Independant vs Hollywood

Independent vs. Hollywood


In the film industry, there are two main groups, the independent producers and Hollywood. However because Hollywood is more famous it will get the bigger film companies making sure that they will get the views people such as warner bros and 20th century are the distributors from Hollywood.

 

 

British independent

British Film has been dominated by Hollywood since WW1. Any essay that discusses UK Film has to reference the cultural and ideological dominance of the Hollywood Film Industry to such as point that many cinema goers often will never see a film in any other environment than a multiplex cinema.

Meida institutions

      Media institutions

One of the most difficult Media Studies ‘Key Concepts’ to write about meaningfully in your essays is ‘Media Institutions’; but write about it you must if you want to obtain a high grade at the end of your course.

It can help to think about what it means when a concentration of media companies – those that can manufacture high quality media texts and products and distribute them widely and easily – lies in just a few hands. These companies are called ‘media institutions’.

an institution is something that would play a major in peoples lives for example school or the NHS are something that play a big part in peoples lives. It is shown that there is not a lot of people running the large corporations which are involved in all aspects of the media such as fill and television.


 
 
 
 
For example the person who owns The News corporation is Rupert Murdoch who is the CEO of this large corporation. The News corporation own a selection of other companies but the main thing is their news papers which is widely popular within British homes.


~~~> Rupert Murdoch










Concentration of media

Some people believe that the fact some people have huge ownerships of the media it means that also have huge levels of influence and power in what is put of those media sites. For example the music industry is run by just a handful of big names despite the growth of internet music

Also the fact that they can limit points meaning that the media shown to the public can be sympathetic towards a certain story which will then make them fit in to 'the way things are'.

Production Expense

Another way in which large media companies can selected what they want to be printed or shown is that fact that it costs a huge amount of money to produce the quality of media that the public want to see making it harder for smaller companies to get in on the main stories.

Film Ratings

Film Ratings


All classifications decisions are based on the BBFC's published and regularly updated guidelines. The Guidelines are the product of extensive public consultations, research and the accumulated experience of the BBFC over many years. They reflected current views on the film, DVD and video game regulations


The film ratings are used to classify what age group the film will be suitable for, they judge this on the issues that come up within the film such as sex violence and strong language this is normally called a classification. 

These are the classifications:

U – The “U” rating indicates the film in question is suitable for all, or is universal. Despite this name, it is generally used as mere guidance and suggests that the film may still be unsuitable for children younger than four as it is extremely difficult to ascertain or predict how they may react. A U-rated film will have a positive message and be generally upbeat.

PG – A film rated a PG (parental guidance) may be seen by all, including children without their parents. Parents are advised that some scenes may be unsuitable for children below the age of eight and it is therefore a judgement call for them to make as to how their child will react. Although a PG may be seen by all, it is perhaps unlikely a child of less than eight years old will be allowed to see a film without an adult.

12 or 12A – There is no appreciable difference between a film marked 12 or 12a and they are thus treated as one group of film classification. Anybody wanting to see a film marked with this classification must be either over 12 years old or be accompanied by an adult. Therefore, if in the parent’s judgement the film would not be unsuitable for their child then they may take their child to watch it with them.

15 – If you wish to see a film marked 15 you must be at least that age. Even if you go to see the film with your parents, by law you should not be able to see the film if you are not yet 15.

18 – The 18 category is simply that, you must be 18 or over or you will not be allowed to watch the film. You cannot therefore simply go in with someone who is 18 and expect to be let in with them.

R18 – This category of films will only be shown in certain licensed cinemas and will not be available at your local video shop. They generally contain explicit sexual content and there is therefore far stricter regulation of the supply of this category of film

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Representation of men in Thriller

Representation of men in thriller

Within the thriller genre males are normally represented as the hero/protagonists and the women are normally shown as the victims. This is stereotypical as well as this there is always someone against the hero seeking revenge. However throughout the film the male is always the team leader and is always on top of the villain knowing what he is going to do next.

Taken shows male representation really well as Liam Neeson is playing the dad. During this film he is shown as the average Joe this is another typical convention of thriller as he is just a normal person who needs to save the victim in this case the victim is his daughter which will make him more driven to find the antagonist. During the film Liam Neeson is shown as dangerous which again is another conventions within thriller as well as this the use of weapons again being shown as a convention of thriller.

This picture shows how men are represented as it shows that he is just a normal guy however you can clearly see that he is an 'average joe' making it even more special this also show that he is independent and that he doesn't need a team around him this is the classic way to portray males as independent and isolated making it harder for them to reach there target. 

Research methods

How do we measure media audience?
sales, subscriptions ratings, figures.

who measures audience?- these are just some of the organisations who monitor audience size

• NRS- http://www.nrs.co.uk/
• ABS- http://abc.go.com/
• BARB- http://www.barb.co.uk/
• Bookseller-

New Media:
There are few new ways in which we can measure audiences:

• Facebook/others social sites
• Online forums- comment tools
• Views on YouTube
• Twitter trends

Within research there are two main types of research:

Quantitative- This is questionnaires and more number based research and they also use closed questions this is to make to generate exact answers. They also make it very factual

Qualitative- Is more reliable on focus groups and interviews, within this also analysis of existing products, also uses open questions to generate answers open to interpretation individual preferences.

Considering Audience

Audience Engagement- This describes how an audience interacts with a media text. Different people react in different ways to the same text.

Audience expectations- These are the ideas the audience have an in advance of seeing a media text. This particular applies to genre pieces. Don't forget producers continually play with or shatter audience expectations

Audience

                                                                       Audience



An audience is an individual or collective group of people who read or consume any media text has be consider one thing and that is does it have any audience.

Mass: often termed 'broadcast audience' those who consume mainstream or popular texts such as soaps or sitcoms media communication that targets a very large group of people
Niche: much smaller but very influential. A niche audience is a small, select group of people with a very unique intrest.

Why are audiences important?

Audiences are important as they are the people who bring in the money when they go to the cinema to go see a film creating profit for the film makers. The mass media is becoming more competitive than ever as there more and more people to attract with many different ways. They do this to stay profitable.

Katz and Blumler

Proposed form their research into audience behaviour that audiences use media text for a variety of reasons.

Information: - finding out about events, satisfying curiosity gaining a sense of security through knowledge

Personal identity - reinforcement for personal value, finding models of behaviour, insight into ones self

Integration and Social interaction - Insight into circumstances of others social empathy, identifying with others and gaining a sense of belonging, interaction, enabling one to connect with family, friends and society, E.g soap operas & Sitcoms

Impact of new technology on audience

Old media (TV, Print, Radio) which used to have high audience numbers must now work harder to maintain audience number.

New technology has made it harder to define an audience it is shown as being outdated and now that an audience are now fragmented. E.g television.

Demographic- The audience

• age
• race
• gender
• class/status
• nationality

Psychographic- The audience

• intrests
• beliefs
• hobbies

audience research- audience research is a major part of any media company's work. They use questionnaires, focus groups, pre-film screenings and spend a great deal of time and money finding out who would be interested in their product.


http://www.thinkbox.tv/- looking at this link shows how media audiences are divided into categories
Group A: lawyers
                doctors
                scientists
                well paid professionals