Synergy and Convergance re-write

Cross media convergence and syngery are vital processes in the success of marketing media products to audiences. To what extent do you agree with this statement?

I personally believe that syngery and convergence can have a big impact on how well a film sells due to how it is marketted. However I also believe that a film can do just as well if not better without a huge marketting campaign. The comparison between Star Trek released in 2009 and The Hunger Games demonstrates the use of big marketing compared to small marketing and how syngery and convergence is used.

Star Trek was distributed by paramount pictures which is a large well known production and distribution company. One of the ways which they marketted the film was by gaining a lot of promotional partners. These included Nokia, Kellogs and Burger King. Burger King produced mini toys which were given free in kids meals which shows that they are trying to promote the film to a young audience. Playmates toys also gained the rights to merchandise the Star Trek figurines and playing cards and special game editions of monopoly and scene it? were made by other companies. This use of syngery with companies enabled Star Trek to attract a young target audience as well as traditional Star Trek fans who would be interested in the merchandise. Thus gaining the film publicity and interest within a wide age range of audiences around the world.

Convergence was also beneficial to the marketting of Star Trek. A website was made which could be accessed by many different technologies such as phones, tablets,and computers as well as an app which could also be used on these. The films production contained over 1,000 special effect scenes and CGI which also helped to market the film as it was promoting the film as an "up to date" modernised version of the previous Star Trek's which had not done so well in the cinema. This attracted the older audiences who we fans of Star Trek to go and see the film. Overall Star Trek cost $150 million to make and earned $390,000,000 at the box office. I believe that this was due to the large cost the distribution company put in to marketing the film and due to the use of different methods of syngery and convergence.

Although I believe that syngery and convergence can help a film be successful, I also think that it is sometimes not as needed. The Hunger Games is a perfect example of this. In comparison to Star Trek, it was cheap to make costing $78 million, however it made almost double than Star Trek at the box office with $690,000,000 and did this without hardly any help from companies.

One of the only forms of synergy used for The Hunger Games was the sondtrack. This featured artists such as Taylor Swift and Arcade fire and many of the songs were top hits. This helped to promote and create a buzz about the Hunger Games and helped it to gain a small scale of publicity. Compared to Star Trek, the Hunger Games used little use of synergy yet the film still seemed to gain more publicity and viewings than Star Trek.

Like Star Trek, The Hunger Games also had a website, however it was not as highly publicised as Star Treks which was featured on other websites such as Sky Sports. The production of the film was done mostly in woods and used less special effects and CGI however used more stunt artists and physical rather than technical enhancements. This created a more traditional feel to the film. Seeing as the film had more viewings, it shows that audiences may prefer less modernised films and prefer to go and see a good film rather than one that has the latest technology used in it.

Overall I do agree to some extent that syngery and convergence is highly important and can potentially make or break a film depending on how it is marketted. I think that Star Trek may not have done so well at the Box Office if it had not used methods of synergy and convergence in its marketting campagin. I think that by promoting the film with other companies, Star Trek was able to gain a large amount of publicity which made audiences feel the need to go and see the film. The Hunger Games clearly demonstrates that you do not need a huge marketting campaign to gain publicity. The story itself seems enough to gain popularity and promote the film. The fact that it was a book may of helped this, but Star Trek was a tv series which could of also in itself sold the film, yet a big marketing campaign was still used.

Representation of age:E.R

 In the first scene, a doctor enters a patients rooms who appears to be a young boy around the age of 13. Rather than playing with a video game or mobile phone, the boy is seen to be completing a sudoku. This use of mise en scene may surprise the audience as they would usually expect a boy of this age to not be interested in doing something intulectual whilst in hospital. This already portrays the boy as being quite intelligent.

Digetic sound in the form of dialouge also demonstrates the boys intelligence. It also creates a contrast of age and authority between the doctor and the patient. In this case, the doctor can be heard questioning the boy asking if there are treatments or trials for the boys medical condition.  This may surprise audiences as they would presume that the doctor would know more about the boys condition. However the boy clearly knows more about the illness and answers with "inpariably fatal" which demonstrates his knowlegde.

