Section A revision

1. Golden Age of Hollywood.
Big Five- RKO, MGM,Warner Bros, 20th century fox, Paramount.) Little 3- Columbia, united artists, Universal.

Films were very formulaic because each production company had paid staff for each section in the production of the film. This paved way to vertical integration.

Vertical integration- this means that the major studios made, released and marketed their films, owning the cinemas in which their films were exhibited. The cinemas that they owned were the first-run cinemas that got the most popular films exclusively before their competitors. The result of this system was that the major studios controlled the money and power within the film industry.

Another tactic used in the Golden Age of Hollywood was Block-Booking. This meant that production companies would force cinemas to exhibit more than one of their films (e.g. Film A would have major stars whereas Film B would be much cheaper) so that it guaranteed that there were audiences for all of the production companies films regardless of the quality of the film.

Contract systems were used as stars and directors were contracted to a production company for 7 years and couldn't make films for other companies without the parent companies' permission or they had to run their contract down for 7 years.

During the 70s the golden age faded paving way for the rise of high concept films and rise of directors such as Spielberg. An example of a high concept film for this era would be Top Gun (1986, Scott) which was a success with a gross of $175million with only a budget of $15 million.

Currently there are blockbuster films which dominate Hollywood such as the Fast and Furious, with Furious Seven being the fastest film to reach $1 Billion with around $350 million in the US alone.
In addition with have seen the rise of Indiewood films such as Napoleon Dynamite (2004) which operated on a budget of $400,000 with a return of $45million.
However, recently, a return to the Golden Age of Hollywood looks increasingly unlikely as the emphasis for production companies is on financial returns and monopolies rather than film art.

2. Film finance and Film production.

Hollywood studios have reverted to low-risk films by going into co-production with other production companies to ensure that they make profitable return. E.g. Interstellar (2014, Christopher Nolan) was a co-production with Warner Bros and Paramount with the film grossing $190 million despite a budget $165 million.

With the decline in the studio system in Hollywood in the 1950s, creative control began to shift into the hands of the director.

Producers and other members of the production team often devise the unique selling point (USP) of the film in order to gain as much investment for the film as nowadays a production company is unlikely to fully invest in their films because the risk is too high. Examples of USP can include - genre, stars, directors and sometimes SFX. For example, Independence Day (1996) eventually won an Oscar for SFX with Centropolis production company able to gain 20th Century Fox to go into co-production on the basis of SFX with the film eventually grossing just over $300 million in the US and becoming a cult classic.

Production costs- The average cost of a Hollywood Blockbuster costs well over $100 million i.e. Avatar (James Cameron cost $237million eventually grossing $750 million).

Fashionable genres- This is one way in which studios can minimise the risks in creating a film. Recently we have seen the Superhero genre fashionable with movies such as X-men, Spiderman, Iron Man etc.

X-Men : Has 8 movies in its series with X-Men Apocalypse expected to be released in 2016. The last X-Men movie, X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014, Bryan Singer) had a budget of $200miliion with it grossing $233 miliion in the US alone. This bucks the trend that audiences want to see these types of films as regardless of the quality of the movie, fans and others would go and see the films because Hollywood has been spoon-feeding audience to only go and see these types of films therefore guaranteeing and audience and a huge profit as well.

Usually these types of films are released during the 'Star Wars' slot during May/June release dates- X-Men Days of Future Past released on May 23rd 2014. Also, these films are a mix of genre in order to appeal to a wider audience for example Days of Future Past is a mix of action, adventure and sci-fi therefore all the fans of these genres would enjoy this film.

3. Film Distribution. The distributor aims to make 20-25% of the films profits as well as trying to win over the exhitbitors in order to show their films. Distribution occurs through a wide range of marketing and promotion campaigns such as:
- Posters
-Trailers- an example of an interactive trailer would be Snow White and the Huntsmen (2012) and proved to be invaluable in the marketing of the film because it turns out that the film was essentially not very good.
-Websites- Ted 2 (2015, Seth MacFarlane) is full of clips of the film as well as including images, gifs as well as a link to the trailer. Furthermore, each gif gives the user to share the gif on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook therefore a form of film promotion because by sharing these gifs, unintentionally, the user is promoting the film to his/her followers or mutual friends.
- Publicity- Despicable Me 2 - Steve Carell held twitter interviews in order to promote the film. Furthermore, through the use of cross-media convergence, since Despicable Me 2 was produced by NBC Universal so as a form of promotion, the stars of Despicable 2 were on the Ellen Show to promote the film as the Ellen Show falls under NBC's umbrella.
-Merchandising- T-shirts, computer games, soundtrack (Furious 7)
-Premieres and Preview Screenings
-Festivals - creates an industry buzz, word of mouth. A notable example of a film going through the film festival process would be Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire (2008) when it was refused distribution costs over the issue that the film included subtitles which put many big distribution companies off. After gaining word of mouth through the festivals, Danny Boyle had the last laugh with the film winning 8 Oscars and grossing around $150 million which was 10 times their budget.
-Guerrilla Marketing- illegal but street-level advertising- graffiti, stickers, fly posters, adds to cult status. For example, the Blair Witch Project (1999) managed to transform a £60000 budget film into grossing £15million in the UK and $150 million in the US becoming a cult classic in the process. Through their promotion campaign, they generated a buzz as through the use of posters of claiming the missing students, viewers believed that the missing footage would reveal the truth thinking it was real life rather than being a film.

