is distribution its self, this is getting the film to the audiences and having a good marketing campaign. In the case of The Lego Movie this was done very well for example of the 6^th of February they had their release date and the film was screened in millions of countries around the world, however there was still more to come because other countries couldn’t use the subtitles they needed the whole script to be read done by new actors speaking their native language. Also over $400 million was made on the film which shows how successful it was at box office.

Furthermore the type of distribution used by Mrs Browns Boys D’Movie is really different however also have many similarities. First of all synergy was used in a very creative way. This means simultaneous products were released to boost the film. In the case of Mrs Brown products such as a calendar of actions shots from the film has been released, a fancy dress costume of the main character Agnes Brown has been released and lastly many T-shirts with the Mrs Browns logo or picture have been released to promote the film and is a good of synergy by the producers and distributors BBC Films. The next aspect of distribution is convergence; this includes combining two or mediums to promote the film. Mrs Browns Boys have released a soundtrack of the film this includes all the hit songs which were played during the film to promote the particular film. Also an autobiography of the main character involved in the film ‘Brendan O’Carroll’ was released shortly after the film was made and released this helped promote the film because the people reading the book will find things out about the film and then hopefully will be persuaded to go and watch it. The next aspect of distribution is exchange this is the unintended use of institutions media text by other people, this has again been unintentionally done by Mrs Brown fairly similar to The Lego Movie because they have a famous catchphrase of ‘That’s Nice’ which has been released on many different platforms of media such as videos on the internet of people saying it in humours ways and on products such as T-shirts which all helped sell the film in its particular genre of comedy.

The premiers of the films helped the exhibition aspect of the two films I have been researching, first of all Mrs Browns Boys had the premier for the film in the Savoy cinema in the capital of Ireland Dublin, this was done to show that it hadn’t forgotten its original Irish roots which is a huge unique selling point for the film. In contrast the high budget American film of The Lego Movie was first released in Copenhagen were the premier was held, this is because of the history of Lego and Denmark. The first pieces of Lego were first made in Denmark so the film about of Lego would more than defiantly first be shown there.

In conclusion I feel that The Lego Movie are a lot better at using distribution to engage the target audience and help sell the film, however due to the fact Warner Bros animation is a lot bigger company compared to BBC Films it’s not surprising because they are able to afford to trial things and can bring out more and more things. For example they had the money to produce their own song and video game meaning the exhibition phase for The Lego Movie was a lot grater compared to Mrs Browns Boys. However they also have many similarities, for example the television trailer was similar in the sense of mise-en-scene and ideology however the more finer aspects such as editing and iconography was very different due to the fact they different genre of films. Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie is a comedy and the trailer had to portray this also The Lego Movie is an action/adventure film which had to be portrayed but in a complete different way. However the biggest difference in the two films are the actual cast which were used, in The Lego Movie the star system was used to help sell the film, however Mrs Browns Boys D’Movie used a more low profile cast which produced a more realistic feel to the film compared to if they had used the star system. Due to the fact the Lego Movie is an animated film they are able to use the famous actors whereas because Mrs Browns Boys is more of a sitcom, using these famous actors wouldn’t have the same appeal and if less well known actors were used in The Lego Movie no one may be interested in going to see it, so for both films the right actors have been chosen.  Lastly because Warner Bros animation is a global and international film the films they produce have to be aimed at such a enormous target audience because if they weren’t only the areas were Warner Bros is based would understand the comedy and stereotypes in the films meaning sales would be lower as none of the target audience areas the films are being distributed and exhibited too would be interested in them. Whereas in the case of the BBC films it is a more national institution meaning the films it produces can be more iconic and specific to certain areas because the area their films are being produced in are the areas the films are being distributed and exhibited to.

Film Technology research

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/digital/visual-effects/a-brief-history-of-the-movie-camera#slide-14

This a timeline video of motion pictures throughout the years of motion pictures, it explains how specific cameras have evolved over time.
http://www.red.com/history http://www.red.com/shot-on-red
This link shows all the films, television shows and pictures shot on RED cameras, it shows the vast range of things they are able to produce, such as: animation and action adventure type films.


http://www.technologyreview.com/news/426387/red-the-camera-that-changed-hollywood/
This particular article explains how RED cameras have been able to change and develop film in major film places such as Hollywood and also explains how they are being used.


http://witandfancy.com/2012/05/02/the-digital-debate-how-technology-is-changing-the-movie-industry-and-driving-film-out-of-business/
This article tries to explain how technology is changing the movie industry whether it is for the better or for the worse and lastly explains the current situation with film and how eventually it will be driven out of business. http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/9-mind-blowing-technologies-changing-the-film-industry%E2%80%99s-future--2 A good blog on many different aspects on how film is evolving and how it can be used and adapted in the future

