Essay 3

What Impact does media ownership have upon the range of products available to audiences in the media area that you have studied?

The impact for both Star Wars the Force Awakens and Ex Machina varies a lot as Star Wars was owned by Disney, Badrobot and Lucasfilm and Ex Machina is owned by DNA Film and Film4. Disney is a conglomerate company so therefore, they are recognised by all different audiences due to how popular their films, and their company, is. This means that Disney is able to provide a big budget and add in a lot more special effects with the money that they have provided. Due to the big budget, the special effects will be extraordinary and will enhance the films technical difficulty. This would then make the film more enjoyable for viewers who have already seen previous films and even new audiences as the special effects would draw them in.  Locations are also a factor that can be varied due to the budget that is put in place. This is shown by Star Wars have a number of different filming locations, 8 to 9 in total, whereas Ex Machina had only one or 2. By having a bigger budget, it meant that the production companies are able to expand their locations to all over the world. This also varied the audience type as the film was not just filmed in one Countries studio or one particular location.

The Stars are also important to help the films popularity as if the stars aren’t recognised then people may not know whether to go and watch considering that they don’t know the actor’s capabilities. Star Wars has Harrison Ford, Oscar Isaac and Domnhall Gleeson who are well known and recognised actors in film and are recognised for their outstanding achievements. Domnhall Gleeson also stars in Ex Machina so he would be a huge reason for an audience to watch the film as he is known for his exciting films and his brilliant capabilities.  As bigger companies can provide bigger budgets and bigger opportunities, the contrast for a small company would be real as they have less capabilities and resources are less accessible to them. It also differs as Disney kept all of the money from Star Wars as they are the owners of Lucasfilm so therefore any of the money made will stay within their company. This differs for Ex Machina as DNA Film and Film4 are independent companies so would therefore remain all of the profit within their companies. The institution plays the most important part within the film as they are the ones who decide what is in the film and what will be done with the film and who will be cast. Therefore, the impact that the production companies and distribution companies have on the film and the products that are made is significant and can also help with how populated the film is.

The audiences that would appeal to these films range significantly as their genres are completely different. Star Wars is a continuous film and is also an action film so would apply to all ages, whether they are older generations who have seen the films before or younger adults who have been brought up around Star Wars and have grown as fans. This would appeal to a general audience due to how well the film was marketed and publicised throughout the media. On the other hand, Ex Machina would appeal to individuals aged over 15, as the certificate for this film is 15, and any sci-fi fans. This is due to the technicality involved and the violence that can be shown at the end of the film. The film is very complicated and can be difficult to understand. Another way within which the film would appeal to audiences is due to the type of film that it is. Star Wars is a mainstream blockbuster and would apply to any audience as blockbusters can be the most recognised film. This film uses the 4 Quadrat technique as all audiences can be shown to enjoy such a film and can range its expertise to excite all ages. In contrast to that, Ex Machina is a niche film which is made through an independent company. This could have an extreme effect on what type of audience goes to see the film as it could be viewed as less exciting and could only appeal to sci-fi fans. The profit from both films has a huge range as Star Wars was viewed at the cinemas and purchased in lots of other ways after the cinema release date whereas Ex Machina was not available in many options after the cinema viewings. Due to the range of products that were released by the distribution companies on both sides, the profit varied a lot. Ex Machina took a lot less profit than Star Wars and this is due to the size of the Production Companies that worked with the film.

The amount of products that were also produced after the film was initially released varied a lot as well. Star Wars was released in cinemas in both 2D and 3D whereas Ex Machina was only show in 2D. This can have a huge impact on audiences as some audiences would want to see films in 3D to enhance their experience but this isn’t provided at all for Ex Machina. Star Wars then also came available on DVD and Blu-ray almost 6 months after it was released in cinemas and sold rapidly to the public. This was publicised almost as much as what the film was so that Disney could have as much success with the DVD as they could with the initial film that was released. The DVD for Ex Machina was not shown in the media much at all and the public had no way of being aware of the DVD being released. This would have meant that the profit for the DVD was also low as it would only be made visible when individuals entered a shop and saw it for sale. There is also a Blu-ray version of Ex machine but the prices for these DVD’s compared to Star Wars are so far away. The DVD retail price for Star Wars was £10 and the Blu-ray DVD was sold for £15 whereas the DVD for Ex Machina was sold for £5 and the Blu-ray was sold for £7.

