KEY MEDIA CONCEPTS: THE FILM INDUSTRY

How to tackle essay questions about different types of cinema? How to defend independent cinema which has smaller budgets and more national concerns?

You can start by identifying the different types of products and the different ways in which global, international, national and niche audiences are engages and served. Using your case studies, you could analyse what Hollywood majors offer audiences and how those audiences are reached; then look at UK cinema (WT films, Loach films, Bait) as comparison; add in Cuaron's Roma.

One aspect that characterizes some Big Six productions is the franchise film.

 

For Martin Scorsese, Marvel films are not cinema: "I’ve tried to watch a few of them and that they’re not for me, that they seem to me to be closer to theme parks than they are to movies as I’ve known and loved them throughout my life, and that in the end, I don’t think they’re cinema. It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.

"Some people seem to have seized on the last part of my answer as insulting, or as evidence of hatred for Marvel on my part. If anyone is intent on characterizing my words in that light, there’s nothing I can do to stand in the way.

"Many franchise films are made by people of considerable talent and artistry. You can see it on the screen. The fact that the films themselves don’t interest me is a matter of personal taste and temperament. I know that if I were younger, if I’d come of age at a later time, I might have been excited by these pictures and maybe even wanted to make one myself."

To understand what Scorsese means by  franchise films and theme parks, we turn to Dalecki's 4S megafranchise model (below). Scorsese's opinion and Dalecki's analysis contributes to discussions about the different audience pleasures and qualities of franchise action films and independent cinema.

We look at Hollywood  and 'the Big Six' who, according to Dalecki are characterised by the 4S megafranchise model: 

• The 'big 6' Hollywood studios chase mass mainstream audiences often with formulaic films that Dalecki called 'the 4S megafranchise model' (sequalization, story, spectacle, synergy). 
• To explain this model: Hollywood is renowned for producing blockbusters with strong narratives, often part of a sequel, usually with larger than life characters, using exciting, spectacular, complex sets often in exotic or extravagant locations.
• Sequalization You look up Box Office Mojo and see for yourself how many of the current box office successes are sequels. Sequels often command a loyal, ready-made audience, although some brands aim to expand their traditional audiences. Captain Marvell (directed by Boden and Fleck, 2019) starred Brie Larsen as the first female captain Marvell, to address female audiences.
• Story Notice that this kind of film tends to prioritise story over character development
• Spectacle Exotic locations, expensive sets, elaborate post production (VFX), motion capture - these are all examples of 'spectacle'
• Synergy Distributors target audiences via an interconnected web of companies which all promote the film as a package of products, through horizontal integration. This is synergy (we will give as many details as possible from our Disney / Warner case studies).