Documentary on the two films video

Moving Image

Technical aspects of moving image g322 from reigatemedia

Moving Image Glossary from MissCTurner

Representation of Ethnicity Hotel Babylon Jan 2010

Representation of Ethnicity:

First of all in the clip there is a sound of a opening this straight away lets the police officers gain entry and instant authority over the place, next the director uses a over the shoulder shot to show the two officers have established their authority over the whole hotel and have brought the building into lockdown this shows similarities to a jail because no one will be able to get out.

The next shot is a slow zoom in on the women this has been done to give the audience the feeling of walking in to the hotel and shows her working conditions which is just the posh section of the hotel with expensive features. She has been portrayed by the editor to be well made out and well spoken, also the clothing she is wearing is white , expensive and cleans this symbolises to the audience the fact that because she is white and working upstairs in the hotel her ethnicity is a more significant factor in her getting the well paid job.

In the next shot the director uses a reverse shot to show the police entering the building and the women behind the counter, during this a non-diegetic sound is added this is the sound of percussive music which has been done to increase the amount of tension in the particular scene. The next shot is a over the shoulder shot to show the main policeman’s perspective on things, in this shot he seems a lot taller than the women which shows because he is the policeman he has more authority than her. This shot also shows the facial expressions of both characters he seems angry and annoyed whereas she seems concerning and alerted to the fact there is policemen in the hotel.

The policeman himself is dressing how he feels comfortable, for example he is wearing a plain t-shirt and no tie this highlights the fact that he has extra authority compared to his literal wingmen who are dressed in full uniform however this particular camera shot shows him being a lot shorter compared to the women which has been done to show the switch of power once again.

When the woman gives the code that the police have arrived the policeman instantly recognises it the policeman gives a little smirk and the director purposely zoom’s the camera in on him to show a close up of his face which shows this.

Once the code has been given the panic starts to set in, this has been portrayed by the director through the use of a stead cam which follows the character down the corridor and is a more natural camera shot, this and the use of percussive non-diegetic again intensifies the audience greatly.

When the character Jackie finds out about immigration she instantly starts rushing around and picks her large keys up which signifies a lot of locks similar to a prison. This can show the ethnic immigrants are being locked up and treated the same way prisoners are. She then progresses on and starts to run through the kitchen and starts to shout instructions about what has happened and how to deal with it in many different languages this infers that there is a large range of ethnic groups working in a small place.

As we move on through the clip the audiences sees a shot through the railings in the hotel this shows all the immigrants panicking and rushing around this was done by the director to be a visual motive and a metaphor for the constant theme of imprisonment of the immigrants.   

Furthermore as Jackie unlocks the door to the store cupboard the audience can really hear the sound of her keys jangling this has been to by amping sound of them up and giving the audience the impression of the running them imprisonment of the immigrants and that Jackie is more a prison warden to them compared to their manager in the hotel.

Next the director has put a series of close ups to the immigrants and zooms in on each ethnic group, this is a good use of connotation by the director because it has more than one meaning first of all It shows the audience the facial expressions of the immigrants and how alarmed they are by what has just happened and also it shows them standing in a small area and being treated like a horde of cattle.

A good use of cross cutting is used by the director because while Jackie is asking the immigrants Where is Ibrahim? It instantly cuts to him innocently doing his job not realising the consequences of being out there. This happens three times before he is eventually caught by the policemen.

One of the immigrants starts to have a diabetic fit and the African cleaner is able to identify the problem and solve it in a complex way, this shows the audience that the stereotype isn’t always right as he had come from a medical background. This has been done by the director to portray the immigrants as being more complex than what they seem.

This then swiftly switches to a more action orientated scene, Ibrahim is innocently cleaning when the police spot him when he realises who they are, the director does a extreme forward zoom onto his face showing all his facial expression which is predominantly shock, while this is happening the sound effects were added to add more tension to the scene. When he gets caught he gets dragged through the hotel lobby this shows juxtaposition because the grubby cleaner in his overalls is being dragged through the posh, expensive and clean lobby.

The ethnicity divide upstairs is just as racist as the police, this because the manager starts to order stereotypical ethnic people around. For example she starts clicking her fingers at Gino who is quite clearly Italian and orders him around.

