(B2 GCE 2016 SUMMER - English Medium - MEDIA ST.:TEXT,INDUS.& AUDIENCE MS4 - QUESTION PAPER)

All media texts are subject to regulation. How has regulation affected your three main texts?

Regulation is a system put in place in order protect vulnerable people, such as children, from viewing anything that that will disturb them or will influence them in a negative way. In the film industry, the film's distributed through Britain are regulated by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), whereby it is considered based on different elements such as violence and sexual references, then given an age rating for who it recommends will be able to consume the text. The age rating of a film will have a direct impact on the audience in which views it, both in size and demographic. An example of this would an Andrew Haigh film Weekend (2011), which is classed as an 18 due to its explicit sexual references. Despite the audience being limited anyway due to the film's release through film festival's such as SXSW and showings through Arthouse cinemas, the 18 rating could have an adverse effect on the film with audiences deterred from viewing due to its controversial explicit content. However, there may be a preferred response to the rating with the targetted demographic recognising the content as real and relatable to them, which demonstrates both the positive and negative perspectives on a BBFC regulation. 

Some films are conscious of their BBFC regulation before and during their production, as they are aware how a higher rating may affect their audience numbers. The James Bond franchise, in particular, Skyfall, Sam Mendes (2012), has manipulated their content to classify under the 12A BBFC regulation. This means that despite the violence and sexual references, families can view the film together and the 007 brand can maximise its audience and it's profit. Other films in the franchise such as Spectre, Sam Mendes (2015) and Die Another Day, Lee Tamahori (2002) also fall under the 12A classification. Although this may restrict the amount of violence and sexual scenes used in the film, in comparison to Weekend, Skyfall not only has a larger audience to consume the text but also allows them to explore more advertising opportunities, for example a television advert for Skyfall would be able to be shown by the watershed (9pm) on British television, demonstrating that by manipulating the BBFC regulation, Bond has optimised the success of the film.

To be continued.....

Discuss the marketing strategies used by your selected industry. Refer to your three main texts

The film industry uses a variety of different marketing strategies in order to optimise the film's audience and ensure it is a success. As technology has advanced over the years, the ways in which a production company can advertise has broadened to platforms such as social media, using influencers to promote their work, and unique ventures into merchandising, as well as other more conventional methods such as print and television campaigns. Marketing is very important to both high and low budget films, for example, Skyfall, Sam Mendes (2012) raised £29 million of its budget was raised through endorsements and product placements, where companies partner with the 007 brand to both promote the new film release and the product or service accompanying it, for example prior to the release of Skyfall in 2012, Coca-Cola Zero released a 'Unlock the 007 in You' campaign whereby an unsuspecting carriage of train passengers has 70 seconds to complete a challenge in order to win Bond tickets, the video of which went viral online. This form of marketing is particularly advantageous to high budget films such as Skyfall which cost $200 million to make, as it allows them to create hype prior to the film's release but further provides funding to ensure the success of the franchise and secure further releases.

In comparison, a lower cost film such as Weekend, Andrew Haigh (2011) had a budget of only £120,000 which suggests that there would not be such an extensive use of marketing the film. In terms of social media, Weekend does not have any official accounts for the film, this may be detrimental in the reach of the film as it limits the audience it can spread to. As part of the Uses and Gratifications theory one of the reasons for consuming a text would be to discuss it with your peers, the lack of social media presence means that this discourse about Weekend it absent. Social media, a free platform for discussion and promotion, has proved successful for other British films, on Twitter, or example, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Matthew Vaughn, 2014 which has over 57k followers or Pride, M. Warchus, (2014) which has just over 6 thousand followers. However, as the Weekend gained it's momentum and success through film festivals such as SXSW in the U.S.A, it may suggest that the priority was not to reach mass audiences, but to gain credibility and acclaim from those in the industry, and the small audiences which it did reach.

