Section B LR

Due to commercial pressures, Institutions must consider their distribution strategies if they want to maximise profits. A field in England which is am art house production (meaning it could have varied financial objectives) used a simultaneous release strategy so it released it's films across all viable platforms at the same time, TV, DVD, On Demand ect... As a result pirated copies  may not have been available on the first day of sales; allowing A field in England to maximise profits in the short term. On the other hand, Ill Manors and The Inbetweeners used a traditional staggered release strategy which has proved successful in the past. This maybe more acceptable for them as they are a different type of production, in comparison to a field in England so they maybe more profit driven then looking for audience pleasure.

Mock LR

EBI: Need to focus on the question more

I did not achieve my target of a B grade. I was six marks off and i definitely could have got another 7-10 marks on section B. Also in section the last two questions were not as focused on the question as i should've done which brought some of my answers to low level 3 and level 2.

In the fourth question, according to the mark scheme i lacked question focus and here are some of the points that i missed out on:
Gun violence being represented as "Fun", Gratuitously and without consequence. I had at most one point from that list and my other points were off topic which is why few marks were awarded.

Question 1, like most peoples was my strongest.  This is because i included appropriate media theories and used evidence from the clip and explained the effect it had on the audience.

Question 4 Re-write

In the trailer gun violence is represented as something that causes no consequence. For example, a helicopter is blown up using a gun and in this case you would expect death and anarchy but due to the mise-en-scene we see a smile on the characters face which shows this is a laughing matter and that it is okay to use heavy weapons. Also the music is contrapuntal which lightens the mood and makes it seem as though blowing people up is casual.

Also, gun violence is represented as fun. We know this as it has been made into a game and the connotations of games is to mean that something is fun and also without consequence. So this could influence younger people in thinking guns are something fun to use. This links to the media-effects theory that people are influenced by the media and it determines their decisions.

Furthermore, gun violence is represented as glamorous This is shown as through some of the settings, for example in Las Vegas we could suggest it links in with the lavish lifestyles people live there. We can also state that audiences would see the gun violence as something bad as due the bad press that surrounds it. This links to the uses and gratifications theory of surveillance as people see it has a way of information.



I definitely covered all three of cross media case studies in the essay but the context i included from each of them was varied so i need to balance it out more. Also i needed to write more about the print section as that is where i lacked detail across my essay. This mainly because of time.

Yes, In most topic sentences and for each point i made i referenced keywords from the quesiton, this included words like convergence.

Yes, in section A i included a lot of the positive things which were mentioned in the examiners report, however, for question 4 like the report said my answer lacked question focus and included little to no evidence from the trailer.
In section B like the examiners report said very few people choose question 5 'the convergence question' . Another point i can relate to in the question is that my understanding of convergence wasn't detailed enough to answer the question and as a result i lost marks.

• My notes shouldn't just start to note evidence but note theories i can include and how it can link to the question
• I also need to look at past paper so i can familiarise myself with examples 
• For section B specifically i need to revise key concepts of the platforms so i can link it to aby question

LR paragraph

E-media is a much more modern and new platform on which audiences consume media and this effects the type of audiences using the platform. Print is probably one of the more traditional media platforms so you expect a film such as a Field in England to dominate this section, however Ill Manors had a strong presence in the Print platform even though most of its core target audience wouldn’t be involved or interested in this side of the media. However, the film Ill Manors wasn’t only just promoting the films purely for the entertainment side of things, the director Plan B (Ben Drew) did have other, more political intentions for the film and wanted to portray his community he grew up in and how like many others had been neglected. Plan B featured in many magazines and articles including The Daily Mail which is a very left wing newspaper so would be very against Plan B and is ideologies, however The metro which is mainly available for people using public transport and is aimed at people that fall into the struggler psychographic, they would be the ones who are more supportive of Plan B and his views. On the same media platform we can again see that there are many different viewpoints and a binary opposition has been created, this links to the theory from Levi Strauss, this is because we can see a clear conflict of ideas from people who are left wing and right wing (politically). Ben Drew also featured in Men's health magazine which is aimed  at his core target audience but not in terms of his psychographic audience but more towards the age group. In the Men's health article Ben Drew talks about his weight loss programme and why he deiced to loose so much weight. We can link this article to the audience theory about media effects which implys that the media can affect and influence the audience. In this case it is postivie as Ben Drew may be idolised by some which means they may follow suit and want to become fit and healthy just like he did.

32 mark essay

How far does the platform on which they are consumed determine the construction of media products in your cross media study? Support your answer with reference to the three media products you researched?

