Synergy and cross media convergence re-do

How do companies use cross-media-convergence and synergy to promote media products and to what extent does that cause a film to be successful?


In the media industry, it is quite popular and successful to use cross-media convergence and synergy as a promoter for movies written and used by, the big 5, who have a larger target audience. Who are Disney, Paramount, Warner Bros., Universal, Lionsgate. These companies are considered to be an oligopoly, which is limited competition, in which a market is shared by a small number of producers or sellers. This pretty much is talking about how the major 5 has the majority of the market, making it harder for smaller businesses to get an edge or make any real effect on the viewer compared to this massive media conglomerates. Whereas on the other hand, smaller, 'less successful' companies will use these strategies on a smaller scale than other big companies like the big 5 for example. There are a few differences between cross-media convergence and synergy, but the biggest would have to be that, cross-media convergence is highly based around the fact of merging two media forms to promote their form of the product/products this results in the two companies/forms of media agreeing to benefit both of them. Cross-media convergence can also be used in any stage of the film-making or process, as well as also in production, distribution, and or marketing.on the other hand Synergy is when a company releases lots of different products that are similar and linked in some way or other to show distinct company branding. An example to show what I'm trying to say is when Star Wars The Force awakens, under the Star Wars franchise, under Disney was released they also released, action figures that were able to be distinguished through the logo of the Star Wars franchise, as well as various video games and a soundtrack for people to listen to. Although Synergy is helpful it is often used after the movie/series has come out, and or in the marketing phase, meaning they do not get much publicity before the movie, but more just extra income and afterward anyway. in this sense, I do see how both of these strategies seem to be successful and important but they are not crucial to the survival and potential making and breaking of the movie.


With advances in technology these processes have also become a lot easier with things like the internet allowing them to advertise online and sell the idea to large audiences. An important example of successful marketing using synergy would be the recent Ant Man (2015) which was produced by Marvel Studios, a subsidiary of one of the major media conglomerates in Hollywood (The Walt Disney Studios). This gave them the ability to use higher budgets to produce, market, and distribute their products efficiently. Through synergy, several products were released simultaneously, such as the Marvel Ant-Man Deluxe Collectible Figure Set or Wasp action figures linked together through branding, or the DVDs released soon after in different formats (DVD, Blu-Ray, CD, etc). Another example is Jurassic World (2015), one of the highest-grossing films of all time and thus highly successful. This was because of the high budget ($150 million in total) used towards all the stages of film-making, including distribution; the film was distributed by Universal Pictures to over 66 territories worldwide. As for marketing, Universal spent a total of $34.9 million on TV advertisements for the film. As a demonstration of cross-media convergence in real life - various partnerships helped with the promotion of this film, including Kellogg's and Dairy Queen. This clearly highlights the importance of the role of cross-media convergence and synergy in successful marketing. Lots of companies also use online and interactive ways to advertise their product/ movie, for example on Facebook or even blogs, one of the many movies who have used this as an advertisement scheme to raise awareness for the movie was the dark knight and their "why so serious?" campaign. This is what it was in a summary "Why So Serious?" was designed as a 360° alternate reality experience that played out over 15 months leading up to the release of The Dark Knight. Spilling out over a multitude of different platforms, this deep immersive campaign recruited the audience to become real citizens of Gotham City. Over 11 million unique participants in over 75 countries fueled the rise of the Joker as henchmen, campaigned for Harvey Dent to get elected as District Attorney, and even took the law into their own hands by becoming copycat Batman vigilantes. From calling phone numbers written in the sky to hunting down GPS coordinates to find mobile phones baked inside of birthday cakes, "Why So Serious?" was an experience like no other. As these fans collectively scoured the globe in search of clues, their incredible passion generated billions of impressions in the press and blogosphere setting a new benchmark for immersive entertainment." Sourced by Los Angeles Times.

Meet us

Meet us:

Grace Watson

Hi, I'm Grace Charlotte Watson. I am seventeen years old and very passionate about Media Studies, my dream job being to become a TV presenter or some sort of role in the media industry. I love creativity and have loved learning to film, edit and work with a team to produce a product of excellence.

