Discuss the importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing re-write

Discuss the importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing?

Different levels of cross media convergence and synergy can greatly effect a films production, distribution and marketing. Warner Bros animation are a big conglomerate and when they released The Lego Movie (Lord and Miller, 2014) all of the films, levels of production, distribution and marketing benefited greatly from cross media convergence and synergy which is a good representation of how significant it is to big conglomerates such as Warner bros. Whereas the independent institutions such as BBC films don’t really see a huge importance in cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing. For example when BBC films released Mrs Browns Boys D’Movie (Kellet, 2014), they didn’t really pursue and identify the importance in cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing as they didn’t really use these factors to try and help promote their film. This represents how important cross media convergence and synergy is to big conglomerates rather than independent institutions.

First of all as The Lego Movie (Miller and Lord, 2014) is a franchise of actual Lego the films production benefited greatly from this. For example a Lego digital designer was produced to help create the millions of virtual Lego bricks which were needed to create the film. Each individual Lego brick which was created had to have real life effects such as scratches and dents to make them seem more realistic. This is a good example of how The Lego Movie benefited and were able to identify the importance of synergy to help the film have another major unique selling point and to help the film look as authentic as possible. Whereas in contrast my other case study the independent institution of BBC films benefited from convergence in a very different way because their film Mrs Browns Boys D’Movie (Kellet, 2014) already had their own television series which means as a result the film already had a existing fan base which was pivotal in allowing the film to generate a certain amount of sales.

Furthermore through the distribution and marketing aspects of Warner Bros The Lego Movie (Miller and Lord, 2014) promotional campaign benefited greatly from cross media convergence and synergy. First of all because Warner Bros animation is a American film company they identified that the marketing and distribution of the film is the most important aspect, which enables them to see the huge gap in the market and which ways will be the most successful. For the films synergy they decided to use major things such as: Lego themed events around the world, actual sets of the film was released to allow fans to buy and make the sets, they have a devoted section to the film at the theme park called Lego land, a clothing range was released,  costumes of the main characters were released, mini-figures of the characters were released, lastly The Lego Movie and Warner bros also partnered up with McDonalds and released eight limited edition Lego movie cups with every Happy Meal to help the film appeal and be sold to the main target audience. Doing this much synergy benefited the film greatly as it made over $300 million at the box office and become one of the year’s biggest grossing films for 2014 which again was another way they sold the film as word of mouth spread about how good it was because of how much they made at the box office. Whereas the independent institution of BBC films and their film Mrs Browns Boys D’Movie (Kellet, 2014) only used a variety of forms of synergy to help sell the film to their target audience this includes: a calendar, a range of costumes and a small range of clothing. This is a lot smaller amount of synergy used by BBC films compared to the amount used by Warner Bros animation. However Mrs Browns Boys D’Movie still made over £200 million in sales at the box office and was deemed a commercial success. This represents that synergy isn’t as important for smaller independent films as it is for big conglomerates because synergy is one of the main features which helps the conglomerates sell the a film.

During the marketing and distribution of films cross media convergence can have a huge impact on how successful a film is at the box office. For example the big conglomerate Warner Bros animation used a huge amount of cross media convergence to help with the release of their film The Lego Movie (Miller and Lord, 2014) this includes: a video game which was released along with the film, a soundtrack which was released on many different media platforms, YouTube clips of the main stars talking about the film and their characters where released, lastly a theme song called ‘Everything is Awesome’ was released which helped promote the key ethics of the film, furthermore this song was also re-released by different artists which was a good use of cross media convergence which didn’t cost The Lego Movie anything however it helped promote the film. However In contrast the independent institution of BBC films and their film Mrs Browns Boys D’Movie didn’t use half as much cross media convergence to help sell the film to their target audiences. They only used a limited amount of convergence which includes: an autobiography of the main star Brendan O’Carroll talking about the film production and being distribution, also a soundtrack of the film was released on different media platforms, lastly again YouTube videos of the production of the film was released. This explains the difference between the two different types of institutions and the way they use convergence to help sell the film.

In conclusion I feel institutions using synergy and cross media convergence in a films production, distribution and marketing is vitally important to a film’s success. Big conglomerates such as Warner bros animation are very good at using them both, in the process of a films production, distribution and marketing which leads to the huge success of nearly every film that they release and the continued growth of Hollywood and the strong force of the film production oligopoly. Whereas the smaller independent institutions not being as effective with it all will lead to the nearly the same outcome for most the films they produce, distribute and market which is normally failure and as a result will never be able to compete with Hollywood and gain some of the market share.

Fingersmith re-write representation of sexuality

Finger smith Clip January 2012                                                    Representation Issue of Sexuality

During the Finger smith clip the representational issue of sexuality is significant throughout it. The different micro features of: camera, editing, sound and mise-en-scene allows the audience to identify the representational issue which is significant and represented throughout the clip.

