The
platform in question is film and 3 media products will be analysed including
Ill manors, A Field in England and Inbetweeners as part of my independent case
studies. In this essay i will be looking into how these films are constructed
based on the platforms they are consumed on. This will involve looking into
print,e-media and broadcast platforms of these 3 films.
E-media is a platform growing
more important as technology advances so to construct a successful product,
films such as Ill manors will need to take advantage of the resources
available. Ill manors successfully created the 'tag-London campaign' which
appeals to Plan B's younger target audience between 15-21 who are more inclined
to use social media. The Tag London campaign is a product of user
generated content and Plan B's record company have created a website and video
to promote this campaign which is mainly focused on posting opinions on social
media websites. The campaign is attempting to focus peoples anger towards the
people that are responsible for their problems and this is why the Tag London
Campaigns video projected the graffiti tweets onto the Houses of Parliament and
other politically significant buildings. The Campaign also gave people who
tweeted exclusive access to a couple of songs from the unreleased album on
soundcloud. This was successful with Ill manors because of the target audience
however, a campaign like this would struggle among films like a field in
England because of the difference in target audience and release strategy.
Subsequently, A field in England
didnt have a very strong e-media campaign. Instead it offered a website
offering a few behind the scenes exclusive interviews ect... But this didnt
matter because their target audience would be placed in the succeder
pychographic group and they are more interested in the 'art' behind the film
making rather than the website. Whereas, Ill manors audience would most likely
fall under the mainstreamers/strugglers psychographic groups and are more
inclined to constantly use services such as twitter- the platform in which the
tag London campaign was focused on.
Within
the last decade print has become a dying media, nevertheless it seems mandatory
that films still produce some kind of print for advertisement. And all of the
films I am using in my cross media study have a film poster. Although less
significant than e-media and broadcast, print does help construct the media
product by telling the audience who the director is. And this is show on the
Ill manors and a field in England posters as these films are lower budget and
targeted at different audiences and so the directors name is featured
frequently on the posters to establish a brand for the film and a name for
themselves. However, for the Inbetweeners the poster is a lot more simple as a
brand has already been created by the successful tv show. Although print is
becoming less and less significant its almost a tradition to still make posters
for films to inform audiences.
1)The article talks about different audience being able to view art house films. Elitism plays a big factor in deciding the different pleasures audiences get, for example middle class people pay see it as entertainment compared to viewing mainstream Hollywood movies and maybe lower class people who view art house films may see them for narrative and its art.
2)Some audiences are so use to the Hollywood blockbusters and their typical, generic film structures including equilibrium-dis equilibrium and new equilibrium. Art house films tend not to have no narrative closure and therefore make audiences feel estranged to the film genre. This links to
Todorov's theory of equilibrium.
3)Art house films have always been directed at a certain age group, even the décor and location of the cinemas helps differentiate it from that of those from larger chain cinemas, for example; art house cinemas tend to be in cities and blend in with the surroundings. They are also a lot more expensive then regular cinema tickets because they feel as though they are supplying to a more wealthy audience.
4)A field in England fits the bill perfectly for being an art house production. From the start you can tell that it is an art house production and that it was made for being art and not for the money. I think this would suit a typical art house audience being middle class/middle age people.
1) The inbetweeners movie, directed by Ben Plamer. The four main protagonists are Simon Bird as Will, Blake Harrison Neil, James Buckley as Jay and Joe Thomas as Simon.
b) The film was released in 2011-August 17th A level results day.
c) This film is described as a 'coming-of-age' film, also comedy because the characters are seen growing up from the sitcom show on e4, whilst retaining its same sarcastic and dirty humour.
d) This film was given a 6.8 star rating out of 10 on IMDB.
2)Broadcast
a) The trailer features a montage of clips from the film arranged in a way that it sort of tells the audience whats going to happen or what to expect. The narrative is non-linear as it features clips from different parts if the film which include more action.Aslo, Todorovs theory can loosley be applied to the trailer as its starts off fun with them finsihing school and going on holiday but it reaches disequilibrium with the drama they face but achieves a new equilibrium towards the end. Also at the beginning film 4's logo was shown on screen, this is also consistent throughout the television series which inspired the movie. In terms of audience Blumer and Katz theory can be applied with the main use being 'personal relationship' as the trailer and movie are mainly targeted at people who are fond of the inbetweeners series. Furthermore, young people in this trailer are represented as reckless when on holiday, this is shown by the montages of heavy drinking. This also reinforces the dominant stereotype that young adults are irresponsible.