A further method of marketing would be through merchandise directly associated with the film. This will provide profit funding for the production and also allows the movie to reach different audiences that perhaps may not meet the target audience demographic. One example of this would come from the aforementioned British production of Kingsman: The Secret Service (45 minutes finished). As part of a merchandising endeavour, Kingsman partnered with tailoring company, Mr Porter, and created a line of high quality, highly priced gentlemen's wear including suit jackets, Oxfords and watches. This would have both aligned the film with a company of similar values as a high end tailor is a significant feature in Kingsman, but also extended intrigue for the film into regular customers of Mr Porter who may not have initially been interested in the film due to it's comic relaxed nature. This merchandise venture differs from Bond, who released their own aftershave entitled 007 for the 50th anniversary of the franchise. This style of marketing is targetted specifically at those who know and are fans of the popular film's and are somewhat of a gimmick for Bond collectors. 

In conclusion, the types and success of marketing strategies are largely dependent on the budget and hype leading up to the film, as higher budget films rely on mass audiences and extra spending such as merchandise in order to gain any profit from the production. As technology has modernised the print campaigns have also moved online for advertising a film, to maximise an audience as social media has become a key contributor to how popular and success the film is, seen evidently through the comparison of social media presence in Kingsman to Weekend. The film industry itself relies heavily on marketing as the  initial means in which audiences consume texts, i.e. through cinemas, need to generate enough anticipation and excitement for people to actually go and see it, as opposed to television where the viewing can occur from the comfort of your own home.

Weekly News 54

X-rated photos of Holly Willoughby 'stolen and threatened for use online' as she joins Millie Mackintosh on 'new list of stars targeted by hackers'

This article comes from the Daily Mail, written by Becky Freeth

The story follows after a recent burst of personal photos of female celebrities, including Emma Watson and Amanda Seyfried, being leaked online which has now spread to more local level celebrities as Holly Willoughby and Millie Mackintosh.

 

The hackers are said to of guessed the passwords to the stars social media accounts and used the access to their private messages to exploit the women online. 

This story particularly interested me, firstly as the only targets so far seem to be women, which immediately highlights the issue of exploitation and sexualisation of women, and secondly as it highlights the issue of privacy on the internet, and how personal details and information you thought to be safe within your social media environment, can easily be accessed and made public to the world. 

Holly Willoughby has since denied the existence of such photos, whereas the article later reveals the photos leaked of Watson were taken during a swimsuit fitting, which brings into question the safety and security of celebrities, and everyday people when their vulnerable moments can be exploited so shamelessly for profit or media attention. (Emma Watson has since taken legal action against the use of her images on the dark web)

Other targets are said to be more A-list stars, including the youngest of the Kardashian-Jenner clan, Kylie Jenner. The images used in the article are interesting, especially of Holly as despite her denying the photos exist, the photos used are provocative or exposing which could perhaps suggest that the Daily Mail is implying they believe Holly's denial to be false. 

 

How important are high production values in your three main texts?

The importance of high production values will differ depending on the genre, audience and purpose for a particular film, as some films use expensive special effects and marketing as a means of attracting their audiences. In industry especially the high production value with vary due to the profile of the film and it's journey through production onto the screen. Evidence of a film that is reliant on its high production values would by Skyfall, Sam Mendes (2012) which is estimated to have cost $200 million dollars to make due to the use of exotic locations and high budget special effects. As the James Bond films are a popular global franchise, with Skyfall being the highest grossing Bond film retrieving $980 million worldwide, the audience has come to expect a level of action and expenditure as part of the 007 series. Despite this providing an arguably assured audience for each new release, it does provide the pressure for MGM, the production company behind the films, to produce an even more extravagant viewing experience for the next production. Marketing and advertising are also important in terms of production values,  an estimated £29 million was made through commercial deals, including product placements. The placement of products is particularly significant to maintain these high production values, as the success of previous films in the franchise will cause high-end companies that wish to align their brand with the views and themes represented in the film, to pay to have their products either used in the film or support a campaign featuring Bond. This allows the franchise to continue making more higher production value films than before to assure a sufficient audience.