Streaming and downloading was also made available for Star Wars as it is due to be released on Netflix and was also available on Putlocker. This was not the same for Ex Machina as no release date for any film websites such as Netflix has been made available. This would then make the film very inaccessible for people who may no longer have a DVD player and watch the films online. This is very popular in this generation so for the film to be published on these websites would be of a very big loss to the Production Companies. Piracy has also occurred a lot in this generation due to illegal film websites and this can have a very negative impact on the films as people are not paying to watch their films but would be one of the only ways that people can watch Ex Machina, so therefore technique would affect Ex Machina the most.

Other products such as comics, games, toys, apps and books have been made for Star Wars and were very popular. This wasn’t done for Ex Machina due to the budget not being able to stretch as far as this. They both had a brilliant soundtrack but only one was released on CD and this was for Star Wars. Star Wars also had a Snapchat filter, its own Lego and was used on Subway food cups and wrappings. This used the media to their advantage and portrayed their film to as many audiences as possible. This then had a positive effect on the film.

Overall, I feel that media ownership has a huge impact on the range of products that become available to an audience because they provide a budget that would then lead on to different ways of viewing a film and have access to it. They also have the expenses to go as far as they can with the film and portray it to different audience types. This then leads to either the film having a lot of extra products or a lot less.

Essay 2

Evaluate the role of digital technologies in the marketing and consumption of products in the media area you have studied.

Star Wars the Force Awakens and Ex Machina were distributed and marketed in very contrasting ways to each other due to different budgets and distribution companies. Their popularity was based upon how much marketing was done and how well recognised the film is due to this. Through marketing, each film is aimed at a different audience type and this is shown through their certificate and popularity.

Digital technology is very important to how a film is marketed and distributed and can influence a lot of people’s ideas and opinions surrounding the films. In this generation, the way that a film can be recognised is through how often it is shown and used on social media websites and through online sources such as YouTube. It also widens the availability for people to be able to view the film or watch teasers and trailers to enhance the film and raise awareness of the product. Star Wars the Force Awakens is a 12 certificate and would be classed as a mainstream film compared to Ex Machina being a 15 certificated film and being a niche film. My point of view is that marketing through digital technologies is one of the most important factors to marketing a film and enhancing its popularity. It is the best way to get people of all ages to recognise and show an interest in a film that they may not have considered before. Star Wars the Force Awakens was marketed in the best ways and Disney used their popularity to their advantage.

With this company being a conglomerate they have many people involved that can help the film reach different audiences and they can also use their different technological advances to spread the word more effectively and create word of mouth in a more outstretched way. It takes a lot for people to go to a cinema to watch a film now when it is made available in more formats. This would mean that marketing would need to be at its best and well stretched to ensure that people are aware of this film. Disney did this for Star Wars, as they had a budget of $306 million, so they used adverts, twitter, Facebook, snapchat, websites and YouTube videos of teasers and trailers to draw people into their new film. This then caused the film to be more widely recognised. In comparison to Ex Machina, which only had a budget of $15 million, so they didn’t have all the advances that they needed. This then led them to therefore only using one type of social media, Tinder. This did help the film to be recognised but its popularity remains very low compared to Star Wars the Force Awakens.

