The film chain

Hello film fanatics! I am going to tell you a bit about different aspects to do with the film chain.

Production

Firstly, the producer would select an idea for the film. This could be an adaptation of a book, another film, a true story or an original idea. The producer would then begin working with writers to develop the idea into a synopsis. A step outline (one paragraph scenes) is then made to focus on dramatic structure. A treatment is prepared, which usually contains pictures/drawings in order to help visualise the story. A screenwriter is selected and writes a series of drafts of the film's screenplay until the final draft is adequate for the film, often improving key elements such as characters, dialogue, dramatisation and structure. A film distributor would then be contacted to assess the possible financial success, genre, target audience and possible directors and actors.The producer and screenwriter would then pitch the idea to financiers, actors and directors. If the film is given the 'green light' they are able to continue with the process. However, many projects do not manage to achieve this and enter into a 'development hell'. Once the contracts and deal has been set, the project enters the stage of pre production. The initial idea may be heavily altered throughout the course of development, so the final edit could be very different from the early ideas for the movie. However, the screenplay is usually unaltered once the final draft is created.

The six main production companies (the Big Six) in America include:
- Warner Bros. Entertainment, owned by Time Warner.
-The Walt Disney Studios, owned by The Walt Disney Company.
-NBCUniversal, owned by Comcast.
-Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony.
-Fox Filmed Entertainment, owned by 21st Century Fox.
-Paramount Motion Pictures Group, owned by Viacom.

Independent production is a professional film which is produced outside the major film studio system. Independent films are usually made with much lower film budgets than major studio productions. Despite having a lower budget , many independent films can become real successes. A great example of a successful independent film is Kevin Smith's Clerks, with a budget of $230,000, grossing over $3 million at the box office.

Distribution

Film Distribution is the process which makes a movie available to view by an audience, either through theatrical release, DVD release or internet release, through professional film distributors, who are not always the same people who made the film. The traditional way of distributing a film could be either through a cinematic release or on the television. A newer way of distributing a film would be through DVD, Blu Ray or through the internet.

A film festival is a continued presentation of films through one or more cinemas. They have become very popular in recent years and are typically held annually. The most well known film festivals includes the Cannes Film Festival, the Toronto Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival. Film festivals are important in the world of film distribution as they have been making the cinema a more popular way of audiences seeing movies in cinemas versus the easier option of online streaming or DVDs.

A film distributor might want to release a film at a certain time due to surrounding events. For example if a political event was taking place on a certain weekend, the distributor might want to release the film on that same weekend if the film is about politics, which could make the amount of people viewing the movie higher.

Distribution is essential in the film chain as it is how the movie is released. If the movie is not distributed, it will not be viewed by an audience. Also, the way a movie is distributed could have an impact on the amount of people watching the movie, especially if a certain statistic show that one course of action for distribution does not parallel their target audience. For example if a statistic shows that most teenagers visit the cinema often however the distributor -whose film is intended for teenagers- chose not to release it in cinemas, it would be a bad move as their target audience would be less likely to watch their film.

Marketing

Marketing in the film industry is how a movie is advertised and sold to the intended audience. It is different to distribution as marketing informs the audience of the movie (and shows them if they would like it) however distribution delivers the movie to the audience.

The movie Gone Girl has multiple trailers on YouTube and has a facebook page dedicated to the movie. Their is also a website for the movie at www.gonegirlmovie.com as well as multiple posters and stills of the movie. Another example would be The Equalizer, which has multiple YouTube trailers and posters as well as a Facebook page for the film.

Different films are promoted to different audiences in different ways so that their advertisements can reach their target audience in a way that enables the audience to understand and get excited about the movie. For example, an American blockbuster film, such as Avatar, may be promoted to a non-English speaking audience through a dubbed/subtitled trailer as it would be not only exciting  and engaging, but allows the audience to understand it. However, a poster would be an easier method as the text on the poster is easily translated and changed to promote the movie in other non-English speaking countries.

Exhibition

There are many ways audiences get to see films. Some examples include:

-The cinema

-Online streaming

-DVD

-Blu-Ray

-Television

A box office is a term used to refer to the commercial success of a film, used in the context of a film being a "good box office" or a "bad box office". The box office return is useful to identify the success of a film as it shows how many people watched the movie and could indicate how much money it made. If a movie is successful, the people who invested money into the film (e.g. the producer, actors) would get money back proportionate the the amount they invested. Cinemas only receive a small percentage of the amount people pay for a ticket. Most of the money movie theatres make comes from the selling of drinks, popcorn and other drinks and snacks. Cinemas often give perks to people who go to the cinema to see a movie such as discounts, 2 for 1 on tickets etc.Ancillary markets are non theatrical markets for movies such as internet streaming, DVD and Pay Per View. This allows audiences to be able to watch movies in the comfort of their own home, which many people enjoy and is often preferred rather than going to the cinema to see a film.

BFI

The British Film Industry is the film industry in the UK and their official website says they exist "to promote greater understanding and appreciation of, and access to, film and moving image culture in the UK". They are required to produce and distribute films set in Britain or containing British cast, which contrasts the Hollywood blockbusters of America. Good examples of movies in the British Film Industry include The King's Speech and the two highest grossing film franchises James Bond and Harry Potter.

Media Homework by sofia 

Production

Pre-production: 
This is the stage when all of the planing and storyboarding takes place. During the pre-production the production is broken down into individual scenes, locations , props, cast members, costumes special effects and visual effects are separate. The script is normally written at this stage, then the schedule is produced. 


