The continuing development of digital media technology has significant implications for both media institutions and audiences. New technologies allow for improved special effects and production quality, which can impact a film's financial success. Technologies like viral marketing campaigns and social media help institutions better promote their films to targeted audiences. While more traditional promotion can still be effective, emerging distribution platforms like online streaming services and Blu-ray also influence profits by appealing to different audience preferences. Overall, advancing digital technologies enhance film production, marketing, and distribution in ways that benefit both the industry and viewers.

1. What significance does the
continuing development of
digital media technology have
for media institutions and
audiences? (50 marks)

3. Introduction paragraph
• Open with telling the examiner that you are answering about film
industry.
• Talk about one of the big 6 you studied and how technology has
changed them. For example Disney use 4K cameras and different
editing software like RenderMan.
• Also mention how it affects the smaller, independent companies.

4. Blockbuster paragraph
• Talk about your blockbuster and what technology in production and post
production they used and why . For example Finding Dory used RenderMan
to render animations and effect.
• Tell the examiner how this changes it for the audience. i.e. This use of this
animation programme created a colourful and clear image for the audience
to view.
• Then repeat with any other technology you can think of
• Then look at how the Exhibition and Exchange and how that has change.
An example of this is Finding Dory was released in 3D and 2D into cinemas
and onto DVD, Blue-ray and Ultra violet and digital download.
• Then explain how this effects the audience.

5. Independent film paragraph
• Talk about your Independent film and what technology in production
and post production they used and why . For example Fast Girls used
hand held cameras in the opening running scenes.
• Tell the examiner how this changes it for the audience.
• Then repeat with any other technology you can think of
• Then look at how the Exhibition and Exchange and how that has
change. An example of this is Fast girls which was released onto DVD
and digital download.
• Then explain how this effects the audience.

6. 2nd paragraph about a independent film
• Say what production company produced the film and who/if they paired
with any other companies to release the film. i.e. Poison Chef is a UK based
production company and in 2016, they paired with Warner Bros to release
“The Girl With All The Gifts”.
• Mention any film festivals that it was released at. i.e. It was premiered at
the Locarno film festival and a North American premiere at Midnight
Madness at Toronto Film Festival.
• Compare the budget to the mainstream film. i.e. The production budget of
the film was $5 million, which is considerably less than the budget of “The
Avengers”. Again, a lot of the budget was spent of advertising, which was
especially vital for this independent film for it to make a profit.

7. Conclusion
• Give your opinions on how digital technology has changed film.
• How you believe audiences see theses changes. Both the positive and
negative. For example how a lot of people believe 3D is not worth it
and can cause people headaches, however can reduce piracy.

