Media Convergents

Q: How is media convergence important for audience and institution? 

Media convergence is important to audience and institution because they need to advertise the company and film that they have made to the public so it encourages them to come see the film so that they can make a high gross (Profit) from the film. They do this by making Posters, Tv Adverts, Radio Adverts, Word Of Mouth, Internet Adverts, Previous Films, Websites, Trailers and Teaser Trailers ect. They use these methods because they are the most common methods of advertising and they are also low cost or very effective with the public when trying to advertise a film.

When advertising a film it is important that you get people talking about it and knowing about it or you would make a low gross and not be able to pay everyone who helped produce and make the film. Thankfully technology today allows us to use media in a way where its hard not to know about an upcoming film or event because the wide range of methods used to get people to see or look at what the film is about. 

As you can see the film industry relies on the media a lot and they will use all the methods they can and make new methods of advertising to make sure that their film gets noticed by lots of people, if the methods of advertisement are successful then they already know that people are going to come see the film and have sold it to them before they have watched it just because they have seen posters and trailers for the film, this is also good for the company because they have also created word of mouth between friends and family who will advertise it to them and bring them along to see it and they will tell their friends and so on... . Here are a few films and how they used media to advertise their films -

Kick Ass: Universal Pictures (UK) and Lionsgate Films (US) used simple but creative media to advertise their film to the public because the film is based on the comic book series and they would have a large audience who would want to see the film and compare it to the comic book series, this was good for them because they knew that they would make some money for the film. In their advertising they made individual posters spelling out Kick Ass, which was a type of interactive media where people would have to try and collect all the posters and spell out Kick Ass. They also used trailers and Teaser Trailers to advertise their film to the public, the film used a Uk as well as a US company that helped advertise world wide and helped with publicity. I don't think that they advertised the film as well as they could have because they gained a low gross, but i think that might of been because they only had a budget of $28 million. ( they made $96, 188, 903 from the film and most of this was from DVD and Blue-Ray sales.) 

Attack The Block: StudioCanal, UK Film Council, Big Talk Pictures, Film4 Productions used some technology with advertising their film because they made a website that you can go on and interact with, you could do this by reading about the individual characters and watching the trailers to the film as well as looking at the posters. They also used posters to advertise their film, they made 3 different posters altogether with some or all of the characters on the poster with a little description about what the film was about. They also used Trailers to advertise their film and aimed the adverts toward teenagers and adults because its meant to be a scary film and its also has bad language and lots of blood/gore, and its aimed at teenagers because the film was rated as a 15. They had a premier for the film that also helped to advertise the film.

Quantum Of Solace: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Columbia Pictures Had a budget of $200 million so their adverting campaign was big for Quantum Of Solace but it didn't have to have lots of different media coverage like websites, Apps Ect. Because they have already established a loyal audience from the previous films, they only needed to get people talking about the film and they had posters and trailers. They suspected that they would gain a large audience because of the previous films and because of word of mouth. also it is aged 15+ and they are targeting a large audience where it will get spoken about regularly.

Synergy Marketing: Synergy marketing is where two companies team up together to make a product that will sell but also advertise too. for example The producers of Quantum Of Solace Teamed up with PS3 and Xbox to make a game that appealed to teenagers and adults to make them want to see the film and play the game, also it helps gain more word of mouth and more people will buy the game and be tempted to watch the movie too.

Attack The Block Review

Who Directed Attack The Block: Joe Cornish
Genres: Comedy, Action, thriller, Adventure, Horror, Sci-Fi
Stars: Jodi Whittaker, John Boyega, Alex Esmail

Age Rating:15

Release Date: 13 May 2011

Budget: £9 Million

My Review: My opinion on 'Attack the block' is that it is a well produced film that appeals to people who like Sci-Fi, Horror and Action films. I like Sci-Fi and Action films but i was disappointed when watching this film because it wasn't as great as everyone was making it sound and look, i think this was to do with its low budget of £9 Million and that they didn't have enough to make it as good as they wanted because they couldn't have all the effects in the film that they wanted and the monsters in the film were people in costumes most of the time because they couldn't afford to have them animated. 

The film also used young actors who probably were still learning about what happens on a movie set and also this wouldn't appeal to people because they wouldn't know who they are and wouldn't want to go see the film because they didn't know if they were good actors or not. they had one well know actor,  Nick Frost, who people know and he has also been in successful films. I think if they used another well know actor then the film would be maybe a bit better then it is and more appealing to people.

In the film i found that the beginning was slow and not too interesting to start with but as you got further in to the film it got more interesting and revealed a lot more about the monsters/aliens and the characters who lived in the 'Block' and it was more interesting to watch. The film can also fit into the comedy category and it had some funny parts that i found very funny that also made the film more fun to watch but they were more towards the end. i think if they had more comedy and explanation of the charter at the beginning then the film would be more fun to watch and more interesting.   

