Friday - NZFC - research

 Hi guys!

Today's research is going to be useful for any essay regarding ownership.

We are going to look into the New Zealand Film Commission. 

I want you to open your case study blog post and do some research on the NZFC and answer the following questions;

1. Who are the NZFC and what is their primary purpose?
2. What films have they funded in the last 5 years that did really well internationally?
3. What films have they funded in the last 5 years that you have seen or that you know have been popular?
4. What services do the NZFC offer to help NZ filmmakers in the production process?

www.nzfilm.co.nz/new-zealand

List of films from NZFC

Now I want you to consider the following question on a brainstorming page that you will title, "INSTITUTIONS (OWNERSHIP)".

Flick though this slideshow and make some notes but keep in mind this is British and we are focusing on the NZFC so mainly take the generalised points about ownership and what affect it has on a film being made.

"How does the status of the institution impact on how they engage with the major stages of production?"
(basically, how does it impact a film being made to have the backing of a massive conglomerate like Disney, as opposed to being a filmmaker from NZ wanting to make an indi film).

Write points for;

1. Production (getting funding / cast & crew / music for the film / technology & equipment)
2. Distribution / marketing ( actors promoting the film / vertical & horizontal integration / synergy & cross-media-convergence)
3. exhibition & exchange (the type of release you may have / the rights to the film / piracy)

Wed - End of Audience Theory (Shirky)

  Shirky – end of audience theory.

What is it?

Audience behaviour has changed due to the internet and the ability for audiences to create their own content at home thanks to the lower cost of technology. This new audience doesn’t just consume media, but also produces it – creating the term ‘prosumer’.

Amateur content made this way has different values to professional media producers, in that it promotes a connection between other amateur producers – they both deeply care about the products they make and can help them work together.

When they work together in this way, audiences can make more content than producers – Wikipedia is a good example of this.

What is the advanced version?

In the ‘old’ media, centralised producers addressed atomised consumers; in the ‘new’ media, every consumer is now a producer. Traditional media producers would ‘filter then publish’; as many ‘new’ media producers are not employees, they ‘publish then filter’.

These amateur producers have different motivations to those of professionals – they value autonomy, competence, membership and generosity. User-generated content creates emotional connection between people who care about something. This can generate a cognitive surplus – for example, Wikipedia can aggregate people’s free time and talent to produce value that no traditional medium could match.

‘The Audience’ as a mass of people with predictable behaviour is gone. Now, behaviour is variable across different sites, with some of the audience creating content, some synthesising content and some consuming content. The ‘old’ media created a mass audience. The ‘new’ media provide a platform for people to provide value for each other.

Tuesday Classwork - Air NZ Viral In-Flight Safety video

Hey guys,

You are going to add this example to your portfolio for a case study in the area of marketing.

Have a look at the viral in-flight safety video that Air NZ made in the theme of the Hobbit. It's a great example of CMC + Synergy.

Watch the VIDEO here  

Notes to write

1. How many hits did it get on Youtube? 

2. what year was this made? 

3. Why is this a good example that illustrates how NZ film is used for a different purpose than the films created for the Big 5? Was this safety video purely for entertainment? 

Monday : Dark Knight Marketing Campaign VS. WWDITS marketing campaign

 Marketing Campaigns 

Ok we are going to look at 2 really interesting examples for marketing campaigns for films. One was a big budget, blockbuster film and one was an Indi, lower budget, crowd-funded movie. 

Firstly, make a couple of important notes 

- year film came out

- who directed it

- budget 

Then watch this video +  read the articles to learn more about the marketing campaigns they used. Make some notes;

Dark Knight viral Marketing campaign

Link to WWDITS article

Homework - Due Week 10 (Marketing Essay)

 Hi guys,

Here is your homework for the week, due on Monday;

You are going to answer this essay question;

"To what extent has cross-media-convergence and synergy played a part in the success of the media texts you have studied?"

Make sure you use this checklist in your planning 

- terminology (all we have discussed from our notes)

- Examples to back up your points from NZ + Blockbuster films 

- WWDITS example

- Air NZ example (for the Hobbit)

- Disney 

- Vertical + Horizontal integration 

- funding (issues around budgets for Blockbuster vs. Indi films)

- distribution  (how your chosen films were distributed)

- Dark Knight example 

- at least 1 theory 

Classwork: Synergy - what it is + examples (Monday)

 Hi class,

Task 1: In preparation for this week's essay, I want you to watch this video and make some detailed notes (in your own words), explaining what synergy is. 

You should also have some examples (like the Black panther examples) of how your case studies used examples of Synergy.  

 Task 2: Take a look at this slightly tedious but very informative video and make some notes on the difference between Cross-Media-Convergene and Synergy.

