Tuesday 22 April 2014

Quiz

http://www.schoolexpress.com/cgi-bin/quizzes.cgi

21st Century DevelopmentsName: ______________________________   
 Fill in the circle beside the correct answer 
1.What genres Films does 3D suit?
  Action Blockbusters - because they usually use alot of special effects and visual effects that are ven more improved by using 3D giving the illusion of a new viewing experience.


2.Did the UK digital cinema network succeed in exposing audiences to more varied types of films?
  Yes by putting more screens and cinemas they made it possible for foreign, independent and classic films to also be shown, they also made it so that the blockbusters could still be shown in more than one format (3D and IMAX too)
 
3.Why has the film industry lost money from cinema attendance since 2000?
  broadband internet distribution- by having internet available in homes, introducing fibreoptic etc it's easier to watch films illegally online and to watch trailers properly and know if you really want to spend your money viewing a storyline that you've seen a million times before
 
  illegal piracy- also made the film industry lose a lot of money, linking to broadband, it was way easier to download illegally with megaupload and pirate bay.
 
4.Is 3D successful in getting audiences back in the cinema?
  Yes- because they want a new viewing experience, this grabbed the attention of their target audience for blockbusters still being teens as they like new technology it becomes an event
  No becuase people don't think it's worth the money, it's uncomfortable to watch too
 
5.Does 3D have a negative impact on film production?
  Yes
  No
 
6.Which directors support 3D in their productions?
  James Cameron- he created Avatar to specifically be played in 3D, it is the highest grossing film in 3D ever made.


7.What reasons were given by the FBI shutting down Megaupload?


  Breaching intellectual property copyright, it is illegal to share and give away property that isn't yours.
 
8.How has film distribution online/digital cinema helped Indie films get exhibited?
  Online through Netflix, through online film distributers, there is a higher number and wider range of films available to watch and it's legal because you subscribe to it.


Monday 21 April 2014

What effects did The Godfather, Jaws and Star Wars (Coppola, Spielberg & Lucas) have on cinema attendance & the box office

The Godfather, Jaws and Star wars were all huge blockbusters in the 1970s and 80s and were the first summer blockbusters all in different genres. Each of these films had very high cinema attendances and box office rates, all for their own reasons, they each brought something new to the film industry, The Godfather being known as the best film of all time for the in depth story line and hard man violence, Jaws for the special effects and the fact it was the first summer blockbuster and Star wars for the brand new visual effects, it was the first of it's genre and it was completely new. These reasons made these films in particular make cinema attendance and box office earnings rise significantly.

In the time of 1975-1980s cinema attendance was declining because of the recession that the UK were in, to get cinema attendance numbers up the film industry began trying to build franchises, with a huge fan base and extra products to intrigue viewers attendance numbers were bound to rise, selling Godfather figurines, Star wars comics and lunchboxes and ET Tshirts etc. Unfortunately, they did not and numbers continued to decline. More households now had TVs and VCRs, this meant that it was cheaper for families to buy a video and watch it on their TVs with their friends instead of going to the cinema, this way they could also watch the video over and over again too. VCRs became a fashion trend and an event in the home. But also in this time video piracy was at an all time high, even more reason for the public not to go to the cinema, when they can wait to get a copy they can play over and over for less than half the price. In 1982 ET was announced the highest pirated film ever, in 1985 it was recorded as a new low of cinema attendance falling to just 54 million, the film industry realised that the blockbusters and franchises were not bringing in the viewers they needed and came up with the idea of multiplexes. A multiplex's where there are many films playing many different showrooms with bigger screens, comfier seats, louder sound systems and food and drink on sale in the lobby. The multiplexes are usually set in huge shopping centres, near restaurants, shops and sometimes even arcades and gyms. This made it particularly clear that the film industry were aiming their films at teenagers by showing them in and making these multiplexes as teenagers are known to hang around in these environments. Teenagers were also the only ones that had this disposable income at the time to spend at these multiplexes, teens wanted to see these big spectacle event films and multiplexes were the best place to see them, with these new conditions to watch in it was an entirely new viewing experience that was highly appealing. Although, the fact there was so much else to do in the same place as seeing the film, it had taken and still takes the focus away from the film.

Multiplex's were the best places to show films like star wars and George Lucas and Steven Spielberg knew this, thats why the film industry decided to build these multiplexes, they built them to show their own films because either way they knew they would make their money back. Their target audience were teenagers and teenagers liked spectacle films with special effects and star wars had all of that, watching it in a multiplex cinema made the experience a million times better and word got out about this, therefore cinema attendance rose by millions at a time especially as the UK were beginning to come out of the recession. 

