To what extent does media ownership have an impact on the successful distribution of media products in the media area that you have studied?

This question is asking if the size of a media company effects how successful their products are.

Keywords:

·         Media ownership

·         Successful

·         Distribution

·         Media products

Ex_Machina

DNA is an independent film institution, therefore, it doesn’t have the same financial strength and stability as global institutions. This means, they have little media ownership. Having little media ownership means that the company does not have well established reputation, respect, experience and knowledge. Since DNA Films is an independent company, they were only geared up to produce their film Ex_Machina. Therefore, their means of distribution were limited, DNA Films synergised with Universal Studios – a global institution. Due to this, DNA Films had much more financial flexibility allowing them to distribute their final product to a greater number of cinemas and internet streaming sites? Although this may have benefited the overall popularity of their product, it did not directly benefit DNA Films themselves. Due to the synergy between the two companies, DNA would have to share their profit with Universal. DNA films is a very small institution when you compare it others such as Lucasfilm. This however, did not affect their success as they still managed to gross a massive profit. This was due to other things such as their marketing and social media. overall, yes, this statement is true to a certain extent but doesn’t mean smaller companies can’t distribute very successful films.  

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

With Lucasfilm being bought by Disney, it was inevitable that The Force Awakens had the potential to be bigger and better than ever. Disney could not only bring in more workers, A-list stars and equipment, but of course, far more money. Along with the masses of marketing Star Wars managed to really get the word out. The Force Awakens was advertised massively through the use of many social media sites such as facebook, youtube and twitter. They released a short teaser trailer in October 2014, followed by another slightly longer teaser trailer in April 2016 and then finally the official trailer in October 2015. They distributed these on to as many online platforms as possible and also paid for them to be shown on TV so there was no missing out.

Textual Analysis Alphabet

Antagonist
B
Camera
Dissolve
Establishing shot
Fast-paced editing
G
Hybrid genre
I
Jump cut
K
Lighting
Mise en scene
Non-continuity editing
O
Protagonist
Q
Representation
Sound
Tracking shot
U
Voiceover
Wipe
Xenophobia
Y
Zoom

Representation of Gender: Primeval

Representation of Gender: Primeval

In this extract, gender is represented through the characters being masculine and feminine. The two female characters show femininity and also a couple of less 'manly' males, who appear to be weak, vulnerable and scared - having to be saved. There is masculinity shown through some of the male characters and also one of the females (less feminine), who are presented as being as heroic and independent, ready to save the damsel in distress.

At the beginning of the extract, we are presented with a male character and a female character, who appear to have had some sort of argument. The male is portrayed as being the one in the wrong, however, he is staying calm and not making a big deal about the situation. Whereas the woman is conveyed as being emotional and sensitive and the argument results in her storming away. These are common stereotypes of men and women, showing that men are more relaxed and laid-back than women are and that women are often over-dramatic in situations like this. The editing in this clip is quite continuous but rather quick. This is to show the tension between these two people and the heat in their argument building up fast. There is also tense dramatic diegetic sound in this scene again, to indicate the tension between these two people and add to the drama. A hand held camera is used in this part too, making it feel as though we are there with these characters and can see and hear everything as though we were. The same camera uses a tracking shot too following the action, so when the two people move we move with them so that we can still understand the story.

In the next scene, the character of Abby seems to be a countertype. This is due to the mise en scene and the way she is dressed. She has shorter hair and wears a leather jacket giving her a quite masuline look about her. She also goes on to save the day later on in this scene and helps the damsel in distress, who is actually a male in this case. A high angled shot of the male character in the bottom half of the frame is used to help show this countertype to masculinity with the angle that shows the males weakness, which is unlike the stereotype of the male characters. Sound and editing is really fast and intense at this point, to add to the dramatic situation. Clashing sounds make the audience feel on edge and builds up to reach a climax where Abby shoots the tiger. This a representation of gender as again, Abby is being a countertype.

In another section of the extract we are show a man and a woman in a barn. The man appears to be a farmer and obviously doesn’t care much about this appearance. Whereas the woman looks very put together and is wearing a lot of make up and has a lot of cleavage showing to make her appear more feminine. In this scene there is the dialogue of the two people, with the woman being presented as manipulative and evil. She is trying to get her own way by black mailing the farmer. The editing at this point is very continuous but starts to build up and gets faster and faster until the point where the man lashes out on the vulnerable woman with a gun and a slow-motion clip of her falling is used. We are then only shown shots looking down of the woman and up to the man showing the man having more authority and the woman being weak and vulnerable.