Film Distribution Notes

• The understanding of the film by the audience is also influence by the experience they have at the cinema too.
• Third part of the film supply chain is called 'the invisible art' 
• Distribution is the normally classed as the most important part of the film industry because this is the part where the film is completed and the audience gets to see it for the first time.
• invisible process: distribution is about releasing the film keep the films in the market place
• 'vertically integrated' works effectively for distribution and exhibition
• Distributing in the uk is mainly focused on the marketing and sustaining global product in local market.
• Independent film sector: vertical integration don't always operate so commonly
• producers down always have long term economic links with distributors
• they then have no formal connections with exhibitors 
• distribution is necessarily a collaborative process, these have to get permission from the producer and cooperation of the exhibitor to promote and show the film in the best possible way.
• Divided into 3 sections: 
• Licensing 
• Marketing
• Logistics
• Wide release is the most common release pattern 
• films are released nationally in all markets
• used by the majors because it requires a big investment in prints and national advertising, this can cost a lot thats why the majors get involved.
• if the film is successful  the distributors and producers can recoup their investment in a shorter time.
• Revenues from DVD 

TV Drama suggestions

TV Drama suggestions

The Wire

The Walking Dead

Breaking Bad

Chicago Fire

Game of Thrones

Doctor Who

Happy Valley

The Fall

Peaky Blinders

The Missing

Boardwalk Empire

Downton Abbey

House of Cards

Spooks

True Detective

Misfits

Gossip Girl

Mr Robot

Ironside

ER

The Good Wife

Suits

Top Boy

Broadchurch

The Villiage

The Mill

Skins

Line of Duty

Homeland

Prison Break

Heroes

Lost

Agents of SHIELD

Waking the Dead

Luther

The Vampire Diaries

True Blood

Hustle

Empire

Power

Law & Order

NCIS: Los Angeles

Hawaii 5-O

My Mad Fat Diary

Last Tango in Halifax

Ripper Street

Silk

Scott and Bailey

What impact does media ownership have upon the range of products available to audiences in the media area you have studied?

Research:

Kill List (2011)-IMDb rating: 6.3

Producers:Claire Jones and Andy Starke

Written by: Amy Jump, Ben Wheatley

Director: Ben Wheatley- (down terrace- award- 

Austin Fantastic Fest 2009- won best film and British Independent Film Awards 2009- rain dance award

- Kill List, Sightseers, Down Terrace, A Field in

England

Budget: $800,000Box Office: $462,206

Find out as much as you can about the companies that helped produce Kill List:

·         Warp X- is a British film production company, sister to Warp Films based in Sheffield, UK with further offices in Nottingham and London. The company was founded in 2005 and produces feature films. It is a digital film studio that produces feature films in the UK with budgets usually between £400,000 and £800,000.The studio serves as a format for new film directors to create movies for the first time on a lower budget scale with less expectation for high box office revenues on their initial feature foray.The film studio began with support from organizations including Warp Films, Film Four, the UK Film Council, EM Media and Screen Yorkshire. The intent of the film studio's creation was to add energy and vitality to the film industry in Britain.- This company was the studio of production and distributor of the film. 

·         A Complete History of My Sexual Failures (2008)

·         Donkey Punch (2008)

·         Hush (2009)

·         Tyrannosaur (2011)

Distribution - What is it?

Distribution - What is it?

Use the link below and find answers to the following questions 

What Is Distribution?

What part of the supply chain is distribution? Third part of the supply chain

What is distribution often referred to as? its referred to as the invisible art 

What does 'vertical integration' mean when discussing distribution? where the three stages get put together and are all under control by one company.

Why isn't 'vertical integration' so common in the independent sector? Because most producers already have long term economic links with distributors.

What three stages are involved in the independent sector?  Licensing, marketing and logistics. 

Use the link below and find answers to the following questions

Licencing

What is licencing? Licensing is the process by which a distributor acquires the legal right to exploit a film. In distribution, licensing itself can take place on two levels.

What are the two levels of licensing? International distribution and Independent production

What is the advantage of being a major US studio? The major US studios generally have their own distribution offices in all the major territories.

What three different types of rights can you acquire on a local level? 

What are royalties?