Chene Harris

- Hi my name is Chene Harris, i am 18 years old, i am an AS student that goes to city impact church school and i chose to take media studies this year to get to know more of the technical side of things towards a camera and how they work and understand the process behind everything that goes into making a film.

Hunter Look:

- Hi my name is Hunter Look i am 16 years old, i belong to city impact church school, i am an AS student in year 12 and i chose media to understand the art of media and how it gets produced.

Mood board

Planning stages prelimenary task 2

The people in my group are Chene, Grace and, me (Hunter) 

- sound (Grace)

- lighting (Hunter)

- Camera (Chene)

Question 1.)

Thriller soundtracks possible to use:

Editing for video:

Opening thriller videos:

Question 2.)

Actors:

- Mother = Rachel Ironside 

- Kidnapper = Theo Payne 

- Kid (Amberly) = Aria Ironside 

Location:

- Kennedy park

Shot list:

= establishing shot of the park from behind car.

= Pan shot from abductor's P.O.V. looking at the girl's mom leaving to go to the bathroom.

= Match-on-action of man opening and then closing the car door.

= mid-track shot and cut closer to an over-the-shoulder shot of man walking towards the little girl           (shaky camera).

= mid-shot from side.

= high angle shot from the man's P.O.V. looking down at the girl, offering her a sweet.

= low angle shot from girl's perspective looking at the man, accepting the sweet.

= mid-P.O.V. shot of him looking down at her - she'll be smiling and will then begin 'pause' and             realise that something is fishy.

= close-up of her face when she realises that it's strange and she shouldn't take sweets from strangers     (discovery moment) - kind of like a 'pause' moment.

= full-shot of the girl dropping the sweet.

= birds eye-view/high-angle shot of the sweet as it falls.

= hand-held shot chasing after the two actors.

= birds-eye view shot from the top of the playground element - Theo chasing Aria.

= mid-P.O.V. shot from Theo's perspective chasing Aria.

= wide/long shot of Theo grabbing Aria and her fighting back - lots of camera movement in this shot.

= mid-shot of Aria and Theo hitting heads.

= close-up of Aria holding her head and stopping fighting because of the pain.

= extreme-wide shot of Theo carrying her towards his car.

= extreme-close-up of half of Theo's face as he walks towards his car, carrying Aria - shadow on his       face.

= extreme-close-up shot of Theo's hand opening the door.

= wide-shot shot of him opening door.

= wide-shot of him shoving Aria into the car.

= close-up of Aria hitting her head against the side of the inside of the car.

= extreme-close-up of her painful spot.

= mid-shot of Theo closing the door.

= track shot of him walking toward his door and getting into his car.

= extreme wide-shot of the car driving off.

= wide shot of Aria's mom coming out of the bathroom.

= close-up of her looking around and then yelling for Aria.

= mid-track shot running after her as she runs in the car’s direction, yelling for Amberly in pure distress.

= extreme close-up of the mother’s eye - stressed, agitated, confused, deeply worried.

= BLACKOUT

We are also filming on Monday afternoon from 4 pm - 6 pm

We did not have a plan B. We just decided to stay with our plan A

Call sheets:

Hunter Look: 

02106243502 

Theo:

0221900159

Chene:

02102281886

Grace:

0275695932

Props:

Clothing

Car of pedophile

Pt.2 Planning

Over isolation, encounters we found that hindered our planning process was the fact we could not physically sit down and plan the idea and we could not clearly explain our ideas, also the fact that we all had different online classes at the same time made it hard to plan out when we did it. Another downside to this online planning made it hard when someone had bad internet. Also if someone had a new idea we had to start a whole new call to talk about it rather than just being able to just show the team the next day.

Although working from home had its challenges it also had some advantages, one of these being the ability to make mistakes and do it again because we didn't necessarily have any time constraints, another being  the fact that you could do it any time of day allowing you to spend more time on certain things if needed.

If i'm actually being honest i am actually not too confident on how much we planned and how much we have done. In saying that I am feeling confident about our idea, but i just feel like we needed to communicate more as a group and just nail our planning over this time together, because grace went off and did a lot of planning by her self but did not necessarily convey these thoughts towards us in our calls.

i haven't seen any foreseeable issues with our plan so far.

