Dear Moderator

Welcome to my G321 Foundation Portfolio Blog

You can find my finished construction (which is a thriller film opening) here or embedded below:


 Here is the link to each one of my final evaluation questions:

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• 7

All posts labelled research can be found here

All posts labelled planning can be found here

Digital Age of Film

How does piracy affect Working Title, and how have they tried to stop it?

Previously piracy has moved up from 29% in 2006 to 32% through the use of online downloading on sites such as The Pirate Bay or through black market DVD's. Piracy has damaged almost all companies, especially bad to Working Title having 77.75 million pirate DVD's on the market previously leading to an estimate of around £700 million which has an effect on the industry to not be able to create as many production and even pay the production staff, this of course will effect Working Title more than Warner Brothers for example because they have contingency money to further fund other productions however with Warp Films for example they don't (Working Title not so much because owned by Universal). With piracy increasing at around 3% a year, it is becoming a bigger problem every time.

Working Title has attempted to prevent this in many ways including allowing for digital renting on their online site, in comparison with an untrustworthy site online. They also encode all of their productions on their DVD's and BluRay's in order to counter copying and there is a clear distinction between a counterfeit copy because of deteriorated quality as opposed to a legitimate copy. They create educational DVD's against the distribution of pirated material, in particular Working Title films. The physical BluRay discs are expensive to general public and almost seem not worth it to the black market.  Working Title have made deals with Apple on their iTunes store in order to link in when someone buys a DVD/BluRay you have the ability to download and redeem them via a code that you place into iTunes that you can then place on your portables such as iPhone and iPad. Along with this, we can find many titles that Working Title has produced such as Bean on Netflix making it a cheap way (£6/month) for everyone to stream films directly to their TV's at home.

Convergence Task - Need for Speed

The recently released Need for Speed film's website shows a number of different medias in order to attract their audience, for example below shows the different forms of media including pictures, video, cast, etc.

The downloads content includes various things such as wallpapers, .GIF files and Posters this allows the audience to feel involved and for example use the background on their PC or phone and further upload the GIF to sites such as Pintrest, Tumblr, Facebook, etc.

Next to almost all of their content, they have incorporated buttons to share onto social sites (Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr) this works to their advantage if people share the media and this will increase audience awareness and they have made it very easy in order to share or 'like' something with the buttons.

They have incorporated videos into the site in order to attract and interest the audience, almost giving away the 'extras' on a DVD or Blu-ray you would buy, this is to promote interest around and for the film and hopefully to pull as much profit as possible. 

Again, they have made it easy to purchase the tickets through an external link and although this isn't really a convergence technique it tries to have someone whom have been interested in the film through the media clips and photos, etc to then purchase a ticket to view it.

Evaluation Question 7 - PowerPoint - Final Draft

Media AS - Evaluation Question 7 Final Draft

More PowerPoint presentations from Andre Santos Allan

Added an extra 5 slides in order to address points outlined in the comment on previous post. If embed does not load then please follow this link

Spicy Nodes - Question 6 Evaluation Re-Draft

Added new details under the tabs of 'Web Tools' and 'Final Cut, LiveType, Logic and LiveType.' I also updated the 'Previous Knowledge' tab in order to be correct and filled with detail.

Poster/Pages Edit - How did you attract/address your audience? - Question 5 Evaluation (Final)

Poster/Pages Edit - How did you attract/address your audience? - Question 5 Evaluation (Final) from fsantosallan

Added a new page to the poster explaining and outlining the response to previous comment.

Evaluation Question 2 - Re-Draft

Created with Padlet

To the right you will see the added extra two boxes about how I represented social groups and also a brief note on stereotypes. 

Research on Sony

Sony, the large Japanese conglomerate that emerged in 1946 and they are primarily focused on the electronics, gaming, entertainment (Including columbia) and financial services. 

Sony own and make the following:

XPERIA Mobile Phones (Electronics)

Sony Ericsson [50% owned] (Electronics)

Sony VAIO computers (Electronics)

Sony TV's, Batteries, Video and Music Equipment (Electronics)

PlayStation 1,2,3,4, Vita, Portable, etc. (Gaming/ Electronics/ Entertainment)

Blu-Ray (Entertainment)

Music Labels (Entertainment)

Columbia (Entertainment)

Sony Life Insurance and Sony Bank (Finance) 

The Sony Company is worth an estimated 9,766,621,650.00 pounds.

Important Historical moments would include the release of the first PlayStation because it meant that they were accessing a new medium and they allowed the home entertainment and gaming market to become accessible to all in commercial industry including the worlds first dual analogue stick controller. A big moment with sony was the release also of their VAIO series and although expensive were the best in industries for software.

Success and epic failures of sony include the failure of the PSN (PlayStation Network) and when it went down in April of 2011 and also the PS3 launch as they launched it at too high of a price point at around £500 which was too high in comparison to the launch of the Xbox 360. A sucess though however is the take over of Columbia pictures in 1991 making films such as Money Ball and Big Fish.

The origins of the American Film Industry

Between 1895 and 1930 in America the film industry emerged into a popular and important medium and by 1930, America was dominated by 'the big five' companies. 1930-1949/52 is also known as 'the Studio Era'.