In my cross media study I researched three products, Ill Manors, A field in England and The Inbetweeners. In this essay I will cover how these films were constructed based on the platform they were consumed on. This involves looking at the main three platforms, Print, E-media and Broadcast. It will also be beneficial for me to look over the audiences of these platforms and link them to different media theory.

In my opinion I think that to a certain extent the construction of Ill Manors products was largely influenced by the E-media platform. This is because Ill Manors core target audience is roughly between the ages 15-21 (the youth) and because the main consumers of E-media are part of this demographic it makes it easier to promote their content. Examples of media products that have been constructed from the large use of E-media is the Ill Manors tag London campaign which used Twitter, a social networking site based online, to ask its audience to give their opinions and views on how they felt about issues raised in the film; this included the conservative governments ideologies. They would then take some of these tweets and display them around famous landmarks around London using projectors. This allowed their voices to be heard and at the same time created some synergy as this method was also used to promote the film Ill Manors. The tag London campaign is an example of user generated content and this allows an audience of a media text to become actively involved in the creation of media products. However, social networking campaigns like the Tag London one won’t always work for every film such as a Field In England, this is because of the codes and conventions of the genre of the film and its target audience. Although, different media platforms attract different audiences so a Field in England’s target audience may be more active in consuming print media 

rather than E-media.

In E-media I believe that various different people are active consumers of it but not all people take it in, in the same way, for example it would depend on demographics and psychographics. For example, if people that are part of the struggler category may just consume any media which links to the hypodermic needle model but people part of the succeeder category  may view specific types of media which is specifically aimed at them and have conscious opinions about it and not just believe everything they see. This is why A Field in England’s E-media products were constructed differently because they had a specific target in mind and knew it wouldn’t reach everyone and that not everyone would be interested in It as it more creative like an Art house production. A field in England had a website in which they included exclusive interviews and behind the scenes footage you could only view online. Audiences that this would attract would be people in socio-economic category of the ABC1s and would allow them to interact with the website leaving comments and feedback exclaiming their opinions about the film.

A film that is similar to A field in England in an institutional way, The Inbetweeners, likewise had a weak E-media campaign even though their core target audience are avid consumer of media online. However, The Inbetweeners generated a lot more box office revenue then Ill Manors and a Field in England combined as the Inbetweeners franchise was already a well-established franchise. But this does lead us on to question the effectiveness of using E-media to help construct media products as although it is cheaper for the institution they must successfully be able to reach and interact with their audiences.

E-media is a much more modern and new platform on which audiences consume media and this effects the type of audiences using the platform. Print is probably one of the more traditional media platforms so you expect a film such as a Field in England to dominate this section, however Ill Manors had a strong presence in the Print platform even though most of its core target audience wouldn’t be involved or interested in this side of the media. However, the film Ill Manors wasn’t only just promoting the films purely for the entertainment side of things, the director Plan B (Ben Drew) did have other, more political intentions for the film and wanted to portray his community he grew up in and how like many others had been neglected. Plan B featured in many magazines and articles including The Daily Mail which is a very left wing newspaper so would be very against Plan B and is ideologies, however The metro which is mainly available for people using public transport and is aimed at people that fall into the struggler psychographic, they would be the ones who are more supportive of Plan B and his views. On the same media platform we can again see that there are many different viewpoints and a binary opposition has been created, this links to the theory from Levi Strauss, this is because we can see a clear conflict of ideas from people who are left wing and right wing (politically).

Another example of print which was consumed was the film posters for each of the films. Film posters show us a lot and include distinct features that help attract it to the its respective target audience. They use generic codes and conventions to do this. On the Ill Manors film poster it uses a number of generic codes and conventions, here are some of them, includes a ; Central image, slogan/catchphrase, director credits and partners/sponsors. What makes it unique is the directors name/ brand Plan B (Ben drew) being pasted all around the poster. This reinforces his name causing constant branding and this important for Plan B as that is his brand he is in a way selling himself. This, however creates synergy as Plan B the brand can help sell this film alone because of this established fan base. A field in England similarly follows the generic codes and conventions which film posters usually contain. But just like Ill Manors poster included the name of the director, A Field in England also did, the director’s name is Ben Wheatley and he is an award winning director who as himself could also sell the film because of his popularity. Also audiences who are interested in the type of genre A field in England is similar to may recognise and be drawn to the film poster if they were to see this directors name.  On the other hand, as The Inbetweeners is an already well established brand it doesn’t  need to base this sort of print around their director as he isn’t the one that would be selling the movie the brand can create synergy in itself to do so.

