New Technologies

There are seven areas that you could be given a question about. They are:
1. The issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice.
2. The importance of cross media convergence and synergy in
production, distribution and marketing.
3. The technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the
levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange.
4. The significance of proliferation in hardware and content for
institutions and audiences.
5. The importance of technological convergence for institutions and
audiences.
6. The issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences
(specifically, British) by international or global institutions.
7. The ways in which the candidates’ own experiences of media
consumption illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience
behaviour.

The technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the
levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange.
The film was devised, storyboarded and
directed by Gareth Edwards, who also worked
as the visual effects artist.
The filming equipment cost approximately
$15,000, with the budget coming in at "way
under" $500,000. The film was able to be
made on such a low budget due to the use of
prosumer cameras to capture digital video
rather than the more expensive 35mm film.
Any settings featured in the film were real
locations often used without permission asked
in advance, and the extras were just people
who happened to be there at the time.
To be able to explain new technology in the film industry (level 2)
To be able to analyse new technology’s impact with reference to case studies (level 3)
To be able to evaluate new technology’ impact with reference to detailed case studies (level 4)
(2010)

For about 90% of the filming the crew comprised seven people transported in one
van.
As the low-budget production didn't run to a camera dolly, Edwards made do by
sticking the camera out of the van window, cushioned on some bundled-up clothing.
Each night during the shooting period, the editor Colin Goudie and his assistant Justin
Hall would download the day's footage so the memory sticks could be cleared and
ready for the next day's filming. While new footage was being captured, the
previously captured footage was being edited back at the hotel in which the
production team was staying.

Edwards did all the special effects himself using off-the-shelf Adobe software, ZBrush
and Autodesk 3ds Max. The first assembly was over four hours long, but this was
trimmed to 94 minutes after eight months of editing. Once the film was locked,
Edwards had five months to create all 250 visual effects shots, a process he
undertook in his bedroom. "[I was] churning out about two shots a day, which was
fine until I got to the first creature shot. Then suddenly two months went by and I still
hadn't finished a single creature shot; it turned out to be the hardest part of the
whole process". Owing to time constraints, the sound effects had to be produced
before the special effects were undertaken. Edwards claimed that the advances in
computer technology in recent years made it possible for him to create the film's
visual effects on such a low budget; "You can go in the shop now and you can buy a
laptop that's faster than the computers they made Jurassic Park on".

Monsters was nominated for six British
Independent Film Awards, including Best
Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor, and
eventually won the Best Director, Best
Technical Achievement, and Best
Achievement in Production awards. At the
2011 BAFTAs, Monsters was nominated
for Outstanding Debut by a British
Director, but lost to Four Lions.
The film was received positively both in the UK and the Us, with critics awarding
it high praise.
Budget = $500,000
Box office = $4,242,978
Gareth Edwards went on to make Godzilla,
with a $160 million budget!

Warp X is a digital film studio that produces
feature films in the UK with budgets usually
between £400,000 and £800,000.
The studio serves as a format for new film
directors to create movies for the first time on
a lower budget scale with less expectation for
high box office revenues on their initial feature
foray.

For Those in Peril is produced by Mary Burke and Polly Stokes
and is a Warp X Production with support from BFI, Film4 and
Creative Scotland in association with Screen Yorkshire. After
screening in competition in Critics' Week at the Cannes Film
Festival, it was released in the UK in October 2013 by Soda
Pictures. At the 2014 Baftas, director Paul Wright and
producer Polly Stokes were nominated in the Outstanding
Debut category.
For Those In Peril has already been a critical success on the festival circuit, including at
Cannes earlier this year.
Wright says: "Although it's a very Scottish film, it does have themes in it that hopefully
do translate around the world.
"We aren't kidding ourselves that we have made a commercial blockbuster but it was
always important that people who did connect with it, really connected with it."
(2013)

Highest ranking 3D films…
Avatar - $760,507,625
Marvel's The Avengers - $617,814,000
CGI, IMAX and 3D all enhance the production of a film and
increase its appeal.
As of 31 December 2013, there are 837 IMAX theatres in 57 countries.
• Larger screens
• Better picture quality
• Improved sound quality
The Dark Knight (2008) & Avatar (2009) are the highest grossing IMAX films.

Collaboration with Mountain Dew (DEW).
DEW had the chance to unveil exclusive
content and storylines to audiences.
The unveil of DEWGothamCity.com, an online
destination was designed to give fans
unprecedented access into the world of “The
Dark Knight Rises,” including exclusive sneak
peeks of movie content and storylines.
(2012)

A fictional file for a criminal investigation was posted Monday morning on
TheDarkKnightRises.com. The file included a press release explaining that Batman
left graffiti drawings of bats around the world, imploring the public to take
pictures of the graffiti and submit photographic evidence by Twitter or email.
Warner Brothers posted the exact street addresses of the more than 300
locations, including sites in Australia, China, Holland, and the U.S. After each piece
of bat graffiti was located, a corresponding frame of the film's trailer was posted
on tdkr07202012.com. All of the frames were unlocked by Monday night.

The Dark Knight Rises – Seven Social Media Marketing Techniques
1). Social media on the website.
Social media is well-integrated into the official website for The Dark Knight Rises, with
social buttons for Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, and Get Glue appearing prominently
in the site footer on every page.