4. Film Exhibition - There are two types of cinema exhibition- Arthouse cinemas for niche audiences and more common are multiplexes. Multiplexes have a number of screens and offer mainstream films and the audiences for these films are generally young, upmarket and have a high level of disposable income therefore multiplexes are usually positioned within high streets and retail parks. These locations attract these types of audiences. Most notably, through the rise of technology has given way to the IMAX which distributes blockbusters such as Interstellar in 3-D.

5. Issues which affect the British Industry.

-US stars seem more acceptable than UK stars as with Hollywood's dominance, audiences would rather go and see films which include these American stars because audiences only know about these films rather than independently British film stars.
-US film as competitor in the global market (due to same language)
-The talent drain- British actors and directors are drawn towards the bigger financial rewards of Hollywood i.e James McAvoy, Christian Bale and directors such as Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass 2010)
-Scale of production. In terms of financial restrictions and production on home soil, British films are inferior in scope and size when compared to their Hollywood counterparts.
-To appeal to a global market, successive British Film production companies such as Working Title have to follow a formulaic representation of British values which have moved away from values (such as working class=gritty realism) to more quirky and romanticism of the middle class and British Heritage.

6. Film consumption: the cinema audience.

- Audiences profiles play a central role in a films success, and because most cinema-goers are aged between 14 and 25, to an extent it shapes the mainstream films being released. For example, the Avengers series and the X-Men series appeal to these audiences as well as appealing to both genders as for example, Jennifer Lawrence stars as Raven/Mystique in X-Men Days of Future Past in a way of appealing to both genders.
-Audiences usually go to cinemas however with the digital revolution of technology audiences tend to use home cinema and surround sound for their own cinema experience within the their own home. Furthermore, mediums such as Netflix and Amazon Prime means that for a subscription, audiences can view these films through a console, computer or any device that can stream movies. A problem with the rise of technology is that there has been a rise of pirating websites and films tend to suffer as a result, for example James Cameron's Avatar (2009) is the most pirated film of all time therefore it didn't make as much money as expected.
-Audiences view cinemas as a form to drop out from realism and enter the world of the diegesis and gain experiences from it. For example we can see with the Hunger Games Explorer as a form of re-entering into the world of Panem in which audiences can engage with the film by sharing their favourite moments of the films in forms of images and gifs. Furthermore, there are several websites of The Capitol where users can gain access to the latest news in Panem as well as a link to Mockingjay Part 2 (Francis Lawrence) which is expected to be released in November 2015. Also, a twitter account with 235k followers has been set up by the marketing team to keep fans updated about Panem.
-Home cinema is increasing as audiences are becoming fed up with the generic Hollywood films. Cinema admissions for 2014 was 165.5 million which is down by 4% from 2012 thus proving the trend.

7. The Star system

- Richard Dyer (film critic) argues that -'Through a combination of film performances, promotion, publicity and criticism that film stars reach the movie-going public' therefore as a result film stars become mediated identities.
-For example, only a certain few would know the true character of Johnny Depp however the vast majority of the public would know Johnny Depp as how the media want to portray him.
-Films, promotion or publicity materials, and the criticism are various forms of textual materials that mediate the identities of stars. Audiences may see the stars persona as a blank canvas, projecting values and ideals of them through interviews therefore it allows the audiences to shape the idealised version of their stars in their own image.
- For example, Will Smith is a global phenomenon as a result of his acting career with him grossing over $250 million, however what is noticeable about Will Smith is that his character usually are not bound by black stereotypes but instead he usually plays role which are applicable to white characters which is unusual to see in Hollywood as many of their movies are entrenched with stereotypes and not many black actors have managed to follow his example (i.e. Samuel L Jackson). Will Smith is known globally and audiences of him can identify his roles and has set up his own production company Overbrook Entertainment.

8. New Technology giving way to the rise of the prosumer.

-Prosumer - Producer + Consumer = Prosumer
-Through the rise of technology, production technology has become cheaper and more easily available, prosumers are now able to produce their own movies.
-An example would be Gareth Edwards' Monsters (2010) which was produced on a budget of $500,000 and returned $240,000 in the US and £350,000 in the UK which earnt Gareth Edwards a blockbuster director's role for Godzilla (2014).

revision

Using your source material together with your own studies answer the following question, what are some of the issues for UK producers and Audiences in Hollywood’s domination of the UK film industry?

-       Companies such as NBC dominating the UK production (they own 67% of working title)

-       British Films suffer because of the lack of British distribution. (Welcome to the Punch (2013) budget 8mil, grossed 1.4 million because it only had British distribution.

-       Rise of the Prosumer – Gareth Edwards’ Monsters (2010)

-       Hollywood has spoon fed British audiences with high concept films such as Furious 7 (grossed over $1billion). This indoctrination has meant that there has been an Americanisation of culture.