What is the most effective way to increase interest in a film? A local distributor will conventionally share profits equally with the producer for the theatrical leg, pay back higher royalties for broadcast rights, and lower for video/DVD.

How long does it take for a film to reach 'free to air' TV? A film will be packaged and released on DVD and VHS video, then on various forms of pay television and eventually, two years after opening in cinemas, on free-to-air television. 

Use the link below and find answers to the following questions

Marketing

What are the two key questions surrounding the marketing of a film? 'When?' and 'How?'

In the UK, new films are released theatrically on Fridays.

What day are films typically released on? Friday 

What will a distributor look at before releasing a film on a Friday? if its a week where not many films are are only a few films scheduled for release.

What is a 'light' week in terms of distribution? ensure that there will be both screen space and adequate review column inches in the press allocated to any potential release. A further consideration for scheduling a release is the seasonality of the film.

What does it mean to 'position' a film distinctively? the distributor will try to position the film distinctively and avoid a release date occupied by other films with similar traits (story, subject, country of origin)

Why has this become increasingly difficult in the UK? the release schedule has regularly featured over 10 new releases in a week.

What are P&A? Prints and Advertising are the nuts and bolts of marketing and distributing films into cinemas, the tools used by the distributor to create a public for its film.

How much can P&A cost?

Use the link below and find answers to the following questions

Marketing - Prints And Adverts

Typically how many prints will a 'specialised' film have? Will often be released with fewer than 10 prints into key independent cinemas

How many will mainstream films have? Commercial mainstream films will often open on over 200 prints.

What is a key factor in developing the profile of a film? 

How else can awareness of a film be raised?

Why is distribution in the UK seen as risky?

Why are companies looking towards viral marketing?

What are the benefits of a 'talent visit'

Use the link below and find answers to the following questions

Logistics

In the pre digital film age what was a distributor responsible for?

How much does a 35mm print typically cost?

How many reals is a typical feature print?

Why do 35mm prints get damaged?

Where are prints stored?

How long did a theatrical release used to last?

Use the link below and find answers to the following questions

Digital Distribution

When did digital distribution begin in the UK?

Name two advantages of digital distribution

Which countries adopted digital distribution early and why?

How many screens were digital in 2005 and how many are now (you'll need to google this)

Why has digital distribution radically altered the operating model of distributors?

What has happened to the typical release period for a film?

What is a loss leader (google it) and why are companies using the Cinema as a potential loss leader?

Distribution - Ex Machina, Mad Max and Kill List

Distribution - Ex Machina, Mad Max and Kill List

Now you understand distribution you need to find information about our three films.

Licencing

Who licensed Ex Machina in the UK and how much did it cost?

Who licensed Ex Machina in the US and how much did it cost?

Was Ex Machina an example of vertical or horizontal integration?

Who licensed Mad Max Fury Road in the UK and how much did it cost?

Who licensed Mad Max Fury Road in the US and how much did it cost?

Was Kill List an example of vertical or horizontal integration?

Who licensed Kill List in the UK and how much did it cost?

Who licensed Kill List in the US and how much did it cost?

Was Kill List an example of vertical or horizontal integration?

Marketing

What was the release date for Ex Machina in the UK?

Which major films appear in its UK release window? 

What was the release date for Ex Machina in the US?

Which major films appear in its US release window? 

What was the release date for Mad Max Fury Road in the UK?

Which major films appear in its UK release window? 

What was the release date for Mad Max Fury Road in the US?

Which major films appear in its US release window? 

What was the release date for Kill List in the UK?

Which major films appear in its UK release window?

What was the release date for Kill List in the US?

Which major films appear in its US release window?

Distribution

How many screens was Ex Machina released on in the UK? 

How many screens was Ex Machina released on in the US? 

When did Ex Machina screen at the Phoenix Leicester? 

How long was its theatrical run in the UK?

How many screens was Mad Max Fury Road released on in the UK? 

How many screens was Mad Max Fury Road released on in the US? 

When did Mad Max Fury Road screen at the Phoenix Leicester?  

How long was its theatrical run in the UK?

How many screens was Kill List released on in the UK?

How many screens was Kill List released on in the US?

When did Kill List screen at the Phoenix Leicester? 

How long was its theatrical run in the UK?

