Media Studies: Film Industry

Film Industry

Theories:

- James Curran and Jean Seaton

- Sonia Livingstone and Peter Lunt

-David Hesmondhalgh

Film is a specialised institution

Film was created between the late 19th and very early 20th century.
The earliest films ever made were in black and white with no sound or a steady camera, and were only under a minute long.
Although the first film ever created isn't clear, the first commercial public screening was 10 Lumiére brothers' short films in Paris 28th December 1895.

Standardised Product

Hollywood was and still made in warehouses and offices, using a range of specialised production techniques through industialised labour.
Both narrative and an industrial level.

Classical

Hollywood Cinema-

It became a finely honed insustrial process, the 'classic' era ia also known as 'classical Hollywood narrative'. This refers to several characteristics of the ideology of film making.

Classical Narrative Cinema-

Emphasis of:

Spatial continuity- the audience always knows where they are at any time.
Temporal continuity- the audience always knows in what order the events have transpired, and any flashbacks and so forth will be clearly signposted.

The film should be realistic to the audience and not make any intertextual references.

The audience should know what's happening and leave the cinema feeling satisfied with the conclusion and the ideology or message the film made.

The cultural Industries - David Hesmondhalgh

Horizontal Integration- A company buys 'other companies in the same sector to reduce the competition for audience'.
Vertical Integration- A company buys 'up other companies involved in different stages of the production and circulation'.
Conglomeration- ' A corporation that consits of a group of businesses dealing in different products or dervices' - Conglomeration is the process of a conglomerate being formed.

Producer- the company that makes a media product.
Distributor- the company that puts a media product out.
Distribution- the process where a media product ends up with an audience through different platforms.

Black Panther Context

Produced by Marvel Studios.
Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
Marvel Studios was taken by Walt Disney in 2009 for $4 billion.
The film was produced and distributed by a major, vertically integrated film studio which is a part of a media conglomerate. Funding is significant because of possibilities for cross-promotion and reaching a global audience.
Disney purchased Marvel because perhaps more funding into films and more audience being reached as Disney was and is very well-known.

Context of Marketing 'Black Cinema'

The marketing material for Shaft (1971), targets and appeals to a black, American, 1970's inner city audience because of the use of representation of what the target audience is and the use of language would attract the audience because it would be relatable to them.

Economic Factors-

Blaxploitation films:

Extremely popular with male, inner city, black working-class demographic.
But were produced by white film makers and financiers as a way of reaching a previously unreachable audience.
Motivation of producers - profit and power.

Power and Media Industries - Curran and Seaton

Media is controlled by a small number of companies primarily driven by the profit and power.
Media concentration limits variety, creativity and quality.
More socially diverse patterns of ownership can create more varied and adventurous media productions.

Mainstream vs Indie Films

Mainstream Qualities-

Indie Qualities-

Media Studies