Evaluation Question 3

What kind of media institution might distribute our media product and why?

Identifying the role of the distributor.

The role of the distributor is to make the film available to the public. It is normally the responsibility of the film distributor such as Warner Brothers or 20th Century Fox. A film distributor may also set the release date and the method in which the film exhibited for example directly to the public example theatrically or home viewing example DVD, Video On Demand, Download or Broadcasting. The film has to be put through a film distributor before it is put on the market to be viewed by the public. A film distributor is also responsible for the marketing of the film and plays a massive part in financing the film.

               

Identifying media platforms.

A media platform is a complicated network that contents is released on to. When we talk about platform we are talking about categories or types of media content that can be consumed to the audience.

Know you know what a Media Platform is Lets talk about some of the platforms that are used.


VOD(Video On Demand),

VOD Such as Netflix or Amazon. VOD is an interactive TV technology that allows subscribers to view films in real time or download films to watch later. A VOD can be watched over the internet or on modern TVs or TV packages  such as Now TV. or sky plus This may also be known as Time shifting facilities. The majority of TV providers offer video on demand streaming and this does include pay per view( A type of pay television service by which a subscriber of a TV provider can purchase events to view.). services such as Netflixs and amazon are subscription based meaning the viewer has to pay a certain amount per month or year  to be able to use the site.

Example of films released on VOD services are,

• Top of the Lake 
• Antiviral
• Head Hunters 
• Following
• Drive
• Kidnapped 
• Pulp fiction
• Zodiac
• The hunter 

Now some of you may be thinking at this point  well these film are all thrillers. and you would be right they are. I chose to use thriller films as examples as it links very nicely to our film fatal envy which was also a thriller. This identifies that a VOD service may be an appropriate platform for our film as it already has a decent range of thrillers that can be watched by millions of people around the world from old thrillers such as the following to the new thrillers such as London has fallen.

Advantages of VOD, 

• VOD can be helpful in providing internet,telephone and broadcasting of television through broad band triple play.
• VOD enables viewers to watch internet based media that has been pre- recorded and posted  at an earlier time People from around the world can watch pre-recorded videos at their own time any where they like as long as they have an internet connection. This play back technique is the key benefit  of video on demand. Many organisations find VOD as a essential benefit.Video on demand is becoming extremely popular know a days mostly to the younger generation.

Disadvantages of VOD,

• Players on PC, Macs and Smart phones have different capabilities and therefore have different viewers appearances such as bandwidth can effect the ability of receiving and playing video on demand resulting in the inconstant viewing experience. 

DVD release, 

DVD release such as blue-ray and 3D DVDs this allows viewers to buy the DVD meaning they can watch it a any time in the comfort of their own home. DVD releases normally come out around four to five months after the film is released in cinemas to be viewed by the public. For example Harry potter and the deathly hallows part 2 was released in cinemas on the 15th of July 2011 but wasn't released on DVD till the 11th of November that year four months after the cinema  release. A film may also be released on a DVD because the  production company may decide not to release a film either because it has a lack of support from a TV network, a low budget or a lack in public interest for example RIOT is a film released on DVD.

Theatrical release.

This is the date a new movie is entered  in to the theatrical distribution system so that it can be viewed by the public such as into cinemas . it gives the public change to be able to watch the latest up coming films and for them to make a decision if they like the movie before they consider buying it on DVD. The distributor has to be decided before a theatrical release once they have a distributor the film can then be marketed by the distributor in many different ways such as creating trailers and making merchandise which are then sold. once the film has been shown in cinemas extra. 

TV release 

This is when a movie has been made solely for TV release. These movies are less likely to include expensive features such as special effects. And usually have a small film crew. The movies are normally made using a low budget and undeveloped scripts. 

 

Our Film Platform,

We will be releasing our film Fatal Envy in January as this is after Christmas and hardly any blockbusters are released during this time as they are often released in the summer months,this gives the smaller films such as Fatal Envy  a chance of gaining some spotlight and being viewed by the audience. Our film will be released via theatrical release. By releasing our film this way we have more change of marketing our film  and getting  it seen by the wider audience including overseas. helping us gain money and reviews from around the world. Helping us to gain money to make other films. In advertising alone distributors such as Twentieth Century Fox spend around $ 4 billion  year and this money is mostly spent on broadcasting and TV promotion. Distributors mainly use TV for advertising as it gets the film out to the public quickly.

Distributor
 Twentieth century fox 

This is an american film studio distributor and one of six mayor american film studios including Warner brothers. Twentieth Century Fox has distributed famous films such as the Star Wars trilogies, Ice Age, Night At The Museum, Titanic and Avatar. Twentieth Century Fox is a member of the Motion Picture Association in America and in 2015 celebrated its 80th birthday.

A film distributed by Twentieth Century Fox was the Fantastic Four which was released on the 6th August 2015.in the UK It was viewed by people aged 12 and over the film is about Four younger outsiders tele-port to an alternate and dangerous universe which alters their physical form in shocking ways. The four must learn to harness their abilities and work together to save earth from a former friend turned enemy.

Here is the trailer to the film Fantastic Four.

Another film distributed by Twentieth Century Fox is Alvin and the chipmunks. This film was released on the 12th February 2016 in the UK it was directed by Walt Becker. The film had a universal film classification meaning it could be viewed by any one but was mainly viewed by the younger audience such as people aged 5 to 12 years of age. The film is about  chipmunks Alvin, Simon and Theodore who come to believe that Dave is going to propose to his girlfriend in Miami and dump them. They have three days to get to him and stop the proposal, saving themselves not only losing Dave but possibly from gaining a terrible stepbrother.  