Classwork Wednesday 13th Ownership Essay

 Media Ownership: The big 6 media companies earn 90% of the USA’s Box Office revenue- Therefore they have the money to distribute and market their film in a way that almost guarantees the success of a film. They are Warner Bros, Paramount, Disney, Columbia Pictures, Universal Studios, and 20th-century fox. It is impossible for smaller companies to compete through traditional methods therefore they have to do something different in terms of marketing and distribution to make their film successful. They have less money than the big 6 so they need to be more creative.

The film World War Z, had negative speculations at first after Brad Pitt feuded with the director Marc Forster. The marketing of the film convinced the target audience to have a positive view of the film.

They paid the NYTimes for an attention-grabbing online ad When entering the NYTimes website a fake news article pops up in the style of the NYTimes titled “Population Loss projected at 4.6 Billion’- actually an advert for the film. It costs a lot of money to do a big publicity stunt like this.
Many posters released of the most dramatic scenes in the film (zombies hanging off helicopters etc) attention-grabbing and spectacular- Hints towards the sheer scale of the film. Adverts everywhere: Big, press covered premiere, exclusive TV interviews, bus/train/taxi adverts, TV/Youtube adverts- near impossible not to know about this film and to forget the name of the film.

The ‘Big Six’ is a group of film companies that earn 90% (2007) of the USA’s box office revenue, therefore they have immense power and influence in the industry. Because they own so much they earn so much and therefore are able to ensure the successful distribution of a film through money. The companies are Warner Bros, Paramount, Disney, Columbia Pictures, Universal Studios, and 20th Century Fox.

The first example of this is the 2013 Zombie apocalypse film ‘World War Z’ produced by one of the ‘Big Six’ Paramount Pictures. With an estimated budget of $190,000,000, the film is on a monumental scale and Paramount was willing to spend whatever they needed in order to make this film successful. This film was a tentpole release so the success of the film was paramount to Paramount.

At first, the film had negative speculations after starring actor Brad Pitt feuded with director Marc Forster however the money spent on marketing the film changed public opinion. Firstly they had an advert on the NYTimes advert. This opened as soon as you clicked on the NYTimes page meaning everyone that viewed the page saw the advert. This is something only a large film company could afford to do. The piece was titled ‘Population loss at 4.6 billion’ which immediately grabbed the reader's attention and in-sighted interest in the film. Secondly, they spent lots of money on as many small scale adverts as they could such as posters on bus stops, trains, taxis and billboards in England as well as across the world. This made sure the maximum amount of people were aware of the film and the advertisement reached all possible markets.

A smaller film company that cannot compete with the big six is the New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) which supports and promotes New Zealand’s film industry. The NZFC has a wide range of responsibilities covering the development, financing, production, and marketing of feature films and short films made by New Zealanders both in New Zealand, (and very occasionally) offshore when structured as official co-productions. We work with filmmakers, supporting their films from inception to the exhibition. We assist with the making, promoting, distributing, and exhibiting of New Zealand films. We also work with other industry players to provide professional development to ensure the
the film industry continues to grow and that our filmmakers are constantly upskilling themselves.
In the past 30 years, the NZFC has invested more than $150m in 140 New Zealand-made feature films. The subsequent success of those films, both here and abroad, has seen the birth of internationally acclaimed film industry and a pool of world-class filmmakers and infrastructure. Our presence and support have enabled New Zealand filmmakers. To have greater access to international markets and to be more competitive on the world stage than might otherwise be the case. The NZFC is also responsible for administering the Large Budget Screen Production Grant scheme (LBSPG) offered to production companies filming a large budget production in New Zealand, and the new Screen Production Incentive Fund (SPIF) targeted at encouraging feature filmmakers to produce films with significant New Zealand content. In addition, the NZFC also certifies productions applying for New Zealand nationality and administers projects seeking official co-production status. A key measure of the industry’s success (and the NZFC’s) is that international distributors and sales agencies believe our films are of international standard, international film financiers are getting involved in New Zealand projects, our people are regarded as being some of the best in the world, and film audiences in this country positively engage with New Zealand feature films. Also, in the past year or so there have been 4 or so movies done by the NZFC which are; Guns akimbo, Come to daddy, The legend of baron To'a, and This town.