The first significant micro-feature I am going to be talking about is camera, many different camera shots and movements are used to help represent the issue of sexuality throughout the clip. For example the first camera shot which is used by the cinematographer was a over the shoulder shot this is significant because it connotate’s that they are both equal because of their gender however one of the women is always helping the other, this is significant to help the audience understand the relationship between the two characters. The next significant camera shot which is used is a low shot which looks up to the two women in bed while one of them runs her hand over her body. This is significant because it is the first time the male gauze is used this is because it helps over sexualise the mode of address and represent that it is a dirty scene which at the time was forbidden unless it was a man and women who was married. Furthermore the next significant camera shot which is used is a high angle shot which shows the man looking down on the more vulnerable women, this follows the hegemonic norms because the man has more dominance and power in the scene. Furthermore close ups and jump cuts are used by the cinematographer through a shot/reverse shot to show the audience one of the women’s facial expressions which juxtaposes with a close up of the other women’s cleavage. This connotate’s to the audience the lust one of the women has for the other and helps represent their homosexual feelings for each other to the audience. The last significant camera shot which is used is a mid shot of the women and the man behind a tree this is significant because it shows the two characters doing sexual things such as the man taking of her glove and licking the female characters hand, however because it is happening between a male and a female this is a use of ideology because it is a idea which was more acceptable the time that the Finger smith clip was set.

The next micro feature which was used within the clip which I am going to discuss is mise-en-scene this feature has been constructed with very good treatment as it significantly helps their clip represent the issue of sexuality. First of the lighting varies throughout the clip to suggest and create different meanings. For example at the beginning of the clip low key lighting is used to suggest a down beat sexual mood this juxtaposes with the dirty mirror which symbolises and represents their personalities because the mirror is dirty like their character. Furthermore a good example of low key lighting being used was when the women hovered her hands over the other women’s body because the lighting was dark this suggests that the particular act was against social conformity and forbidden because they were two women and not married. In contrast high key lighting is used in the next scene as it is mid day a stereotypical less sexual part of the day and one the women is still thinking about her in a sexual way and it is showing the linear narrative of the clip. Furthermore another aspect in the micro feature of mise-en-scene is the characters costumes. These are significant as they help represent sexuality in a very unique way. For example the two women are wearing very revealing costumes for the 18^th century whereas the man in the scene is wearing a formal suit which shows he is following the social society rules but the women don’t as they want to look beautiful and appeal to each other. This again is a use of the mal gauze because the mode of address is a lot more sexual as they are scene in a more sexual way compared to if they were wearing less revealing and sexual costumes. Furthermore in the scene were the man takes the women’s glove off and starts licking her hand in a sexual way is also significant to the representational issue of sexuality because they both start heavy breathing and he is holding her neck in a sexual way which could imply a form of sexual activity such as rape because it’s something which the audience sympathises with her about because she doesn’t really want to be doing it. This scene also follows the hegemonic norms of social conformity because he has the physical and mental power to put her in this situation.

The next micro feature is sound this is all the diegetic, non-diegetic and ambient sounds which are used throughout the clip to help represent the issue of sexuality a lot more to the audience. Straight away non- diegetic sound is used by the main female character in the form of a voiceover where she says ‘you look so beautiful’ this is significant because it helps the audience understand the relationship between the two women as one of them sees her as beautiful. Furthermore slow pace stringed music is non diegetic sounds which are used to heighten the sense of sexual desire which exists between the female characters relationship. However in contrast in the next scene a diegetic sound of the main female character screaming is used however it is masked by the man’s hand this is significant because it connotate’s he is more physical and also he has more dominance over her. This also links to the non-diegetic sounds because the classical music is more upbeat compared to before which represents and signifies the current situation and it tells the audience the possible dangers which the female characters could be about to face. This is a good use of binary opposites because the sexual scene at the beginning has slower and more relaxed non diegetic’s however the scene which isn’t sexualised as much has more upbeat non-diegetic sounds. Lastly ambient sounds such as birds signing and sound bridges are used to help add a significant effect to the scene as it is made more peaceful and relaxing. 

Furthermore the last micro feature which is used within the clip is editing which is used to help represent the issue of sexuality. In every scene in the clip which includes the women the editing is a lot slower whereas in contrast the scene which includes the man the editing is a lot quicker. This is significant because it helps represent the difference between the two different genders and their sexual relationships with each other. For example the main female character’s editing is a lot slower because she has lust and deep love for the other women whereas the man’s editing is a lot quicker because he is trying to get married and have a sexual relationship for other reasons than just pure love and emotion. Furthermore the editing technique of a dissolve fade is used on two occasions which has been done to show implied connections between the two scenes. For example the first time the dissolve fade is used it the first scene is about the main female character thinking about the other women in a sexual way and the scene it connects with through the technique is when she hovers her hands over the other women’s body again in a sexual way which is the main connection between the two scenes. These are significant and are presented as being connected because they both include the main women thinking homosexually about the other women. This forbidden because the time the clip was set in was a very homophobic and metrosexual period in time. Adding to this the editing technique of ellipsis editing of the narrative sequence is used by the editor to link it with the ambient, non-diegetic and diegetic sounds throughout the clip, this adds effect to certain scenes and makes it seem more dramatic to the audience.

In conclusion all the micro features which are used in the Finger smith clip helps imply and present the representational issue of sexuality. The micro features of camera, editing, sound and mise-en-scene all has connotations and helps support the mode of address. These have all been constructed and treated in this way to help represent the issue of sexuality.