The Studio System

Production line - factory-like and the casts and crew were 'contracted' by studios. There was the 'big 5' and the 'little 3' who produced 'Casablanca', 'Gone with the wind', 'Singin' in the Rain'.

Big 5-Warner bros, Radio Pictures, MGM, Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox.
Little 3- Universal Pictures, United Artists and Columbia (didn't own their own cinema chain and wasn't able able to show their own productions.)

Conglomerate:

A corporation which consists of a number of subsidiary companies or divisions in a variety of unrelated industries, usually as a result of merger or acquisition. They are very big companies that have often brought up or taken over smaller companies.

Vertical Integration:

The 'big 5' applied the concept of vertical integration to their businesses and this is when the company controls just about every step of the production and doesn't need to rely on any other company. The 'big 5' made films with contracted directors and actors (usually the studio owned them), distributed them with their own distributions companies and then exhibited them in their own cinema chains and this is seen in all the 'big 5' companies (Warner bros, Radio Pictures, MGM, Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox). 

Hollywood today

Hollywood today is different place and although some of the same studios still exist, now around 12 big ones however still control most of the money that is made in the industy. However the process of getting a film has changed. Now studios no longer make films with their own contracted directors or actors and they rather 'strike deals' based on the 'package' with independent production companies, based on the actors involved, the genre and of course the quality of the script. 

If the film gets the 'greenlight' by a studio then they will agree to finance it.

Film Profit Margins

Hollywood unfortunately are still dictated by money and hence the string of summer blockbusters that are released from around May. Many of the 'blockbuster films' are low on originality and are often remakes or sequels. 

Why do they do this?

Because it creates an almost guaranteed audience for the film and therefore generates the most income. The films that really excite the industry are the low budget 'sleeper hits' that turnover millions at the box office as these will have the greatest profit margin. 

The end of the Studio Era

In 1949 the major studios were forced to sell off the cinema chains that they owned by the US government, after a court ruling that their practices were monopolistic. The American film industry declined further in the 1950's due to the rise of television. It wasn't until the late 1980's that Hollywood studios fully recovered. 

The contemporary American Film Industry

The American film industry is now dominated by six major film companies and the contemporary Big Six account for nearly 90% of the North American film market and all of these companies are subsidiaries of major media conglomerates (all part of bigger companies). The major studios in the US are below:

Market Share:

Time Warner - Warner Brothers - 20.1%

News Corporation - Fox - 16.1%

Viacom - Paramount - 14.3%

Sony - Columbia - 14.1%

The Walt Disney Company - Walt Disney Pictures - 11.9%

General Electric - Universal - 10%

Advantages and Disadvantages of Hollywood's domination?

Advantages:
The advantages to having a Hollywood dominate will lead to bigger budget films, including well-known actors and very good directors, editors and designers. This will attract big audiences and the majority of the time big hollywood films make a large profit, compared to UK independent films, of which only 7% of them actually make a profit. This has a direct impact on the UK economy such on the cinema entries in ODEON or VUE for example. The advantages of Hollywood is that they often have scouts whom search for new acting talent and get many actor discovered such as Johnny Depp in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984 version).

Disadvantages:
A disadvantage to Hollywood is of course that it marginalizes the british film industry as it creates competition with british independent films which cannot compete with high budget films that are created in Hollywood, therefore explains why only 7% make a profit because cinemas prefer to screen those movies as opposed to UK films.

UK Top 10 Films for 2011, 2012, 2013

USA Top 10 films for 2011, 2012, 2013

Why do you think dramas are so popular?

I think that dramas are popular because of the broad audience appeal it can possibly have, depending on the sub-genre. I feel that dramas are able to convey gripping story lines in TV series' that are able to captivate audiences to continue watching, this is true for series such as Mr. Selfridge (UK) and Breaking Bad (US) where their audience is so strong due to good plot and characters.

Drama is generally very broad for audiences and they manage to capture various ages and genders and countries usually, this is different to comedy for example where the comedy make be specific to a particular country such as Angry Boys which is specific to Australian and potentially British humour however for american humour for example they likely wouldn't understand. Another example with age would be The Inbetweeners which would only really aimed at teenagers and young adults and thus more elderly people may not find the humour as funny.

The sub genres are extremely wide, for example crime is incorporated in both Dexter and also the UK show of Midsummer Murders but it varies to historical action dramas such as The Musketeers.

List of shows from rating sheet

The musketeers is a show that was featured on the ratings sheet, it is a TV series that is aired on BBC and it is a drama show, containing a sub-genre of historical action and it is still on its first season as it began airing on the 19th of January 2014.

Eastenders is a drama show that has been going for what seems like forever. It doesn't really have a sub-genre of various elements such as crime and action but it is a soap therefore it changes between episodes. It is a TV series that has been airing since 1985 and there has been approximately over 5000 episodes to date.

Another drama show series is Death in Paradise that has been running since 2011 and continues to date on it's third series. It has a sub-genre of mystery and crime and has been airing on BBC one. It has had very good audience and critic feedback.

PowerPoint - Question 7 Evaluation Draft

Media AS - Evaluation Questio...