Here is the trailer to Alvin and the chipmunks 

Even though we looked at Twentieth Century Fox and thought lot about having this as our distribution company we did come across a few problems one being that Twentieth Century Fox has never released a film that is on the same lines as our film and so we were worried that they might not be able to put across the genre of our film. Because of this reason we decided to step away from Twentieth Century Fox and so we turned to Lions gate 

Lions-gate

Lions gate was decided as when we looked back at our research on our previous post we saw that we all picked up that the film The Gift was distributed by Lions gate and was for people aged between 15-24 the same as our film and also the main genre to the film was a thriller just like Fatal Envy. After doing hours of research we felt that lion-gate would be the best distributor for our film as the majority of the films they release are thrillers. 

Some films released by lions-gate are 

• The Queen City Murder
• Leap
• The Hit man's body guard 
• The Hunger Games ( all films)
• Left for dead 
• The lost City
• The Gift
• Insidious 

Lions-gate Indent

Lions-gate History

The indent of lions-gate was last changed in 2013 but so the viewer can feel connected to the film as soon as the picture begins distributors tend to change their indent to fit in with the film.

Lions-gates first mayor box office success was the american film psycho in 2000.Lions-gate entertainment is an canadian entertainment company which came together on the 3rd of July 1997. It was created after the the name cinipix. Lions-gate tend to focus a lot on the foreign and independent films and has distributed successful box office films such as the hunger games and the twilight sega. lions-gate is worth up to 2.4 billion pounds 

Films released by Lions-gate

The gift

This was released on the 7th August 2015 with the main genre being a thriller and was distributed by Lions-gate the film was viewed by people ages between 15-24 and was mainly viewed by men The gift is about a young married couple who lives are thrown into a harrowing tailspin when an acquaintance from the husbands past brings a mysterious gift and a horrifying secret to light after 20 years.

The Hunger Games
The Hunger games was released on the 12th March 2012 in the UK and was viewed by people aged 12 and above and it one of the most popular films that lions-gate has released. its genre is adventure with a touch of thriller mixed in. The Hunger Games is about a girl called Katniss Everdeen who voluntarily  takes her younger sisters place in the hunger games. and a boy called Peter Malark that are chosen to take part in a fight to death in an arena in the capitol. 

Film promotion,
Film promotion is the practice of promotion specially in the film industry, and usually occurs in coordination with the process of film distribution. and normally include press releases, advertising, merchandise,interviews and media.

YouTube,
So many films find their way to the public eye via the internet with sites such as YouTube where official trailers can be uploaded to help promote the film as it gives the public an in sight of what the film is going to be about.also YouTube is used by the majority of the public and so the film has more chance of being viewed world wide helping to get the  film known. Things such as behind the scenes can also be viewed via YouTube giving an insight on how the film was made.

Adverts,
Film may also be promoted via adverts this could be either a short trailer in-between TV programs or they may pop up as banners on webpages. Films may be promoted this way as nearly everyone watches telly and so are more likely to see the trailer or short clips of the film. also the internet is getting more are more popular and is viewed by millions meaning audience are more likely to see adverts getting the film seen by a wider audience.

Websites and Social Media,
Websites are a great way to get the audience connected with the film and allows them to understand the film in more detail helping to promote the film. films can also be seen via social media as profiles can be made on the film that gives people a place to talk and share comments of their own opinions to other people.

Film posters,
you may have seen a lot of film posters in your life time especially if you visit the cinema on a regular basis they are used a lot to advertise a film and promote the film to the public they are easily identifiable as they are normally made up of a picture, the title of the film and the main stars that appear in the film. film posters also come in many different sizes.

Standees 

For those of you who don't know what a standees is these are figures of a character from a film and are normally made life size. They can be used to promote a film as they can be seen in places such as cinemas and normally stand near the doors to make sure the figure is seen by the public and intrigues them to want to watch the movie.  

Trailers

These are probably the most common way of promoting a film and can be seen in many places such as YouTube but are most commonly seen in cinemas before the main film begins. Trailers are a great way of portraying to the audience what the film is about  and also who stars in it. Trailers basically give a brief summery of the film and the best parts of the film are usually used to try to get the public interested and want to watch the film. Trailers normally last 2 to 3 minuets.

Co-branding

Co-branding also called brand partnership is when two companies form an alliance to work together creating marketing synergy.

Promotional Gateways

This is when markets supply merchandise such as toys, drink cups, food chains and many more in a way to promote the films to a bigger audience.

What happens after the cinemas,

After cinemas our film Fatal Envy will be released to the public via Pay TV meaning more advertisement to customers by releasing the film on pay TV meaning we will make more money as people will have to pay a certain amount before they are aloud to watch the film. As well as releasing our film on pay TV the film will also be released on DVD, Blue-ray and VOD (video on demand) this is son we can receive secondary sales and also allows people to enjoy the movie from the comfort of their own home meaning people who don't like going to cinemas are still able to watch the film getting the film seen by a wider audience our film will be released after 4 months to DVD, Blue-ray and VOD on pay TV slightly earlier after about 2 months. 

In my next post I will be evaluating question 4.