Finally, we come on to the broadcast section to see if this platform is in any what successful in influencing the creation of media products. It Is important to mention that Broadcast is also a traditional media platform like print. Ill Manors was very successful here as it appealed to its core target audience very well by conducting interviews with popular youth channels like SBTV but they also branched out and looked at lectures such as the Tedx ones. This enabled Plan B to reach a new audience demographic including people in the ABC1 demographic which include people who are not educated in his world. The construction of this media product can be linked to the uses and gratifications theory by blumler and Katz who stated that different audiences perceive different readings of text in their own ways. This Tedx audience who could be part of the succeder and explorer psychographic would get receive a totally different experience to that of which Plan B’s core target audience of strugglers as they would want more education and knowledge that’s why Plan B would need to think carefully about his speech and how he tells his story so that he can make it somewhat un/relatable to his new audience.   

In conclusion, I think that to a large extent the platform on which media is consumed determines the construction of its products as looking at the evidence above you can see that its audience have a big part to play in determining how the institution targets them and how they want to receive it. 

PPE: LR

• Feedback

WWW: Clear points and good use of media theory

EBI: Need to aim for at least 3 paragraphs for each question and stick to the question

• Strongest question

My strongest question was number 3 and it was about representations. I did well in this question because included a lot of media theory and linked it back to the question, i also got all of the names of the theorist correct. I also think I spent the most amount of time on question 3 and it was my most well planned part of the question paper. I scored 10/12 for this question.

• Weakest question

My weakest question was the last one, question 4. This is because I didn't spend enough time on it and it wasn't well planned. I also found it hard to stick to the question as with the points I made, made it hard to link it back to what the question was asking me.

• Examiner report

Agreed with the examiners response over question 3 as i also reached level 4 and also included a lot of theory, however for question 1 i could have included a lot more of my own knowledge and left out the information given to us in the case study. This question could have been answered better for me but overall for the rest of the country it was the most successful, if i were to do this question i would focus more on the audience as i don't think i focused on the question enough. Question four was my worst question and it wasn't answered to well overall either so again i think i would need to focus on the question a lot more.

• LR Question 4

How are the Paralympic Games represented in the trailer as a much anticipated sporting event?

Firstly, i think the Games are represented as a much anticipated sporting event through the use mise-en-scene. In this case the setting being the crowd was shown in the trailer to show just how excited the fans were in hope that this could entice others into going to see/watch the Paralympic games. Also the mise-en-scene helps us identify where it was and where it was being hosted in, for example we see the new Olympic stadium which could also help persuade people to go to the Paralympic games because of the grand stadium. Another point to mention; unrelated to the mise-en-scene is the use of the crowds cheering as this shows they are enjoying themselves at the venue.

The song which is used is also a great way to get the audience involved as it is a very fast paced and exciting song which could get the audience to take interest in the trailer. It is also important to the mention that the song does work in parallel to the trailer as they work well along side together, creating an exciting atmosphere which could build up more anticipation about the Paralympic games.

It also uses some sort of narrative structure with a beginning, middle and end to help familiarize the audience with it and solely focus on persuading them to gain/find an interest in the Paralympic games. It uses various shots of the athletes training in preparation to it to show that even they are getting ready for the Paralympic games and encourages the audience to follow suit and come along to view it,

Section B Independent Case study

To complete: Broadcast + Print

The Inbetweeners

The basics

• Name of the film, director and notable stars

The Inbetweeners movie, directed by Ben Palmer (directed episodes from the Inbetweeners series) some of the more popular stars include all of the four main characters along with Greg Davies. The four main characters were Simon Bird, Joe Thomas, James Buckley and Blake Harrison. Each of these characters also appeared in the highly successful TV show on E4/Channel 4.

• When was it released 

It was released in cinemas in the summer of 2011. There is also a second movie which was released in the summer of 2014. The reason why the movies were both released in the summer time is because they were both set during the summer holiday period so they could assure themselves to get maximum views as it was aimed at a lot of teenagers who would have been in School.

• What genre is the film

The genre of the film is a comedy. It was also dubbed funniest gag film of the summer by some critics. Similar conventions shared from the generic ones of comedy include having different types of characters in order to portray clear conflicts of interest. In the Inbetweenres we can see that the character Neil is the idiotic one and the rest apart from Will all have their own battles with sanity.

• What was the critical reception?

The Inbetweeners received only average reviews both on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes. The critics ratings were around only 50/60% in favour of the movie but user reviews were a lot more welcoming of the film as there were more positives about it then negatives.  