Furthermore the non-diegetic sound instantly falls in tempo which signifies no action. This is being played over the top of Jackie clearing out Ibrahim’s locker which is showing the audience the sad, emotional, tragedy consequence of being caught. Also Jackie is opening his locker which symbolises freedom from the imprisonment by the hotel.

The next scene is all the immigrants sitting in their different ethnic groups while eating their dinner, the camera movement is a slow track across the whole room which shows all the ethnic groups being separate, this is compared to the unity which was being shown earlier in the clip when they were under siege by the police.

Lastly the father and daughter and praying which shows they are very disciplined in their religion and haven’t forgot their ethnic background. They are also being shown to the audience as being patriotical to their religion because no one can eat until after they all finish praying.

Overall the main representational issue is ethnicity this is challenged in many different ways. Connotation, denotation, iconography, the camera angles, the camera movement, the diegetic being used and the editing all goes towards the ethnicity divide. I feel ethnicity is being represented as a bad thing because of the way the different ethnic people are being treated.

Independent Research

AS Media Studies Exam Revision from jphibbert1979
Links to different Articles:

http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/The_Technology_of_Movies

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26291673

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25302988

http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/video/2013/mar/22/uktv-original-content-digital-transformation-video  

http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/mar/19/content-context-bauer-media-ceo-digital 

Script for Films

Script for my documentary

This is my first script for my documentary on Warner Bros 'The Lego Moive'and BBC Films 'Mrs Browns Boys D'Movie'.

Analysis of Lego Movie and Mrs Browns Boys Movie trailer

Media Definitions

Glossary of Terminology for AS Media Studies G322 Audiences and Institutions from Mr Lamb
http://www.slideshare.net/sandraoddy2/synergy-and-cross-media-convergence-15537127?related=2

Other media Definitions:
Synergy- Is the simultaneous release of different products to boots sales, can be used by bigger companies at the different elements then work together to promote linked products across different medias.

Convergence- Is combining two or more mediums, can happen in production, either distribution or exhibition. For example it happened when the music industry came with film industry when Adele released new single for the film Skyfall.

Exhibition- Showing films in cinemas or on DVD, media attention through opening nights and premieres it's how the audience see the film and the audience reviews the films received.

Exchange- The unintended use of an institutions media text by other people, who use the film or parts of it to form new texts what happens to a film. E.G. after public get their hands on it using digital technology

Distribution- Getting the films to their audiences, distributors also create the marketing campaign for the films..

http://www.slideshare.net/andywallis/media-terminology-21657022 This is a simple way of explaining certain defenitions. http://quizlet.com/12069246/as-media-studies-terminology-flash-cards/ A good way for me to quiz myself on certain media terms.

Film Presentation on Lego Movie and Mrs Browns Boys

Film Research

Issues raised by media ownership in contemporary Media practice:
All types of media is owned by a company. This means they hold the rights to publish and distribute other businesses work. If the owner feels its necessary they can manipulate the work. For example Warner Bros owns the rights to DC comics meaning they own the rights to all their characters.
The key issues raised by media ownership are: Piracy, the dominance of Hollywood over the media industry and the destruction of the UK film council.
Piracy:
This is the illegal distribution of media without permission of the owner. Advances in technology has made it easier to do, its cheaper and provides better quality. Electronic files can be leaked in advance of film releases ruining sales of the proper film. The internet allows pirated files of things such as Movies to be distributed all over the world very quickly. The technology is better so when it used in places such as cinemas the recording of medias such as films is of a better quality than ever before.

Digital technology has allowed films to be released all over the world. Before there was a delay in films reaching the UK from American meaning piracy is a more popular option.

Digital encryption means films can be securely distributed. The rise in digital film production and exhibition has meant technology is so advanced 3D cinema is now available. 3D is more difficult to illegally copy. This is because it can’t be filmed in cinemas. Watching 3D films at home is expensive meaning the mass audience aren’t really interested in it.

Multi million pound production companies are able to dominate the international film industry as they are able to release lots if titles and vast amounts of money to market and distribute them. They are only interested in making money so as a result try and released endless numbers of sequels.

The number of American films shown at cinemas is far greater than the number of british independent films being shown.  As a result organisations such as the UK film council have been forced to act to challenge the problem.