B)
The interview of the protagonists make it more personal to the audience as these are the characters that people are used to seeing from the tv show. Moreover, its more bias but in a discreet way as normally there would be quotes from the producers on how the film is not always the actors, and this makes people more inclined to go and see the film. Also, the interview featured exclusive clips from the movie not seen in the trailer to tease the audience a little bit more.
The world premier of the movie helps to promote it across various different media institutions with news channels and different media magazines and journalists. It also gives the audience a chance to hear from various members of cast and crew their first impressions of the movie.
C) Both the interview and the premier feature stars from the film, some of which are more recognisable than others.
Print
A)
The film, like the series, is so close to the truth regarding being 17/18 and the rubbish you get up to that you can't help but be dragged into the world of Neil, Jay, Simon and Will.
After awhile, I loved watching them and their interactions with the females, who were also entertaining. Enough so, I would like to get the series this was based on and then rewatch this supposedly movie made to close out the TV program.
The film shares the same theme as American Pie And Beavis And Butt-Head Do America, because a group of teenage boys try their very best to loose their virginity when on their holidays!
B) This film poster features the four main protagonists acting 'goofy' as per usual and fans of the tv show would know this. Also, this features some review quotes and taglines which attract the audience. The star ratings at the top of the poster also suggests to the audience that the film is going to be worth while.
C) There are lots of vivid colours used to attract the audience as well as the exotic setting on the beach. The use of the four main characters suggests to the audience that it will be a feature length of the tv show, so this secures an already captured audience from the tv show. Also the females in swimwear lounging around the pool reinforce mulveys idea of the male gaze and this could potentially attract a larger male audience.
E-media
B) The brand radiates British humour with lots of sarcasm and 'dirty' jokes, in comparison to other British brands its quite different in the sense a movie has come out of the tv show, although another comedy similar would be American pie or cuckoo.
C) Not applicable
D) The four main characters had all promoted the film through their social media.
Audience
A) The target audience for this film would apply to both males and females. The age rang for this film would be between 14-30. In terms of the demographic groups it would be between the C.D and E groups.
B) There isnt really any campaign only the trailer and the posters because the inbetweeners is well known by many people for its tv shows prior to the movie.
C) The audience pleasures from this film are mainly to entertain as the film and the tv show is a comedy and is simply there to make people laugh.
D) Audiences would also enjoy films and shows like american pie because of the dirty jokes and innuendos.
Institution
A)The film was produced by Bwark Productions, Film4 and Young Films. Bwark Productions' only production is this film, however Young Films and Film4 have a wide range of films. Film 4 and channel 4 have produced the inbetweeners tv show.
B) Other films include 'American hustle, hugo, scream4 and wild target.
C) It depends because the films they produce vary in genre and therefore audience.
D) 3.5 million pounds
E) 88 million dollars worldwide, and this could be because it was long anticipated mainly by fans of the tv show.
F) It was more successful here rather than worldwide because the inbetweeners is about british humour and an american spin-off was made but didnt do well at all. Also because the show aired on british tv first.
G) The film was judged and given a 15 rated certificate by the BBFC. This is becuase of the sexual refrecnes and humour, along with the bad language used.
Representation
A)Representations of different socio economic groups are shown with-in the four main protagonists. For example the character Will could fit into the category of C1 whilst is friend Neil may fit into the C2 or D category because of the careers of their families.
B) Patriotism is shown when Jay parades around the foreign county with his england jersey on. Also the dirty and sarcastic innuendos reinforce the idea of Britishness but a more modern version.
C) A British value could be not giving up because all of the boys went their with a goal in mind and this was achieved by the end of the film.
Case study comparison
The main differences between the three films is the budget as The difference between Ill Manors and a field in England is huge but the difference between A field in England and The Inbetweeners is even larger. There is a similarity between A field in England and The Inbetweeners as they were both supported by Film 4, however they were both very different films.
