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.