In contrast to this, other films simply do not have the high profile endorsement to prioritise high production values and have to promote their film through film festivals in order to attract audiences and gain momentum in the industry. An example of such a film would be Weekend, Andrew Haigh (2011)  The main actors, Tom Cullen and Chris New were unknown to mainstream audiences so subsequently, audiences would not be drawn into watch the film through star power as they may be in other more high budget films such as Colin Firth from Kingsman, Matthew Vaughn (2014) or Bill Nighy in Pride, M, Warchus (2014), however it could be argued that the anonymity of the actors only enhanced their role due to the intrusive nature of the film. Weekend grossed, an unimpressive in comparison, $480,000 as a global box office total. However the overall budget for the film was only £120,000 which would have limited the locations, costume and editing for the overall production. Despite this, Weekend has won over 20 awards across different film festivals such as SXSW 'Audience Award' in 2011 as well as 18 other nominations, which could suggest that high production values were not primarily important in determining the success of the film, and those who contributed to it.

Social media is an increasingly significant factor in the success of a film as it provides a platform for audiences to engage with a film before, during and after its release, and with reference to the uses and gratification theory, provides audiences with an environment to discuss and communicate about the film. A film that has successfully used this open space on the internet to promote their film would be Kingsman: The Secret Service, Matthew Vaughn, (2014). As well as having it's own website, the film has also branched into Twitter and Instagram to have an official accounts, with thousands of followers, both under the username, @KingmanMovie . This use of social media broadens the extent of the audience that the film can reach, however it also demonstrates that despite having the funding for high production values with a budget of $94 million, the post production of the movie has used the free service of social media in order to boost their films success. This is a major difference from the aforementioned Weekend, which has no social media presence, ultimately limiting it's audience to those who frequent film festivals and award ceremonies. Kingsman also differs from Skyfall, as it does not have the assured audience provided by a widely successful franchise, yet as a film of a similar action/thriller genre has to follow the conventions with the over extravagant special effects and multiple exclusive locations. By having such a large social media presence, Kingsman can advertise the high production values it has used in the film via their social media accounts to build suspense and interest prior to the films release through constant updates, without having to rely on previous works. This suggests that although high production values are important in terms of the genre of the film, that it is the manner in which these production values are communicated to their audience which determines it's success.

In conclusion, to some extent high production values are important in determining the success of a film, however the genre and context of the film are also very significant. As films of an action genre, Kingsman and Skyfall use high production values to fit with the genre conventions and provide their audiences some assurance on what to expect, in this case the importance of high production values is substantial. However in contrast a low budget film such as Weekend, which premieres through film festivals, the priority would not be to bring in large widespread audiences but instead to increase and improve the profiles of those involved such as the director and writer Andrew Haigh, or the main cast such as Tom Cullen and Chris New, so in comparison high production values would be an un-achievable ideal based on the circumstances of it's production and release.

Weekly News 53

Taxpayer fury as police handed extra funding to look for missing Madeleine McCann

This is the news story from the Daily Star written by Jerry Lawton, and follows the recents news that the McCann search fund has been given an additional £85,000 for a further 6 months of investigating the young girls disappearance a decade ago.

This has caused outrage amongst some people as this is taxpayers money and follows after the recent release of information that her parents have not worked since Madeleine went missing and were using the money from her fund to pay for their house and utility bills. 

The £85,000 was only granted on the basis that the police say they have found an individual that they want to question, however many took to twitter to question why a total of £13 million of the taxpayers money has been spent on a child, then only 3, left alone by her parents in a foreign country, especially when there are 213 other missing children's cases left unsolved. Why is this case special? Many question whether it is due to the high profile and class of the family. 

I completely understand that for parents, losing a child is a devastating tragedy and many would do whatever they could in order to find out what happened to their loved one, and with missing children the same funding cannot be given to each case due to differing circumstances. However I think equity should be considered in this case as there is such a massive incline in the spending in this particular child, who disappeared largely due to the negligence of her parents. After 10 years the likelihood of finding out what happened to Madeleine is slimmer and slimmer, and especially with the new budget and widespread cuts from the Tory government, that perhaps such a massive payout to an already expensive yet unfruitful case is not the fairest or wisest use of governmental funding. 

