Abdul Ahmed: The Film Chain Homework

Production

The stages involved in producing a film is planning, filming and editing. The film must be planned well as this can effect how the final version of the film is made. Filming is the main part of producing a film as this is the part where you record scenes for the film. Lastly, there is the editing process which is done so your movie has no errors such as there being a bad cut or a jump cut. Also you can add SFX (special effects) to your film during the editing process.

The main producers of films in America are companies like:

• Twentieth Century Fox                    
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer                      
• Universal Studios
• Paramount Pictures
• Columbia Pictures
• Tristar Pictures
• Warner Bros
• New Line Cinema
• Walt Disney
• Pixar
• Marvel
• Lionsgate

         

If a big company like Warner Bros or Twentieth Century Fox are the owners of the studio and a film is being produced under their name, the studio should expect to make a big-budget blockbuster that should sell well.  This is because they are a big studio and only greatness should come out from their studio so there is a sort of pressure.

An independent production is when something like a movie or video game is being produced by one person or a small group of people and is being made with usually low-mid budgets.

Distribution

The word distribution means to give out something across a huge number of people. In terms of media, this usually means giving out a movie across multiple cinemas.

Usually films are distributed by the studio where the film was made but in some cases, some movies are distributed by another studio. An example of this is Marvel. They produce films like Thor, Ironman and the upcoming Deadpool. But Marvel does not distribute their films.  Walt Disney does as they own Marvel Studios.

The traditional way of distributing a film is for the film distributor to release the film across cinemas.

Digital Distribution is a new form of film distribution. This is when you post your movie online for the whole world to see.

Film festivals are used to help indie producers distribute their film. An example of a film festival is the London Film Festival which shows a variety of independent films.

If an anticipated movie gets announced for a certain weekend and this movie is expected to be a huge success at the box office, a distributor might decide not to release their film alongside that blockbuster because it might make less money.

If a film cannot secure a distribution deal, then the chances of that movie getting released to cinemas can become very slim and almost next to nothing.

Marketing

Marketing is different to distribution because in marketing, it involves making promotional items such as toys or video games for movies like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Also, simple stuff like adverts and commercials are marketing as you are promoting the movie with an advert.

Different types of marketing include:

Toys for upcoming films like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Movie related video games like The Amazing Spider-man 2 game.

Advertisements on buses like the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire.



Lastly, you can release the soundtrack of a movie to market it. An Indonesian film called The Raid Redemption did this. Also they had Mike Shinoda From Linkin Park create the soundtrack so people who listen to Linkin Park may even be interested with the film.






Some films that are released in another country may find it hard to get the film successful in other countries but with some marketing techniques, the film can sell better. An example of a film that did this was The Raid Redemption. This is an Indonesian film but had a massive success around the world especially in UK and the US. The trailer had little speech and dialogue but the film clearly showed what it was all about and it was an action film. The trailer just showed scenes consisting of fighting and the scenes shown in the trailer could lure anyone as it looks very engaging and fun to watch. Also the end shows who the soundtrack was composed by and this could lure fans of the composer of the soundtrack.

Here is a link for the trailer: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkULMOFpuCo

Exhibition (Exchange)

We engage with films by:

• Cinema
• Television
• Youtube
• Movie-streaming sites
• Netflix
• Lovefilm
• DVD 
• Blu-ray's

          

The term Box Office is used to refer to the commercial success of a film.

A box office return is useful to identify the success of a film because if a film makes a lot of money during its first week on release, then you can say that the film has been very successful.

Then people who receive the money from the film are usually the executive producers and the director(s). 

Most cinemas make their money from the tickets the public buy to watch a film. From snacks such as popcorn, nachos, drinks etc. Also they can receive money from onscreen advertisements which play before the films start. 

Cinemas encourage people to watch films there rather than at home in many ways. One way is that you can get premium cards which allow you to watch a movie at a cheaper price and better seats for example, Cineworld have premium leather seats which have to be booked or can be used by premium card holders.

Ancillary markets are non-theatrical markets for feature films like home, TV, online or pay to view. These enable exhibition of a film's release at cinema as they help people who did not see the film get a chance to watch it.

BFI (British Film Institute)

The BFI is the British film institute. The BFI encourage the development of film in the United Kingdom. This helps the British film industry because it creates more movies for the UK to watch and appreciate.