Essay 1

“Successful media products depend as much upon marketing and distribution to a specific audience as they do upon good production practices” To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Star Wars the Force Awakens is a very popular and diverse film and can appeal to audiences of any ages. This can range from younger children who are interested in the toys and tie-in product side of the films and the characters that are involved, to the older generation who would maybe have seen the previous starter films and would therefore understand the carry on story in this film. I feel that the marketing of this film did play a huge part in the success of the film and this was due to 4 key areas

Media Products

Star Wars was produced and distributed in numerous different ways that would have applied and tailored to a specific audience. There were five main ways that this film was distributed and made available for people to watch and these were: Cinema showings, DVD, CD, Blu-ray and downloads. These all came about with different release dates as the cinema showings began on the 17^th of September 2015 and was eventually shown on 670 screens in the UK and 4,134 screens in the US. The movie received numerous positive reviews and remained popular for as long as it remained in cinemas. It continuously played in cinemas in the US for 4 months and only started on 2 screens before progressing up to 4,134. In the first day the film made $57 million and then progressed onto making $529 million in the first weekend. This is a highly popular film due to its ratings and would be easily classified as a big budget film. The critic reaction of the film gained an 8.2/10 and had a 92% rating. People claimed that it was “full of renewed energy.” Carrying on from this, on the 18^th April 2016, the Blu-ray and DVD’s were released. This was also very popular due to the continued excitement and enjoyment followed on from the film in cinema. Fans became very agitated that when they purchased the DVD, there was no download link involved so that they could watch it online. They also did not publicise the deleted scenes like any other film would so this then therefore infuriated the viewers as well as they like extra scenes and action to be packed into their DVD pack. Other big budget films and popular blockbuster films would include these features so after the success of the film in cinemas it surprised and upset viewers as this would have enhanced their enjoyment and love for the film even more. The DVD was sold in the UK for a price of £9.99 and on Blu-ray it was sold for £15.00. They then also released a special edition which was priced at £24.99 and this would have included extra scenes and the behind the scenes extras. It has now been available to download on to devices as an extra way to watch and improve profit and the CD has also been released with all of the soundtracks that have been included in this particular film. The release date of this was 18^th December 2015 and was not as popular as the film due to marketing. If this was shown and marketed as much as what the film was then it would have been as popular as the film but because of the film’s success it wasn’t as necessary to publicise this as much.

Specific Audience

Four quadrat applies to this film excessively as it is in the interest of both male and female over and under the age of 25. Stereotypically, boys and men are more interested in action films but with the success and worldwide population of this film it has now applied itself to both males and females alike. The age gap is also non-existent due to how well-known

and populated the film is as the younger generation could have been brought up around the film and the older generation have grown up knowing the film. Older generations can relate and understand the characters more due to how similar this film is made and publicised as the first films were and the characters have remained the same so they can also feel connected to the film through the actors. Younger people will know of the actors in the film and like it just as much due to Harrison Ford being the A list stars and being well recognised due to the films that he has previously starred in such as Blade Runner and Indiana Jones. This film can be seen as a love or hate film. The marketing and distribution would need to do as much as possible to pull this up so that it is seen as attractive to all audiences and they can show it off in the best light to attract an audience into waning to watch and enjoy the film. By showing it off everywhere and showing the special effects and even proving that most of the film was done practically could spark an interest and persuade an audience that this film is worth the watch and worth the money to either go and spend the money to watch at cinemas or to purchase on DVD. It was also publicised to be enjoyed by both UK and UK audiences. This could be due to the fact that they have both American and English actors and actresses involved and the film was filmed in Pinewood Studios in England which is widely recognised and known as a very important and successful studio to produce films in. J.J Abrams is also an American film director and producer so would be recognised very excessively and enjoyed by lots of American viewers and even along with English viewers. The film would not be associated as much with a Chinese audience though due to the fact that there are no Chinese actors or actresses involved in any part of the film and there were also no Chinese producers or behind the scene members of the cast. This would have then not attracted them to watch the film at all.