During this scene, camera, editing and lighting is also used. The use of low lighting emphasis the atmosphere of the scene as it makes the audience feel sorrow and sympathy for the boys situation. Basic conintuity editing is used through out the scene which keeps a continuous flow throughout and enables the scene to continue without confusing the audience. It also makes the scene seem more realistic as if they are within a real situation. The use of a shot reverse shot between the conversation also makes the scene appear to be more realistic and based on the levelling of the camera, we can see that the doctor is the same level as the boy. Before this he is viewed from a low angle shot from the boys perspective however this changes as the doctor leans down beside his bed and comes down to his level. This represents the boy having the same authority or power as the doctor if not more than him as the doctor comes down to the boys level rather than the boy sitting up further to talk to the doctor. This also emphasis his situation as the doctor may feel pity upon the boy.

The next scene is held within a busy waiting room within the hospital. During this scene juxtaposition is used as we go from viewing a formal mature young boy to seeing a boy of a similar age moaning about being bitten by a gerbil. The female doctor questions what happened to the boy. At this point the doctor is leaning over the younger boy looking down upon him to see the cut. Compared to how the male doctor was in the previous scene to this one, there is a large comparison between how the boys act and how the doctors act. Here the female doctor seems to treat the boy as a child and is almost careless about him moaning. Where as the male doctor seems to have more respect for the boy who has a life threatening condition due to him being so mature about his situation. The use of dialouge spoken by the two boys also shows the difference in age and maturity as the boy in the waiting room talks with more of a whiny tone where as the boy in the bed talks maturely.

Following on from the waiting room, a male doctor talks to the female doctor during an operation. During which he sarcastically says "just another drunk who is bleeding from his head ", to which the female doctor replies "I can see that". This demonstrates that even though the two doctors are of similar age and around there 30's, they act more immature than the boy in the bed. Especially when they are placed in a serious situation. As the doctor walks out, the female rolls her eyes in a childish manor. This shows the audience that even though the two characters are adults, they behave more like teenagers at inappropriate times. There is a clear comparison between young and old and who is mature and immature. the boy with the fatal illness acts mature and composed where as the doctors bicker whilst trying to save someones life. This challenges peoples views on age as we would expect the adults to be the mature ones instead of the boy.

How important is technological convergance for institutions and audiences?

Technical convergance is the 'coming together' of media. This is where technologies such as the internet, video, sounds, and data can all be combined into one. This is highly benefical and replied upon by institutions as a way of interacting with their audiences, and making sure that their films are successful.

The internet is replied upon heavily to ensure that an institution can distribute a film. One way in which it does this is through social networking sites. Around 1.2 billion people use Facebook alone and there are ever growing numbers on other sites such as Twitter. Many films are promoted using these sites (Facebook, Twitter) by creating things such as pages or news feeds which enable the public to access them. Over the years access to the internet has become easier due to the increase in technology such as mobiles and tablets. This means that more people can access these facebook pages and Tweets, thus are able to find out more about the film and talk about it more (word of mouth). Before the use of the internet, the main way to advertise a film was through a poster or a t.v trailer. These can be expensive, so by using social networking sites, distribution costs could be decreased as these sites are free to use.  This shows that the internet definatly plays a key part for institutions. Audiences also benefit from using the internet as they can find out more about a film quickly and easily.  Star Trek and The Hunger Games both generated facebook pages in which fans could find out information about the film before its release and see sneek previews. This gains attention to the film and entices people to go and see it.

Websites can be created for individual films or film companies. This is benefical for both institutions and audiences. One reason for this being is the wide use websites offer. Videos, images, information and things such as games and all be uploaded or created via the use of websites. These can all be used to entice people to go to the website and find out more about the film.  It is a major form of distribution and is used due to being easily accessible to audiences via a range of technologies. They can also be advertised on other websites and through other media. For example Star Trek's website could be found on Sky Sports' website via clicking on a link. This means that the website can gain large publicty and therefore the film could also gain publicity.  Sites such as YouTube are also helpful in the distribution of film. This is due to being able to upload things such as teaser traliers and official traliers. YouTube videos are easy to send to other people via a range of media and therefore videos could be highly publicised due to the audience sharing it with others. 

