FILM INDUSTRY: EMMA AS A CASE STUDY

 Exam Paper 2 Key Concepts : Section B 

In today's lesson, we watch the US and UK trailers for Emma and consider how to use Working Title's Emma as a case study to discuss issues raised such as

• ownership - Working Title, Universal
• genre - literary adaptation, comedy
• different audiences - mainstream, national, international, literary
• marketing - posters (how 'outdoor' marketing with high production values & highly stylised costumes + landscapes targeted older audiences)
• casting of long-term famous stars like Bill Nighy & Rupert Graves, comediennes like Miranda Hart and new talent like Josh O'Conner, Johnny Flynn, Anya Taylor-Joy (known to Netflix audiences for her acting triumph in “The Queen’s Gambit”. Accompanying the streaming of the miniseries has come renewed interest in the movie)
• social media (younger audiences Twitter and Instagram; older audiences FB); trailers and visuals now cut specially for hand-held devices with snappier editing for shorter attention spans
• marketing - trailers (how the fast-paced editing, use of comedy, emphasis on romance & current stars engaged a new generation of younger audiences)
• product tie-ins and merchandising - stationary; 
• celebrity appearances and interviews - Vogue Magazine screening
• synergy - the trailers appear on WT's website, together with convergent social media links, enabling a degree of synergy
• Emma release: Valentine's Day 2020 in UK, shortly after in US; 20th March digitally through Premium VOD streaming platforms because of cinema closures; later, in May, via DVD and Blu-ray, and recently viewing via HBO with Prime Video Channels. See this article on the changing patterns of content creation, distribution and star power 
  
• Accolades - Academy Award (like Costume design)and BAFTA nominations, Golden Globe winner
• Box office world-wide total $26 million +

FILM INDUSTRY MARKETING: BLACK PANTHER

 

ESSAY: Analyse the techniques used to target different audiences in the media are that you have studied. 

By Sunday 21st November

In this short prep, you will start preparing this exam essay by presenting the first of three case studies, Black Panther, using the materials emailed to you, which are also on GoogleClassroom.

TV DRAMA: HUSTLE

 Exam Component 2: Key Media Concepts (25% of total marks) Written examination 2 hours

Written analysis by Sunday 14 November on Google Classroom
Find the exam text on ClickView: go to Media Studies > TV drama clips > OCR 322 HUSTLE

 
Discuss the ways in which the extract from Hustle constructs meaning through the following: 

• camera shots, angles, movement and composition 
• editing 
• sound 
• mise-en-scène

Tips:

Start with an opening sentence that briefly sums up what the extract is about.

Tackle the analysis on a scene-by-scene basis (NOT camerawork, then editing and so on)

So, discuss all 4 bullet points as you go through each scene - some may be longer than others.

3 point plan: identify the terminology, then give the example, then say what meaning is made.

For example: The close-up shot terminology of the wealthy blond customer with her expensively coiffed hair and perfect make-up example shows the audience how poised and self-assured she is as she smiles smugly, confident of getting what she wants meaning 

Another example: The tilt pan terminology from foot to head of the wealthy customer trying on the expensive new evening dress example constructs her as the sort of client that the shop assistant wants to impress as she is slim and makes the dress look beautiful; by ending the camera movement on her face, the audience sees her vain reaction to her image in the mirror meaning 

Another example: the two shot terminology of Stroller (the older man) dressed to impress in his expensive suit entertaining Sean (the younger man) in the exclusive gentlemen's club, plying him with whiskey in cut glass tumblers, in a setting designed to make a statement example suggests that Stroller is out to manipulate the younger man.

PLANNING: OUR COMP LIST

 Kezia Williams, of Entertainment One UK, on the FutureLearn Film Distribution by the Film Distributors Association, speaks about how film distributors build a 'comp list' of comparable films that their target audience would enjoy. 