Production:
This is where the magic happens and the film is actually produced and all of the planning in the pre-production is unveiled here at this stage.Each scenic is filmed as manny times as the director decides to ensure the perfect quality for the film, this is where the pre-production is really put to the test. When creating a film great care must be taken to ensure that all filming is done correctly and all necessary shots are taken as it is sometimes difficult or impossible to re take them.  

  
Post-production: 
This is where the production becomes a film where the editor gets to work their magic and create something amazing,The first job of the film editor is to build a rough cut taken from sequences {or scenes} biased on individual "takes"{shots}.The purpose of the rough cut is to select the order of the best shots. The nest step is to create the fine cut by getting all of the shots to flow smoothly like a story. Trimming - the process of shortening scenes by a few seconds minutes or even frames- is done in this stage. Aswell as the music,graphics , editing footage and menus are added at this stage. After the fine cut has been screened and approved by the director and the producer the picture is "Locked" meaning no more further changes are made.

Homework

The Film Industry

Production

In the film industry there is a Film Chain this chain includes production, distribution, marketing and exhibition of a film.
There are different stages within the stage 'Production'. The first stage is pre-production this is the stage where all the planning for the film takes place. A storyboard might also be made at this point. During the preproduction they sort out every individual group including the setting, costumes, cast members and props etc. At this moment if the script is not already written, the script is written and actors and actresses are given a specific role. The next stage is production this is the stage where all the filming takes place the crew will film every scene. If the director is happy with the end result he/she will keep it and move to the next stage if not he/she will re-shoot the scenes that aren't of the best quality. Once all that is complete they move onto the next stage which is called 'Post Production' this is where the editors come in, they will put all the scenes in order, cut and edit scenes to look seamless. Editors will also add any special effects, music, titles and credits. Once again, the director will look over the whole film and if it is of the best quality then it will be locked which means that they will not be able to re-edit or change the scenes.
The main producers of films in America are 20th Century Fox, Universal Studios and Paramount pictures and Warner Bros. Entertainment. The owners of 20th century fox are news corporation and Independent. The owners of Universal Studios are NBC Universal and Comcast. There are several owners of Paramount Pictures they include Famous Players-Lasky Cooperation, Independent, Viacom and Paramount Communications inc. Warner Bro's Entertainment is also owned by Independent. The ownership of the studio could have an impact on what films the studio makes for example the owners might not want a specific genre or type of film, so they may choose to not produce it. For example Disney would not produce a horror film, as their main target audience is little kids. An independent production is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced outside of the major film studio system.

Distribution 

Distribution means the action of sharing something out among a number of recipients. Any company or individual can distribute a film, it doesn't always have to be the people who make the film that market the film. A traditional way of distributing a film could be on billboards which some places do have however there are also newer ways of distributing films for example on social media, showing the trailers and uploading 'teasers' of the film. Film festivals are annual events where films are shown in cinemas, some film festivals are set outside and some film festivals decide to focus on a specific kind of genre for example a horror film festival. A distributor might release a film on one particular weekend rather than another because the day has a meaning or they may think that there's going to be another big event or people may not attend. For example a horror movie is always released on Friday the 13th and Christmas movies would be released near chrismtas. Some distributors might want to release films in the Summer because people are on holiday. Distribution is essential to the film chain because without a secure deal the film won't be advertised anywhere and not many people will know about it and it won't be a 'big deal'.

Marketing 

Marketing is the action or business of promoting and selling products or services. Marketers take an idea and promote it to the public. Distributors build a channel that they control and that is used to connect things to people. The film 'The Maze Runner' will be released in a couple days below are a few types of marketing types for this specific film.

Films that are really popular will be shown in other countries too. For example the film Fast and Furious has been promoted the same way it would be in America however they change the language according to the country. For example below is a poster that is actually an American film but is being promoted in a different country. 

The film poster is exactly how it is for the American poster however they have changed the language to fit the country.

Exhibition

Audiences can see films in many different ways they can see films via cinema, internet streaming, DVD, Iphones/IPADS etc. A box office is a place at a theatre, cinema, etc. where tickets are bought or reserved it is also used to refer to the commercial success of a film, play or actor in terms of the audience size. It's a good way to see the success of a film because if not many people have watched it that means the film was successful and not many took interest in the film. Everyone who has taken part in the film receives a bit of money from the writer to the actors to the director but also the promoters get a big chunk of money for promoting and advertising the film. Cinema's make their money from the obvious: tickets but also from refreshments a big percentage of the money that they earn comes from selling refreshments such as popcorn, pick n mix etc. Some people may choose to go to a cinema because of the big screen, sound effects and some films come in 3D many people don't have 3D TV at their homes. People also go to cinema's for an occasion too it may be someone's birthday and a group of people decide to go together or a school goes out on a trip to the cinema. Also the film comes out in cinema first usually you can't access it on the internet for a couple weeks or months so some people may want to see as fast as possible.

BFI

BFI is the british film insitute, they are required to educate people about film and television and the impact is has on society. They also want to encourage the development of arts in film, television etc. 

Some fun facts about the industry. funfunfunfunfunfun

Hey, here are some fun facts about the film industry.

1. The highest grossing film of all time is James Cameron's 2009 hit Avatar with its domestic gross at a whopping $2.7 billion.

2.Walt Disney has the most Academy Awards at 26.

3. The world's most expensive fim prodution of all time is Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, which cost around $300 million to create. It grossed over triple that at the box office.

4. Robert Downey, Jr. is the highest paid actor, anually earning 75 million.

5. Each year, over 1.3 billion movie tickets are sold each year in the US and Canada.

This week's film releases

The Equalizer - This is an american film and the budget for this film was $50 million.
What we did on our holiday - This is a British film.

Group Picture

 Hello, we are Group 7!
We are (from left to right) Jack, Dilara, Sofia and Valerie.