Lesson 8 15/10/21

 Independent company: A company not owned by a conglomerate

Warp is an independent label

This is England trailer

Independant film characteristics

• Low budget
• Lack of complicated editing
• lesser known actors
• Natural colour grading
• Naturalistic settings
• use of lesser known music and less emphasis on music
• Lack of cgi and expensive effects
• less commercial themes and plot
• less exciting themes 
• lower production value 
• less concern about age rating (This is England BBFC 15 age rating)
• Less concern about marketing to children 

Practice question:

 

What makes a company successful:

• Making money/revenue/profit/financially successful
• PROFIT
• Multiple brand deals
• strong brand identity- allows to appeal to a niche and enthusiastic audience
• Critical acclaim
• Commercial success
• Distributed in a variety of ways
• Entertainment value 
• To convey a message or ideology 
• Raises awareness of issues

There are many ways in which an independent company can be successful for example Warp films have produced a number of films that have gained critical acclaim.An example of this would be This is England as is it gained both commercial and critical success for tackling key issues whilst also bring a historically accurate film that challenges the audience and makes them think deeper into the film rather than to just be entertained like with a blockbuster Marvel film.Another way an independent company can gain success is through gathering a strong brand identity an example of this that applies to Warp records would be that there films have niche yet enthusiastic audience for example the audience for this is England is smaller than more popular films but they may be more enthusiastic as it may be more relatable to them such as people that live in England or grew up in the same time period as it is set may relate to the setting and themes.

• Digital marketing - Marketing onkine
• Social media officer- Runs social media 
• Producer- The person in charge of the production for the film
• Assistant producer- The person who assists the producer throughout all stages of production
• Director - The person who supervises actors and other staff producing the film
• Assistant director- the person that assists the Director
• Editor-
• Concept artist 
• Set designer 
• Carpenter 
• Runner 
• Hair and makeup 
• Costume designer 
• Cinematographer 
• Camera assistant 
• Lighting technician

Aphex Twin, Come to daddy

What makes this an effective marketing strategy:

• The music video has a confusing and unique atmosphere making the audience ask questions and makes them want to know more.
• The flashing lights, the dull colour grading and the little girls with the same mask on, of a mans face.
• The focus of the video is not the music but the video

Target Audience:

• This song is a hybrid genre  and may target fans or rock or electronic music

Mise en scene, setting and colour grading

• Dark colour grading
• Children wearing masks of a mans face 
• creepy atmosphere
• scattered rubbish creates a chaotic and hostile feeling and gives the setting sense of abandonment
• flashing imagery creates an uncomfortable feeling for the audience making the video hard to watch
• The setting of a council estate to present the stereotype of crime in council estates
• The Demonic entity of the video could distress the audience

Warp Records

• Warp records was created in Sheffield in 1989 by Steve Beckett
• In 2000 they moved to London because their music was more popular there
• a subsidiary is Bleep
• They have three Distributers, Hostess (Japan), PIAS(UK and digital) and Redeye (US)

Brand identity:

Brand identity refers to how a brand differentiates itself from the other brands.

Warp records brand identity:

• Selection of artists with a similar sound allows warp to communicate with audiences that they are associated with a particular genre
• Experimental music may have a niche audience, but it allows Warp to target a gap in the market
• Warp have cornered the market in experimental music, which allows them to market their music more effectively 
• Music videos share an abstract aesthetic, with confusing, glitchy details
• Music videos and promotional material usually misses out the artists themselves
• All music videos share a similar, busy, glitchy aesthetic
• Abnormal characters and visual details

Lesson 5 8/10/21

Conglomeration

• Conglomeration is the defining business model of our time
• A conglomerate is a large business which has become large through the process of buying other businesses 
• Think of a huge blob, 'glooming' on to everything else. That's a conglomerate . It's an aggressive business practice that prioritises profit and growth over everything else
• Typically, a conglomerate owns lots of little companies that are responsible for the production, distribution or exhibition of the film.
• And the companies of a conglomerate owns are called subsidiaries