As a film’s budget increases, so do the prices distributors will pay for the film. There may be slight variations, but not much. The first question asked by all distributors is: “What is the budget?” The higher the budget, the more the film sells for, so there is a perverse tendency to inflate the cost of films. Producers often increase the budget for a picture by tagging on additional inflated “producer fees” or “overhead charges” for themselves, which are nothing more than a mark-up to the true cost of the film. When all else fails, one irresistible tendency is to greatly exaggerate the true budget in order to jack up prices. Also, the fact the budget is high they are able to hire big stars who have a large media presence, this allows the movie to get a lot of people wanting to watch it because of the stars and how they are famous and the fact the actors are able to advertise for there movie on social media making the followers want to watch that movie and it makes them more aware, sometimes, even more, the billboards and posters. Some examples of movies having big names are Avenges, the suicide squad, Batman, Star Wars.

Mainstream films are more formulaic and have a huge production budget, whereas indie films have a small budget - like less than $2 million. Some do have excellent production value and a few of the independent films have directors have decent production values. It depends on what you can do with a very small budget. The director's vision, the cinematographer’s skills as well as production design also come into play and contribute significantly towards the overall production value of the film. We are in an age where there are independent productions doing some pretty amazing things on a shoestring budget and are really great at it. While the mainstream films can afford that impact full explosion and car chases you see in the films, including the stunning aerial shots from a helicopter or a plane, they focus more on the action and visual effects side of things rather than the story or plot lines. Independent films that do well focus more on the story than the visual effects and action sequences. Independent film tends to take more time to develop (in the case with Whiplash, which took 12 years to finally get made), the mainstream film screenwriters are under a lot of pressure to crank out material in a short span of time (6 weeks for the first draft).

Piracy does impact on filmmakers being able to keep working because if you are continually not earning revenue back from your films being distributed then it undermines your ability to keep working in the industry,’ said Cristina Pozzan, Executive Producer at Open Channel. Piracy is a zero-sum game. It only can result in less money being invested in the new products, in less interesting, less innovative, less exciting material being available. So pirates are effectively kicking to death the very industry that they see themselves as accessing.show that 18-24-year-olds are the most active pirates, and are almost twice as active as the total population in Australia when it comes to accessing content illegally. While research also shows that pirating in Australia is beginning to lessen due to the increasing popularity of online subscription sites such as Netflix, piracy is an ongoing issue particularly in light of the effect it is having on independent film. We need to keep this conversation going so that filmmakers and producers can keep working. In the end, it comes down to creating a sustainable industry from the ground up.

Classwork Monday 11th Distribution

Question 1.)

Film distribution:
- Producer acquires rights to the film
- Screenplay developed by one or more writers
- Production finance and cast & crew confirmed
- Principle photography starts then post-production
- Distributor develops release strategy and delivers master print
- Film prints delivered to cinemas days before the release
- Film run extends based on demand and marketing
- After the films run, it is released online.

Start thinking about distribution early:

Because.....

1. Make sure your movie has a shot at getting it in the first place
2. There will be film distribution costs, like lab fees, additional legal fees, insurance. The list goes on.
3. what movies are distributors picking up?                                                                                         -what genres are popular?                                                                                                               -what movies are doing well on the festival circuit?
4. Trends change... So don't necessarily base your movie on what gets bought at Sundance this year. By the time you've wrapped and applied to Sundance, people may not be into that material anymore. 
5. instead, try to identify elements that seem to work consistently. Or bring certain qualities to your project from what's selling. But don't go chasing trends.
6. You need to be fresh, but also familiar.

How to plan an Independent film distribution strategy:

- Another way to kick-start your distribution thought process is casting. Try to cast talent that might help turn eyes towards your project. At the same time, cast talent that works well for the project.

- Something else a lot of distributors looks for in a cast isn't name recognition, and it certainly isn't talent. It's twitter followers. If your cast has a "strong social media presence" it makes everyone's job that much easier.

