Audience and Institution Essay

To what extent is digital distribution vital to the media area you have studied?

Film consumption has changed dramatically in recent decades. Movie viewing has grown exponentially in domestic and mobile spheres, driven by increasingly flexible access to content and the diversity of screens this material can now be delivered to an individual's cellular device within minutes.  As of 2018, 54 percent of U.S.-based respondents stated that their favorite moving watching location was at home.Only around 13 percent of respondents stated that they preferred to watch movies in a theatre, while 22 percent stated that they like the theatre and home options equally. The digital distribution has become a vital part of the film industry. 

    An extensive viral marketing campaign was created in order to promote Ridley Scott's Prometheus, and the film became a massive success due to this contributing factor. Any major film studio is going to have a marketing campaign which includes some kind of online element, perhaps a trailer and a few film clips, but only few reach a major, viral victory, and Prometheus was amongst those that had, due to very generous investment from 20th Century Fox. Everything was distributed digitally to the public via the internet - on the 'Prometheus' website and the 'Prometheus' channel on YouTube - or through television (trailers shown during advert breaks), which allowed for a good number of people to become aware of the film and created a lot of hype surrounding it. The film had a budget of $130 million and with the help of digital technology the film was able to produce nearly $404.5 million in the box office.  In terms of consumption, Prometheus was released in over 15 markets during cinema exhibition, both in 2D and 3D, which was an experience that could not be topped by digital distribution, but was then sold to online distributors such as LOVEFiLM and Netflix, having been released on DVD and Blu-ray in over 50 countries prior to this, so as to reach an extremely wide audience.

    The franchise Fast and Furious has taken a similar approach to Prometheus in terms of using digital distribution to their advantage. The franchise used a website created for Furious 7 called www.furious7.com where there are contests, pictures, videos, information, and more. Their advertisement was distributed digitally to the public via the internet. The big exception to this is the sygenry Universal Studios used to promote the movie. Adding the Fast and Furious ride was another way that the company promoted the film. The company has been resisting releasing them with online distributors like Netflix and Hulu. While the film made $1.5 billion in the box office striking a deal with an online distributor could increase their revenue significantly.  

    The film Trolls World Tour made nearly $100 million in the past three weeks through digital sales, according to The Wall Street Journal, reportedly bringing in more revenue for Universal than the original Trolls’ entire domestic theatrical haul. Due to the pandemic the increase in digital sales may have just proved that using other means of distribution can be just as successful if not more than solely relying on theater releases. 

    Another film which relied heavily on digital distribution during the marketing stages was The Inbetweeners Movie, although this was not quite the case during the consumption of the film. The film became the third fastest-selling British home media release of 2011 after the two final Harry Potter instalments, after selling approximately 575,000 copies on the first day of its release. The film grossed just over a staggering $88 million dollars during the cinema exhibition, which was unbelievable since its budget had been only $4.375 million dollars. The Inbetweeners which was a tv series before a film gain so much revenue because people who have not considered watching the film if not for the tv series. They used trailers shown during tv breaks to keep the hype surrounding the film. 

    Overall, digital distribution affects the marketing and consumption of films quite significantly, as the internet is becoming increasingly popular as the years go on and a cinema experience is becoming less of a must due to the continuing development of technology.

Extract Essay: Game of Thrones

For my extract I got to dissect a few scenes from The Series Game of Thrones. After viewing the extract, I concluded that the theme the director was trying to convey is that the title you seek is not simply giving you must earn it and justify you right to it. You cannot accept something to be given to you just because you're entitled to it. 

   

The Theme starts off in the first scene by using a bird view shot to introduce the actor’s location and scenery which was on a boat in the middle of the ocean. The bird eye view shot also help assert the directors theme of power and title because he hold the camera over an statue which emphasize the scope. During the establishing shop we can also see a few more pops like a statue in boats that were added to create the idea that they are approaching a rich Kingdom.  

During the scene the lighting is very low-key as if the sun was starting to set. This gives the effect that the men are going on a long journey or coming home from a battle. Those camera shots and movement show that all their focus was what was in front of them while the costume showed that the men were in leadership. There are also the non-diegetic sounds of the sea gulls in the background. There is a limited amount of music used throughout the extract, but the beginning is the only scene where they use it. Using the music only at the beginning means that something important is to follow.

In the second second scene shot reverse shot edit which helped create the feeling the viewers were in the room with the two men. The shot reverse is most effective when having the conversation as we are able to see the reactions of the actors as they are having their conservation. The edit went on to show that the characters were looking at the island in front of them which is shown through an establishing shot.

Final Task CCR

This is my final task ever for AICE Media Studies and I have to say it has been a journey. I am grateful for the experience. Thank you enjoy!