Apps are also another way in which institutions can distribute their films. These can be downloaded via a variety of websites and links through mobiles and tablets. This is a method currently being used by the newest Star Trek film 'Into Darkness'. The app states "get the app and see the movie first!". This is a good way of grabbing the audiences attention and make them download the app, which then in turn should persuade them further to see the film. These apps can be free to download which would also entice people to download them.

Star Trek and The Hunger Games video

The Hunger Games

Fairytales make hits for Hollywood

Star Trek Wordle

Media Question

Film is produced and distributed to a very large audience. There are four main concepts to creating a film that can be shown to an audience. These include the pre-production, production, distribution and exhibition. Star Trek is one film that was produced and distributed to audiences.

Pre-production of film is the starting point for any film. A script is generally chosen and then broken down into individual scenes and all locations, props, cast members and costumes are identified. A schedule is produced and arrangements are made for a read through of the script. As we as a start date for principle photography. All films generally begin and are formed at the pre-production stage.

Gail Berman, then president of paramount convinced CBS' cheif executive, Leslie Moonles to allow eighteen months to develop a new Star Trek Film. Berman approached two writers (Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman) for ideas. The idea was formed and production began.

Production is a key aspect to starting to produce a film as it consists of the actual making of it. Finalising a cast, filming on chosen locations and script finalisinig are all part of production. Star Trek's director and producers wanted the cast to be young and attractive to re-generate Star Trek. In order to do this, they decided to use young and up and coming actors rather than well  known actors. Filming was done in various locations in California and Utah as Abram's wanted very little greenscreen used. The majority of the film was kept in high secrecy and was even given the fake working title of 'corporate headquaters'.

There was major distribution for Star Trek to get it advertised to an audience. This included reviews in magazines, adverts on social networking sites and even websites such as sky sports. The distributor also got a deal with buger king to promote Star Trek in the form of childrens toys. It had many headlines on film websites and t.v programs which also lead to a better distribution. These are just a few ways in which film can be distributed to a wide variety of audiences.

Exhibition is the final stage. This is where a release date is decided, where the film is going to be played and in what form it will be shown in. Such as 3D. In Feburary 2008, Paramount changed the release date of May 7th, 2009. This was because the studio thought more people would see it in the summer than winter. Choosing a release date is important as things such as the time of the year can affect who and how many people visit a film. The filml ran for a long period of time within cinemas (from may to october in the USA). This could show that the distributors distributed the film well enough to get publicity or that there was a demand for scifi films at the time. The gross profit of Star Trek was $257,704,099 which also shows that Star Trek appealed to a large audience and was very successful.

Representation of Social Class Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VgzEgamtVo

We can clearly see that social class is represented here. The class shown appears to be of a poor family with little money which associates them with a lower class. The boy gets shoes for his birthday which is a basic item that many people have. This is all the boy recieves for his birthday which shows that the family may not have the financial benefits to provide him with more for his birthday and all his hard work. The room that they are in is dark and dismal which may represent that they live in squalor, as brightly coloured rooms with lots of furniture would show that they are better off.
The boy  manages to read the name "James" on the wrapping paper, to which his father requests him to stop and says "there will be none of that round here, learning isn't for everyone". This shows that his father does not want his child to be educated. In society people expect lower social classes to be less educated. In this case the father is verifying this by telling his son he does not want him to be educated.

In comparison to this class, the boy then ends up in a room of a very high social classed person. We can twll that the male is of a high class due to what he is wearing. He has long boots which appear to be for horse riding. Horses are expensive animals which means the man has money to keep them. He is wearing a tailored jacket which seems to be of good quality material which also indicates that the man has an expensive taste. The room that they are in also demonstrates that the man is of a higher class.  It is more brightly lit than the boys home and is of a much bigger size. Features in the room such as a large fireplace and silver cutlery and paintings show that the man is wealthy. The way he talks also influences the fact that he is highly educated. Showing he is of a higher class.