Film industries and production companies create a 'hype' in order to sell the film, they do this by lots of advertising and media attention through posters, trailers and anything that they can put in the news. For example, they built a hype for Jaws through advertising that it had brand new special effects (being the shark) and that it had had over $40 million spent on the making of it. It was also shown and put into the fleepit cinemas in the summer and it was the first summer blockbuster made, it had alot of hype and this is why even in the time that it was shown and released it made a lot of money. Hype works very well to entice their target audience, teenagers buy into the hype and the franchise raising cinema attendance and the box office numbers.

The box office numbers of The Godfather, Jaws, Star Trek and ET show the increase and fall. With The Godfather grossing worldwide $268,500,000, this isn't much at all compared to the $470,700,000 Jaws had grossed worldwide, this is because Jaws had much more hype than The Godfather did, Jaws was also aimed at teenagers and had special effects that were brand new, much more visually intriguing than a film like The Godfather. Star wars almost grossed double what Jaws had, grossing worldwide $797,900,000! This is because it was even newer and even more intriguing than Jaws was, being a brand new genre of film, with more outgoing visual effects and different storyline, it was a film absolutely everyone wanted to see. We then see a significant drop in box office sales in ET, with a worldwide gross of only $359,197,037, this is mainly because it was pirate copied so much, cinema attendance was extremely low and Sci-fi wasn't such a surprising genre, since Star wars, a lot of film industries were trying to make science fiction films that they were way more common now, but it was still appealing as a film it was just easier and a lot cheaper to get a pirate copy on video and be able to watch it over and over again with friends and family than to have gone to the cinema.

To conclude, the 4 blockbusters previously discussed are prime examples of showing the rise and fall of cinema attendance and box office numbers and how other factors contributed to rise and fall of these statistics from the recession to the increasing use of piracy.

Monday 24 March 2014

Essay plan

'What factors led to the decline of town or city centre cinemas in the late 1970s and early 1980s?'

Opening paragraph
Hollywood film industry spending loads of money on making blockbusters and not earning any, made multiplexes in shopping centres to make back their money and put own films on in multiplexes, gives teens (their demographic) something to do (shopping etc), takes attention away from the film.

Paragraph 1
Production
Large budget makes a spectacle, spectacle makes event movie, event movie makes a lot of money, film makes see how much money it makes and copies the genre, e.g. star wars, george lucas and steven spielberg made a company for special effects (Industrial light and magic)

Basically...
Hollywood film industry knew they were losing money from cinemas, they started making spectacles to create an event using hype etc, they weren't losing money but they could've been making a lot more. (Star wars was budgeted at $8m and ended up costing $12m and has grossed $461m, this was because it was new, the sequels earned less)
Paragraph 2
Distribution

Social
Film industry tried marketing and building franchises to make money back and interest people in seeing the blockbusters (selling dolls and lunchboxes) of the blockbusters - didn't earn enough money people were still poor. Because the drop in people going to fleepit cinemas hollywood film industry began building multiplexes therefore shutting down fleepits (going out of business)

Economic
The UK was in recession
Pirate copies were available everywhere (cheaper than going to the cinema, watch over and over) (ET 1982)
TV's at homes were more common, watch with friends
VCR's at homes too, even cheaper to watch with friends became a fashion (social)
3 day week means there was not enough energy for a flee pit cinema to be open

Technology
VHS
TVs
Piracy a lot easier to do
Wait for it to be released on video
VHS became an event
Blockbuster type thing
It would be the same as watching it on tv as the technology still hadn't been developed properly

Paragraph 3
Exhibition

Social
Aimed at teens, so they built multiplexes in shopping centres (shopping, arcades etc)
Multiplex is an experience not just seeing a film
Film's devalued

Technology
Film's become a spectacle, big screens, loud speakers, visual effects
Spielberg and Lucas knew after star wars Sci-fi as a genre would take off, they created

Economic
Aiming it at teens, teens are economically dependent on parents, have disposable income from parents, can afford to spend the money they have at the cinema (Hollywood film industry therefore make their money back)
Spectacles attract teens with money (Star wars)

Friday 21 March 2014

21st March 2014

READ THE QUESTION
Anna blog (production)
Priss blog (exhibition)
Natasha blog (distribution) 


Tuesday 18 March 2014

Production, distribution, exhibition.


Questions

1) 1985, Milton Keynes
2)on the rise because blockbuster
3) Jurassic park, 1993. 
    The phantom menace, 1990
    Jaws the revenge, 1987
4) more seats, better comfort, bigger screen, better sound, more choice, everything in one place. 
5) flee pits were on high street, multiplexes shopping centres to gain maximum amount of audience
6) they wouldn't go back to uncomfortable seats with small screens when they could be comfortable and do a million other things while shopping in multiplexes 
7) audience, wider range of blockbusters and everything that comes with it for spectacle. For film distributors they know they'll earn maximum money, they're distributing it theirselves they don't need to pay and more people will return and they'll keep making money because it'll be an enjoyable experience 
8)VCR, pirates. Why would they pay extra when they can watch at home in their own comfort for a fraction of the price