- Think about ways to market the film. Consider potential artwork, snippets for social media, trailers...Then, think beyond the distribution process. Think about why someone will choose to watch a movie. In doing this you align your goals with those of the distributor. By putting that hat on early, and demonstrating that you're ready, distributors are more likely to buy-in.

What are distribution rights:

- Distribution rights refer to the ability of one company to sell another company's product.  It can also refer to a region. This is why a film, for example, can sell domestic and international rights separately.

- The distribution rights to your film will hopefully be negotiated on your behalf by an attorney. Sales agents, managers, film buyers, and film bookers can also get involved.

- Distributors then work with the various platforms and theater chains to make the film available. 

Deliverables:

- Deliverables include the actual media of the film, as well as many other things.  So, no. You can't just hand them an HD master. This could include paperwork, documentation, and legal. It could also include trailers, key art, and photographs. You might be asked to include a raw negative in 4k. Some distributors might still want 35mm! For international markets, there will be subtitling and dubbing. It will depend on the type of deal, and the distributor. The important thing for you to remember is to stay organized from day one. With everything!

- Distributors don't always have your best interests at heart. They will say they do and talk about taking care of the filmmaker and the vision. Even if that's their intent, you must take pains to protect yourself. Because there will be turnover at the distribution company. There will be people making mistakes and focusing on other things. And this is assuming they do care about you.

How to get distribution:

- Some movies have a distribution from the get-go. Major studios make them, often within their deal with a production company. Next, the studio distributes the film through its distribution division. There are a lot of nuances within these types of deals, including when studios split regional distribution rights. But that's another conversation, and if your film is set up at a major studio, you won't have to worry about how to get distribution.

- Sales agents can help a film get seen by movie distributors. Think of them as agents for your movie.  If you have a rep, agent, or manager, they may be able to help get someone on board to help sell the finished film. It's also possible that a rep from someone in the film, a star, for example, could point you and the movie in the right direction. A sales rep will help try and connect your project to the right distributor. Of course, they'll also take a fee. A good sales agent might help you set up... Distributor screenings, This is the chance to host a screening of the film and invite movie distributors. Offers can come out of these, but it's hard to pull off if you don't have a good sales agent.

Short film distribution:

-  Short films have a life in the festival circuit and are a great way to create a “calling card.”  Use a short film to meet agents and managers- to show what you can do. But the life of a short film as a product a film distributor wants to sell is limited.

Working with film distribution companies:

- One thing to be aware of with distribution companies is how they might try to "hide" certain profits from you.  For example, a company might say they plan to spend something on advertising the movie. Sounds great, right? Not always. The downside of this is that they can claim they spent a whole lot, even if they didn't need to. And then when the income starts to come from the movie, they'll hide it in that expense. "We spent 100k on marketing the movie, so we need to recoup that." Well, this could be unfortunate. Especially if you owe some investors for the film. Or if you invested yourself. It's nice if a distributor is going to do some marketing on the project. Some won't. Make sure they're on the up-and-up. To the best of your ability. And get a lawyer.

Question 2.)

A list of NZ distributors:
- Curious Distribution
- Universal Pictures & eOne
- Rialto Distribution NZ
- Paramount Pictures (NZ)