More PowerPoint presentations from Andre Santos Allan

Spicy Nodes - Question 6 Evaluation Draft

Poster/Pages Edit - How did you attract/address your audience? - Question 5 Evaluation (Draft)

Poster/Text - Q5 - How did you attract/address your audience? - Media Evaluation from fsantosallan

Prezi - Question 4

Podcast - Evaluation Question 3

Directors Commentary - Question 1

Evaluation Question 2

Created with Padlet

If embed not working then follow link here

Planning the Evaluation Responses

The following are the seven evaluation questions and I will discuss how I will attempt to tackle each question with my initial ideas and use of different technologies and resources.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

I think that this question would be best answered in a 'directors commentary' to the camera style, referring to my influences when I was creating and directing our thriller opening for An Eye for an Eye. I will include clips from videos where I can taken influence from or to show relevant conventions in Thriller movies, see below for an example of the video clip (Disconnect) that I will download and include in my commentary to further show and introduce a cleaner and better way to show influences. 



Click here for an example of a directors commentary on YouTube and something I wish to replicate in a similar way but with just myself and added clips.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

For this question I wish to use a different form of media, such as Padlet and this is another form of media where I can use Text, Images, embed videos and extras on a virtual board:

This will be useful as I will mostly use test however I can also embed YouTube videos to the site and thus it becomes more interactive and I think this will work well because of mostly my description and response will come through text but I can back up my points through use of images and video.

3. What kind of media institutions might distribute your media product and why?

In order to answer this question I believed that using a Podcast and uploading it to YouTube or SoundCloud would work well because I did not require the need for images, simply a typed up script to follow, I would discuss about Independent and Mainstream films, discussing that my film would be likely to be funded and distributed by an independent film institution. You can see below, examples of (not relevant) podcasts:

BBC Podcasts:

iTunes:

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

I think that this one would be best addressed using Prezzi as it will allow me to create a dynamic presentation showing and introducing various elements such as videos showing clips from previous films that have a clear audience, maybe even introduce the BFI YearBook as it contains a section on audiences and refer back to Thriller conventions.

http://www.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-statistical-yearbook-2013.pdf

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

In order to address this question I aim to use Word or Pages, however make it look visually appealing by using a template and base it more on a poster, below shows the potential that Pages has to work with and I hope to use a template like this:

The Pages app will work well because I can incorporate both text and good imagery to back up the text and will work to show audiences because I believe that stills will work well as opposed to clips from the films. Once completed, I plan to upload it to SlideShare and it will then be interactive and dynamic. 

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

For this question I believed that the most effective way to present it would be with both images, clips and possibly audio files, therefore I thought that using Spicy Nodes would be effective as it works well as a mind-map but you can still include plenty of detail in my text.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the main task?

The next and final way that I hope to present my work will be through the use of Microsoft PowerPoint and uploading it to Author Stream. Powerpoint allows me to also include photos and videos, along with making the document look classy and still present my progression. I can have a separate slide for each progression, showing how I advanced from our preliminary task and how we advanced as a group.

'Student Speak'

1.  The problems with media companies owning too much stuff

2.  The importance of using all avenues and working together with companies to make a film and het it ‘out there’

3.  The technologies that have been introduced recently at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange

4.  How important is it for institutions and audiences to have fast access to easily available hardware and content

5.  The importance of using lots of different technological avenues for institutions and audiences

6.  The problems with American companies targeting British audiences with their films

7.  How what you like and consume shows us how audiences behave in general.

Key Terms - Defined

Key Terms - Definitions

Audience: the group of spectators at a public event; listeners or viewers collectively, as in attendance at a theatre or concert: The audience was respectful of the speaker's opinion.

Institutions: an organization, establishment, foundation, society, or the like, devoted to the promotion of a particular cause or program, especially one of a public, educational, or charitable character: This college is the best institution of its kind.

Production: the act of producing; creation; manufacture or; something that is produced; a product.

Distribution: The act of moving the product and sharing to the customer or target audience through use of companies

Marketing: the total of activities involved in the transfer of goods from the producer or seller to the consumer or buyer, including advertising, shipping, storing, and selling.

Exhibition: a public display, as of the work of artists or artisans, the products of farms or factories, the skills of performers, or objects of general interest.

Consumption: This is where the public consumes items; in which case they use take something from the movie, culturally.

Horizontal integration: horizontal integration is a strategy where a company creates or acquires production units for outputs which are alike - either complementary or competitive. One example would be when a company acquires competitors in the same industry doing the same stage of production.

Vertical integration: the integration within one company of individual businesses working separately in related phases of the production and sale of a product.

Conglomerate: a corporation consisting of a number of subsidiary companies or divisions in a variety of unrelated industries, usually as a result of merger or acquisition. 

Multinational: When a company is based in multiple countries

Cross media ownership: the ownership of multiple business or companies by one person or organisation 

Convergence: when two companies or organisations come together.

Synergy: When two companies combine together however still remain independent.

Digital Technology: The modern technology, opposed to analogue. Heavily featured in media with things such as Digital cameras and computers. Distributed to cinemas now in a digital format.