An example of a conglomerate is SONY:

•  The  CEO of SONY is Kenichiro Yoshida
• worth 128billion USD
• 59 office locations in 
• SONY was founded on the 7th of May 1946 in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, Japan
• A company own by SONY is SONY pictures, they produce the 2002-2007 Spiderman trilogy and the amazing Spiderman
• Another subsidiary of SONY is SONY entertainment, they produce products such as the playstation
• SONY electronics is another subsidiary that often produces high end monitors

products:

• TVs
• Robots 
• Cameras 
• playstations 
• cameras

Subsidiaries:

• Sony entertainment 
• Sony computer entertainment
• Stake in marvel, in particular Spiderman
• Hawkeye innovations
• Aiwa
• Gaikai
• Sony music
• AWOL(record label)
• Insomniac
• Sony pictures
• Spotify (stake)
• Crunchyroll
• Funimation

Horizontal integration: Is where a conglomerate owns other companies in the same sector

Example:Disney own and have bought out Marvel studios, Lucas film and Pixar

Vertical integration: Is where a conglomerate owns companies in different sectors. In short they own the method of production and distribution. This practice is extremely anti competitive

Example:Disney, own Disney plus, a range of distribution and production services

Multimedia integration: Where a conglomerate uses digital technology to integrate business

Example: Netflix, who use digital tech to distributive and produce films and TV shows rapidly 

Convergence: The coming together of previously separate media industries

Example: Use of mobile phones to access absolutely every form of media 

Synergy: The advantages of convergence

Example: music videos are two previously used industries put together

Spectre:

Production company:

Budget, box office (ticket) sales:

Spectre was produced by EON productions with a budget of 245-300 million USD

Spectre made 880.7 million USD making it a huge financially success.

Spectre made 70.4 million on the opening weekend, the second highest out of any bond film

Production details

EON productions has produced every Bond film and primarily produces Bond films.

EON stands for Everything or Nothing

David Pope is the managing Director of EON productions

Spectre was shot from December 2014- February 2015

Most expensive explosion ever

Examples of marketing

Williams F1 team branded with Spectre logo

Official website, with a range of teasers and trailers- allows SONY to target hardcore James Bond fans 

Teaser: short trailer with very little information to create hype and excitement amongst fans

Aston Martin unveiled new car as part of marketing strategy

BBFC Age rating (and why)

Initially rated as 15 by the BBFC.The film was then edited by SONY to make a suicide scene less prominent, allowing the film to be released as a 12a.This was to maximise audiences as most other mainstream films generally avoid 15+ age ratings or above.

Who owns Spectre?

Spectre is co-owned by MGM, Danjaq and Columbia pictures (a subsidiary of SONY)

Danjaq and MGM have owned many of the James Bond and MGM are responsible for the distribution of 24 James bond films however Spectre was distributed by SONY pictures

 Cinematography

Shot type:

How far the camera is from the subject

Camera angle:

Where the camera is positioned or how it is angled during a shot

Camera movement:

How the camera is moves

Types of camera shots and angles

Close up shot:

• Capture minute details
• Close range
• Takes up the majority of the screen
• Capture emotion

Medium shot:

• Medium range
• often used for dialogue between characters 
• allows the audience to see the characters amongst their surroundings
• body language

Long shot:

• Establishing
• shows a large amount of surroundings
• gives us a feel of isolation and separation from the film

Extreme close up:

• very tightly framed
• good way to convey emotion
• eye line

Extreme long shot:

• surroundings of the character is the focus
• often used as establishing shots
• scale

High angle:

• points down on subject
• makes subject seem powerless or vulnerable
• gives the audience understanding of the setting

Low angle:

• low on vertical axis
• strong and powerful 
• make something appear larger than it is

Over the shoulder:

• dialogue
• medium or close up

Bird's eye:

• overhead, aerial
• context of setting
• used when location plays pivotal role in narrative

Dutch angle:

• tilted
• dramatic 
• evoke emotions

  After Hours Review

After hours directed by Martin Scorsese is about an office worker called Paul Hackett who we follow throughout the entire film and he is seemingly unsatisfied with his personal and professional life as he seems to be stuck in a tedious cycle but this all changes after he meets a woman named Marcy in a cafe in Manhattan and hoping to break free of this cycle decides to take a taxi to a flat where Marcy is staying.During the taxi ride he loses $20 dollars causing him to be unable to pay for the ride this event sets the tone for the strange night Paul is about to have as he finds himself in a series inconvenient,dream like and dangerous circumstances. Throughout the night Paul's unfortunate circumstances seem to become more and more dangerous as he tries to return to his home through a number of desperate attempts. Finally at the end of the film Paul arrives back to his office just in time for work the next day.This dark comedy is not only about the nightmare night of Paul Hackett but also shows New York as a place where everyone one is focused on themselves and have no time for other people, this is shown in a number of the bizarre characters and Paul’s interactions with them as throughout the film in most of his encounters with these characters the dialogue ends up shifting towards that characters problems.This amplifies this idea of New York being a lonely place where most people are so focused on success that they forget about other people's problems even if they are more urgent than there own which is definitely true in the case of this film and are always worrying about themselves and their problems.After hours has a cyclical structure as we end in the office room that we started in this could symbolize this loop Paul goes through daily and it shows that by the end of the film nothing has really changed for him as he goes back to his normal mundane routine.The nightmarish setting of After hours makes the audience feel a sense of unease as the strange events unfold, throughout the film this feeling progresses as we are introduced to these unusual characters.This feeling of unease is also built upon by the amounting pressure throughout the film as Paul's circumstances become more and more dangerous and as Paul begins to fear for his life.This tense atmosphere builds and builds until we arrive back at Paul's workplace where all of a sudden the audience feels a sense of familiarity with the setting and so does Paul as we have seen this setting at the beginning but we are unable to see this gate the same way as Paul has been changed by the this experience and he can attempt to return to his prior cycle but knows the audience and Paul himself it will never be the same and that he is a changed man after the surreal night.

 

 

Film: Company-A24 Products/brands- Lighthouse, Midsommar,  Uncut gems

Tv: Company-BBC Products/brands-Dr who, Peaky Blinders, Sherlock

Radio: Company-Planet radio Products/brands- heart, capital

Video Games: Company-Ubisoft Products/brands- Assassin's creed, R6 siege, Far Cry

Print: Company- Red graphic Products/brands- Independent company

Internet: Company- Google Products/brands- Youtube, google applications

Music: Company- Sony Products/brands- Michael Jackson, Beyonce

 Lesson 1

Genre: A category of Media.

Conventions: Things that make a up a genre.

Editing: Putting together a Media product.

Mise-en-scene: Everything that is in a scene

Conventions of Horror: Ghosts and other monsters such as or scary masks, Blood, Lowkey lighting, Serial killers, Scary or unsettling music, Jump scares, Scary sound effects such as screaming creaking or ominous noises, lack of dialogue, heavy use of props such as knives or other weapons or kids toys, Whispering, scary settings like abandoned old houses or graveyards, themes such as possession or serial killers or creepy children or dolls, Zombies ,Vampires, Demons, Cannibals, Clowns,

It follows clip:

Sound

-build of sound intensity, sound builds tension, rhythmic soundtrack that represents a heart beat, quiet dialogue, high pitched music, drums other noisy sound effects, dynamic.

Lighting

-lowkey lighting, set in the middle of day un-conventional to horror, desaturated colours, Artificial lighting, gloomy atmosphere, the use of lighting creates shadows to make the audience focus on the character, every

Mis-en-scene

-Dull clothing creates a gloomy atmosphere, Autumn, classroom and school equipment, old woman in a hospital gown is out of place in the school and creates an unsettling atmosphere, binary opposition of the old woman and the school girl.

Cinematography

Slow panning used to build suspense in a dull atmosphere, pan speeds up as tension and music builds, tracking shot allows us to sympathise with the character.