1. Selected Key Terms for Institutions and Audiences -
The Film Industry
An institution (in the film industry)
Definition: any company or organisation that produces, distributes or exhibits films.
TheBBC makes films with their BBC Films arm; Channel4's Film Four produces films,
Working Title also produce films, as does Vertigo Films, etc. Some institutions need to join
with other institutions which distribute films. Vertigo Films is able to distribute its own films,
Channel Four distributed Slumdog Millionaire through Pathe. Working Title'sdistribution
partner is Universal, a huge US company which can make, distribute and show films. The
type of owner ship within an institution matters as, for instance, Channel 4 and the BBC are
able to show their own films at an earlier stage than other films made by other institutions.
They are also better placed to cross-promote their in-house films within their media
organisations.
Distribution and Marketing
Definition: the business of getting films to their audiences by booking them for runs into
cinemas and taking them there in vans or through digital downloads; distributors also create
the marketing campaign for films producing posters, trailers, websites, organise free
previews, press packs, television interviews with the "talent", sign contracts for promotions,
competitions, etc. Distributors use their know-how and size to ensure that DVDs of the film
end up in stores and on supermarket shelves. Distributors also obtain the BBFC certificate,
and try to get films released as the most favourable times of the year for their genre, etc.
Examples:
Universal distributed Working Title's The Boat That
Rocked; Pathe distributed Film4 andCeladors' Slumdog Millionaire after the original US
distributor, Warner Independent went out of business.
Exhibition
Definition: showing films in cinemas or on DVD. Media attention through opening nights and
premieres How the audience can see the film: in cinemas, at home, on DVD, through
downloads, through television, including premieres, the box office take in the opening weeks;
audience reviews which includes those of the film critics, ordinary people, cinemas runs;
awards in festivals, The Oscars, BAFTAS, etc.
Examples:
The Boat That Rocked opened on wide release in over 400 cinemas in April 2009. The film
flopped at the box office for a number of reasons: the critics' reviews, poor weather putting off
cinema goers, and perhaps the lack of a strong female character. The film also flopped on
American release in November 2009. However, young people and older people like the film:
sales in Morrisons and other supermarkets seem brisk before Christmas as many are buying
the DVD as a present to cheer people up during these dark winter months. Slumdog
Millionaire almost never got distribution. Its early US distributor, Warner Independent was a
victim of the economic downturn and went out of business. The film's makers then struggled
to find a distributor! Then Fox Searchlight stepped up and "the rest is history". The 8 out of 10

2. Oscar nomination wins ensured that the film has been the greatest British success in awards
and in box office for nearly 60 years.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/boyle-reveals-slumdog-
millionaire-was-nearly-never-made-1331821.html
Exchange
Definition: The unintended use of an institution’s media text (i.e. a film) by OTHER PEOPLE
who use the film or parts of it to form new texts. What happens to a film, etc. after the public
get their hands on it using digital technology.
Examples:
People unconnected to the institution/ film using WEB 2.0 applications such as YOUTUBE,
Blogger, Amazon film message boards, TWITTER, Face-Book, discuss the film or edit parts
of together to form a new text which the may then put a new soundtrack to and publish on
YOUTUBE, etc. When you add a trailer from a site like YouTube on your blog you have been
engaging with exchange.
Vertical and Horizontal Integration
Definition: Absorption into a single firm of several firms involved in all aspects of a product's
manufacture from raw materials to distribution.
Example:
Vivendi Universal have integrated film, music, web and distribution technology into the
company, including owning big stakes in cables and wires that deliver these services.
Therefore they are vertically integrated because they own all the different companies involved
in film, from production to distribution to exhibition. They are also horizontally integrated
because they have all the expertise for producing media content under one roof – films, TV,
magazines, books, music, games thus being able to produce all the related media content for
one film under the same roof (see synergy). This is important for the control the institution
has over their product/film.
Synergy/Synergies

3. Definition: The interaction of two or more agents (institutions/companies) to ensure a larger
effect than if they acted independently. This is beneficial for each company through
efficiencies in expertise and costs.
Examples:
Working Title know how to make films and they have formed a business partnership
withUniversal, a massive US company, who have the experience and size in the marketplace
(cinemas, stores, online, etc.) to distribute them. (They create the marketing campaign to
target audiences through posters, trailers, create the film’s website, free previews, television
and press interviews featuring “the talent”, drum up press reviews, word of mouth, and
determine when a film is released for the best possible audience and the type of release:
limited, wide, etc.) Channel Four’s Film 4 and Celador Films (Celador also produce Who
Wants to Be A Millionaire and films, too) benefited by pooling their know-how, experience and
expertise to jointly produce Slumdog Millionaire. These companies formed a business
relationship with France’s Pathe to distribute this film. In the UK Pathe helped create the
poster, trailer, website, etc. In the USA the film found another distributor after being
nominated for the Oscars.
Viral Marketing
Definition: A marketing technique aiming at reproducing "word of mouth" usually on the
internet and through existing social networks. YouTube Video pastiches, trailers, interviews
with cast members, the director, writer, etc. You can find interviews of “the talent” trying to
gain publicity for your case study films on YouTube.
Guerilla Marketing
Definition: The use of unconventional and low cost marketing strategies to raise awareness
of a product. The aim is usually to create “buzz” and “word of mouth” around a film. Unusual
stunts to gain publicity (P.R.) on the film’s opening weekend, etc.
Examples:

4. Sasha Baron Cohen created “buzz” before the release of his film “Borat” by holding fake
press conferences. The studio also accessed the popularity of YouTube by releasing the first
4 minutes of the movie on YouTube, a week before it’s release, which can then be sent virally
across the nation. At a special viewing of “Bruno” Cohen landed on Eminem “butt first” from
the roof MTV Awards venue, dressed in as an angel outfit with rents in the rear end.
Media Convergence
Definition 1: Convergence of media occurs when multiple products come together to form
one product with the advantages of all of them.
Examples:
More and more films are being marketed on the Internet and on mobile phones. You no
longer need even to buy the DVDs or CDs as you can download films and music directly to
your laptop, Mac or PC. Blue Ray DVDs can carry more features than ordinary DVDs and
can be played on HD televisions and in home cinemas for enhanced/cinematic picture
quality. You can save films on SKY digital, Free-box digital players, etc. You mobile phone
has multiple features and applications. With media and technological convergence this is
growing year on year. Play-Stations, X-Boxes and the Wii can can connect with the Internet
and you can play video games with multiple players.
Technological Convergence
Definition 2: The growing interractive use of digital technology in the film industry and media
which enables people to share, consume and produce media that was difficult or impossible
just a few years earlier.
Examples:

5. For instance, the use of new software to add special effects in editing; the use of blue-screen;
using new types of digital cameras like the one Danny Boyle used in “Slumdog Millionaire”
(The Silicon Imaging Camera to shoot high quality film in tight spaces); you can use the
Internet to download a film rather than go see it in the cinema; you can watch it on YouTube;
you can use special editing programs like Final Cut Pro to edit bits of a film, give it new
soundtrack and upload it on YouTube; you can produce illegal, pirate copies on DVDs from
downloads and by converting the film’s format; you can buy Blue Ray DVDs with greater
compression which allows superior viewing and more features on the DVD; distributors can
use digital software to create high concept posters; cinemas can download films to their
projection screens and do not have to depend on a van dropping off the film! There are tons
of ways in which technological convergence affects the production, distribution, exhibition and
exchange by prosumers. ( A prosumer is someone who not only consumes (watches films)
but also writes about them the Net, blogs and make films out of them, often uploading them
on sites like YouTube, etc.
A Mainstream Film
Definition: A high budget film that would appeal to most segments of an audience: the young,
boys, girls, teenagers, young people, the middle aged, older people, the various classes in
society. Distributors often spend as much or more than the film cost to make when distributing
mainstream films that are given wide or universal releases.
Example:
The Boat That Rocked was a mainstream idea and was given the mainstream treatment on
wide release. The film flopped at the UK box office on release ( and has not done too well
since mid November 2009 on release in the USA. This was mostly because of its poor
reviews, particularly from “Time-Out”. However, when young and older audiences see the
DVD they generally like the film because of its uplifting storyline and the well-chosen
soundtrack.
Art House Films
Definition: A low budget independent film that would mostly appeal to an educated, higher
class audience who follow unusual genres or like cult directors that few people have heard of.
Therefore it is usually aimed at a niche market. Foreign films often come under this category.
Examples:
The low budget film, Once (2007) which found a specialised, boutique distributor in Fox
Searchlight fits this label. (FOX the mainstream company usually distributes big budget film
and blockbusters); So does “Juno” from 2008 which began as a low budget film about
teenage pregnancy that the big studios thought too risky to touch – but it found popularity
through its touching storyline, engaging music and its Oscar nomination for best script. Like
“Slumdog Millionaire” the film crossed over between art-house cinemas and audiences to
mainstream ones because of the recognition it received from Canadian film festivals and
award ceremonies like Britain’s BAFTAS and the Hollywood’s Oscars.

6. Ratings bodiesBBFC -The British
Board of Film Classification
How your institutions films are rated will affect audiences in so far as WHO can see them.
Remember that sex scenes, offensive language, excessive violence, the use of profanity, etc.
can affect the rating and certificate the film receives and therefore affect who is able to see
the film.

7. Ratings bodiesBBFC -The British
Board of Film Classification
How your institutions films are rated will affect audiences in so far as WHO can see them.
Remember that sex scenes, offensive language, excessive violence, the use of profanity, etc.
can affect the rating and certificate the film receives and therefore affect who is able to see
the film.