Representation of sexuality

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsiYpXC84dw&NR=1&feature=endscreen

In the start of the clip we can see that there are some male dancers on the stage of the venue. They seem to have a slight feminine side to them as the main singer is wearing a skirt and has make up on. This style of clothing may give the audience the appearance that he is gay as we would be stereotypical of what he is wearing. Here we also tet the first glimpse of the two main characters who appear to be two females. One of the females watches the other who appears to be dancing with a male. The woman watching stares intregingly whilst the female turns in slow motion. She seems to be happy and giggling which would represent a flirty manner towards the male. The onlooking female seems slighty at unease with what she sees. This would indicate that she feels jealous that the woman is happy dancing with the man and that she is feeling unwanted. The clip then cuts to a scene where the two women are facing each other and standing opposite. They place their hands together but as they do the clip jump cuts back to the same scene as before. Indicating that the woman had a vision. This shows that she obviously has feelings towards the female character.

Later in the clip, the other female woman wishes to tell everyone about the fact she loves the other woman. However, the character panics and wishes to leave. She is worried that her family and the world will not accept her as she says "I can't do this right now" and leaves. This shows that she is concerned what people will think of her. In society people can be very judgemental of a persons chosen sexuality, and this makes people wish to keep their sexuality a secret. This is clearly demonstrated in this clip.

Representation of age- Criminal Justice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS98eOwaz4o

At the start of the clip there is a close up shot of what appears to be a young man around the age of 24. An over the shoulder shot then reveals two much older males staring at him as if they are talking about the young man. The clip then turns into a view of the scene being looked upon via a camera. Here we can see the young man walking around aimlessly as if he doesn't know where to go and he appears to be alone whilst others in the scene of a much older age tend to be in pairs. This would represent him as being a "young outsider" and gives the audience the impression he seems to feel lost and out of place. He walks up to an older officer as if expecting her to help him or guide him. Yet she does the opposite and says "what?" in a dissmissive tone. The man shakes his head and walks away. This may seem strange to the audience as we would expect the older woman to be considerate and maybe show some sympathy to the man as he seems slightly worried. However she seems to be quite the opposite and doesn't seem to care about the male.

A tall male who seems to be in his late 30's then approaches the young male and blows in his face. Taking the young male slightly by suprise. This would be considered as a slightly immature thing to do and would be more expected to be done by the younger male than the older. The fact that the older man is taller means that he has to look down upon the man which seems to intimidate him as he leans backwards. This would demonstrate the younger generation possibly being frowned upon and mocked by the older generation.

Mise en Scene for fingersmith

In this clip, sexuality is clearly represented by the use of semionics of camera, editing, sound and mise en scene. At the start, Miss Mord is shown to have feelings for the other female character. One use of mise en scene which demonstrates this is at the start of the scene. The female character is standing in front of a mirror whilst Miss Mord is behind her. Both of which are looking into a mirror whilst the female character holds a dress against herself. The use of a midshot allows the audience to see Miss Mords facial expression. She gazes as the females reflection in the mirror with the expression of being slightly taken aback by the "beauty" of the female character. This may give the audience the impression that she may find the female attractive. This is further enhanced as the use of non-digetic sound allows the audience to hear Mords thoughts which are "she looked beautiful". Another scene which shows this is when Mord and the female character are on a bed. Whilst the female character is asleep, Mord can be seen resting next to her with her hand hovering over the females body. Mord seems unsure of whether to touch the female or not, so runs her hand down the womans body without touching her. This demonstrates that Mord clearly wished to caress the female character and shows a form of boundary between the two characters as Mord feels unable to express her feelings to the female.

