To what extent does digital distribution affect the marketing and consumption of media products in the area of media you have studied?

There are many ways that digital distribution can affect the marketing and consumption of media products. This mostly comes down to VOD (Video on demand) services. This is mainly shown through services such as Amazon Prime, Itunes and Netflix.

Due to the fact that internet streaming services have become much more easily accessible, more people are tending to use them as it Is much more effortless just renting from your household than having to go out and rent from a DVD/Blu-ray rental store such as Blockbuster. Video on Demand services have been available since around 2005, but have become more predominant recently. Amazon Video was first developed in 2006 and recently it is available through all manner of things such as the internet, Playstation, Xbox and the Amazon Fire tv stick.

Films can also be simultaneously released along with cinema and VOD services. However, this is rarely done and has only been done a few times such as God Bless America (released in 2011) In Your Eyes (released in 2014) and Ben Wheatley’s A Field In England. I believe that this was done in an attempt to avoid piracy of the movie as torrent websites are also very popular. Illegally downloading films has become one of the most popular things on the internet. The Illegal downloading of films has been the cause of many films’ downfall, most notoriously for the film Kick Ass 2. The film’s writer and cast members suggested that illegal downloading caused there to be no third film to the franchise as it effected the box office intake. One film that I have studied, that film being Mad Max: Fury Road, was the most pirated film of 2015. Unfortunately, the film’s studio Warner Bros. didn’t receive any money from the illegal downloads.

Distribution is a very important process in filmmaking. Particularly in making sure that the film is watched as the film is distributed to cinemas all over either the UK or on a global scale. Digital Distribution however can sometimes be a different story, particularly in Netflix’s case as there are different forms of Netflix in different regions that have some films that others don’t so in affect some are distributed to countries and some are not. This can affect the consumption of the media product as it may have not hit its entire intended audience spectrum. If a film wasn’t distributed, then the film would have no success and make no money.

Ex Machina was a film that was made on a low budget so it had little money for marketing. It also had a rather limited release. The film made its money back in the box office as well as making money when it was added to Amazon Video and Itunes. The film was also then added to Sky Movies and then to the Sky Go app to further generate an audience for the film thus affecting the consumption of the product (film).

Representation of Age: Waterloo Road

Throughout the extract the representation of age can be reflected through camera shots, angles and movements as well as sound, editing and mise-en-scene.

During the extract it is clear to see the representation of age through camera shots, angles and movements, including Barthe’s Narrative codes. An establishing shot depicts a school as well as several teenagers. It is clear to see through a closeup of one of the boys putting an item in to their jacket that they are up to no good. This reflects a common stereotype that teenagers are troublesome and that they are always causing problems. During scene 2 there is also an upward over the shoulder shot to reflect that the teacher has more power due to his age and that the younger teenager is inferior to the teacher.

Another way that the representation of age can be reflected is through mise-en-scene. This can be seen throughout the next scene when two teens, a boy and a girl are walking down a corridor. Both are dressed in a school uniform to show that they go to the school. This also shows that they are of the age to go to the school, there ties are loose as well as their shirts to display the stereotypes that the youths of today don’t care about school or anything else for that matter. Another way that age can be represented through the mise-en-scene is when the older man is wearing clothes that are usually depicted on a younger person. This is shown through baggy jeans, and a printed t shirt. This is another stereotype commonly referred to for women as ‘mutton dressed as lamb’ and that older people should not be dressed like the youth of today.

The representation of age can also be seen through the use of sound. This can be heard particularly during the corridor scene as there is a cacophony of sounds coming from the other students in the hallway to depict the stereotype that teenagers and children are noisy and arrogant to their surroundings as they are portrayed as rebellious. 

Overall I think that the representation of age can be reflected through the camera shots. angle and movements. It can also be reflected through mise-en-scene and sound.

Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs the representation of ethnicity

Hotel Babylon Extract

Throughout the extract, there are many scenes that construct the representation of ethnicity. This is done through camera shots, angles, movement and composition as well as mise-en-scene, editing and sound. There are also scenes that take note of Barthe’s Narrative Codes.

Throughout the first scene there are many shots that reference Barthe’s Narrative Codes. Particularly through the mise-en-scene, depicting a semic code. I believe this is used to allow the audience to understand that due to the fact that the man that the police are talking to is in a suit that he is of power and is the manager or head of the hotel. This is a stereotype that the white man in the suit has all the power, with a high-paying job as well as high status.

Sound is also used to construct the representation of ethnicity. This is shown when all of the different immigrants of different ethnicities speak in their own ethnic tongue at the same time completely panicked. This is also shown through action code and enigma code. This is because some of the immigrants are hidden but you can hear them as we know that the room is a tightly packed space. The sound is also shown through music as it is fast, chaotic and tense to reflect the scene itself. This underlines the stereotype of tensions between ethnicities.

The action code is also used to show a black man helping a woman who faints. Showing a countertype to the fact that stereotypically black males are not usually depicted as helpful, they are portrayed as being on the wrong side of the law.