SLIDESHOW Video link 

Video with explanation of what synergy is 

Another good resource that we used in class. Scroll down to get to the slideshow about synergy + cross media convergence 

Link for synergy + cross media convergence slideshow

Classwork Tues

Hi guys,

Take a look at the article on Disney below;

Link to Disney Article

On your notes on ownership, make a list of issues outlined here that arise from Disney being so massive. Include any recent acquisitions and what this means for the film industry and audiences.

Then take a look at this link below;

Disney Article #2

Write down some details of how big Disney's reach is 

 

Classwork - Monday

 Hi class

Today we are going to look at DISNEY as our Institution example / case study.

I want you to watch this short clip and make some notes 

Then go to this link and make some more notes about the company - more importantly, the first paragraph on what the company owns

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walt_Disney_Company

Then look at the example of how Disney used synergy and cross-media convergence to market Star Wars, in this article.

https://www.wired.com/2015/11/how-disney-is-making-sure-youll-never-be-able-to-escape-star-wars/

Foundation Portfolio CCR - Due Mon 27th June

  Hi guys

This homework is due Monday 27th June 

(I expect to see at least 2 Questions on your blog by Mon 20th June)  :)

Remember 

• PRESENTATION is important (check you have pictures/ photos / colours and that the writing and placement of graphics or backgrounds isn't distracting)
• BLOG TOOLS - each question needs a DIFFERENT blog tool EMBEDDED into blog

Question 1
How does your product USE or CHALLENGE conventions? How does it represent social groups / issues?
(Think sound, lighting, narrative structure, editing, camera work, symbolism and iconography)
 - make a list of conventions used, are they conforming to the norm or challenging the normal thriller conventions?
- This needs to be at least 5 slides with DETAILS and showing links to clips/ movies you used as inspiration. Do NOT just list things, EXPLAIN them, show photos of what you wanted to achieve as a convention and what you did achieve

Question 2
How does your product engage with audiences? How would you distribute it as a real media text?
(What effect does it have on audiences? What emotions do you evoke in audience members?)
- Think about and comment on the following;
- Who is your target audience (use demographics research we did in class - GEN Z/ i-gen content.
- Why would this appeal to this audience range?
- How are you going to distribute this product BASED ON what you know about your target audience? (Do they go to the cinema? What sort of marketing would you use? What examples of viral marketing would you try and copy? What platforms would you make this available on and how?)
 - characters (what characters did you choose to use? Can audiences identify with any of them? Are they scary /  mysterious? Is there a vulnerable character that the audience sympathises with?
- narrative - what sort of story line does your film have? Think about narrative structure - are there certain aspects of the story that are revealed at the end? Is there enigma in your story? Is there a cliffhanger?
- point of view - is your film made from a certain point of view?
- How does the thriller genre in general 'hook' or engage audiences? (do a bit of research)
- What editing/ music choices have you used to build suspense and engage audiences?

Question 3
How have your PRODUCTION skills developed throughout the project? (pre-production, production and post-production. What have you learnt to do?
- comment on the learning process. What did you find hard? What did you enjoy doing? What was a challenge and
- what were peer revision/ comments on your rough edit? What did they suggest you change? What did you end up changing?
- what went well in the filming process that you'll do again? What will you do differently next time?

Question 4 - How did you integrate technologies into this project?
(Software, hardware and online)
- Photos! List photos, screenshots, videos and explanations of every website, software, Youtube tutorial, camera, sound gear/ microphone etc, you used to plan, write scripts, look up info on sound effects, convert Youtube music to MP3's, edit, after effects etc

Week 6 - Classwork & Homework

Hi class

Classwork 

EDITING!!! You are posting your rough edit and then working towards handing in your final edit on Friday next week. 

Homework

You are going to need CASE STUDIES for your exam and for us to discuss in class. You are going to open a blog post and title it 'Case Study Research' where you will document your findings.

Case Study requirements;

 - a NZ film (What we did in the Shadows) 

- a Hollywood Blockbuster (your choice)

- an Indi-film (one not made/ funded by a big Hollywood production studio)

- A film that didn't do well (The Interview)

You need to know EVERYTHING about these films. 

- date of release 

- what their budget was

- what they made on opening weekend

- what gross earnings were for the film

- who directed it

- any A-list cast / actors?

- controversy or context around it - if any?

- who distributed the film? 

- who funded the film (Indi - if so? How did they fund it? - crowd-funding etc)

- what did critics say about it? reviews and how it was received by the public

- how was it distributed? (DVD / streaming platform etc)?

- Marketing campaigns - what was marketing budget / what ways was it marketed?