3. Media conglomerates are the few large companies that dominate the industry.
They own a majority of the media that the general public consume and make
it increasingly difficult for smaller independent media/film companies to get
their works seen by the majority.
Oligopoly: A state of limited competition, in which a market is shared by a
small number of producers or sellers.
The Oligopoly effect means that very few views are able to reach the public
domain which isn’t very good as it means that the public are fed the views of
others and can be ‘brain-washed’. Therefore, it is necessary to have
independent film companies within the film industry as it broadens the ideas
exposed to the public. However, in my opinion, there should be wider access
to the films produced by Independent companies. This is hard to achieve as
any methods of marketing the film through a TV channel or in newspapers are
often shunted as these are owned by members of the big 6 and so are seen as
unwanted competition and could harm the potential revenue of big 6 films.
Media Ownership
4. Synergy is when the interaction of two or more forces working together
creates a greater effect than the sum of their individual efforts. Media
synergy is the way in which different elements of a media conglomerate
work together to promote linked products across different media.
Independent film companies may find it hard to benefit from synergy as it
usually occurs within a media conglomerate. As independent film companies
do not own subsidiaries, synergy isn’t as important as there are no other
accompanying products in need of promotion.
Independent films such as ‘This is England’ must rely on other mediums in
order to promote it. These include: reviews; interviews; film festivals and the
talent included in the film. Therefore money is saved on splashing out for a
big marketing campaign. However, this film trailer was broadcast on Channel
4 and all of its sibling channels at the time, which was great publicity. This
deal was secured as Film 4 (a channel 4 subsidiary) partnered with Warp films
in the production process and provided studios.
Synergy
5. What new technology existed that impacted the production, distribution
and exhibition of the film.
Production: Although new technologies can be expensive, in the long-run
the whole production can be a lot cheaper and less time consuming. This is
due to modern digital technology. It is extremely compact and can be
transported easily. Editing is a lot easier also as opposed to the old method of
literally copying and pasting into a ‘moviola’. Independent companies can
now create a big scale effect, using a small budget and new media
technologies. Warp Film’s Dead Man’s Shoes was entirely filmed using
digital technology.
Distribution: Digital technology has allowed for a lot faster distribution of
films as a film reel doesn’t have to be physically transported to each
theatre, now it can be sent via the internet instantly.
Exhibition: Modern digital film exhibition is good for the British film
Industry as non-mainstream films are becoming more accessible. Digital
technology with distribution and exhibition is a lot cheaper than old manual
methods which is why film such as ‘This is England’ was digitally exhibited.
New Media Technologies
6. Technology is evolving at a rate that could never have been predicted with products
becoming smaller and more accessible to the general public. This makes film-making
available to many more people and has promoted the Independent film industry. The
spread of video distributing websites online such as ‘YouTube’ and ‘Vimeo’ are also
allowing small home-produced films to be exhibited worldwide. This is great news for
the British Independent film industry as more and more young people are becoming
interested in the Industry with the hope that in the future the ratio of Hollywood films
and Indie films being exhibited and having success will be a lot more even.
The spread of technology
7. Unlike synergy, technological media convergence has worked in favour of small
independent film companies as indie films have been made more accessible to the
everyday public.
In the past in order to discover and view a new film, the only way possible would be to
visit the local theatre and watch whatever they were showing. This allowed for a very
limited array of films and any theatre vacancies would quickly be filled by films
produced by large conglomerates. However, now, the proliferation of the Internet has
allowed for easy access to films produced by independent companies.
Products such as the iPad and iPhone now allow the viewing of such films to not be
restricted but now you can literally view these films anywhere there is an internet
connection. There are disadvantages with this technological convergence as it has made
it easier for the general public to illegally download such films, but I feel in the long-
term it is beneficial to the independent production company as it is easier for them to
gain a following and market any following projects.
‘This is England’ used, at the time, a small distribution company called ‘Optimum’
which had previously worked with channel 4. This was good convergence as it helped
publicise the film. Optimum’s good distribution skills were proved when Vivendi
purchased them in 2012 and made them Studio Canal, one of the biggest distribution
companies used by the Big 6.
Technological Convergence
8. Often, British film makers produce films of the social realism genre and aim them at
local and regional audiences. Usually this is because it works out to be more cost
effective. This is different to the production of films by the big conglomerates as the
films they produce are intentionally targeted at large audiences with the aim of
retrieving as much revenue as possible to then put back into the production of new
films.
As British audiences are fed these over-the-top high budget and high concept
films, there is no need to go looking for films with plots directed specifically at your
location as that’s reality and generally now people look for films to transport them
away from the monotony of real life. Furthermore, the import of big Hollywood movies
dominate the advertising spaces in public as they have the big budgets to pay for these
advertising campaigns whereas Indie production companies do not, the marketing
prices are forced to rise making them out of reach to small films in need of cheap
promotion. The big industries targeting British audiences are doing so at the jeopardy
of home grown British independent film talent.
Big Industries targeting
British audiences
9. The cinema is a great film viewing experience and I feel will be around for a long time yet as
it is an experience that cannot yet be replicated anywhere else although there are many
products that have tried. Generally when I go to the cinema it is because I have seen a film
advertised on the TV and so make a conscious decision to go the cinema to see this film.
Rarely will I go to the theatre and see what looks good at the time; because of this I feel that I
have been influenced by the big industries from America as I am not aware of the small
home-grown films that get produced and will only see the films that are being directly fed to
me. However, I feel the same is said for a majority of the population. If a film is being
promoted directly at you, for you then you are unlikely to then go out of your way to search
for a different film just because it was produced in your home country.
After a film has been released, rarely will I buy a hard copy unless I particularly felt it was
incredible. In modern times this is no longer necessary as television cable boxes like sky can
provide new releases at no extra charge to the monthly payment that the family already pays
for. Also, if I was to buy a film or want to watch a film there are many renting services online
which are quick and simple. Films can also be downloaded to a tablet device making the
latest releases accessible wherever you are. Previously it was necessary to walk to the renting
shop to watch these films but in a society with rapidly growing technology, this is no longer
necessary.
The proliferation of technology has caused many issues to arise such as film piracy. I feel in
the future there will be systems in place to rescue the decreasing sales of films, however, I do
also feel that DVD will soon be non-existent and any sales of films will come from the
Internet.
My Media Consumption