The importance of cross media convergence and synergy, in production, distribution and marketing:

The technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production, marketing and exchange:

The significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences:

The issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (especially British) by international and global institutions:

The ways in which the candidates' own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour:







Film Research Media Technology can refer to:
 Signal processing, Data recording, Data storage devices, Art media technology , Print media technology, Data transmission, Telecommunication, Digital media technology –Electronic media technology, Media technology university programmes, Media psychology, the field of study that examines media, technology and the effect on human behavior Digital media are any media that are encoded in a machine-readable format.Digital media can be created, viewed, distributed, modified and preserved on computers. In the years since the invention of the first digital computers, computer power and storage capacity on them have increased. Personal computers and smart phones put the ability to access, modify, store and share digital media in the hands of billions of people. Many electronic devices, from digital cameras to mobile phones have the ability to create, transmit and view digital media. Combined with the World Wide Web and the Internet, digital media has transformed 21st century society in a way that is frequently compared to the cultural, economic and social impact of the printing press

Film Production Presentation

Film Production Powerpoint

Lego Movie, Warner Bros, Mrs Browns Boys, BBC Films Research

Lego Move-Warner Bros animation, Mrs Browns Boys D'movie- BBC Films
Lego Movie trailer:

Lego Movie History:

In February 2014 Warner bros animation released their first actual animated film which was the Lego Movie. This was more of a trial to see how they would compete against giants in animation such as Disney Pixar who had recently re-released Frozen. Lego movie became a box office success because of its huge variety in target audiences all ages had a interest in Lego.  Lego movie was aimed at connecting audiences together, for example like in the film father and son can connect more through Lego. The directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller said in a interview that connecting people through Lego was the main aim of the film.

Advertising for Lego Movie:

the film itself is just a extended advert for Lego products. Seventeen different sets from the film have been released for fans to buy this comes with a set of collectable mini figures. A website has been opened so fans can make their own Lego figure, this can also be done on the Lego Movie app. Lego themed events were held to help the release of the film. During the release of the film McDonalds released 8 limited edition cups with every happy meal to help advertise the film. A video game of the film has been released this can also come in special edition which comes with a limited edition mini figure. The main soundtrack to the film is called ‘everything is awesome’ this was released to help promote the films ethics and how they think humans should think about the world. Many different videos on YouTube have been released of the main cast talking about their particular character and what influence they have on the film.

Money of Lego Movie:

The Lego movie has earned over $257 million in North America.

 Over $210 million was made in other countries across the world. 

Worldwide over $468 million was made on the Lego movie.

Studio of Lego Movie:

3,863,484 actuall Lego bricks were used to make the film sets. Production designer Grant Freckelton and his team used Lego Digital designer, which is a free computer program which allows users to build models using virtual lego bricks. The Lego Digital Designer files were then converted into a shell of various types, however the shells were made of a single mesh. These shells were then used to 

Warner Bros Animation: 

Warner Bros animation history:

Warner bros animation is a animated part of the major producer Warner Bros which has produced many majorly successful films such as Harry Potter. Warner bros animation is the successor to Warner bros cartoons this created many high profile cartoon series such as Looney Toons.  The new Warner bros animation has mainly focused on the production of TV and feature animation. In January 2013 Warner bros animation group was rethought and improved so turned into Warner bros animation.  The founder is Hal Geer who is a American producer and filmmaker who was most famously involved with Looney Toones. In Japan it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner on June 1, 2014. 

Warner Bros Logo: 

Always been shield background changes

Mrs Browns Boys:

Mrs Browns Boys History:

The main character is played by Brendan O’Carroll, several close friends and family members make up the rest of the cast. The film adopts a informal approach where the production makes mistakes but instead of them being edited out they are shown and the improvement is shown as well. This creates a relaxed approach but the critics of the film saw this as a negative point as it was quite shabby and was put on by the cast whereas in the TV series it is more genuine.  Mrs Brown’s boys was started to be developed by O’Carroll back in the early 1990’s. The character Agnes brown appeared in stage plays, radio plays, books.  A sequel to the film is still an idea but has been suggested by the main character and writer Brendan O’Carroll. 

Mrs Browns Boys Production:

In September 2012 it was reported £3.6 million was spent on the production of the film. A spokesman was also quoted in saying that it will have a distinct Dublin flavour. A script wasn’t written prior to a deal between the production company and Brenda O’Carroll taking place. Film had its world premier on 25^th June 2014. The distributors of the film didn’t not screen the film for critics before its release.

Advertising:

The film was advertised in many different ways including the normal ways such as: TV adverts, trailers, radio ads, billboards, posters and newspaper articles but mainly the producers gambled on the already existing fans of the already popular sitcom Mrs Browns Boys going to see the film. 

BBC films

BBC Films is a feature film making part of the BBC.  They have produced some most successful British films of recent years such as Billy Elliot. BBC Films Co-produces around eight films a year, working with major international and UK distributors. Christine Langan is head of it, responsible for the development and productions of the company. BBC films are based at the Broadcasting House in London since 2013. Before it was based nearby in Mortimer Street.  