Each film used very different technologies to distribute their film as they both have a very large different in expenses. They both used cinema adverts but to different extremes. Star Wars the Force Awakens had numerous adverts shown over many different films being shown whereas, due to the budget, Ex Machina struggled to get their advert shown before many films. This meant that people were unaware of when the film was to be released and what the film entailed. Many people who have seen the film Ex Machina and have done reviews on the film have explained how they may have only seen the advert in the cinema once compared to other people saying that they had seen Star Wars quite often. Star Wars also used TV adverts better and to their advantage a lot more as their trailer was constantly played in adverts of many popular TV programmes such as soaps and big films on TV channels such as Channel 4 and Film4. With the trailer being shown numerous times, it showed that people then recognised the advert and became aware of when and where the film would be shown. Ex Machina was not as well populated in this field of marketing as there were hardly any adverts shown on TV so they missed their peak time of being recognised when big TV shows were on. This would have caused a big loss for the film as this is a main way of marketing for a film as in this generation almost everyone sits down and watches TV at night so this would be the most populated way to market a film. If the budget was a fraction larger and TV adverts were considered more excessively then their population could have been much higher. There are also new social networks and technologies that are used by nearly everyone with a smart phone such as: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat and even Tinder, which was a very popular dating app at the start of 2016. Most things on the internet nowadays are recognised by social media and nearly everything that is in need of promoting is on a type of social media.

When it comes to film, online interviews and teasers and trailers are a great way at seeing the film from a cast member’s point of view and also having an insight into what the film entails. This would be useful for people who may be considering going to watch a film and want to know spoilers or extra so that their enjoyment of the film could be improved. Digital use is a very important aspect of engaging with an audience nowadays as the quality is outstanding and it can be done on memory cards which are very easy to distribute to cinemas and companies that would then show the film in other formats. Tinder was also used very well by the film Ex Machina. This is an unusual way for a film to be promoted but it was a very successful way and proved to have a positive effect on the films population. SXSW (South by South West) is a film festival that can include conferences. It can be used to inform people about up and coming films or festivals and can involve questions and answers about a film with Producers, Directors and actors.

Both films used different techniques when marketing and distributing their films. Ex Machina needed an innovative marketing scheme as their budget was a very small one so that had little to work from. Whereas, Star Wars the Force Awakens had a very traditional marketing technique as they used all of the usual methods of adverts, billboards and social media. Both films used trailers and cast interviews. Ex Machina had fewer interviews as theirs only consisted of Domhnall Gleeson and Alicia Vikander and the Director, Alex Garland. This was because the film was not seen as important because it wasn’t a mainstream film and all interviewers and chat show presenters would want to talk to film producers and actors form big name films. Star Wars however was shown on many chat shows such as: Graham Norton Show, ABC news shows and the Ellen show, each one of these shows are popular in their own demand and in different counties and communities. All of these chat shows have very high viewing rates so therefore this interview would have been watched by many different audiences and raised a lot of awareness about this film. Social media was also used a lot, in a huge contrast, to each other. Star Wars used a range of social medias such as: Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram.

They had their trailers and other videos such as teasers posted onto Facebook and pages were created by fans about the film with videos and spoilers posted on there and this became well known through people sharing and liking each photo and video that was shared. They also used Twitter by creating a hashtag for Star Wars the Force Awakens and yet again posting all of their videos and information on these pages too. Another way that they sued social media was through snapchat and this was done by them having their own snapchat filter that people could then put on their faces and show to their friends. By one individual sending this Snapchat to another or placing it on their story, they are instantly sharing the awareness and could convince someone to go and see the film with them. This then increases profit and would introduce new people to the film. Ex Machina on the other hand, didn’t use as much social media as it wasn’t all accessible. They used Facebook and Tinder. A page was created on Facebook which their trailers and interviews, as well as teasers, were placed on, and they also shared images and spoilers, as Star Wars did. This is again, a very popular technique to use and is a brilliant way of distributing their film to different audiences.