Ethnicity is also highlighted through the camerawork. Particularly camera shots, angles and movements. This is reflected when the camera pans up and reveals a black male cleaner making him appear to be bad and overpowering us as he is looking down on us. It is stereotypical that the ethnicity of the man is black as he is then arrested by policemen. 

Kill List research

Warp X

Warp X 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.

7 Key Concepts

Rise of the Planet of the Apes



1. The issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice
There are many issues raised over ownership of media especially in the film industry. There are certain things such as film rights and who owns the rights to the film. the film rights if based on a book are bought by a film studio for the highest bid. the film rights are the legal rights to the film to allow the film to be made and distributed. one of the biggest film studios to do this is the Walt Disney film corporation, mainly due to the fact that because they have so much money they have actually bought film studios which have the rights to films such as Marvel studios, which holds all of the Marvel comics such as Avengers. Disney also now owns Lucasarts which means that they now own Star Wars and Indiana Jones, so are free to develop and distribute whatever films generated from those franchises that they wish. If another production company develops a project that they don't own the rights to they can be sued for an extremely large amount of money. 

The original Planet of the Apes was made and distributed by 20th Century Fox, meaning that all of its sequels would then be made and distributed by the same company unless Fox decided to sell the rights to another production company. Rise of the Planet of the Apes was an original idea that was written as a script which was then sold to fox who could then add it to their reboot of Planet of the Apes.


2. The importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing
There is such importance in distribution and marketing in the film industry. Distribution means that the film has been put out into the world by a particular film production company like Warner Bros, Universal, etc.

3• the technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange;
3d: Through technological advancements, a third dimension can be added to a film either in post production or with 3d cameras that involve two characters put next to each other which then allows the shot to be mixed together to generate a forced perspective allowing depth and what appears as the film coming out of the screen.

Blu ray: Blu ray is a form of DVD that has recently taken the world by storm as it is a compact disc that can store a large amount of memory more than an original DVD could, which means it can generate images at 1080p resolution when it mainly used to be 480p. Audio was also improved greatly mainly through Dolby digital surround sound.

Streaming: Internet streaming is something that has recently become very popular with teenage audiences that can be generated through computers, apple tv, and games consoles such as Ps4 and Xbox One. The Internet streaming sites such as Netflix and Amazon Instant Video allow users to watch whatever films the service holds in it's back catalog for a subscription fee.

4• the significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences;
The significance of hardware for institutions is staggering as most films aren't filmed on film anymore except for some. Most films are shot digitally in order to make it easily accessible for the editor as well as adding special effects such as computer generated imagery and big budget films that can be shot in 4K and with an IMAX camera to be shown in IMAX cinemas. Rise of the Planet of the Apes was however not shot in IMAX but was put on to Blu ray in high definition quality. The special effects depicted in Rise of the Planet of the Apes is state of the art as the apes shown in the film, particularly Caesar were all filmed with motion capture technology. this helped to depict the movements of facial features a generate a realistic likeness for a character to allow the audience to believe the character that they are watching is real, known as the uncanny valley
.5• the importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences;
There is much importance in technological convergence for institutions and audiences as institutions are always trying to develop the next big thing in the film industry as well as audiences wishing to see the next big thing. Currently, streaming appears to be very popular through Netflix and Amazon instant video. So much so, that film companies are investing money into making films specifically for these platforms, which in turn are becoming popular and receiving positive reviews from critics. These platforms are also important for institutions as they allow more audiences and demographics to see their product, so the institutions strike deals with the companies.
6• the issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically, British) by international or global institutions;

7• the ways in which the candidates’ own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour.

The British Film Industry

Five recent films by Film 4

1. Suffragette (2015)
2. Youth (2015)
3. Carol (2015) 
4. The Lobster (2015)
5. Slow West (2015)

Five recent films by Working Title

1. The Program (2015)
2. Legend (2015)
3. The Danish Girl (2015) 
4. Everest (2015) 
5. We Are Your Friends (2015) 

Five recent films by Pathe

1. Pride (2014)
2. Enemy (2013) 
3. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013) 
4. No One Lives (2012) 
5. 127 Hours (2010) 

Five recent films by Entertainment One

1. Burnt (2015)
2. The Last Witch Hunter (2015)
3. Being AP (2015) 
4. Miss You Already (2015)
5. Trumbo (2015) 

Five recent films by Warp films

1. "The Last Panthers" (2015) 
2. Liam and Lenka (2014)
3. "The Midnight Beast: Quiz Night Beast (#2.6)" (2014)
4. "The Midnight Beast: They Came Upon a Midnight Beast (#2.5)" (2014)
5. "The Midnight Beast: Going Solo (#2.4)" (2014) 

Five recent films by Big talk Productions

1. "Brotherhood" (2015)
2. Man Up (2015)
3. "Houdini and Doyle" (2015) 
4. "Lives of the Infamous Comedy Blaps" (2014) 
5. "Our Zoo" (2014)