Broadcast

• MIGRAIN analysis

The mise-en-scene of this clip is quite interesting as a lot is communicated through the costumes, actors positioning and props. For example, The boys facial expressions when they see the place they are staying at is horrifying and we can see that through their facial expressions, also their facial expressions show immense amounts of excitements when they're all walking down one of the main high streets filled with bars and women, their faces immediately light up showing that they're happy. The institutions that were involved in producing and distributing the Inbetweeners were Film 4 productions and Entertainment films. Entertainment films is quite a large distributor and has distributed a few big budget productions in the past so they had the finance to put the movie into cinemas and have a normal staggered release. Film 4 was already part involved in the production of the TV series so it was sensible that they were involved in the production of it. The Genre of this movie is of course comedy and similar films to this which it has been compared to in the same genre is American Pie which is an American comedy which is quite like the Inbetweeners but it has more of a British sense of humor. Also the British are represented as typical hooligans when abroad as when the boys are in a party scene and it is quite a negative representation as it gives a bad image to Brits abroad. The typical audience for this trailer would be similar to that of the loyal fans of the popular TV series. The target audience demographic would be young teenagers and young adults, this is because these are the age groups that could relate to the people in the story. The ideologies are obvious here and are different in comparison to the young people that are represented in Ill Manors. The boys in the Inbetweeners have different values and beliefs as they may not feel they have been cheated and ignored by the government as they can afford to go abroad for their holiday and their homes and lives aren't being represented in such a negative way. There is some sort of narrative shown in the trailer, however not all of the clips are in order so it doesn't give much away. There are some action codes such as Jay waking up moaning in an Ants nest which suggests he had a great and shocking night.

• Television promotions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8EBzN5O8iY  This is from the Jonathan Ross show and shows all of the four main characters trying to promote the film. The Jonothan Ross show is a popular chat show that airs at 10PM on Saturday nights on ITV1 so it reaches a large audience who could be interested in a new raunchy comedy.

• Does it use stars to boost promotion 

It really only uses the four main actors to promote as they are all well recognisable from the popular TV series.

Print

• Quotes from reviews 

Rotten Tomatoes: 

'What primarily redeems the Inbetweeners movie is that it's so surprisingly tender and sweet'.

Anutshell blog:  "this film is somewhat like American Pie in its premise"

San Francisco Chronicle: "The Inbetweeners Movie" proves that raunchy comedies about horny teens aren't just an American quirk"

• Print promotion + examples

This film poster shows a few of the top reviews from critics that the film received so this helps promote it by giving it good publicity among people who are not the intended target audience, for example more middle aged people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAlGUO4el_0 : This is the official teaser trailer that was used to promote The Inbetweeners movies even before the official trailer was released. This added to the build up of the release and it didn't give anything away as no clear narrative was showed just some of the more exciting bits of the movie.

• Choose a print advert and write a textual analysis on it

The colours used in this represent similar colours to that of a night club theme and a party theme. This gives off what the movie is all about and also the text of the title is written like the luminescent lights of similar sign that could be found on bars and clubs. Without knowing what the movie is about or anything about the characters you would be able to tell where they come from and what sort of people they are, for example you could connote the person with glasses (Will) to be the more sensible and intelligent one whilst if you were to look at the one in the England jersey (Jay) you may assume this one is a typical white patriotic person who probably misbehaves and causes trouble.

• How is the films brand represented

The films brand is already well established from the well known and liked TV series. Also the director is shown on most of the promotional posters and adverts and he himself adds to the increased brand image as he directed all of the Inbetweeners TV series as well so he could be well known among the target audience.

E-media

• Films social media presence 

The Inbertweeners movie had an active twitter,facebook and Instagram and this was especially important and successful as its main target audiences being teenagers would be the ones using these sites and it would have been easier to promote them and gain more success, especially through people writing reviews (opinion leaders-on twitter).

• Film's website/synergy

An official independent website for the Inbetweeners movie was never released but there is still a part of Channel 4's official website which showcases a brief description of the film. t

The website it'self is quite basic with nothing much used to interact with The Inbetweeners target audience directly.

• E-media based campaigns?

There was never really any large e-media campaigns as The inbetweeners didn't really have to advertise much as they already had a well established fan base and audience. They did have a facebook page when the movie was due for release but the posts since then have been removed.

• Examples of how it used the two step flow model

The two step flow model is a template that can be used to determine who in media are the opinion leaders who spread a broader message down to their followers who could all be different groups of people who believe in different things.