Tinder was also a very extravagant way that they used social media. They created a profile for Ava and their computer aided system started a conversation with people that matched themselves with Ava. They would keep asking very intriguing questions so that they draw their audience in. When each “person” then feels as though they have fully connected they are asked where they can meet and named somewhere that Ava would really like. This would then lead onto a message saying whether they were successful in their “test” and transfer them to their Ex Machina site. This would then make someone intrigued so they would therefore search the page and research the film further. This could then maybe influence someone to go and see the film as they have associated themselves with the character and understood what the plan of the film and the character would be. Above the line and below the line marketing was used for both films as they each took different methods from different sides to distribute their films. This is a positive and effective way for the film to be distributed. They both used online and TV adverts which are above the line and they both used social media which is below the line. This is a diverse way of marketing and does show how each distribution company for the films differs as they used numerous different types of marketing techniques between the two of them.

The way that people are able to view films in this generation differs a lot compared to 20 years ago when certain technologies weren’t invented. Ex Machina was released in cinemas on January 21^st 2015 and on their opening weekend they made $5,349,500 and it was shown on 1,255 screens in the USA. They had a steady opening weekend but the production company would have expected a lot better from the film. Compared to Star Wars, this was a minor profit as they made $529 million in their opening weekend. Star Wars the Force Awakens was released in cinemas on the 17^th December 2015. From the first day, this film was extremely popular and thoroughly enjoyed by many different types of audience members. This ranged from older adults who would have watched the first Star Wars films to younger teenagers who have been brought up around Star Wars and are huge fans. Ex Machina was then released on both Blu-ray and DVD, similar to Star Wars the Force Awakens, but retailed at a much smaller price than Star Wars. On amazon, Ex Machina retails at £3-£4, and was released on July 14^th 2015, whereas Star Wars the Force Awakens retails at £9-£10 and was released on 5^th April 2016. Blu-ray DVD is also very similar as Ex Machina retails at £4-£5 and was released on 1^st June 2015 and Star Wars the Force Awakens retails at £14-£15 and was released on 18^th April 2016. The difference in price can also show popularity as people aren’t willing to pay more than £5 on Ex Machina because it wasn’t as expected yet because of popularity and special effects involved, Star Wars retails higher as people are willing to pay that little extra. Both films are also available on Google play and YouTube and can also be sold through YouTube. Neither films are available yet on Netflix but Star Wars is available on Amazon Prime and is very popular through this was of consuming the product. Unfortunately, for big film companies, piracy is a big problem for their films as people are now able to illegally download and watch films without having paid. This impacts the film’s profit massively as they aren’t receiving as much money as they could. Putlocker is the main website that is very popular and used by many people. These films can both be shown on this website.

Overall, I feel that digital technologies are a very vital role when marketing products. It played a vital part for Ex Machin as the way they used their budget for digital technologies was very imaginative and efficient. Star Wars didn’t need as much marketing as it is already a well-recognised film but through the excessive marketing they did, through technology, the film took a large profit and exceeded all expectations.

Ex Machina Review

This film is one that captured me in many different ways as there are a number of different themes shown within this film. Sci-fi, gender equality and male gaze were explored during this film. I found this film very hard to understand due to the extreme technical language that was placed inside of the film. There was a lot of language that people that may have studied this or explored before would understand and these parts of the film for me were very unenjoyable. The storyline of the film was very intriguing and the ending was one that I would never have expected to have happened and this left me in shock and wanting more form the film, which for me, is a very attractive quality in a film.

The 3 main members of the cast and the 4^th, who was just a minor character but still played a very important part were: Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac and Sonoya Mizuno, Sonoya Mizuno being the 4^th minor character. These actors and actresses have been seen in big budget films, such as Star Wars the Force Awakens, as well as smaller budget films such as this one as well. This shows that they can take part in a variety of different films and relate and be able to receive an understanding from many different audiences. All of these characters were accepted and were easy to understand and they played a very persuading role.

Alex Garland wrote this film and directed it also and he has also written films such as: Dredd, Never Let Me Go and 28 Days Later. These are all well recognised film and all have reviews above a 50% like rate on a review website. This does show that he is an effective film write and his films can be enjoyed by all.

