1. Media Institutions
 You will understand media ownership and link this to
Film 4
 You will understand
production, distribution, marketing and exhibition and
relate this to Film 4

2. Recap terminology
• Institution
• Codes and conventions
• Institutional context
• Ideology
• Commercial institution
• Independent institution
• Reception theory
• Genre
• Codes and Conventions
• Preferred meaning
• Oppositional meaning
• Negotiated meaning

3. Recap terminology
• Hypodermic needle model
• Narrative theory (Propp and Todorov)
• Star theory
• Studio system
• Auteur theory
• Star vehicles
• Big Five
• Horizontal integration
• Vertical integration
• Production values

4. Focus: The Film Industry
• A study of a specific
studio or production
company within a
contemporary film
industry that targets
a British audience.

5. Focus: The Film Industry
• Focusing on its
patterns of:
Production
Distribution
Exhibition
Consumption by
audiences.

6. Focus: The Film Industry
• Accompanied by study of
contemporary film
distribution practices
(digital cinemas, DVD,
HD-DVD, downloads, etc)
and their impact upon
production, marketing
and consumption.

7. Link to the exam paper
• the issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media
practice;
What is Media Ownership?

8. Questions to consider
1. How may we understand the identity, function
and significance of media institutions apart from
their role as constructors of media product?
2. What do we mean by the phrase ‘power of the
media’?
3. How have media institutions changed with the
advent of new technology, and with relation to
ideas about globalization?

9. Film Four
• Owned by Channel 4
• Started in 1982 when it was called Channel 4 Films.
• Has made some of Britain’s most successful
and critically acclaimed films such as:
– Four Weddings and a Funeral
– Trainspotting
– Elizabeth
– The Last King of Scotland
– Slumdog Millionaire
– Touching the Void

10. What is power and dominance?
• Income/turnover/expenditure
• Volume of product/output
• Size of audience
Affected by:
• Degree of vertical integration
• Investment in new technology
• Multi-nationalism
• Conglomeration
• Diversification

11. Vertical Integration
Vertical integration refers to the pattern of business ownership in
which a company buys or sets up other companies which relate to the
core business – say, publishing. In particular, big media organizations
tend to try and control production, distribution and exhibition/
retailing.
EXAMPLE
When NewsCorp moved into the USA it bought Twentieth Century
Fox which is about film production and distribution. These films
provide product for Fox TV, which itself was greatly expanded in
respect of its production and distribution of material. News
International also owns a chain of 33 TV stations in major US
cities, which gives it some guaranteed exhibition of its product.

12. What is Media Ownership?
• Media ownership is concerned with the structure of
media institutions and their practice not only in
relation to their production but also their
relationship with Business and Governments
Monopoly – an institution that has dominance and control over a particular
sector. The Monopoly commission prevents single organisations dominating
without good reason.
Oligopoly – a group of companies that hold dominance in a sector; e.g. the
Big Five
Synergy – the interaction of organisations

13. Horizontal integration
Horizontal integration (sometimes called lateral integration)
refers to a company’s ability to move sideways, buying across
different media.
EXAMPLE
• An example of lateral strength would be the Walt Disney
Company, which in respect of films owns Miramax and
Touchstone, as well as Walt Disney Pictures.
• New technology underpins media power of distribution,
across a range of media: films, TV, news production, the
Internet, telecommunications.

14. Multi-nationalism
• Multi-nationalism links to globalization and
refers to the fact that the largest media
companies do business in different countries,
distribute products across different countries,
and have manufacturing bases in different
countries. This can make them more difficult to
regulate, less easy to tax and generally more
difficult to ‘challenge’ in national and cultural
interests.
• It increases audience consumption and PROFITS!

