Institutions
I have looked at a range of films that follow my genre of
comedy-drama. Films under the ‘teen’ culture are usually made in America.
Distributers of these types of films include: Universal, Paramount and Buena
Vista. However coming of age British films are usually made by smaller
independent distribution companies such as Channel 4 and Warp Films.
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Conglomerates: Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures and
Buena Vista.
These giant institutions dominate the film industry. In my choice
of genre they have made: The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink and Breaking Away.
The films are aimed at a mass American market as the companies can use synergy
and convergence to market and distribute the films on a range of different
platforms. The films made in the 80s are under a budget of 10million and have
made box office figures of $45,875, 171 (The Breakfast Club).
The Breakfast Club Poster
However analysing the upcoming films of these companies, the
films do not include teenagers as the basis of their cast. They have developed
their target market and real mid- teen life films are becoming more niche and
‘coming of age’ or American musicals. Another key theme in my trailer is music.
Films like High Fidelity, Back beat and The Commitments are distributed by
other conglomerates such as Buena Vista and 20th Century fox. As major
companies they are able to deal with the demand of filming live music as they
can put a lot of money into organising equipment and replicating a real
atmosphere.
The Commitments Cast
However obviously the main challenge with large
conglomerates is being able to sell a film to them that the company will want
to distribute. My film is not really comparable to recent blockbusters and the
story line is more suited to an independent film company as it concerns
personal and specific teen related issues. After researching small film
companies like Warp Films and G2 pictures I realised that to create a music
based film I would have to pursue a company that specialised in targeting a
very niche market of live music films.
Brassed Off poster
Director Richard Ayoade
Questionnaire Conclusion
For my film campaign I decided to focus in on genre - drama. To narrow this down I learnt a total of 2/3 prefer the subgenre of thriller drama which is a popular in today’s film market but as 50% of my sample would describe themselves as an ‘alternative market’ and 75% seek out films to watch, I could combine the thriller aspect with a docu-drama feel -like one of the film I analysed ‘This is England’- to go against the typical conventions in Hollywood and create a film trailer, poster and magazine cover of an ‘indie’ or ‘art-house’ nature. As my audience is predominately students or young adults this will appeal to this large market as they are new generation looking for different avenues of media text.
In my questionnaire I asked questions concerning how my
trailer should be constructed. I discovered that 75% of the 20 felt that a
trailer was vital in persuading them to go and see a film. Therefore I must
ensure the trailer is engaging for the audience by using the enigma code which
19 of my questionnaire audience felt was effective in leaving an audience in
suspense. This links to the figures that just below 50% preferred the trailer
to pick out the best bits so although I’m not making the whole film it does not
have to self-explanatory. Therefore by capturing a contrast of high action and
low action scenes this will draw an audience in successfully to watch the
hypothetical film.
My questionnaire then went on to explore my audience’s view
on posters for the second part of my media coursework. The majority said the
actor in the film attracted them to a poster. However graphics (including
photographs) came in as the second most popular and therefore I will utilize
that data as my film will be in an alternative style so the actor will not be
that prolific thus I will need other ideas, images or graphics to gain the
audience’s attention. Furthermore I will
also include critics’ quotes on my poster as this made 60% of my sample go
watch the film. This will be useful for my advertisement poster as it
corresponds to the other ideas, images or graphics I will need to make my
poster professional and effective.
Out of the 4 magazine covers I analysed, each were very
different. Although the alternative magazine ‘Little White Lies’ used a drawn
image I’m going to use a photo of the director which is more like the magazine
‘Sight and Sound’ as it allows the cover lines to be based around the
production of my film which was demonstrated by my questionnaire as being the
favourite topic of featured article.
With this information from my questionnaire and
wider research I am now able to create the foundations for my trailer in a
story board format as it gives me a loose structure of how to make it appeal to
my target audience and conform to my chosen genre.
Genre Conventions Conclusion
From my research I have learnt that effectively portraying
emotions or feelings to difficult experiences as the most important aspect in a
drama film. The use of camera shots, editing, music and mise-en-scene draws the
audience into diegesis of the protagonist and often has the power to move the audience
emotionally. The characters are often presented as stereotypes through
exaggerating the emotions of each type character. This uses Stuart Hall’s theory
preferred reading and Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze theory so for example: Skinheads, aggressive; Women, emotional, desirable ;
Children, vulnerable. Dramas
often push ideology to create a more dramatic story line, replicating a real
life experience such as the film ‘This is England’. This engages an audience as it is not
following conventional topics that are apparent in romantic comedies or actions
film, often making them slightly controversial.
Drama films are made by a range of institutions including large
Hollywood conglomerates or smaller independent films makers. This is evident in
their advertising campaign as the larger institutions focus on promoting the actor
whereas smaller film makers present the concept and range of cast as this is
their unique selling point. However in
all trailers music is vital in conveying high tension and emotion whether it reflects
the era, mood or is completely contrapuntal, it is a universal feature for this
particular genre of film. Dramas are usually set in specific places that become
very important to the story line so the costumes, music, props and acting must
reflect this because creating realism is what makes a drama so appealing to an
audience. The realism allows audience to relate to or learn about the experience
during those times i.e. War, Post War, Decades in the 20th century.
The subgenre distinguishes its audience thus a period drama appeals predominately
to women in the late 20s onwards whereas thriller dramas particularly appeal to
men of all ages. By using my audience questionnaire
I will be able to decide which sub-genre is most popular to my surrounding audience.
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