The representation of class & status essay

Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs the representation of class & status using the following:

• Camera shots, angles, movement and composition
• Editing
• Sound
• Mise en scene 

Camera shots, angles, movement and composition

When both ladies at the start are speaking we can infer that they are the same class and status seen as the camera angle  stays the same even though they are using a shot reverse shot, if the angle was different and they didn't just use a mid shot for the whole thing then we could be able to tell if one was higher up than the other however it isn't like this and they both say at the same camera angle and shot. This is good because the audience can tell straight away that they are high up on the hierarchy. When the maid walks in the focus goes onto her for a few seconds as if she is the important person but then she fades back out and the focus becomes mainly on the two ladies. We then move onto a scene where a lady is in the bath and her maid is also in the room doing her jobs, when the lady who's in the bath is speaking the camera is on her and also the the maid is speaking the camera stays on the lady in the bath, we can infer from this that she is obviously higher up than the other woman in the room because the main focus is always on her. When the maid goes into the bedroom the camera tracks her head and she turns to look in the mirror this makes her realise who she actually is and shows the audience that she is a maid and thats all she is. We then move onto a scene where there are a group of lower class people all together, this scene is very intense and a low angle camera shot is used to make the audience feel vulnerable and the person who they are looking up to have more power, even though we know they are all lower class we can then infer from this that some think they are above others because of the angle used.

Editing

Hollywood montage is used for pretty much the whole thing however i did notice at the start wet the two ladies are talking and the maid walks in it fades the foreground making the main focus on the maid which shows that they do have respect for her and that they don't just ignore her. It then fades back out so the main focus is on the two ladies again showing that the maids "time to shine" is over with and that they are more important than the maid.

Sound

Straight away we can hear birds in the background which is a non diegetic sound effect, this implies that they are in country side area seen as there are no other sounds, if you were to live in a rural area like we can infer that they are high class people seen as lower class wouldn't of been able to afford it. Music is added before the character falls out of the bath, this is to build tension and to hint to the audience that something bad is about it happen, we can infer that it is going to be bad by the type of music it is because its very heavy music and ti starts the speed up closer to the even happening. Then the screen happens this is also a non diegetic sound which shows that the focus of the camera needs to be put back onto the higher class people because they are more important than the lower class characters.

Mies-On-Scene

From the costumes they are wearing we can tell whose upper and lower class straight away, we can infer from he furniture and decoration that they are a very very upper class family. The makeup and costumes are very correct and relatable to the time period that this was set at and with the costumes the guests in the house are wearing hats which indicates they are guests and the use of different costumes for the lower class characters are shown very well seen as there are also very easy to infer that they are not upper class. The lighting when the upper class women are in the room is very well lit inferring that they are elegant and pure but when it comes the the lower class women who are maids its very dim showing that they are lower, with the lighting being low it makes the audience feel as if they are dirty and mucky characters and makes your look down on them.

The British Film Industry

Pathe: Chicken run, Beauty and the beast, Inbetweeners 2, Mac Beth, Kill list.

Film4 : Ex_Machina, Thunderpants, Sightseers, Cuban Fury, The most wanted man.

Eone Entertainment: Sinister, The woman in black, Insidious, Paranoia, The hunger games.

Working title: Everest, Love actually, We are your friends, Les Miserables, The worlds end.

Warpfilms: This is England, The Stone Roses:Made of stone, '71, Four Lions, Submarine.

BigTalk Productions: Shaun of the dead, Attack the block, Cuban Fury, In Fear.

Personally i think that Eone entertainment dominates the uk film industry seen as they have got bigger film names, they may not have A list celebrities however nearly all there films grossed a lot.

Avengers: This film was scored a low 12/35 for its "how British is a British film" this is because of its  location it was set and not actually having much to do with being British. This film was mainly to do with America, it was set there, it was located there and all the cultural practitioners.


An old school way to tell if  a film was British or not was to go through this check list, the film had to meet at least 3 out of 6 on this list to be classed as a British film:

• A British director (e.g Charlie Chaplin, Ridley Scott, Danny Boyle) 
• A British producer (e.g Tony Scott, Kieran Evan)
• A British production company 
• A subject matter that informs on the British experience
• British identity defined by the BFI in 'sight and sound'  

BFI: http://www.bfi.org.uk/about-bfi