Consumption and Production Of Films

One way we consume films is through cinema exhibition, which is the retail branch of the film industry. The exhibitor does not only sell the experience of the film, but the snacks and luxury seating. Cinemas often sell drinks which are not available in other places as this means they can price them high, like the snacks and popcorn also. This is where exhibitors make the most money, and as there are on average 14m cinema visits a month, a lot of profit is made. These prices are not so much an advantage for us. Advantages of a cinema would be the large screen and cinema sound, however because of new technology people can watch films on a relatively large screen with surround sound. Because of this the trends are changing and other alternatives to the cinema are becoming more popular.


Netflix is something that has become very popular recently. You are able to watch an unlimited amount of films for a monthly price. This saves money for the audience but at the same time makes money for the company. This is because using things like Netflix means you do not have to invest in a separate disk for each film, like a DVD or Blu-Ray player, which appeals to the audience. Because of the popularity of this the company makes a lot of money out of it. Another thing which makes Netflix appeal to the audience is that you can use it on a range of devices such as iPad, iPhone, laptop and tablets. This means that it is more practical and can be used out of the house. Some people may prefer to watch films of their TV and may not wish to watch films on other devices due to the small screen size, so they might be happy just buying individual DVD disks. One disadvantage of Netflix would be that it takes quite a long time for the film to be available once its been released, meaning that going to the cinema would give you the priority and enable you to see the film earlier.




The pressure for production companies is to compete against all other films available in a highly saturated market, as audiences can consume from many different platforms. Bigger production companies are able to spend more money on production, advertising, and technology within the film such as 3D or special effects. This means a larger audience are likely to consume the film and a larger profit will be made from it.

Investigation Into Disney

In 1923 Walt Disney signed a contract with M. J. Winkler to produce a series of Alice Comedies. This date is considered the start of the Disney company first known as The Disney Brothers Studio. Between 1923 and 1928 was considered the silent era. 1928 was the first appearance of Mickey and Minnie mouse, who are very well known and recognisable characters to this day. Disney's first sound film Steamboat Willie, a cartoon starring Mickey, was released on November 18, 1928, and became an immediate smash hit as it was the first cartoon feature to contain synchronised sound. In 1932, Disney signed an exclusive contract with Technicolor to produce cartoons in colour, beginning with Flowers and Trees.  The popularity of the Mickey Mouse series allowed Disney to plan for his first feature-length animation.The feature film Walt Before Mickey based on a book featured these moments in the studio's history. Deciding to push the boundaries of animation even further, Disney began production of his first feature-length animated film in 1934. Taking three years to complete, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, premiered in December 1937 and became highest-grossing film of that time by 1939. The studio continued releasing animated shorts and features, such as Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo and Bambi which are all still popular today. On July 18, 1955, Walt Disney opened Disneyland to the general public, and after a shaky start, Disneyland continued to grow and attract visitors from across the country and around the world. Disney World then opened in 1971. Both Disneyland and Disney World are still around today and more popular than ever. With 14.2 million visits in 2014, Disneyland Paris is the most visited tourist destination in Europe, and Disney World is the Biggest Theme Park in Florida. Beginning with Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988, Disney's animation studio enjoyed a series of commercial and critical successes with such films as The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992) and The Lion King (1994). All of these films are still widely popular today, with the little mermaid making $211,343,479 gross worldwide, Beauty and the Beast making $424,967,620, Aladdin making $217,350,219, and The lion king making $422,783,777.

 

Here shows just the top 20 highest grossing Disney Films

 

