What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
1.
2. Based on how we have produced our
opening sequence, we believe that our
film is something that could be
produced by a major film studio
through one of the multimedia
conglomerates that dominate the high
concept film industry. This is because it
is similar to the high budget films
produced by these companies which
oligopolise the market as it is an action
film which is fast and would require a
large budget to achieve the desired
impact we would want to achieve
through the use of higher-end
equipment and software than we have
access to currently.
3. The main films we researched during
the production of our opening
sequence were the James Bond films,
in particular the 3 most recent films in
the international franchise: Casino
Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall.
The Bond films are filmed primarily at
Pinewood Studios which features one
of the largest sound stages in the
world.
Approximately $200million was
pumped into the production Skyfall,
and this allowed the film to take place
in stunning scenery and prime
locations in London. While we were
limited to filming in the suburbanised
village of Culcheth, if our film had such
a massive production budget we
believe that our film would be able to
achieve a similar standard.
4. We took a lot of inspiration for our
character of Agent Chase from James
Bond, although we made our main
character more rugged and someone
who is even less accustomed to
following orders than Bond is. As a
result, we believe we have created a
character worthy of a high end
production company.
However, James Bond is a huge
franchise that has the monetary input
to hire stars that are already known to
audiences and so help to sell the film. If
our film was to be successful, we too
would probably need a famous actor
to take the lead role. Because of the
fact that our character is similar to
those already seen throughout action
films, it would be easy for an
experienced actor to fall into such a
familiar role.
5. The opening to our film is also similar to those seen in
action films within Hollywood. It begins almost immediately
with action setting the basis for the rest of the film, and also
raises questions in the audience that would be answered
later in the film, such as what it is that has been stolen? And
how exactly Agent Chase and Commander X are
connected.
However, as a result of current action film franchises such as
James Bond or The Avengers, it would be very difficult to
wedge our way into the industry, as it is dominated by films
which already have huge fan bases, and the way we would
be able to do that is through distribution.
Distribution allows to film to be marketed to the target
audience and to ensure the film is a success by creating a
fan base as people learn about the film and want to find out
more and watch it. We would create several trailers to be
distributed in the weeks leading up to the film’s release.
There would also be a website set up to allow people to
find out more about the film, and this would form an easy
and low cost way of advertising our film as it will be so easily
accessible for the audience.
New media technologies also open new scopes for
advertising, such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Tumblr
which require relatively tiny amounts of money to create a
worldwide marketing campaign. These social network sites
also allow prosumer marketing as people across the internet
create their own tie-ins with the film, further advertising it.
6. Columbia Pictures is an example of a distribution company that
could advertise our film. It is part of the multi-media
conglomerate Sony and was the distributor of the 3 most recent
bond films, as well as the Raimi Spider-Man trilogy and the
Amazing Spider-Man films. Columbia has colossal scope to
market in, due to the vast number of multi-media companies,
converging in both technology and industry, that fall under
Sony.
This can be seen in the marketing of The Amazing Spider-Man. It
featured several posters and trailer, as well as merchandise such
as a video game, action figures, trading cards and nail polish. A
viral marketing campaign also surrounded the film which sent
people on a scavenger hunt throughout cities in America via
Twitter as well as graffiti logos, and both a Daily Bugle and
Oscorp website.
If our film had this amount of marketing injected into it, it could
become a highly successful film, as it has scope to become a
game, and to have merchandise such as action figures and toys
of the props used within the films. The fact that there is already a
huge audience internationally for spy/action films also means
that there is potential for our film to become a much larger
franchise as it does have a relatively simple narrative and plenty
of action. If it were to be distributed by a company like
Columbia, the film could also be advertised within cinemas
before their large new blockbusters (e.g. The Amazing Spider-
Man 2) to raise awareness in an audience that are already fans of
similar genres.
7. Our film certainly has the potential to be distributed for
exhibition within mainstream cinema in large cinema chains
such as Odeon or Cineworld. This is because although our
film may be more gritty than action movies such as Mission
Impossible, it still does not require intense viewing, making it
more familiar and easier to watch for the mass market. The
film features one main plot line, with only one sub plot
surrounding Commander X. As a result it does not challenge
any of the audience’s conceptions or ideologies, like many
picture house films do, and so makes for easy watching.
As an action film, Rogue would also be more adapted to
being on the big screen, rather than a DVD or internet
release, as it offers the experience of action-packed
adrenaline for the viewer, an effect which simply cannot be
matched currently.
Of course the film could later be released on DVD, adding to
the cinema sales. The DVD could feature special features
such as director commentary and behind-the-scenes
footage and possibly an extended cut of the film to further
promote people to buy it. Later the rights to the film could
be sold to internet movie companies such as Netflix or
Amazon Prime, and later to TV channels to further add to
the revenue for the film, and to make the film more
accessible to people.
8. We believe that our film could be produced and distributed
by the multi-media movie giants because our film has the
scope to make a profit, and that is the primary aim of any
film in the mass market. To do this it would require a large
budget but these horizontally integrated conglomerates
would be able to fund our film and with the correct
advertising campaign (which these companies are more than
capable of doing) our film could become a huge success,
and potentially spawn into a franchise surrounded my
merchandise…