Audience

• Target audience (Demographics/psycho graphics)

The target audience is similar or the same as the popular TV series that the movie is based on. the target audience could therefore be young teenagers approximately 13/14 up to young adults 18/21. Other ages; probably above 21 could also be suitable to watch it as they may like the humour or even some of the characters. The psychographic group that would be most likely to view this film is probably going to be a majority of a main-stream audience as comedy genres would appeal to all and it is all around a feel goo movie. 

• How does cross media promotional campaign target this audience

One example of a cross media promotional campaign is when the Inbetweeners joined up with Samsung to make phone cases available to win in prize draws. This would appeal to their younger target audiences who all probably have some sort of smartphone to have one of these special cases. The cases were released closed to the launch of the movie and through the second and third season of the popular TV show.

• What audiences pleasures does this film offer, refer to the BFI lecture

Different genres provide people with different audience pleasures. As this a comedy movie its audience pleasures could be something like exaggeration, identification with characters and situations, raunchy humour and narrative resolution. Also the use and gratifications theory can be applied here as audiences who may not be apart of the target audience. These other people may feel as though they can relate to it or may be trying out something new and comedy is not a genre that they are familiar with.

• Similar films the audience could enjoy

Similar films that the same audience could enjoy may not be more American such as movies like American Pie as the audience in this case may only prefer British comedy and not get the quirky American humour as much. Therefore similar films could be comedy sketches such as Jimmy Carr or other comedy TV shows such as Outnumbered.

Institution

• Film studio (production company) research 

A production company called Bwark who have dealt with the production of The Inbetweeners series before were involved in the creation of the movie. The main production company involved was Film 4 productions. They are owned by Channel 4 and was first set up back in the 1980's. Films that they have produced. co-produced include, Attack the Block, 12 years a slave and Cuban fury. Cuban fury is another comedy which could be compared to the production of The Inbetweeners movie. Film 4 have produced a lot films so would have been experienced enough to deal with the production of the Inbetweeners movie. 

• What company distributed the film in the UK

Entertainment films distributed internationally The Inbetweeners movie. They are responsible for distributing a lot of other Hollywood and big budget productions so there was definitely a guarantee of success when choosing this distribution company.

• Previous films that support this film and target audience

They have distributed comedy films like Run fat boy run which is also a British comedy film produced by Film 4.

• What was the budget for the film

The budget for the Inbetweeners movie was £3.5 million.

• How successful was the film financially 

Globally the Inbetweeners movie grosses $88 million.

• Where was it more successful UK/USA

Due to it being a British comedy with more of a British sense of humour it was more successful in the UK than the USA as they may not have been able to relate to the comedy. Also different audience pleasures were gained for different people as they are both very different in the ideologies they posses. 

• What certificate was the film given

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.

Representations

• Representations of people,places and groups can be found in this film

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. It also represents a typical high school with the clique characters. Also it represents how young Brits are abroad and is quite a true and accurate representation.

• What representations of Britishness does the film contain

Typical representations of Britishness the film includes is showing off their patriotism, for example when the character Jay is on the street filled with clubs he was wearing his England football jersey. Also the hooliganism is displayed by the other people in the movie and not so much by the four main protagonists.

• How does the representation of Britain differ from that of Ill Manors

The inbetweeners movie shows a different side of how the youth turn out in comparison to that of ill manors. It is mainly the youth that is represented here as this is the main and biggest differecne between the two films. In Ill Manors the youth have gone off the path and we see more of how the environment they grew up in shaped who they are today.

• What values and ideologies can be found in this film

The four boys in this film seem to have more morals and a better understanding & tolerance of people. They are also not at war with the government and accept they are in power. They believe in education and being responsible to an extent.

Case study comparison

• Similarities and differences between Ill Manors, A field in England and the Inbetweeners

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. Ill Manors and the Inbetweeners both had staggered release strategies unlike a Field in England that is why they could have potentially gained more revenue.

Mest 1 section B index

1. British Film industry institutional context
2. British Film industry media fact-sheet questions
3. Ill Manors: Review
4. Ill Manors: Trailer analysis
5. Ill Manors: Music video analysis +research
6. Ill Manors Tedx Broadcast 
7. Ill Manors Broadcast platform concluded: DVD Extras, Broadcast/on-line, Television, Radio 
8. Ill Manors: Print platform
9. Ill Manors: Print branding 
10. Ill Manors E-media Tag London campaign
11. Ill Manors E-media Social networking research 
12. Ill Manors E-media website analysis 
13. A field in England secondary case study + Afield in England: The appeal of art house film
14. Ill Manors & A field in England institution research 
15. BF NOTES