Classwork Monday 4th

My own experience of media consumption, in many ways, demonstrates and mirrors current trends in audience behaviour. As time has gone on media and the ways we watch and consume it has had to evolve and adapt to make it better to suit us, the consumers of this media who are constantly wanting better. In the past we used to use different ways to consume media such as video tapes, DVR's, DVD's, CD's etc..., these forms of media over time started to slowly go out of fashion as new advances in technology have taken over, but especially in the last 2-3 years they have rapidly gone out of style causing many video rental places to go out of business causing sales to drop over 86% and losing around about 16.8 billion dollars in average yearly revenue. This was ultimately because they had become outdated and streaming services like Netflix, Youtube, Hulu, Lightbox, and Neon had become too popular and convenient than going to buy or rent a DVD at the store whereas you can just make a quick and easy subscription that over time ends up being cheaper and gives you access to more and even better varieties of movies. Also over time these streaming services have taken over things like cable and things like sky tv with almost 50% of people in the age gap of around 18-40 in America watching things more conveniently on at least 3 of the hundreds of streaming services out there, which is because of the convenience and ability to watch at any time of the day or night with the convenience of youtube being able to watch entertaining content and Netflix and other services like Disney+ to watch movies and series, rather than having to go the store/cinemas or waiting on the TV for the show/movie you want to watch comes on. On the other hand the illegal streaming of movies has become increasingly more and more popular over time, with the convenience factor but also the fact it is free and you don't have to pay a subscription fee to watch the movie. Also there are still some people who would prefer to go and rent a video from the store here and there but for the general populous they would choose to use some sort of streaming service be it legal or not. Also we find that when there is a lot of hype around some sort of film film or something people will rather go to the cinema for a few reasons. Family time, hanging with friends, dates, getting an earlier look at a movie rather than waiting for it to come out on these streaming services, with ought the guarantee that particular film being on the particular streaming service that you have chosen to use (this can also be a big reason a lot of people illegally stream movies, so they can get it early while still having the convenience of being at home), and over all just the experience of going to the cinemas. 

For me I actually prefer to watch movies from these online streaming services, just because of the convenience of being able to go watch a movie at any time at the comfort of your own lounge or bedroom etc... rather than having to wait for it to come on on the tv, however I would think it would be cool to have a small DVD store for rentals, just to have some nostalgia that when I am feeling like getting out a little I could just drive down to the store and rent a movie. I also like going to the cinemas sometimes to hang out with some friends or just spend some time with my family. Also another contributor to the increase in people watching movies thru streaming services is the fact that technology in itself is becoming more advanced in the sense, you are able to watch movies/series on the go with the ability to download these streaming services to your phone, for example Netflix and Disney+, also with the out dating of DVD's/CD's and the introduction of all of these streaming services a lot of DVD stores around the world have gone out of business, especially in places like Australia only having 8% of the amount there used to be. Also there have been upgrades to technology because of these adaptations with laptops losing DVD/CD pots on the side of them and being able to add larger storage capacities, better processing systems introduced to run things like Netflix and Disney+, or even larger battery capacities.

Big blockbuster movies such as movies like "ATL" often had large budgets to use for production, advertising, promotions, adverts and other forms of advertising it before it was released in cinemas. This would increase the popularity and hype of the movie because actors and others would have done countless interviews and promotions to get the hype up for people to watch it even more. Whereas smaller and less well financed movies did not get such big budgets to use for advertising etc... like the well known NZ film "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" which only allowed for a few interviews and advertising campaigns to allow hype for the movie. Although this was the case "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" actually did very well making $1,263,000 which is the largest amount of money made by an NZ made film, this then lead to the lead actor "Julian Denison" landing a role in well known movie Deadpool 2 because of his excellent performance in this smaller film that got good attention.

Audience research

Part 1:

1.) 4.338 billion people are using the internet, 57% penetration
2.) 3.484 active social media users,penetration 45%
3.) facebook, youtube, whatsapp, FB messenger, we chat
4.) -18-25, 16% male, 11% female
     -25- 34, 19% male, 13% female
5.) 4.22 million internet users in NZ, 88% penetration
      3.40 million active social media users, 71% penetration
6.) top 3 devices used are - mobile phone (any type, 92%)
                                          - laptop (84%)
                                          - television (91%)
7.) average of 2 hrs 42 mins
8.) -94% watch videos online
     -57% stream tv content via internet
9.) NZ's top social media sites
     - you tube
     - face book
     - messenger
     - instagram
     - pinterest

Part 2:

1.) people born mid 1990's to mid 200's
2.) you tube, instagram, snapchat, twitter, ipad, ipod, iphone
3.)influence their opinions on a whole ariety of socia, political, and environmental issues, act as act as catalyst for discussion with friends and family.
4.)movie trailers, word of mouth, people on sociaal media, friends and family.
5.)chilled, Intimate, hyped, in the know, creative, socially conscious
6.)because it is easier, cheaper, more convenient, safe, comfortable.
7.)expensive, inflexible, inconvenient, less comfortable