What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Due to the fact that our media product is a low budget, independently made film by a British film company (our group, JMS Productions), we can chose from two ptions what we want to do to distribute our work and which media institution would do this; pay a third party to distribute the film onto platforms such as Netflix etc. or distribute it ourselves through mediums such as Youtube or Vimeo etc. and cut out the middle person.
Change in Age:
Analogue to Digital:
In the analogue age, viewing films at the cinema, on TV or with DVD's has become less popular and has had to make way for the new age of viewing films - the digital way; through mobiles, tablets, YouTube, Netflix and even on consoles, physical copies or being stuck in one place to watch a film has decreased as the pros for the digital age are much more appealing. The new ways to view films are either more convenient, take up less physical space and also are in higher quality of HD, and can be viewed in the comfort of your own home.
THEN:
Cinemas are dying as a platform to watch big films, as established in this report, and therefore the tradition of going to the cinema is becoming too expensive and isn't as convenient as home viewing an overall cheaper form of the same media.The graph above, from this website, shows that the peak for cinema admissions was in 1946, from which it has never grown higher than. It shows that as these traditional ways of watching films are dying, it can be presumed that digital ways such as streaming and downloading to home devices to watch on the go and on portable devices has become much higher and that is where the cinematic downfall can be presumed from.
NOW:
Many things are changing, even so Xbox users are as there has been a higher percentage of users watching TV and films, instead of playing multiplayer games. The dashboard of Xbox has undergone a design change so that TV and films are easily accessible to users. They were rumored in 2012 to produce a device for this, yet have customized this to become much more convenient. This way of viewing films is easy to access, much more appealing and as gaming is very popular this is an effective way to strike potential film viewers. The TV and film service Netflix has also become extremely popular since 2012, and is accessible through TV's, tablets, phones, computers and games consoles, and there is no physical copy needed.
Pre Digital Age - Cinema, TV, DVDs
Digital Age - YouTube, Vimeo
This method of screening our locally made, small production film is almost outlined as unreachable as they only really screen big budget films, most local cinemas (Cineworld's and Odeon's in Crawley and Brighton) are known to not screen small production films, which makes it mostly out of the question. It is not impossible, as some cinemas (such as The Duke of York in Brighton) do however screen smaller films; its just unlikely.
PROS - would be great exposure
CONS - not many cinemas screen independent films
Film festivals are a much better option and will really capture film lovers and also create great exposure for our film, with local festivals being held around London and Brighton; both central and popular. They do seem to be seasonal however.
The distributor is given legal rights to the film and will in turn pay the company, and deals will be made on the basis of cinema, TV and DVD deals for profits for both companies.
For our film the marketing would be minimal, yet larger produced films will want to gather a lot of attention and make it very central at this stage.
Ways to do this would be:
-billboard adverts
- merchandise
- reviews
- events
- film posters
- talk shows/interviews with the cast and creators (publicity)
- TV/radio/cinema adverts
- trailers
- film festivals
Prints of the film; how many copies will be issued to sell on (in some cases this can be very few), and locally can be screened in Brighton and other festivals that screen 'indie' films on a low budget- and all costs are met by the distributor.
All stages can be done by ourselves or a film distributor,and a list of potential distributors are as follows:
Axiom Films
E One Entertainment
Icon Film Distribution
(more on this website, which also includes the bigger distributors too)
YouTube is one way we could self distribute our film without having to pay a third company to market and put our product on a platform. It can be a good way to upload a feature length film, which YouTube did in 2011, a comedic film called 'Time Expired'. This film has been viewed 700,000 times and has made a comfortable revenue of $3400 from ads the viewers have to watch to view the film for 'free'.
YouTube is appealing to use as its a popular website, 3rd in the world, meaning that finding our film would be easy to our audience; especially as it's our target audience mostly using the platform.They use an algorithm to help others find films to watch, like using a 'recommended for you' suggestion list. You can also make money through adverts, monetization, as you can set up having ads before, during or after your film, you can also also have them around the side of the screen and also have overlay ads. The more views it gets, the more people will recommend it and therefore popular it will become
It, however, is harder to make money in the sense that you need a baseline of subscribers to actually begin making money, otherwise you could get many views on your product, but it would mean nothing as you won't make money from it.
PROS - it will be easier to upload and cuts out the middle man in distribution, and can make money without being costly to screen.
CONS - it is difficult to actually start a loyal fan base and make money, therefore could be a risk
Vimeo is also a video sharing site, where you can upload, share and view videos and is also in HD. Vimeo can make users money by paying them monthly instead of having to wait to reach a fan base like YouTube does (it only pays you once you have a set amount of subscribers, whereas Vimeo pays based regardless of how many subscribers you have.)
PROS - you don't need a set number of subscribers to make money, and is on a more monthly term and its users are mostly people who will appreciate the work made
CONS - still a risk in making money, not guaranteed
Due to the fact that our media product is a low budget, independently made film by a British film company (our group, JMS Productions), we can chose from two ptions what we want to do to distribute our work and which media institution would do this; pay a third party to distribute the film onto platforms such as Netflix etc. or distribute it ourselves through mediums such as Youtube or Vimeo etc. and cut out the middle person.
