Targeting of audiences

Homework:

Unit G321 - Evaluation

Due: Today

Section B – Targeting of National and international Audiences

Monday 24th March 2014

Unit G322: Key Concepts Exam

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Areas to consider for this Topic IF you get a Question around Audiences in the Exam:

- Can the Indie studios of the UK compete with the Hollywood majors?

- Is it an “even playing field” in the UK market?

- Was 'A Field in England' a failure? If NOT, where did it succeed?

- WHY were the films Distributed by Warner Bros. so successful? - Link to Marketing terms such as 'Above' and 'Below the line', CGI, 'Star Appeal' (Richard Dyer)

- Were the UK Produced/Distributed films 'Cross Over' hits?

Why?

Aims & Objectives

So YOU are prepared and ready for the exam on May 23rd 2014

• Re-cap prior learning of areas covered so far for Section B

• Establish HOW and WHY Hollywood Produced & Distributed movies are more popular than UK “Indigenous” movies.

Key term: Inter-relationship

• Review the learning and set homework for next lesson.

YOU MUST write down an example of a case study – ‘Taken 2’, ‘The Angels Share’ OR your own – that uses cross media convergence to target it’s audience.

YOU SHOULD support this understanding with statistics/examples.

YOU COULD give more than x1 example.

FEEDBACK

The use of video sharing and the age of prosumer driven content has meant audiences are now much more easily captured and targeted across the globe.

Hollywood’s success - $10.8 Billion (2012) in the US alone – has transferred across the globe, resulting in the film industry becoming much more like a ‘Global Village’ (Marshall McLuhan – 1967).

How else are Global audiences targeted by Hollywood?

2013 – UK Box-Office

'Man of Steel' (2013 - Warner Bros) - 9th ($46m)

'A Field in England' (2013 - Film Four) - 309th ($64k)

WHY?Did the “multi-platform day-and-date release” effect the box-office success of the

film?YOU SHOULD list some other reasons why these films differ so much in terms of box-office success.

vs

Other films of Note - 2013

'A Late Quartet' (2013 - Curzon Cinema) - 163rd ($758k)

'Gravity' (2013 - Warner Bros) – 7th ($53m)

Other films of Note - 2014

'Stalingrad' (2014 - Columbia Pictures) –

56th as of March 2014 ($101k)

In 2012, US Produced films (Hollywood) controlled around 61.5% of the UK Box-Office share

Unit G322: Institutions & Audience (Film)

WHY?YOU MUST consider why these Event movies were far more successful at the box-office by completing the following:

• Visit the ‘Section B – ‘Film Industry by the Numbers’ – BFI’ Page –

Is this a common trend?

• How were these films Marketed? Similar exposure? Different?

Key Terms to consider:

Above the Line and Below the line MarketingHorizontal IntegrationIndependent FilmMultiplexes

‘Section B – ‘Film Industry by the Numbers’ – BFI’ Page

Pages to look at are:

• The Box-Office share for British Independent Films in the UK was just 9% of the £1.1 Billion generated at the Box-Office.

• “UK films made with the backing of major US studios spent longer than other films, on average, in UK cinemas in 2012“.

Feedback


“Blanket release”£1.1 Billion generated at the Box-Office in 2012 – 4% increase.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/uk-admissions-box-office-up-417093

32% of this figure represents UK Produced Blockbusters such as ‘Skyfall’ (2012 - Sony).

9% of this figure represents UK Produced Low Budget films such as ‘The Angels Share’ (2012).

23% of this figure represents Hollywood produced ‘Event Movies’.




Audiences now have “diminished expectations”

Mark Kermode – Film Critic

Vs.

‘Taken 2’ (2012)

Dir. Oliver Megaton

‘The Angel’s Share’ (2012)

Dir. Ken Loach

YOU MUST go on to the Blog Pages for each of the films above and establish HOW each film utilized social media and new media technologies to help market the film to National and International audiences.YOU SHOULD investigate their success at the box-office in 2012

FEEDBACK

Key Term:

Event Movie


“..the age group Hollywood mostly targets is 18-49 year olds”.