Weekly News 52

'BULLYING IS JUST ENDLESS' 

Mum horrified when daughter tells her about new Snapchat bullying game – but is left proud by her response

This story comes from the Sun, and is written by Jennifer Newton

I couldn't find any stories that really interested me this week, however this one caught my attention because of what appears to be a scaremongering tactic for parents and mothers, on something that I'm not sure even exists.

The story follows a new 'game' on the social media app Snapchat, whereby people seemingly insult each other based on various personal and physical qualities. The mother then goes on to hail her daughter for high morals for not participating in the 'game'.

Quite frankly, I don't understand how this is has made it into the news. This story follows a trend of similar stories of 'social media experts' and parents who seem to 'reveal' secrets surrounding their children's social media lives and activities such as the video below in which the news channel is attempting to scare parents into checking their teenagers phones for acronyms, that no one uses. (these videos have gone

Sarcastic responses to teen code 'deciphering' 

Furthermore, although the girl, Betsy, should be praised to some extent for her moral high ground, surely that behaviour should be the norm rather than a stand out demonstration of willpower?

Often these 'games' or 'trends' centre around a particular regional area or school district, so despite this particular episode being mean and detrimental to those involved, I highly doubt it is an nationwide issue and perhaps should be mentioned in the local paper, rather than nationally online. 

Skyfall v Kingsman v Weekend v Pride

The common theme throughout all four of these films is masculinity, however the importance and representation of the masculinity is varied across the different styles and genres of the films.

There is an easier direct comparison between Skyfall, Sam Mendes (2012) and Kingsman: The Secret Service, Matthew Vaughn (2014), which are both action based films. Both films have male protagonists who through the use of gadgets, weapons and intense physical training have to find a way to save the world. The theme of masculinity is very stereotypical in these films showing the men to be straight, and able to use this dominant sexuality to seduce beautiful foreign women along their travels. Two examples from both Skyfall and Kingsmans would be:

(I am aware that this is not the scene mentioned)

Skyfall:
The scene, quite early on in the film in which James Bond visits the home of recently widowed gang members wives and goes on to seduce her in order to receive information surrounding her formers husbands industry.

Kingsman:
One of the final scenes in Kingsman in which Egsy fulfils his promise from the Swedish princess for sexual acts, and uses his forward 'lad' style approach to secure the deal with the beautiful woman. This is a demonstration of 'lad culture' in which is stereotypical of dominancy and masculinity in men.

Another theme highlighted more so in Kingsman, but certainly echoed in Skyfall, is that a certain prestige and masculinity is followed by those who are well educated and with money. Despite Egsy growing up in a more working class background, his 'potential' is only realised when he given expensive resources and training and turns himself into a more upper class gentleman. This is also obviously highlighted in Bond, as he is the most famous 'gentleman spy' however the point still remains the same. For most of his life Bond has been an orphan with very few family and friends, however he came from money so could redeem himself through the execution of mass violence and saving the world in the name of the Queen and MI6.

In contrast, with Pride and Weekend, the theme of masculinity is more associated with accepting oneself and with the more emotional side to being a man, rather than fulfilling certain stereotypes.
Weekend, Andrew Haigh, (2011) offers a more subtle insight into the representation of masculinity, playing out the usual conventions of a romantic film with the lesser seen storyline of a gay male relationships. The protagonist of Russell demonstrates the main outlet of masculinity as a theme, as he transitions from almost being embarrassed about his sexuality, to then being able to show a public display of affection towards his partner, Glenn.

The film itself mentions how heterosexual story lines are expected to be consumed by a homosexual audience, however the reversal is not widely accepted. This is realised through the box office totals for each of the films (USD):
Skyfall: $1 Billion
Kingsman: $414.4 million
Pride: $16.7 million
Weekend: $484,592


Pride, Matthew Warchus, (2014)  shows a direct comparison between the stereotypes of strong, dominant, physical masculinity, and the more vulnerable feminine, but resistant gay representation.
The story of this film demonstrates the positive message that solidarity is solidarity, and when someone is being wronged it is our duty as people to support each other.