8. Examiner report

9. Exemplar A Grade answer (42/50 marks)
The continuing development of digital media technology has extreme significance for media institutions and audiences, because without it, several production, marketing and
distribution techniques could not possibly be used, thus lowering profit dramatically. Everything a film needs to be successful comes from the power of technology An
example of this is the quality of special effects used in production practices. For instance, although several companies worked on the production of Attack The Block,
including Film4 Productions and StudioCanal, because of their size, they could not generate a big enough budget to use an extensive amount of CGI when creating the
aliens for the film. This could have been one of the reasons it did not succeed at the box office, bringing in only £3,615,712, which was less than half of its budget at £8
million, resulting in a loss of money. However, films on a larger scale such as Prometheus show that a good special effects team – made possible due to a bigger budget –
can really make a difference, as the film gained $402.48 million, which is just under 3 times as much money as Ridley Scott gathered to produce the film ($130 million), with
the use of CGI included. Also, when compared to Alien, (Scott’s first project), which had a budget of $11 million and grossed $104,931,801 at the box office, we can see that
the use of CGI is significant in drawing in customers, as Alien didn’t feature the use of CGI at all, and although it made a successful profit, could not compare to the success
of Prometheus. Obviously Prometheus had a larger budget to work with, but spending a significant amount on creating better special effects really paid off in terms of
attracting customers to the cinema release. This proves that the development of digital media technology is important when producing films, as new software dedicated to
improving the use of special effects obviously has a good outcome on sales figures.
The way institutions such as 20th Century Fox market their films also depends on the development of digital media technology, as without access to the internet, Prometheus
would not have received the amount of publicity it did, as Fox’s viral campaign for the film was something like no other – it was most well-known for featuring a short film
which showed Guy Pierce in character as Peter Weyland, head of ‘Weyland Industries’, giving a TED talk in 2023. This provided the audience with a gateway into the
secrets of the plot before the film had even been released, and made the story seem all the more real. A second video was then released, in which Michael Fassbender
revealed a lot about his character and the world he lives and works in, so as to give the reader an extra insight into the film. In addition to this, a website was set up for
‘Weyland Industries’, which could easily be mistaken for an actual corporate website.
This form of marketing proved to be very successful because the movie had been shrouded in mystery, and fans were confused as to whether the film was a long-awaited
prequel to the Alien series or whether it stood alone, and so these little snippets of information were enough to tide the sci-fi fans over until the release of the film, as well as
increasing general hype surrounding the film and encouraging other people to join the bandwagon.
Moreover, during the marketing process of The Inbetweeners Movie, Film4 handed their Twitter account over to the cast members in the months leading up to the film’s
release, which created a lot of hype surrounding the film, as information could be spread to the typical audience of the film (mainly 15-25 year olds) more easily through a
social networking site, rather than just adding the information to a regular website which teenagers/young adults might not come across. However, the film was almost
guaranteed to be successful, as an existing audience had already been established due to the TV series prior to the film, and advertising on Channel 4 was very extensive.
The Inbetweeners Movie became the most successful British comedy in cinema history, and gained £13,200,000 in its opening weekend alone, which was an amazing
achievement considering the budget of the film was only £3,500,000.
Because of this, it could be argued that the continuing development of digital media technology is not as important as first thought, as The Inbetweeners Movie was made in
a traditional way, without the use of special effects, and gained the most publicity due to its advertisements on channel 4, which is not something that has recently been
invented.
Furthermore, with regards to Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass, Universal Pictures and Lionsgate Films decided to go back to basics when promoting the film, which was best
known for its wide range of posters. This would have attracted classic ‘comic-book nerds’ to the film, as they could collect these posters and when laid out next to each other
would spell out ‘KICKASS’, acting as collectables. The companies didn’t rely on viral marketing as much as Prometheus did, although several trailers and TV spots were
created to attract the mainstream market as well the film geeks, as the content of the film was typical of old superhero movies, rather than something which needed to fit in
with new technology, and so their approach was much more traditional.
However, the introduction of 3D has had a massive impact on institutions and audiences, and brings in a significant amount of sales during cinema exhibition.
For example, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was shown in 3D, despite the fact that none of the previous films had been, and smashed the box office by
earning $1,328,111,219.As the budget of the film was $250 million, but had been shared with part 1, this was an amazing achievement, and it is clear that a considerable
amount of success was due to release in 3D and IMAX, as in the United States alone, it played in 4375 cinemas, 3100 3D cinemas and 274 IMAX cinemas, making it the
widest release for an IMAX, 2D and a Harry Potter film.This suggests that although the process of converting a film into 3D costs a lot more than traditional 2D and requires
a lot more time and effort to spent in the production stages, statistics show that it pays off in sales figures, and according to Odeon, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Part 2 3D had a 70% 5 star rating and a 21% 4 star rating, which shows that the people who paid the extra money to see the film in this way did actually enjoy it.
As well as this, recent online distribution provided by companies such as Netflix and LOVEFiLM have also had an impact on institutions and audiences, as people who want
to see a film but don’t want to pay extortionate cinema prices often find this way of viewing more beneficial. Without this development of digital media technology, several
films would have ceased to have made as much of a profit as they have done.
Finally, the release of a film on Blu-ray also increases the profit of a film, as people who don’t mind spending a lot of money but would rather watch a film in the comfort of
their own home will be more inclined to purchase a film in this way, and so without this advancement in technology, a loss in profit will again have resulted from this.
All in all, the continuing development of digital media technology has allowed both institutions and audiences to improve their way of working, as films of a higher quality are
thus enabled to undergo production, as well as a considerable range of marketing and distributing techniques being used in attracting a specific audience to a film.