The film was produced by Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich and they have also gone on to produce films such as: 27 Days Later and Dredd alongside Alex Garland so this does show, by the ratings, that they work well together when creating a film and their films are well recognised and enjoyed by many.

There are many ethical and moral questions that can come from this film and the main one of this would be: What our future will entail as Humans. There are questions that are being asked such as: Will these robots in the future wipe out the face of Humans? What our future will be? And if this film entails what will happen in the future? These points have sparked discussion in many audiences and in some cases, have caused concern among people.

This film is based around Neuroscience and the art of coding and this is something that Alex Garland has known about and experimented with since a very young age. He gained influences from films such as: A space of Odyssey, Altered States and books written by Ludwig Wittgenstein. He made the film on the smallest budget possible as he wanted “total creative freedom” and not have to add action sequences. There were no special effects when shooting as it was shot like ordinary live action and this meant that there were no green screens or tracking markers needed when they filmed this. All effects were done when the post-production stage came along. As special effects were needed for Alicia’s character, they did this with filming scenes with and without her in which allowed the background to be factored in at the same time. Using CGI, they were able to transfer her movements into more robotic movements and were able to add sound effects in to make her character seem more robotic. There were 800 VFX shots and 350 of these were robot shots. Visual effects were also needed when events such as Nathan’s stabbing and Ava having a transparent body were shown.

Overall, this film was very enjoyable and was very intriguing due to the plot and the ending being left on a cliffhanger.

Ex Machina Research

Producer - There were 2 Producers of Ex Machin and these were: Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich. Andrew is the founder of DNA Films and he is a Scottish film Producer best known for collaborations with John Hodge and Danny Boyle to create films such as: The Beach and Shallow Grave. Allon Reich is also known for films such as Dredd and 28 weeks later.

Director - There was 1 Director of this film and he was Alex Garland. He is a screenwriter and film producer best known for the film Never Let Me Go

Distributor - Universal Pictures distributed this film. They are an American film studio owned by Comcast

Cast - Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac and Sonoya Mizuno. There are 3 main characters in this film and they are the first 3 people listed above.

Budget - $15 million

Locations - There are 8 filming locations for this film and they are:

• Norway - Juvet Landscape Hotel, Sognefjord, Valldal, Jostedalsbreen National Park
• UK - London and Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire

Technology - The technology was 4k resolution and they also had 15,000 mini-tungsten pea bulb lights in the sets to make sure that florescent light was avoided that is used in most sci-fi films.

Number of screens - (Opening Weekend) - In the UK in the opening weekend, this film was shown on 1,255 screens and made $5,349,500 and in the US it was shown on 4 screens in the opening weekend and made $250,000

Number of Screens - (Peak Number) - The peak number of screens for the UK was 1,255 and in the US it was 2,004 but this decreased dramatically afterwards.

Box Office figures - On the opening weekend the box office figures for the USA was $5,349,500, in the UK it was $250,000, in Italy it was €251,000, in the Netherlands it was €38,500 and in Portugal it was $30,733

The issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice;

The production companies for this film were Film4 and DNA films. Film4 is a British television company that is partly owned by Channel 4 which are known well for showing gritty and exciting films such as: Boy A, 12 Years of Slave and Slumdog Millionaire. DNA is also a British film Company which is founded by Andrew Macdonald and Duncan Kenworthy and between them, they have also created films such as 27 Days Later, Dredd and Never Let Me Go. Despite being small production companies, they have done extremely well with the films that they have created. They have also worked together on films such as Never Let Me Go and are well known due to their box office figures on all of their films. They can create brilliant films without having to collaborate with big name companies such as Disney and Universal. This is shown through the successful film Ex Machina which only took 6 weeks to film and it had actors that weren't as well known such as Oscar Isaac and Domhall Gleeson. This then proves that not all films need to have big budgets to be successful but they can have small ones and still be as widely recognised.

The importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing;
The 2 production companies were distributed via A24 films and Universal Pictures. These are based in the USA. By working with these companies, it allows them to have a wider audience spectrum as they are a bigger and well recognised company that people can understand and relate well to, due to previous films. Ex Machina was also distributed on Blu-ray and DVD by Lionsgate Home Entertainment, another big company, that allows them to extend their audience preference even more! DNA Films and Film4 have brought their ideas together which also helps promote them two as companies as well as promoting the film.Film4, before this, have created many popular and well recognised films so they can offer experience. Whereas DNA Films have can provide a brilliant Writer and Producer. By each of these companies having well recognised features, they can help each other become more successful. By working together they can improve their budget and an audience can see that these 2 companies have worked well together so would therefore watch another film that is brought out by both companies collaborating together again.

The technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange;
With nowadays technology, people are wanting to be able to stream films and watch them in the comfort of their own home instead of watching it and paying money to see it in a cinema. This means that, to make the film popular, they need to make the film available on lots of different resources and make the film extra exciting and draw audiences in to see the film at the cinema. Such things as deals and exciting ad posters and videos online would intrigue people to go and see the film in the cinema and to have the full experience. On the other hand, people do like to sit at home and watch films fro their own television or laptop on Netflix. Foe them to achieve the most success possible, they need to widen their audience and distribute the film in a variety of ways that would meet the happiness of all members of the audience. Ex Machina is now available on websites such as GooglePlay, Netflix and Amazon. It was released in the UK, by Universal Pictures, on 21st January 2015 and the USA by A24 films on 14th March 2016. On the 14th July 2015, it was released on Blu-Ray and DVD and available to download.

The significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences;
Technology has become advanced in so many different ways such as: How to show a film and the features that can be used to make a film. Ex Machina have followed what this generation enjoy the most which is special effects and the excitement of new technology. They collaborated with Double Negative who are a highly successful visual and special effects company who are very well known and recognised in Europe. They have worked on highly successful productions such as The Harry Potter films and The Quantum of Solace. The expectations for films that are using modern technology is very high so there is a lot of pressure on Production Companies to make sure that they have used the best special effects work that they can to live up to this expectation. Ex Machina reached this height and this was shown through their box office figures. By winning an Oscar and working with Double Negative, it helped the reputation of the film and helped it gain the popularity that it did.

The importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences;
Marketing has also been improved due to new technologies as for this film it could be distributed through Social Media as well as through billboards, posters and adverts on the television. Through this type of marketing, the audience can have direct contact and it can be a more effective and cheaper way for the film to be marketed. There were mixed opinions about using this as a way of marketing so it created a lot of attention and interest in the film. The film was also shot on 4k resolution which is also a use of new technology. It is a digital way of filming which makes the distribution cost to cinemas much cheaper. This is shown through the quality of the film.

The issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically, British) by international or global institutions;

Different technologies and film companies have come together to work on this film (DNA Films, Film4 and Double Negative) and by doing so this has improved the success of the film and helped the film to go on and achieve an Oscar Award. The Production team worked together to create the shots for editing, with special effects, and then went on to collaborating with Double Negative so that they could begin to create Ava. Music was also needed to add effect to the film so that the audience could enjoy it more so this technology was placed into the film too. The music was composed by Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow, these composers have also worked together, like Alex Macdonald and Allon Reich did, on the film "Dredd". 
The ways in which the candidates’ own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour
As a viewer of the newest generation, that is used to having social media and advanced technology around me, I like to be able to view this film on many different devices such as Netflix and the TV, but I do also like to take rips to the cinema to see films that stand out the most to me. This is a benefit for our generation as we are more likely to sit at home watching this film with our own comforts rather than going out to the cinema to do so. New technologies, such as downloading films illegally and steaming them online, can have such a negative effect on the films population and profit as people are not watching the film in the most beneficial way so therefore I am fully against this new technology. All efforts put in by all members of the crew that were involved in this film, did a stunning job at presenting, marketing and distributing this film and the special effects tea created an extraordinary character, Ava, which drew the audience in and made people think about the new advances in technology.