higher media studies production unit module 1: getting started lesson 1: introduction to production
DESCRIPTION
The Blindingly Obvious Films are made for audiences. Film-makers must be aware of their audiences from the beginning of the process. Film-makers must therefore know their audiences and what they like to watch.TRANSCRIPT
Higher Media Studies Production Unit
Module 1:Getting Started
Lesson 1:Introduction to Production
What Examiners Want Part 1, Section 2 of your Higher exam, will ask
you to write about your own production experience and prove that you have thought about:
Choice of medium Target audience Appropriate technical and cultural codes Associated problems and solutions
This course will help you to think about them.
The Blindingly Obvious
Films are made for audiences. Film-makers must be aware of their
audiences from the beginning of the process.
Film-makers must therefore know their audiences and what they like to watch.
What’s your favourite film?These people represent different tastes in film: what do you think they are likely to enjoy watching?
Can you identify the type of genre these films belong to?
What Genres are out there?
Family Entertainment Horror Romantic Comedy Teen Comedy Action Adventure Thriller Drama Science Fiction
People are markets…Think of some reasons why the two individuals in the photos might go to the cinema to watch these films.In your answer, refer to:Subject matterCastGenreDemographics
Who watches films?
social
grade
social status occupation
A upper middle class higher managerial, administrative or professional
B middle class intermediate managerial, administrative or professional
C1 lower middle classsupervisory or clerical, junior managerial, administrative or professional
C2 skilled working class skilled manual workers
D working class semi and unskilled manual workers
E those at lowest level of subsistence
state pensioners or widows (no other earner), casual or lowest grade workers
Marketing professionals use these basic social groups, but who among them watches films? Difficult to tell?
So a more descriptive way of classifying can be used…
A - affluent achieversB - thriving greysC - settled suburbansD - nest buildersE - urban venturersF - country lifeG - senior citizensH - producersI - hard-pressed familiesJ - have-notsK - unclassifiable
Which of these groups are more likely to
a) Watch films at the cinema?
b) Watch films on DVD?
c) Watch film on TV?
Top 5 US Box Office 2006: to which genres do they
belong?# Title Gross
(US) Budget
1 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest $423M $225M
2 Cars $244M $120M
3 X-Men: The Last Stand $234M $210M
4 The Da Vinci Code $218M $125M
5 Superman Returns $200M $270M
Worldwide Box Office So, what genres of films are the most
commercially successful of all time?# Film title $ Budget released Distributor
1 Titanic (1997) $1.84B $200M 1 Nov 1997 Paramount Pictures
2 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) $1.13B $94M 1 Dec
2003 New Line Cinema
3 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) $1.06B $225M 24 Jun
2006 Walt Disney Studios
4 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) $969M $130M 4 Nov
2001 Warner Bros. Pictures
5 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) $922M $115M
19 May199
9 Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
UK and US Box Office- 1 week
Title Latest Wknd # Theatres Gross incl. previous weeks
The Pursuit of Happyness £2,527,181 402 £2,527,181
#1 at UK Box Office: 19 January 2007
Stomp the Yard $13,300,000 2,051 $41,564,000
#1 at US Box Office: 19 January 2007
What does that prove?The previous slide showed the difference in US and UK box office.
The US has a huge cinema market, with two major effects:
1. American producers can make bigger budget films.2. Because the country is so diverse, producers are more
geared to making films that appeal to the biggest market.
The UK has a much smaller domestic market and so producers here have to fight harder to raise
money for film production. They either make lower budget films, or big
budget films with American money.
But what about…?
Sometimes, there are people who don’t want to watch the big blockbuster, and so there are producers who decide to make films for them.If a film is not a blockbuster, it can still do well at the box office and make a profit. The key is that the producers have to know that the audience is out there.
And her…?Released in 1999, The Blair Witch Project became the must-see movie of a generation.
With a production budget of $35,000 and box office receipts of $140 million, Blair Witch grossed 4000 times its budget: it is the most profitable movie in motion picture history, and found its market of young, adventurous film-goers who were looking for something new and fresh.
Conclusion?
All producers must think about their audience
From Hollywood blockbuster to Scottish short, producers have to understand:
Who the audience is How to find the audience That the script in development makes a
difference