Vanished Film

This film is about 2 sisters who in a trip to the grocery face unexpected challenges. Due to the Coronavirus outbreak my group was unable to finish our film so this is the mostly unedited version. There are scenes missing since we weren’t able to get the new footage dumped on a computer and edited. Hope you enjoy!

Music Video CCR

Commercial CCR

How does your product use or challenge conventions AND how does it represent social groups or issues? 

For my Nike commercial, I carried out a detailed research on different conventions used for brands like Nike and Adidas commercials. To understand the codes and conventions used we watched and analyzed several sports videos. Through these commercials, I learned that these commercials often have a bigger message behind them than just trying to sell a product. The message is often captured by highlighting the sounds, camera angles, and mis en scene. The camera angles were important, especially in our commercial. The camera angles convey the message that the brand is trying to get across. Most of the used camera angles are medium close-ups and closes. This is done to emphasize the athlete's expression which creates a connection with the viewers. Our commercial represents young athletes. Our locations and mis-en-scene used in the commercial represents the typical track athlete. We showed our actor in bright settings of a track field and the outfit of a typical person getting ready for their meet. By using these conventions and mis-en-scene the audience can relate to the person more, therefore, persuades them to buy the product. In our commercial, we used a piece of energetic music in the background to represent the energy that is felt through the body of the athlete. We also used no dialogue because we were trying to show him mental preparing for his run. We try to follow most of the conventions used because it is known to get the audience to buy Nike products, challenging those conventions could have led to low sales. 

How does your product engage with audiences AND how would it be distributed as a real media text? 

The commercial is aimed at a young athlete, so we try to get the audience to relate to the athlete. The product engages with the audience because it is being worn by someone passionate about their sport. The thing that will make people watch our commercial is that we take away all the dialogue from the commercial which is typically used in all commercials. Taking away the dialogue allows the audience to focus on the actor's expression which we can see the emotion that is running through them as they get ready for their run. To distribute our commercial, we would various social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat because most athletes have social media. We would place our ads as they are scrolling through their timelines and stories. We would also use paid sponsorships from well-known athletes because many young athletes idolize these people. If they see people how they look up to wearing our Nike product they will be tempted to buy it. We would also advertise our Nike product on Monday night football. The reason for advertising during this time is because many dads are watching the games with their sons who possible play sports so they would more willing to buy it if they see their favorite player with it especially if they just won a game. To get to a larger platform, we would use YouTube. Young players are watching reruns of a certain play which would be the perfect opportunity to place a Nike commercial. 

How did your production skills develop throughout this project? 

Through this commercial, I learned to stay more organized and on top of my schedule. Though we didn't have a huge group I still had to keep other people grade in mind, so I was more aware of everything and trying to keep everything on schedule as much as possible. Organization I must say is one of the hardest things to do. I often get things misplaced then ended leaving what I'm doing for the last minute. Another skill that I developed was problem-solving. While filming our video we had multiple classes come out onto the field as we are filming. These people constantly got in our shot, so it was annoying. We had to come up with a plan to get the shots we need while they were on the track. At that moment I learned to keep my patience intact. Communication is an important part when making anything together as a group. For this assignment especially I had to talk to my group to talk through all the ideas I had to make sure they agreed with what I came up with. I also had to be open to listening to the ideas that they came with also. Communication is a two-way street and that's one of the biggest lessons I learned through this project. Another skill that is developed through this assignment is your researching skills. This assignment requires you to be familiar with all the codes and conventions that are associated with your commercial type. Honestly, when I first started this, I didn't think I was going to have to do any research for this class, so I was surprised when I had to research on multiple occasions. However, since researching is an essential part of many classes I take it was good to hone my skills 

4. How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project? 

Through this assignment, I gained knowledge on how to use software like Pinnacle Studios. I never had any use for editing software before, so this was all new to me. By taking AICE Media Studies I learned the how-to of the process. The question I always had on how they got that animal to talk or how did they get that car to fly. The hardest part of this assignment was using Pinnacle Studios I believe. As a class we all had difficulties getting the software to work, but I feel that our group had the most difficult times. Our Pinnacle Studio was constantly lagging making it difficult to get anything edited on the computer. After having such difficulties, we switched to iMovie, which was much easier than Pinnacle Studios. Inserting our music provided to be slightly challenging also as it wouldn't turn into an MP3. This my first attempt to ever trying to do it, but after getting help from a classmate I found it to be easy. The easiest thing was filming the video. We had to use the school cameras which aren't the fanciest, but they get the job done. At first, using the tripod was a little confusing figuring how to use the pan and tilt part but we eventually got the hang of it. I'm proud of my ability to use a lot of new technology like the camera, SD reader, and Pinnacle Studios and make a video that I can say is pretty good for my first time.

Music Video: Love Don’t Change