Exam - Part B- Independent Film CompanyBy George Lawrence

Warp Films

Media Ownership

Media conglomerates are the few large companies that dominate the industry.

They own a majority of the media that the general public consume and make

it increasingly difficult for smaller independent media/film companies to get

their works seen by the majority.

Oligopoly: A state of limited competition, in which a market is shared by a

small number of producers or sellers.

The Oligopoly effect means that very few views are able to reach the public

domain which isn’t very good as it means that the public are fed the views of

others and can be ‘brain-washed’. Therefore, it is necessary to have

independent film companies within the film industry as it broadens the ideas

exposed to the public. However, in my opinion, there should be wider access

to the films produced by Independent companies. This is hard to achieve as

any methods of marketing the film through a TV channel or in newspapers are

often shunted as these are owned by members of the big 6 and so are seen as

unwanted competition and could harm the potential revenue of big 6 films.

Synergy

Synergy is when the interaction of two or more forces working together

creates a greater effect than the sum of their individual efforts. Media

synergy is the way in which different elements of a media conglomerate

work together to promote linked products across different media.

Independent film companies may find it hard to benefit from synergy as it

usually occurs within a media conglomerate. As independent film companies

do not own subsidiaries, synergy isn’t as important as there are no other

accompanying products in need of promotion.

Independent films such as ‘This is England’ must rely on other mediums in

order to promote it. These include: reviews; interviews; film festivals and the

talent included in the film. Therefore money is saved on splashing out for a

big marketing campaign. However, this film trailer was broadcast on Channel

4 and all of its sibling channels at the time, which was great publicity. This

deal was secured as Film 4 (a channel 4 subsidiary) partnered with Warp films

in the production process and provided studios.

New Media Technologies

What new technology existed that impacted the production, distribution

and exhibition of the film.

Production: Although new technologies can be expensive, in the long-run

the whole production can be a lot cheaper and less time consuming. This is

due to modern digital technology. It is extremely compact and can be

transported easily. Editing is a lot easier also as opposed to the old method of

literally copying and pasting into a ‘moviola’. Independent companies can

now create a big scale effect, using a small budget and new media

technologies. Warp Film’s Dead Man’s Shoes was entirely filmed using

digital technology.

Distribution: Digital technology has allowed for a lot faster distribution of

films as a film reel doesn’t have to be physically transported to each

theatre, now it can be sent via the internet instantly.

Exhibition: Modern digital film exhibition is good for the British film

Industry as non-mainstream films are becoming more accessible. Digital

technology with distribution and exhibition is a lot cheaper than old manual

methods which is why film such as ‘This is England’ was digitally exhibited.

The spread of technology

Technology is evolving at a rate that could never have been predicted with products

becoming smaller and more accessible to the general public. This makes film-making

available to many more people and has promoted the Independent film industry. The

spread of video distributing websites online such as ‘YouTube’ and ‘Vimeo’ are also

allowing small home-produced films to be exhibited worldwide. This is great news for

the British Independent film industry as more and more young people are becoming

interested in the Industry with the hope that in the future the ratio of Hollywood films

and Indie films being exhibited and having success will be a lot more even.

Technological Convergence

Unlike synergy, technological media convergence has worked in favour of small

independent film companies as indie films have been made more accessible to the

everyday public.

In the past in order to discover and view a new film, the only way possible would be to

visit the local theatre and watch whatever they were showing. This allowed for a very

limited array of films and any theatre vacancies would quickly be filled by films

produced by large conglomerates. However, now, the proliferation of the Internet has

allowed for easy access to films produced by independent companies.

Products such as the iPad and iPhone now allow the viewing of such films to not be

restricted but now you can literally view these films anywhere there is an internet

connection. There are disadvantages with this technological convergence as it has made

it easier for the general public to illegally download such films, but I feel in the long-

term it is beneficial to the independent production company as it is easier for them to

gain a following and market any following projects.

‘This is England’ used, at the time, a small distribution company called ‘Optimum’

which had previously worked with channel 4. This was good convergence as it helped

publicise the film. Optimum’s good distribution skills were proved when Vivendi

purchased them in 2012 and made them Studio Canal, one of the biggest distribution

companies used by the Big 6.

Big Industries targeting

British audiences

Often, British film makers produce films of the social realism genre and aim them at

local and regional audiences. Usually this is because it works out to be more cost

effective. This is different to the production of films by the big conglomerates as the

films they produce are intentionally targeted at large audiences with the aim of

retrieving as much revenue as possible to then put back into the production of new

films.

As British audiences are fed these over-the-top high budget and high concept

films, there is no need to go looking for films with plots directed specifically at your

location as that’s reality and generally now people look for films to transport them

away from the monotony of real life. Furthermore, the import of big Hollywood movies

dominate the advertising spaces in public as they have the big budgets to pay for these

advertising campaigns whereas Indie production companies do not, the marketing

prices are forced to rise making them out of reach to small films in need of cheap

promotion. The big industries targeting British audiences are doing so at the jeopardy

of home grown British independent film talent.

My Media Consumption

The cinema is a great film viewing experience and I feel will be around for a long time yet as

it is an experience that cannot yet be replicated anywhere else although there are many

products that have tried. Generally when I go to the cinema it is because I have seen a film

advertised on the TV and so make a conscious decision to go the cinema to see this film.

Rarely will I go to the theatre and see what looks good at the time; because of this I feel that I

have been influenced by the big industries from America as I am not aware of the small

home-grown films that get produced and will only see the films that are being directly fed to

me. However, I feel the same is said for a majority of the population. If a film is being

promoted directly at you, for you then you are unlikely to then go out of your way to search

for a different film just because it was produced in your home country.

After a film has been released, rarely will I buy a hard copy unless I particularly felt it was

incredible. In modern times this is no longer necessary as television cable boxes like sky can

provide new releases at no extra charge to the monthly payment that the family already pays

for. Also, if I was to buy a film or want to watch a film there are many renting services online

which are quick and simple. Films can also be downloaded to a tablet device making the

latest releases accessible wherever you are. Previously it was necessary to walk to the renting

shop to watch these films but in a society with rapidly growing technology, this is no longer

necessary.

The proliferation of technology has caused many issues to arise such as film piracy. I feel in

the future there will be systems in place to rescue the decreasing sales of films, however, I do

also feel that DVD will soon be non-existent and any sales of films will come from the

Internet.