-       Producers- finance- companies are co-production.

-       Synergy, Cross media convergence,

-       Exhaustion of Original ideas with the rise of trends.

Some of the issues such the domination of the production and distribution has made it extremely difficult for independent film producers because of America’s domination of the UK film industry.

Firstly, Hollywood’s dominance of distribution shows how Hollywood controls the means of exchange over marketing and social media. This can be seen with the example of Despicable Me 2's marketing campaign as they had a susbstancial budget of $76 million, and used a range of marketing techniques in the UK to make it 2013's top grossing film in the UK. They did this through a digital out of home campaign across UK shopping malls in which people were invited to interact with the on screen minions by controlling the minions through the use of a smartphone. From the smartphone the user can act like Gru, the controller of the minions in the movie, by using commands such as making the minions dance,wrestle or boogie with one another. Furthermore, the actions of the user can be shared on social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter therefore the film in being marketing to all of the users mutual friends as well as their followers further promoting the film. It comes to no surprise that the film grossed $15.2million on the opening weekend in the UK.

Furthermore, Hollywood's domination over distribution means that British independent films suffer as a result. For example, Welcome of the Punch (2013, Evan Creevy) was a truly British film as the focus on the film was that ever aspect of production and distribution was going to be British. The film included stars such as James McAvoy (Atonement, 2007) and Mark Strong (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, 2011) and had Ridley Scott as executive director. However, the film proved to be a catasphophe because of the lack of distribution. It was dubbed to have looked like an $80 million and initial reviews highly rated the film. The budget for the film was in fact £8 million however it only grossed £1.2 million in the UK and more shockingly only under £10000 gross in the USA. This is because the  distribution team had to heavily pay many American cinemas to exhibit their film however because most of the money was spent on that, there was no money left more marketing and promotion therefore the film could not rise and make a profit because so few American actually knew about the film. This demonstrates that Hollywood's control over domination of distribution.

Another issue to consider for UK audiences is that Hollywood over the period of the rise of the digital age, Hollywood has been able to establish its control all over every aspect of technology ranging from social media to other forms of technology as well as shaping the films that UK audiences consume. The rise of high concept films such as the Fast and Furious set of movies demonstrated that Hollywood can use the same idea repeatedly and can get away with it because Hollywood sheer control over the UK film industry has lowered audiences expectations. This means that audiences have become indoctrinated to accept Hollywood's films regardless of wether the film has any significant narrative or wether the film is visual art. The figures speak for themselves as Furious 7 was top of the DAR (digital audience ratings) in November 2014 after the release of trailer creating a significant buzz and exchange behind the film. Furthermore, Universal's use of synergy as well of releasing the soundtrack of the film also shaped the buzz around the film and only highlighting how Hollywood has such control over media platforms. In April 2015, Furious 7 grossed $1billion in 17 days and in the UK amassing to $200 million therefore it goes to show that Furious 7 controlled the DAR since November 2014 in the UK therefore it was able to control the UK film industry with high numbers of people going to see the film because of its online buzz as well as audiences becoming indoctrinated to these films and passively accepting them rather than challenging them.

In addition, UK production companies have to go into co-production with American companies in order for them to survive and make a profit. Companies such as Working Title, the most successful British film production company, only own 33% of the company with NBC Universal controlling the rest. Therefore the success of films such as Love Actually (2003) which operated on a £45 million budget grossed $60 million in the US, highlights the fact that Working Title need NBC Universal for distribution and funding as the success of this film wouldn't of occurred had it not been for NBC. This proves that Hollywood has altered the playing film and that UK independent production companies are reliant of these US companies in order to produce films, which are ultimately shaped by the American production company because of their financial input.

However, the rise of Hollywood has given way to the rise of the prosumer which has impacted heavily on audiences and producers alike. Firstly a prosumer is a producer and consumer of film an an example of the rise of the prosumer is evident with the release of Gareth Edwards' Monsters (2010). This film was made on a budget of $500,000 with Gareth Edwards providing all the technology required to shoot the film as well as many volunteers were used as actors to help lower the cost of shooting the film. Furthermore, Monsters in the UK grossed £348,577 on the opening weekend with a total gross of around $235000 in the US. This highlights the same problem that independent British suffer at the lack of distribution in the US due to the competitive and expensive cost of distribution however the gross on the opening weekend in the UK suggests that UK audiences are perhaps fed up of the high concept films of Hollywood therefore potentially with more British distribution, then in hand with the rise of the prosumer, the UK film producers and audiences can break the shackles of Hollywood and end its domination once and for all. 

Ultimately, issues such as America’s unbreakable dominance of production and distribution of UK films has affected UK producers an audiences because it has shaped the UK film industry into a way that Hollywood can use the film industry as a means of making money. Furthermore, because of control of domination, they have indoctrinated audiences to only respond and consuming these Hollywood high concept films and UK producers only can produce these types of films otherwise the production company would not survive (this can be seen by working title prior to their Polygram agreement in 1994, they operated on a  ‘hands to mouth existence’.) This is one of the many issues in which Hollywood acts as an all-powerful corporation over the UK film industry by starving the film industry of choice for audiences and independence of UK film producers.