She highlights the importance of knowing your target audience. She asks questions like "what drives them to the cinema" and "what interests do they have". She also says distributors will compare data of films that are similar in their genre, selling points and story. The target audience and budget is formulated from what box office take was like with previous films and the types of audience that saw those films. The target audience can be analysed to find the gender gap, and which cinemas the target audience usually frequent.

seconds KEZIA WILLIAMS: Really important to understand who your audience is and what motivates them and what’s going to interest them and drive them to go to the cinema. So you start, often, by examining similar films that have been released in the past– comparable films is a way in which we refer to them in the industry– and create a set that we can then look back at data so we can look at lots of different data and do research, really, on those comparable films to identify who the audience was on those films. So it might be that we look at demographic data and think about, did it skew more male or more female? What’s the age group that it appeals to?

0:46Skip to 0 minutes and 46 secondsDoes it have multiple different audiences that that can appeal to? And there’s lots and lots of cinema-going trends that you can dig into from that comparable set. We’ll also look at box office data to understand regionality, to look at the cinema-going skew– so did more people go to a certain cinema chain to see these comparable films? Right down to which cinemas performed. So it might be that there’s a cinema in London that had a fantastic box office share, and that’s an important aspect for us to consider. And then once you really understand who the audience on those comparable films were, you can start to talk about the differences and similarities between those films and the film that you’re working on.

You should start your post by explaining that you carried out similar research and created a 'comp list' (such as these below). 

You must explain the ways in which your chosen films are similar to the one that you are making and how they appeal to your target audience.

Example 1 

Example 2

Example 3

PLANNING: MY TARGET AUDIENCE & HOW I ENGAGED THEM

WHAT YOU WRITE
From the FutureLearn course that I am following Distribution: Connecting Films With Audiences, I know that all products are targeted at specific audiences.

I needed to plan how to reach my target audience. Therefore, I needed to know who they are (factors that may be relevant include age, gender, ethnicity, social class), what their media needs are (so that I could produce a product that they will want) and how to reach them (to market my film). I will show how my research has shaped / influenced my planning. 

I started by investigating how brands define audiences in preparation for creating my own audience profile for my AS Foundation Production. 

For example, I saw how Bauer Media, NME and Sky defined audiences. This helped me profile my audience. I then created an audience profile (below).

PLANNING: MY AUDIENCE QUESTIONNAIRE

I am using Google forms to create a questionnaire for my target audience and send it to people who are likely to watch our film. I will ask questions referring to age, gender, what types of films they prefer to watch, what influences them to watch a film and where they prefer to watch it. Our production team want to make a film that would appeal to young people aged 15-35. Our questionnaire will be useful to ensure that our type of genre will appeal to this audience. Through the use of Google Forms I will be able to collect this data.

These are the questions I intend to ask:
(Opening message) I would be grateful if you complete this short survey on films and what you prefer

1.  What is your gender?
2.  What age category do you fit into?
3.  Which of these your film genres would you watch? Pick as many as you wish.
4.  What was the last film you watched?
5.  What platform would you most likely use to watch a film?
6.  Which of these trailers have you seen?
7.  Which of these platforms would you use to find out about films?
8.  What is the most likely reason you would watch a new film?

(Ending message) Thank you for completing this form!

PLANNING: MY TARGET AUDIENCE

To plan how to reach your specific target audience you need to know who they are and what their interests are. You create an audience questionnaire to research the age, gender, ethnicity and social class of your target audience. You also find out what their media needs and wants are so that you can create a film that will satisfy them. Ultimately in order to market your movie you have to find out the best way to reach your target audience. To show how your research has helped with your planning, you have answered the questions below with pictures to support your post. 

1. Who is my primary target audience?

2. What kind of films and television are they likely to prefer?

3. What platforms do they choose to watch films and where are they likely to see information about films?

4. What brands do they prefer?

5. What makes my film stand out from the competition?

6 . Why should my audience watch my film?