2). Tumbler Designer App
Also on the official website, Warner Brothers offered an app that lets fans design
their own Tumber, which is one of Batman’s vehicles. Fans can colorize, customize
and “drive” their creations and, of course, share them via social media channels
and rate each other’s designs.

3). Video Content Marketing
In addition to the teasers and trailers, Warner Brothers made the bold decision to
release a thirteen-minute viral video clip on YouTube that contains over ten minutes of
fragmented film footage, free of charge.
4). “Augmented Soundtrack Experience” iOS App
Warner Brothers offered a free app for iOS devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) called
“The Dark Knight Rises Z+ – The Augmented Soundtrack Experience” which syncs the
sonic world of Gotham City with Hans Zimmer’s evocative score. The app itself is free,
but there are a number of in-app purchases available.
5). Viral Marketing Campaigns
A lot of viral marketing content was released on both viral websites as well as
crossover marketing sites for products like Mountain Dew. Much of the content gave
fans additional insight and background about the film’s characters, answered questions
we were left hanging with from the last film, and piqued fans’ interest with mysterious
bits and pieces of new information.

6).The Dark Knight Rises on Facebook
Facebook was a huge driver of traffic for The Dark Knight Rises campaign, as the
marketing team shared new content several times each day that included photos,
early reviews, previews, cross-promotion of apps and games, and other engaging
content. The official The Dark Knight Rises Facebook page, at the time of this writing,
has over 1,129,035 “Likes” and 463,678 people talking about it.

7).Viral Twitter Campaign to Unlock Trailer
A viral Twitter campaign surrounding the film is presented as a Gotham City police
investigation. Batman graffiti has been planted around the world for individuals to
find. Fans were instructed to unlock still frames from the third trailer by submitting
via Twitter (using hashtag #tdkr07202012) or by email “photographic evidence of
graffiti related to any movement in support of the vigilante’s return.”

Another film that used technology was
Prometheus. It used fans to create a buzz
by drip feeding information through the
expansive viral marketing campaign.
This included…
• fake TED talks
• an infomercial for one of the characters
• a fictional website for the corporation
featured in the film
• a twitter campaign to support the
release of the world premiere of the
trailer.
(2012)

The TED site was used to hold a fictional talk by Peter Wayland, a key
character in the ‘Alien’ franchise. TED worked with the promotional team in
making the video.
The combination of using TED and such a character will have created
excitement from core fans, who would then use web 2.0 to spread the
video. In a short space of time the video went viral with 20,000 people
posting it on their Facebook pages, over 6,000 people tweeting and on one
YouTube channel alone the video has been viewed over 400,000 times.

The second viral video was an infomercial for androids, featuring a character
from the film played by Michael Fassbender.
The video was as successful as the first, with it being featured on the BBC’s ‘Click’
technology programme, in various newspapers and blogs and ultimately has
received hundreds of thousands of views across YouTube alone.

The Prometheus marketing team also joined up with Channel 4 to host the world
premiere of a trailer with a difference. The end of the trailer invited people to tweet
what they thought of it, with the hashtag #areyouseeingthis attached.
During the next ad break, Channel 4 then broadcast selected tweets in the next ad
break to show off people’s thoughts and excitement over the new footage shown.
The hashtag #areyouseeingthis was the No 2 trend in the UK at one point on Sunday
night, and a similar campaign has been underway in the US.

Even low budget British films can utilise new media to promote their films.

As previously discussed, IMAX and 3D have an appeal. Although some audiences
may prefer to stay at home due to the increase in technology for home cinema.
Therefore institutions will always try to develop marketing, but must also consider
differnet ways of distributing and exhibiting their films.

Multi-platform release on the same day.
See articles for notes on how successful it was.
21 Independent ‘art-house’ cinemas.
Exhibitor
Also acts as distributor, funding the release
Funds production
Produces the film
(2013)

Gives audiences the choice of when and where to watch it.
“Despite the fact that people could see it for free they are still paying to see it at the
cinema.”
The Blu-ray is selling more than DVD as it has more extras.
Simultaneous distribution can work but it is not one mode fits all – therefore it will not
work for Hollywood movies. As Anna Higgs, the executive producer on A Field In England,
point out...
“…we have the model we have is because it is driven from Hollywood… For particular
independent films that find it really really hard to gain awareness and hold that first week’s
screen and stay in the Box office average measurement chart and all sorts of industry gunf
that means they get measured against things that they can’t really compete in… that’s
when it becomes interesting for independent films who to try and get to an audience that is
hungry for this kind of stuff.”
She estimates that the film has reached 400,00 people – which is comparable to an opening
weekend of Captain America. The success of this project is attributed to the industry
working together to give the audience what they want.

A Kickstarter style site which allows anyone to set up a screening at participating
cinemas.
This enables the public to programme screenings – something that has never happened
before. The film Northern Soul was successful because of this (see article).

Ultraviolet at exhibition level allows people to have multiple
versions of the film.

What significance does the continuing development of digital
media technology have for media institutions and audiences?
Evaluate the role of digital technologies in the marketing and
consumption of products in the media area you have studied?
or
2013
2010

New Technologies

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