WHY? HOW?


Or have they?

Research the listings of films currently being shown at Odeon cinemas in:

- Kingston- Bradford/Leeds – A city that is very culturally and ethnically diverse.

Do they differ in what is on offer?

Do they films reflect the demographics of the area?

How many of these films are British (%)?

How many of these films are a part of successful Hollywood film franchises (%)?

Who distributes most of these films (%)?

Top Grossing Films of 2013

How many of these films are British (%)?

How many of these films are a part of successful Hollywood film franchises (%)?

Who distributes most of these films (%)?

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/intl/uk/yearly/?yr=2013&p=.htm

YOU MUST visit the link below and establish WHO and WHAT were the Top Grossing (Top 10 only) films in the UK were in 2013.

YOU SHOULD consider whether there is a trend in the type (Genre) of film that is most popular.



FEEDBACK

UK audiences are overwhelmed by the dominance of Hollywood and the concentration of media ownership they possess.

Some examples of successful multi-national media conglomerates who are ensuring Hollywood stay dominant are:

Distributor

Estimated Marketing Budget: $30 million

Released in 3,661 Theatres in the US alone!

Grossed $50 million in it’s opening weekend at the box office in the US alone

Would you expect a similar ‘blanket release’ in the UK?

http://metro.co.uk/2013/04/05/from-iron-man-to-man-of-steel-five-action-films-showing-their-mettle-this-summer-3584182/

The mass media have the power to create “false needs” (Herbert Marcuse – 1964).

A popular and Free publication such as the Metro has the power to target a wide readership – around 3 million people a day – in the UK and use powerful sales techniques in helping to market the film.

We will look at the article from the link above to establish HOW they try and target film fans to consume the latest blockbusters.




“The films that have succeeded have not tried to ape Hollywood. They have typically British subjects, done in an entertaining, confident way” (Grant – 2007)

‘The Angels Share’ (2012) Dir. Ken Loach

Key Term: Realism

Key Term:

Shoestring Film

‘The Angels Share’ (2012) is a prime example of a Low budget British film that endeavors to provide verisimilitude (realism) for it’s target audience without being overpowered by the business and money making Hollywood machine.

Estimated Marketing Budget: ?

Key Term: Cross over Hit

Who Distributed this film?

Why did this NOT succeed in being a Cross-over hit?

Key Term: Cross over Hit

Was the film successful in the US?

Critically: YESCommercially: NO

Why so low? Was the film marketed poorly? Was released in Multiplex cinemas?

What do you hope the audience will take out of this film?I hope they’ll enjoy meeting the folks in it, particularly the young people who are either referred to as ‘petty criminals’ or ‘benefit claimants’ or whatever, and just see that they are rounded, humorous, proper, real people; and that for every one of that million unemployed statistic, there are a million kids who are facing a fairly hopeless future – and here’s four of them. Aren’t they interesting to meet and aren’t they complex and valuable, worth something really? I hope they’ll see that as well as enjoying the tale.• The verbal codes highlighted above provide some very profound connotations in

terms of our film consumption habits – “hope” connotes that Loach is potentially aware that the film is not going to reach the popcorn fuelled teenager of the multiplex, however through viral marketing and word of mouth, maybe the film will get the exposure and acclaim it deserves.

Has the advent of new technologies impacted the success of films like

?

Other Case Study examples to use – as well as your own….


Smaller UK Studio – Case Study


Key term:Indigenous Cinema

Bollywood cinema

Refer to consumer choice at the cinema and how Hollywoods dominance means very little growth or opportunity for Globalising Indigenous cinema.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwE5MUQvwws

What have you learnt?

• Summarise your findings today by comparing the targeting of audiences with ‘Taken 2’ and ‘The Angels Share’ with your own case study examples.

• Are there any similarities and/or differences?

Homework:

Section B –

DUE: MONDAY 31st MARCH – Period 3

Complete this Past paper question by reflecting on what you have learnt today.

YOU SHOULD time yourself to ensure you are completing the answer in no longer than 45 minutes.

Education

Targeting of audiences