Marketing and Distribution

There were many ways that Star Was the Force Awakens was marketed, some being bigger than others, and all of these techniques helped the film to be well recognised by everyone in all different Countries. There were huge billboard posters situated around the UK and the US and these contains pictures from scenes of the films and the most recognised picture with all the actors and actresses on the front with an insight into the action that is going to take place in the film. This was done in a discrete way so that no audience member would expect a female lead and a black male lead. They would have all characters on the poster so that people can make their own assumptions about the leads in the new film. There were also adverts on the TV that would reveal slight parts of the plot and give away parts of the action to draw people into the plot and help them to connect to characters and begin to understand which parts people play in the film and who their character is. These adverts would have been watched by most people who watch TV everyday as they were very poplar and came on a lot during TV programmes and in the adverts of films on channels such as Channel 4 and ITV. It would have been used on these channels so that people would see them more often as these are the channels that most soaps are shown on and, in England, Coronation Street and Emmerdale are popular soaps and are recognise by most people in England. Star Was also has its own website and apps for the major fans of the films and this would be their way of playing interactive games and getting involved in the enjoyment of the film. This would also be a good way for the production company to maybe add spoilers and once the film has been released, add backstage clips and the production process for viewers to enjoy also. Other tie-in products were made and sold to promote the film and some of these were: Lunchboxes, lightsabors, water bottles, jumpers and even food products promoted the film, such as Subway. The marketing campaign became a huge deal and everyone in all Cities had heard of Star Wars due to its publicity and the amount of time and effort that was put into the marketing campaign to promote the film. Distribution was done through their large theatre company, Disney, and they were the only distributors of the film. This company set dates for releases of both the film and the DVD and they also supplied the budget of $306 million for the film. This then meant that they also went on to decided that the film would be released as Digital as a pose to film. This was done as it was a cheaper. 1% of theatres in North America showed the full IMAX experience that Star Wars had provided and there is also a lack of cinemas that are now able to show 35mm and 65mm films now, which is what this Star Wars was shot on). There are only 15 theatres in the world that can offer the full 70mm performance so it would be hard to distribute like this. Film also degrades after it has been printed and after being handled once would then become scratched and harder to use dur to the fact that it has been man-handled and smudged. $16,000 was spent on 220 hours of making this film, this is a full 9.5 days! The Production Company are also a Vertical Integration as they have full ownership of the film including production, distribution and exhibition. They then receive all of the profit gained form the film.

Production Practices

There were producers of this film and these were: J.J.Abrams, Kathleen Kennedy and Bryan Burk. These 3worked collaboratively to put this movie together and all pulled together in the end to ensure that, between them, they could make the film a brilliant success. J.J was also well known for producing Star Trek, which was also a Sci-fi film and was also hugely popular in the way that Star Wars the Force Awakens was. He also directed the film as well as producing it. The film was made using film as this made the scenes and screens relate magnificently to the original Star Wars and to show that time hasn’t changed in the film. This also would help an audience to connect more to the film as it would remind them of the ones before and help them to enjoy the film more as it’s so relatable to the original. It also used IMAX which makes the image 10 times bigger than a standard 35mm film. This would have been done to slightly modernised the film and make the picture better and or clear through the film. The film was seen as outstanding and the action involved was one that surprised and lived up to the audience’s expectations and was viewed as extraordinary for huge fans. Their A list star in this film carried on from the others and he was: Harrison Ford and from this film he was paid $20 million to play the carry-on role of Hans Solo. He was hesitant about doing the film again but after a long discussion he decided that it would be good and the action within the film was good enough to take part in. He also wanted the amount of money that he was provided with to take part in the film. This wasn’t even thought about as J.J wanted Harrison in the film a lot! John Boyega was also a main feature in this film as he was the first black male role that would have featured in Star Wars and this came as a surprise to the audience as they expected it to follow a Star Wars tradition but J.J wanted a change so he added a black male lead and a strong female lead (Daisy Ridley) too. This had never happened in Star Wars history. They both earned between $10,000 and $30,000 each which is significantly less than what Harrison Ford was paid. Carrie Fisher also came back in Star Wars as she had been in them before, but the same as Harrison, she was hesitant to come back as she had retired and hadn’t acted for many years so she was never to come back off of retirement to lay her role but her and Harrison have acted together so many times, which helped and it was something she really wanted to do after she had read the script and seen what was going to be in this film. There were also many locations for this film and these included: England, Scotland, Iceland, Ireland, United Arab Emirates. All of these destinations would have helped the actors and actresses to get into character even more as they were living the story that they were supposed to be telling. This was especially done when Daisy was in front of her “home” in the desert and she had real fire around her and the set was real. This would have helped her to understand her surroundings, and scene, even more, along with her emotions. Due to all of these factors, the film made $57 million on the opening day!

Sound Effects were used a lot, especially for sounds such as lasers, cannons and ray guns. Along with this, CGI and visual effects were used, but not to the extent that practicality was used as this was J. J’s vision. Camera work within the film was also extremely important as they needed different angles to display different emotions and also to provide a different view point for an audience so that they could understand the scene and action a lot better. The last thing used for effects was Prosthetics, Solar Power energy and robotics. This was essential to making the film as not all of the props could cover the extent of the scene and needed to be done with extra help. The music was also composed by John Williams, like in all of the other films and most of it remained the same as the theme tune was still included and extra music needed to stay the same such as the distinctive music for the Stormtroopers and they are recognised via this music.

Nostalgia was a main element that was shown in this film as there were older characters, older actors and a huge link to the original trilogy. The only thing that was mainly different was that Daisy and John, as the main characters, were 2 unknown leads and people hadn’t really heard of them before this film, s this was seen as very unusual by an older audience. Other characters that have been involved, such as Oscar Isaac and Adam Driver, have been in lots of other films so are therefore recognised a lot more due to their previous experience and films that they have been involved with.

With the big-name Director, that was J.J Abrams this helped the film to be of a high quality as he related the story very original to the others and he also added more modernised effects to ensure that it still appeals to all ages and audience types now.

Overall, I fell that the marketing of this Star Wars film was as important as the production practice otherwise the film would not become as known to the public and people would not be aware and begin to become as excited for the film as they would if it was shown and placed everywhere in their community.