The plot of 'Attack The Block' isn't a very well thought through plot and also i found it to be a bit messy because they didn't explain why the monsters/aliens where attacking people or why they had come to earth. The plot was also messy and mixed around because it didn't explain the characters and what they were doing and why they were so keen to fight the monsters/aliens and it also didn't tell you anything about them apart from they were involved in gangs and drugs. 

Altogether i think that 'Attack The Block' is a good film for the budget they had of £9 Million and if they had a bigger budget of about £12-15 million they could of produced a better film and made it more appealing to audiences and gained more money from the film, also i think that they could of had a better and neater plot that explained more and had more comedy at the beginning through to the end. 

Promoting The Film: To promote 'Attack The Block' they put posters in bus stops, billboards, magazines, newspapers Ect. to get people interested in the film and gain an audience. The premiere of the film was also a promoting method for the film.

How It Was Produced: The film was produced by "Big Talk Productions' who are know for making- Hot Fuzz, Shawn Of The Dead, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. They produced the film with 'The Uk Film Council', Film 4 and Studio Canal. 

The film was shot in London with 6 weeks worth of shots at night because most of the film is based at night. Interior scenes were filmed at 'Three Mill Studios' in east London.

What The Film Was Based On: The film was based on many things that Joe Cornish had experienced in his life like - He was once robbed outside his home, he based the monsters on his cat and cats, the type of area he lived in and the people who lived there.

Soundtrack: The soundtrack of the film was an original score composed by Simon Ratcliffe and Felix Buxton from the electronic dance group 'Basement Jaxx'.

Attack The Block

How Was The Film Produced: The film attack the block was produced buy Joe Cornish with Big Talk Productions, Films4, The Uk Film Council and Studio Canal. The film was shot in London in 2011 all around London with 5-6 weeks of Night shots.

What Is It Based On: The Film 'Attack The Block was based on and inspired by some of Joe Cornish's favourite films like E.T, Gremlins, Predator and Streets Of Fire. The Creatures are based on Joe Cornish's cat ( i think they look like the creatures from 'Predator' too) It was also based on how and where he lived in his childhood.

Any Problems That Arose In Making The Film: Joe Cornish had employed some first time actors which meant they might not know what it feels like on a set and also they might be under pressure o get it right and have to do some of the scenes again because they don't know what they are doing or forgot there lines. 

The Directors Views On The British Film Industry: Joe cornish thinks- "They take their role of championing films very seriously, and they're led by the heart. If they dislike something, they won't write about it, unless they really feel it violates one of their principles. But in Britain you get a lot of ho-humming and boiled sweet sucking and here you get commitment and passion, which I think is really cool." and also- "People don't come with any preconceptions. You can tell why some British film-makers who started in television enjoy working in America because people are a bit more accepting of you trying something different. This audience are able just to take this film as a film and not to have preconceptions of what Joe of Adam and Joe might do, not weighed down by any of that baggage. And they really dig it, you know. It's kind of really nice to talk to them as if I'm a film-maker. People here are really excited to have stuff in their town. In London, we're quite haughty. We feel we deserve them to come to us."

How They Saved Money and the Technology used: They didn't have a big enough budget to do 3D CGI Aliens so they used practical effects, old editing affects and a small amount of CG to remove detail instead of adding it. 

Any Issues With Film Rating, Any Controversy Surrounding The Film: The film rating was an issue for the public because throughout the movie the teenagers are friends and hanging around with a drug dealer and act in the movie as if the are stoned and also there is a lot of gore and violence and bad language whilst other parents say that the other message is to show teenagers to work together.  So there was controversy over if the film should be rated as a 15 or an 18.

The Film's Promotion: The film was promoted by Posters adverts and trailers and other methods of advertisement. Joe Cornish also did exclusive interviews with Film4 and there was the Premiere of 'Attack The Block' on the 4th of May 5 days before the film was released in the UK.

The Soundtrack (Include Information On The Soundtrack Creator And The Types Of Music They Referenced In Their Work): The soundtrack for the film was an original score composed by Simon Ratcliffe and Felix Buxton of the popular electronic dance music group Basement Jaxx, and Steven Price except for the song played during the end credits ("Youths Dem Cold" by Richie Spice).

1. "The Block"
2. "Sam is Mugged"
3. "Round Two Bruv"
4. "It’s Raining Gollums"
5. "Tooling Up"
6. "Moses is Arrested"
7. "Tell Me I’m Dreaming"
8. "Throat Ripper"
9. "Rooftops"
10. "Moses - Ninja"
11. "Just Another Day"
12. "They Want Moses"
13. "Actions Have Consequences"
14. "Eat My Hat"
15. "They Fell Out of the Sky"
16. "I Need to Finish What I Started"
17. "Turn the Gas Up"
18. "Moses vs. The Monsters"
19. "Moses the Hero"
20. "The Ends" - Basement Jaxx