Change in Age:
Analogue to Digital:
What is currently happening with cinemas and home viewing reminds me of the transition between analogue to digital, in the sense that one loved thing (like VHS tapes and vinyls) begin to expire traditionally and make way for new technologies (DVDs and CDs), all of which are easier to sue, simpler and are better in quality.
In the analogue age, viewing films at the cinema, on TV or with DVD's has become less popular and has had to make way for the new age of viewing films - the digital way; through mobiles, tablets, YouTube, Netflix and even on consoles, physical copies or being stuck in one place to watch a film has decreased as the pros for the digital age are much more appealing. The new ways to view films are either more convenient, take up less physical space and also are in higher quality of HD, and can be viewed in the comfort of your own home.
Cinemas are dying as a platform to watch big films, as established in this report, and therefore the tradition of going to the cinema is becoming too expensive and isn't as convenient as home viewing an overall cheaper form of the same media.The graph above, from this website, shows that the peak for cinema admissions was in 1946, from which it has never grown higher than. It shows that as these traditional ways of watching films are dying, it can be presumed that digital ways such as streaming and downloading to home devices to watch on the go and on portable devices has become much higher and that is where the cinematic downfall can be presumed from.
Many things are changing, even so Xbox users are as there has been a higher percentage of users watching TV and films, instead of playing multiplayer games. The dashboard of Xbox has undergone a design change so that TV and films are easily accessible to users. They were rumored in 2012 to produce a device for this, yet have customized this to become much more convenient. This way of viewing films is easy to access, much more appealing and as gaming is very popular this is an effective way to strike potential film viewers. The TV and film service Netflix has also become extremely popular since 2012, and is accessible through TV's, tablets, phones, computers and games consoles, and there is no physical copy needed.
Pre Digital Age - Cinema, TV, DVDs
Digital Age - YouTube, Vimeo
Cinema:
Cineworld and Odeon:
This method of screening our locally made, small production film is almost outlined as unreachable as they only really screen big budget films, most local cinemas (Cineworld's and Odeon's in Crawley and Brighton) are known to not screen small production films, which makes it mostly out of the question. It is not impossible, as some cinemas (such as The Duke of York in Brighton) do however screen smaller films; its just unlikely.
PROS - would be great exposure
CONS - not many cinemas screen independent films
PROS - film lovers can unite and up rise the new and upcoming talent at a film festival
CONS - only on for select days (will it be ready in time, or will competition for new films mean it won't be shown?)
Distributing Your Film:
There are a few stages to distribute our film:
1. LICENSING
The distributor is given legal rights to the film and will in turn pay the company, and deals will be made on the basis of cinema, TV and DVD deals for profits for both companies.
2. MARKETING
For our film the marketing would be minimal, yet larger produced films will want to gather a lot of attention and make it very central at this stage.
Ways to do this would be:
-billboard adverts
- merchandise
- reviews
- events
- film posters
- talk shows/interviews with the cast and creators (publicity)
- TV/radio/cinema adverts
- trailers
- film festivals
3. PRINTS & ADVERTISING
Prints of the film; how many copies will be issued to sell on (in some cases this can be very few), and locally can be screened in Brighton and other festivals that screen 'indie' films on a low budget- and all costs are met by the distributor.
All stages can be done by ourselves or a film distributor,and a list of potential distributors are as follows:
Axiom Films
E One Entertainment
Icon Film Distribution
(more on this website, which also includes the bigger distributors too)
Self Distribution:
Youtube and Vimeo:
YouTube is one way we could self distribute our film without having to pay a third company to market and put our product on a platform. It can be a good way to upload a feature length film, which YouTube did in 2011, a comedic film called 'Time Expired'. This film has been viewed 700,000 times and has made a comfortable revenue of $3400 from ads the viewers have to watch to view the film for 'free'.
YouTube is appealing to use as its a popular website, 3rd in the world, meaning that finding our film would be easy to our audience; especially as it's our target audience mostly using the platform.They use an algorithm to help others find films to watch, like using a 'recommended for you' suggestion list. You can also make money through adverts, monetization, as you can set up having ads before, during or after your film, you can also also have them around the side of the screen and also have overlay ads. The more views it gets, the more people will recommend it and therefore popular it will become
It, however, is harder to make money in the sense that you need a baseline of subscribers to actually begin making money, otherwise you could get many views on your product, but it would mean nothing as you won't make money from it.
PROS - it will be easier to upload and cuts out the middle man in distribution, and can make money without being costly to screen.
CONS - it is difficult to actually start a loyal fan base and make money, therefore could be a risk
PROS - you don't need a set number of subscribers to make money, and is on a more monthly term and its users are mostly people who will appreciate the work made
CONS - still a risk in making money, not guaranteed
Overall Opinion:
My personal opinion would be to either simply upload our work to Vimeo and make a substantial amount from the monetized product there, or to showcase our work at a film festival, which would attract others to see our companies work as a lot of well educated, film interested audience would be there and would have an interest in our work as a small company. This way wouldn't cost a lot of money therefore is a 'safe' option but guarantees some exposure in the best way and also will increase interest as our company as a whole; therefore working out better in the long run if we were to make another film and keeps us quite safe money wise.
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