15. Limitations of the British film industry
• There is no coherent British film industry in the way that radio programmes or books
are produced, distributed and sold in Britain.
• There is no large film company which can, from its own turnover and backers, finance
movies – least of all for distribution on a global scale.
• Finance for British films is cobbled together from a variety of sources.
Predominantly, money comes from the US majors.
• Television may also provide some funding. Channel 4 has been a relatively significant
supporter of low-budget British films.
• The BBC puts only 1 per cent of its budget into film production.
• The British National Lottery has also given some money, to be administered through
the UK Film Council.
• What are legally defined as British films (and so eligible for certain tax concessions)
may be made largely by British workers, but often are funded by US money –
companies such as Miramax.

16. Doyle (2002)
‘The small size of the domestic UK market and
the disaggregated structure of the industry
prevent the indigenous production sector
[British film makers] from growing beyond a
cottage industry.’
• Even globally, few films survive solely on box-office receipts.
Video sales are important. So is the income from TV rights –
often made in a pre-sales deal which provides cash upfront to
pay for the movie being made. And then there are the spin-off
product deals – music, games and toys.

17. What implications does this have
for film 4?
• Is Film 4 vertically and/or horizontally
integrated?
• What sales figures did your film 4 films create?
• Does film 4 distribute across more than one
country?
• Where does Film 4 get funding from?
• How else does Film 4 make money?

18. Link to the exam paper
• the issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media
practice;
Production

19. Digital revolution
• The digital revolution (e.g. the proliferation of
digital technology) has made the production of
media products more accessible.
• Prints (35mm) are very expensive to produce,
making exhibition for smaller companies more
limited. Digitalisation and the Digital Screen
Network costs 1 tenth of the costs of film prints =
greater audience choice and distribution for
smaller production companies, particularly UK
Film companies.

20. “We-Media”
• What is We-Media?
• Consumers become Prosumers – does this
challenge the hypodermic needle model and
Uses and Gratifications?
• Technological convergence (synergy between
technologies) has made contributing to the
media and creating media easier for everyday
people.

21. Factors affecting film production
• 2006 Gvt tax relief policy
• Piracy/illegal distribution, Film theft in the UK (UK Film
Council: 2004)
• Production practice: Manipulation of image, editing,
SFX, animation
• Budget
• Casting (star theory)

22. Piracy
• Time span between a films theatrical release
and retail release is much shorter, why?
• Effect of digital technology in every home,
broadband internet.
• Internet allows for downloading of films,
illegal and also file sharing sites.

23. Link to the exam paper
• the issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media
practice;
• the issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences
(specifically, British) by international or global institutions;
Marketing

24. Methods of Marketing
• Campaign
• Trailer
• Covert advertising
• Product placement
• Sponsorship
• Event

25. Benefits of new technology and
convergence
• Marketing a film through the internet is relatively
cheap and reaches a very wide audience.
• Promoting your film through social networks
provides a forum for promotion through word of
mouth.
• Getting people to sign up means companies can
send txts, emails to raise awareness of films.

26. Slumdog Millionaire
• Promoters used a company
called Tug to promote the
film through the internet.
• Banners placed on key sites
such as the Google search
engine gave optimum
advertising for the film.
• Appealed to mass
audiences through its key
common themes and inter-
textual reference of well a
known game show.

27. Trainspotting
• Released before internet
advertising the film was
promoted through its
music.
• The songs chosen for the
film were so popular that
the soundtrack went on to
20 million copies.
• Was the film for the 1990’s
generation of young adults.
Equivalent to Kidulthood in
2000’s.

28. Link to the exam paper
• the issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media
practice;
• the issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences
(specifically, British) by international or global institutions;
Exhibition

29. Exhibition (Theatrical)
• Majority of Film Four films are created for a western
audience.
• Films are generally smaller than the big American
films and will draw smaller audiences.
• Will only be released on a small number of screens
because less copies of film are made.

30. Exhibition (Home) Consumption
Film Four uses its digital TV channel of the same
name to exhibit its films, this enables them to:
• Promote new films soon to be released
• Promote their own back log of films through
the channel
• Be the first to premiere their films on TV, thus
drawing in bigger audiences.

31. • Pre-audience (generates an audience for a
sequel)
• DVD, HD, Blue-ray
• print
• sales figures
• multiplex revolution – 1985, MK, 10 screens
• IMAX