Key Film Words

Film Production: Is when a film is prepared for filming by producers who then help actually make the film. They then go on to sell the film to a film distributor such as Warner Bros. These then sell the film on to places such as cinemas. 

Film Distribution: Is the whole process of having an idea and actually producing this idea to film making it viewable by audiences. The film is distributed to the different audiences. 

Film Exhibition: Is when the viewers are able to watch the film. It’s not the process of making the film it’s the stage were it’s sold to theaters so audiences are able to view it. It’s the retail branch of the film industry.

Monarch of the Glen

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Irqm5zDOphI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Monarch of the Glen:

Camera:

During the clip of Monarch of the Glen many different camera angles have been used. These have helped the representation of age greatly. Straight away one of the first camera shots is an establishing shot of the land, this uses denotation as it helps the viewer understand what the scene is about. The camera then moves on to show Amy. As she is the youngest person in the scene the camera looks down on her, this is compared to farmer McDonald as the camera looks up at him explaining how far superior he is compared to Amy because of his age. When farmer McDonald is speaking to Amy’s head teacher the camera shot is a close up of their faces to show their facial expressions all because they are older so this is anchorage as it again reinforces representation of age during the clip. Lastly when Amy and farmer McDonald argue the camera is an over the shoulder shot aiming up too show the audience the child’s point of view. This is a good use of connotation as it could have many different meanings but I feel it’s to represent  age again as it explains how far superior the older person is because the children have to look up to him.

Sound:

Throughout the clip the older characters such as farmer McDonald and Amy’s head teacher always speak down to the younger characters this shows prestigious age is. When both these two have a confrontation about the car crash Amy’s head teacher uses connotation and goes straight to the point of why Amy is missing school. He is speaking aggressively about her but not to her as he feels her age is so young she can’t be trusted or reasoned with because of her age which is good use of ideology because it’s the head teachers values and opinions being clearly presented. In contrast when farmer McDonald and Amy’s head teacher is alone they are more conversational and friendly towards each other because they both feel a mutual respect between adults which a child and an adult may not necessary have. The text may have been treated this way to represent age in such a way it’s demoralising to child as they don’t have any respect from adults. The dialogue in the background isn’t diegetic as it isn’t completely necessary but creates a country sort of mood and explains what happens on a day to day basis in the country.

Editing:

In the Monarch of the Glen the editing has been done to show representation of age. When Amy is in the scene in the truck the editing has been cut a lot more quickly as it kept switching from her being anxious in the van too cutting straight away to farmer McDonald loading up the truck. This shows age representation because it’s showing the difference between children struggling at an adult’s job to cutting to adults easily doing their job. When farmer McDonald and Amy’s head teacher are talking alone as ‘adults’ the editing is wiping so a image is replaced as it moves along the screen at a lot slower pace this is because it doesn’t change the camera angle very often. This shows age representation well, as it uses connotation as they have a lot to talk about and they have many different answers to the questions, also they aren’t as anxious as Amy was so the whole scene is a lot slower and more relaxed. The editing has used ideology very well in the sense that it creates many different feelings and outcomes to why editing has been done this way. For example when someone is feeling anxious or nervous it’s a lot faster compared to when someone is in a deep thought, the shots haven’t really been changed they have been left natural to embrace all the emotion in the certain shot.

Mis-En-Scene:

During the clip of Monarch of the Glen mis-en-scene gives you the viewer a really good understanding of representation of age. This is done in many different ways such as the differentiation in the clothes certain characters are wearing, if a characters clothes are dirty, worn and used, this means they are highly skilled and knowledgeable as they are a lot older, whereas if a character has fairly clean and new clothes these means they are a lot younger and aren’t as experienced. Furthermore in the scene where Amy runs away she only leaves on prop which is a bear this is predominantly a children’s toy which is innocent and sweet. The ideology of this is a bear is a young toy which a child would still have whereas at the same time the older characters are using big heavy machinery and lifting big heavy poles which shows the difference in age because it’s a contrast between two very different props. 

Overall the main representational issue is age. This is shown in many different ways if this is either connotation, denotation, anchorage or ideology. They all help to represent age. It has been done successfully through many different ways such as: camera, sound, editing and mis-en-scene. To me this particular clip represents age in a negative way and being young is a frowned upon. I feel this is wrong and the younger characters should be treated the same way as older characters are. Some younger people may not be more experienced but may not be more knowledgeable.