Rank	Movie Title	Studio	Total Gross / Theaters		Opening / Theaters		Open
1	Marvel's The Avengers	BV	$623,357,910	4,349	$207,438,708	4,349	5/4/12
2	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest	BV	$423,315,812	4,133	$135,634,554	4,133	7/7/06
3	Toy Story 3	BV	$415,004,880	4,028	$110,307,189	4,028	6/18/10
4	Iron Man 3	BV	$409,013,994	4,253	$174,144,585	4,253	5/3/13
5	Frozen	BV	$400,738,009	3,742	$243,390	1	11/22/13
6	Finding Nemo	BV	$339,714,978	3,425	$70,251,710	3,374	5/30/03
7	Alice in Wonderland (2010)	BV	$334,191,110	3,739	$116,101,023	3,728	3/5/10
8	Guardians of the Galaxy	BV	$333,176,600	4,088	$94,320,883	4,080	8/1/14
9	The Lion King	BV	$312,855,561	2,624	$1,586,753	2	6/15/94
10	Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End	BV	$309,420,425	4,362	$114,732,820	4,362	5/25/07
11	Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl	BV	$305,413,918	3,416	$46,630,690	3,269	7/9/03
12	The Sixth Sense	BV	$293,506,292	2,821	$26,681,262	2,161	8/6/99
13	Up	BV	$293,004,164	3,886	$68,108,790	3,766	5/29/09
14	The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe	BV	$291,710,957	3,853	$65,556,312	3,616	12/9/05
15	Monsters University	BV	$268,492,764	4,004	$82,429,469	4,004	6/21/13
16	The Incredibles	BV	$261,441,092	3,933	$70,467,623	3,933	11/5/04
17	Captain America: The Winter Soldier	BV	$259,766,572	3,938	$95,023,721	3,938	4/4/14
18	Monsters, Inc.	BV	$255,873,250	3,649	$62,577,067	3,237	11/2/01
19	Toy Story 2	BV	$245,852,179	3,257	$300,163	1	11/19/99
20	Cars	BV	$244,082,982	3,988	$60,119,509	3,985	6/9/06

 

 

One of the most recent and most successful Disney films is Frozen, release in 2013, which made $1,279,852,693 worldwide gross. I am going to look at how a variation of company's worked together to promote this film which resulted in great success. One As Marvel, Pixar and Lucasfilm brands are firmly integrated into the Disney family, Disney films can be more widely advertised and promoted on these different platforms, attracting larger and more varied audiences.

 

Before the release of Frozen, Disney teamed up with the frozen food company Iceland in order to promote the film. The campaign gave Iceland customers the chance to pick up complementary child’s ticket with the purchase of an adult ticket with a grocery spend of £15 or more. This would promote the film as customers who may be unaware of the film are offered tickets when they spend a certain amount in the store. This is also beneficial for Iceland, as people who are keen to take their children to see the film might spend more in the store in order to get the complementary children's tickets. This marketing is attracting the target audience which is family's, as the complementary children's tickets are only available when an adult ticket is bought.

 

The marketing and promotion of Frozen throughout different companies didn't stop when the film was released. There was a large amount of post release marketing also. For example, various game companies began releasing a range of frozen games. Board games, computer games, DS games, and apps. The company Mattel, which is a fashion doll company, released a range of dolls of characters from Frozen, and JAKKS pacific brought out children's costumes from the film. Disney had teamed up with book companies too, to create short stories like 'A Sister More Like Me' or An Icy Journey' which consisted of a different narrative to the actual film. Another way frozen was promoted post release was through an actual tv series. the programme 'Once Upon A Time' was based on the well known Disney characters, and after the release of frozen 3 new characters were introduced to the show; Anna, Elsa and Kristoff. This would promote the film to a different kind of audience, older teenagers or young adults without children of there own, and market it in a way that appeals to them; through a dark fairytale drama series.

 

To conclude, Disney is a very successful company, gaining large profits from a lot of the films released. Disney's marketing has helped them with this success and teaming up with other companies has proved quite beneficial to the promotion, and the film Frozen is proof of this, now currently the 5th highest grossing film in box office history.

 

Promotion and marketing of ill manors

There were many different marketing techniques, such as 8 different types of posters. Within the posters there were many marketing aspects. A gun was shown on the front of them which might attract fans of crime films, and young people between around 16-30. 

Quite an effective marketing technique used was cross promotion. As the film came out  close to the release of Plan B's the album “ill manors”, it included a lot of the tracks that were in the actual film. In the videos of these singles shows the characters from the film. This means fans of plan B's music will see these videos, which may create enigmas for them and attract the to the film. This also works the other way around, so people who watch the film will be listening to plan B's music, and might be attracted to it and end up buying the album. Plan B appeared on many chat shows to promote both the film and the album.

The trailer for this film was only released a month before it came out, unlike other films which bring out short teaser trailers many months before the films release to create a “buzz” and intrigue the public. Also within the trailer it was rapid montage of film footage, not giving any real idea of story line. Although this may be seen as a weak aspect of the trailer, it would have created enigmas throughout members of the public. This trailer included footage of guns and youg women, in order to attract a young male audience.

Social media advertising was a large aspect of the marketing. As well as advertising on sites like Facebook and twitter, the film has its own website. The home page shows some still images hich give hints about the content of the film. For example a man being tied up and graffiti suggests the film contains a lot o crime. Dull/dark colours are used in order to attract the young male audience, rather than light, pastel, sort colours to attract females. Despite this, female characters are shown on the homepage in order to widen the audience.