Cutting It re-write

In this clip, the representation of gender is shown via the use of binary opposition. The use of camera, editing,sound and mise en scene portrays the opposition of males and females. The tuse of camera has been used through out the clip to represent gender. At the start of the clip, a medium shot is used to enable the audience to get a clear view of the characters. During this shot, a couple can be seen, and the male character takes hold of the woman's hand and kisses it. This shows the audience that they may be in a relationship and that the male clearly cares for the female. However a little while after, the woman can be seen comforting the male character as she places her hand onto his. Which is shown via the use of a close up shot. This shows some slight role reversal as the man is usually the comforting one in a relationship as it is a stereotype for males to be the supportive ones in a relationship. Yet in this case the woman is the one comforting the man, possibly showing she has a slightly more reliable role in the relationship as a woman. The use of shot reverse shots allow the audience to clearly see the characters facial expressions during conversation. This is mainly used during a conversation between the male and female after they leave the taxi. The woman requests the man to stay outside and the audience can clearly see via the use of a close up shot reverse shot that he seems worried about the woman. This shows he feels reluctant to leave her, however he respects her decision and waits for her. This shows the male as respectful to the womans choices and that he seems to be overpowered by her decision to want him to wait. Demonstrating she might have more authority as a woman. Continuity editing is used to create meaning to a story , so not to confuse the audience. The viewer is positioned as an impartial observer with slightly more attention given to the woman who gazes outside the frame. This suggests that at this point she is both in control of the relationship and the key to the narrative enigma. As an audience, people would then view the woman as the more dominant person. Slow motion is used as an editing effect twice in this clip. Once is during the scene of the man sitting at the table. The people in the background move slowly, which puts more focus onto the male character. Within this scene, the audience can see he is clearly thinking about the woman as the fiddles with his wedding ring. The second time slow motion is used is when the woman has been hit by a car. The man runs to her in slow motion which portrays him almost like a superhero figure, running to the womans rescue. Digetic and non digetic sound is used to create meaning and emotion in this clip. By using digetic sound to create a conversation between the two characters , the audience can tell who is the more controlling and dominating person within the relationship. However in this clip, both the male and female character seem to be of balance in the relationship. However the female appears to have a stronger say in an opinion or decision, whoich portrays females as the more dominent and persuading gender. In one part of the scene, the man tells the woman to "forget" a conversation and hushes her. Which shows that he takes some dominance. Non-digetic sound is used during the end of the clip whilst the man can be seen holding the woman via the use of a high angle crane shot. This non-digetic sound is a mornful instrumental piece which makes the audience feel sympathy towards the death of the woman and the obvious sadness her death caused the man. This represents males as caring and equal to women as he lies next to her on the floor.

