The Six Stages of Media Production

There are six stages that a film production goes through to actually become a film.
-Negotiating a deal
-Pre-production and preparation
-Production
-Post production
-Distribution and Marketing
-Exhibition

A film cannot become a film without going through these stages. Without these stages we wouldn't have the high quality popular movies that we have today.

NEGOTIATING A DEAL IN CONTEMPORARY HOLLYWOOD

The international film industry is dominated by a handful of major companies, still referred to as "studios", such as Paramount, Universal and MGM. These studios don't own all studio facilities as such and most films they handle are made by smaller companies.
A film begins as an idea "pitched" to a studio. It is conceived as an individual product and put together by a producer as a "package" of a story, stars and a director and crew. There are a number of ways in which the package can be financed, but for big budget films the "deal" will nearly always involve one of the major studios. The concept behind a new film could be developed from many source, but to the interest to the studios in the relatively "conservative" atmosphere of Hollywood it will probably need to be supported by evidence of previous success associated with the ingredients of the proposal:
-Sequels
-Prequels
-The next "episode/installment"
-Remakes
-Novel Adaptions
-Original Ideas
-A new twist on a popular story
Sometimes it isn't easy to work out why a deal "seemed like a good idea at the time". A finished product can take two to three years to complete, and the main star could have faded from view or public taste in that time. Film producers must make an educated guess about the audience in a year's time and what changes need to be made, and they gamble with large sums of money.


PRE-PRODUCTION

Once the go ahead has been given, the production team has a great deal to do before shooting begins. Parts must be cast, locations chosen, costumes researched, dialogue coaches and wranglers (animal handlers) hired, hotel rooms booked etc. The Pre-Production stage is crucial, as this is where the script is finalized and all the crew is contracted. The final budget should be decided and the script needs to be re-worked if the budget is over-run.


PRODUCTION

This is where principle photography begins. The average filming time is 50 days for a film with 2-3 minutes of footage per day. a low budget film will take around half the time by using set ups and keeping the script tight. Even having an extra day of filming can mean a considerable amount of money being spent.
Special effects that require actors can be tricky, which means that the production will have to move to a company that has the technology to do such things.
The shooting is the most visible aspect of the production stage and therefore generates thew most interest.


POST-PRODUCTION

This is the longest stage of production where the editing and such takes place. This is important to the  sound of the film as well, as this is where the film is scored and the dialogue is cleaned up. Special effects are added at this stage and the film goes through the color gradients and other adjustments to the final version.


DISTRIBUTION AND MARKETING

The distributors handle the film at this stage and they market the film in a particular way. Release patterns are negotiated. Big budget films are distributed by the film company themselves. As the international market grows, companies can open more studies in different places, meaning that films can be released in new countries.


EXHIBITION

This is where the film is advertised and, and it also where the release of the film is and when the film is released is negotiated. The cinemas with the most recent technology will most likely be the places with the best films within them, but this means that entrance to a film can be more expensive. For a film with a smaller budget, this exhibition stage is where it is decided whether or not to put a film into a cinema, what with it being small budget and less likely to turn a profit. This means that such films could be released straight to online streamers or DVD.

Character Profiles

Below is the link to our character profiles of the charcters that are included in our thriller opening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-cl=84503534&x-yt-ts=1421914688&v=qvAPQrFIIik

Uses and Gratifications

This is the USES AND GRATIFICATIONS theory.

This theory is mainly used to study what people use media for in real life. For example, people who watch "Game of Thrones" might watch it for Entertainment and Diversion, to escape from real life for a while. However, people who watched something like "Planet Earth" would have watched it for Surveillance and Information.

We think that our Thriller would come under Entertainment, as it is entirely fictional and people that enjoy might like to watch it a few times, meaning that they think it helps them to forget everyday life for a while.

How is the Industry Regulated?

Before any film is released, it needs to be regulated, and therefore the industry needs regulation.

The British Board of Film Classification is the organisation that any film will go through before it is released. Founded in 1912, it has been responsible for classifying films in the appropriate category since then within the UK.
The Video Recordings Act 2010 deemed that it was a statuary requirement to classify films, videos, DVDs and even games.

CLASSIFICATIONS

U - Universal - Suitable for All - A film with this classification should be suitable for every person over the age of four. The main risk with this rating is trying to guess what would upset a younger child, especially at this end of the scale.

PG - Parental Guidance - A film that is suitable for general viewing but some scenes may upset young children. A film under this classification should be fine for kids around eight/nine years and older, but younger kids may be upset by some subjects or images within the film. Thus, parents are required to consider whether or not the film is suitable for their children.

12 and 12a - Anyone younger than 12 should be accompanied by an adult and will not be allowed to see it in theaters otherwise. Parents are required to be responsible about which film with this rating is actually suitable for a child younger than 12. A clear example would be the first "Woman in Black" movie, is it would genuinely terrify younger audiences due to the film's events and plot. A parent would need to read about a movie with this rating and watch certain clips from it before making the decision to show it to their child.

15 - A film with classification should not be shown to children younger than 15 years old, due to the relatively sensitive topics and matters covered, as well as what is said. This can include frequent strong language, portrayals of sexual activity, strong verbal references to sex, nudity, scenes of sexual violence, discrimination and drug taking, some of which are common in most 15 rated films.

18 - No rated 18 films are suitable for kids as everything from the 15 rated films is even more commonplace here and with even more graphic descriptions, meaning it will be even worse here.

R18 - legally restricted showings of R18's are only seen in licensed cinemas due to their highly explicit content of sex and drugs, and even during the DVD selling time range, R18's can only be seen in adult and sex shops.

These ratings are used to protect younger audiences from subjects that are unsuitable for their age range.

However, in my view, these classifications are not effective, as children can simply watch the DVD releases bought by the parents, and films are easier to access online now more than ever. Even if age verification is required online, you can still easily bypass the system by lying, and adults can buy DVDs for you.

Regional Stereotypes - The Welsh

 Within the theory side of the course, we have begun to look at the regional stereotypes of different places and studied how media affects our interpretations of these stereotypes.

I did my research on the Welsh region, and below is the link to the piktochart presentation of the research.

https://magic.piktochart.com/output/4122774-untitled-presentation

Before I Go To Sleep - Textual Analysis

Below is our textual analysis of the Thriller film "Before I Go To Sleep". The four of us took one section of analysis and we combined them to make the Prezi show. I did sound, Andreas did camera and shots, Max did Mise-en-Scene and Brad did editing.