Re-write of mock essay

This clip clearly shows the representation of ability and disability by contrasting them using the use of binary opposition. The use of semionics creates a divide betwwen the two main characters, Ben and his brother David. When the clip begins, the camera is positioned as an overhead shot. The positioning of this camera allows the audience to see the room and two of the characters. It also allows the audience to view the mise en scene that has been used. In this case, the audience is made to see a clear divide within the room. On the left hand side of the room, it is colourful, bright and contains childlike posters and toys. The audience would associate this style of room to a young child rather than an adult, whilst the right hand side of the room shows almost a total opposite style. Which is a dark and dull style, and of which we would relate to a more mature and older person compared to the style on the left. A shot reverse shot allows us to then see each character who is sitting in each of these divides. On the left we see a able boy around the age of 17 or 18, then the reverse shot switches to a boy who is sleeping and whom appears to have a disability. The audience then associates the rooms with the characters, and assume Ben to be childlike, whilst David appears to be older than his years in some sense. This would represent how people in society expect disabled people like Ben to be immature due to their disability. The division also emphasises the divide in society between able people and disabled people. During tihs scene, a non-digetic voice can be heard in the form of a narator who the audience would believe to be David, as the camera pans across his face as we hear it. At this point the shot-reverse shot from David to Ben transitions as an overlay and fade into a black and white clip of a large explosion. A montage of evolutionary clips begin to play, showing how people evolved. The audience would associate this evolution with Ben as he is shown before the clips began and his brother appears to be talking about killing him. The audience can hear David talking about how humans were formed and that sometimes the 'recipe' can go wrong. The combination of this and the clips of evolution shows that David is refering to Ben, He discriminates Ben for having a disability as the audience can clearly see David thinks of Ben as not being normal compared to other humans. David also refers to Ben as a 'potato with eye tenticals' which would be quite offending to Ben. This is what most people would expect from society as many people discriminate those with a disability and may not think that they are 'normal'. After this, the montage of evolution clips cut to an establishing shot of a block of houses whilst non-digetic happy music is played. This sound then turns into digetic sound as it appears to be coming from a radio in the kitchen. The music played resembles people being able to get along with each other in harmony which contradicts how able people and disabled people are pressured to get along in society. Ben and Davids relationship clearly demonstrates this opposition,as they bicker at the breakfast table. Whilst at the table, David and Ben's mum prepares to leave for work. Before she leaves she kissed Ben on the cheek, yet does not acknowledge David. The audience is almost made to feel slightly sympathetic for David as they can see by his facial expression he appears to feel left out and unloved. It also demonstrates that their mum treats Ben as a child and feels as if she has to comfort him more. This demonstrates how disabled people are thought to be looked after and cared for more than able people. In this case such as David being less worried about by their mother. The scene then jump cuts into a scene at a bus stop where David and Ben can be seen walking. David is in front whilst Ben appears to be trailing behind him. This use of mise en scene shows the audience that David may not want to appear to be with Ben and acts as if Ben is not with him. Thus would portray that David may be ashamed to be seen with Ben simply because he has a disability, as Ben behaves in a childish manor with toys at the bus stop. The scene cuts again to David looking out of a window with a toy gun. An eyeline match is used and the audience can see that David is aiming the gun at Ben as a target can be seen on the screen. The use of this shows how society singles out and targets people with disabilities. The fact that a gun is used almost represents able people as being hunters who see disabled people as pray and single them out. During conversation between David and his friend, an over-the-shoulder shot is used so that the audience can see Ben in the background. He appears to look lost and vulnerable as he looks lonely and singled out from everyone else who is within a group. This is also shown when Ben is told to take the bus by himself and is seated alone on a busy bus. Non-digetic piano music is played and a close up of Ben's face is shown. The sound of muffled laughter of children can also be heard. The audience is made to feel sympathy for Ben due to how vulnerable he appears to be and lonely. This represents how peopole in society pity those with a disability. Due to disabled people not being able to do somethings able can, society may patronise them as they sympathise with this. Overall, the representation of ability and disability is portrayed via the use of binary opposition, camera, editing, sound and mise en scene. The audience is constantly made to feel sympathy towards Ben who is disabled. Which represents that the world takes pity on those with a disability.

Representation of disability: Camera+Sound

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gl8jVX9WWM&list=PL5EAE4F5F36504F7C&index=9 A touch of Frost Disability is clearly shown within this clip via the use of camera, editing, sound and mise en scene. During the scene of the police and Billy within the forest, a variety of camera angles are used to show how disability is represented within society. The close up shot of the police dog, resembles Billy being hunted as if he is pray, as we can see the policemen and dogs are eager to find him. Once the police see Billy, a close up shot of Billy's face enables us to see that he appears to be scared and worried. Being able to see that Billy is disabled also makes people feel sympathy for Billy as they may assume him to be innocent and pity him for being disabled. Therefore seeing him scared emphasises this. A low angle medium shot is used to show Billy being tackled to the floor by the officer and not being able to escape the officer's hold. This resembles Billy as being less powerful than the man and therefore more vulnerable. Within this shot the audience can see Billy being held up by his collar which also resembles his vulnerability. Here the use of digetic sound is used to emphasis the fact the audience would assume Billy is innocent due to the fact he is disabled. Billy says that he hasn't "done anything wrong" which appears to make Billy seem powerless. The tone in which this is said by Billy is almost childlike and further links with making the audience feel pity for him. Dialouge is further used in the next scene during a conversation between Billy's father and the inspector. The inspector refers to Billy as being "mentally subnormal" to which the father firmly corrects him by saying "handicapped". This shows that the use of words by the inspector represents Billy as not being the same in terms of someone who is normal. Maybe referring to an abled person. To which this seems to slightly offend the father. Handicapped is used instead to describe Billy as does not single him out as being un-normal.