Film Case Study- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them- Steph and Ceri

Film case study- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them from Steph2000

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What impact does media ownership have upon the range of products available to audiences in the media area you have studied?

The media areas I will be referencing to in this essay is Ex Machina which earned a box office of $36.9 million and had a budget if $15 million and Star Wars: The Force Awakens which earned a box office of $2.068 billion and has a gross budget of $206 million. Ex Machina was produced by Film 4 and DNA Films which although DNA Films is said to be the most successful film company in the UK, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was produced by much more recognizable companies which was Lucasfilm and Bad Robot Productions. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was also distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures which is subsidiary of Walt Disney which is a very successful independent conglomerate production companies which is widely recognized across society which creates a benefital impact on the production of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. This is due to the factor of Walt Disney being a four quadrant company so although generally children enjoy the films more, it still appeals to older audiences as they know the film will be well made due to the overall representation of films that Walt Disney produces which means by being distributed by a subsidiary of this company, the audience will watch it purely because they know the film is likely to be worthy of their time and money. This impacts the range of products as parents will buy the film for children who are fans of Walt Disney due to the factor that Walt Disney only tends to get involved in well made films so they know due to the high budget, the special effects and actors will be amazing so the audience will feel they’ve spent their money on a good, well made film.

Ex Machina was produced by DNA Films and Film 4 and DNA Films is described as “one of the UK’s most successful production companies.” DNA Films have produced the films Love Actually and 28 Days later which both did fairly well with Love Actually earning a box office of $246.9 million and had a budget of $45 million. 28 Days Later had box office $115 million and had a budget of $15 million. Film 4 produced the films 127 Hours and The Iron Lady. 127 Hours earned a box office of $60.7 million and had a budget of $18 million and The Iron Lady earned a box office of $115 million. DNA Films and Film 4 produced the film The Last king of Scotland alongside Fox Searchlight Pictures who also distributed the film and it earned a box office of $48.4 million and had a budget of $6 million. In comparison to Ex Machina, it was produced by the same companies apart from Fox Searchlight Pictures but it was distributed by Universal Pictures. Ex Machina earned a box office of $36.9 million and had a budget of $15 million so we can see the similarities of the box offices between all of the films which shows although the films were successful, the films never became blockbusters. Although The Last King of Scotland was produced by the same companies and Ex Machina was distributed by a more well known company, The Last King of Scotland was more successful which suggests that Universal Picture’s distributing techniques weren’t as effective as the techniques used for The Last King of Scotland. Yet, Ex Machina’s widest release was it was shown in 2004 theatres yet The Last King of Scotland was shown in 540. This shows that The Last King of Scotland’s marketing techniques were most likely more effective than Ex Machina which demonstrates how the the success rate of the film is effected by other factors as well as the media ownership involved.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is part of a series so many fans are already aware of the film’s release as Star Wars hints on social media to the audience that there will be another Star Wars film. This builds excitement in the audience and they will look out for the films release so this factor has a heavy impact on the success of the film as many fans knew about the film and were determined to either see it in cinema, download and so on which shows Star Wars: The Force Awakens can get high publicity even without a wide marketing scheme. These two factors effected the popularity rate of the film but it was also effected by media ownership as if Walt Disney Motion Pictures didn’t release the film in multiple cinemas, there would’ve been less of an opportunity for the fans to go and see it. Star Wars: The Force Awakens The widest cinema release was in 4,134 cinemas which shows it’s almost double the release for Ex Machina which means it’s more widely spread so there’s more of an opportunity to go and see the film. It’s likely the audience will go to the cinema with friends or family without deciding on a specific film to watch and may watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens as it’s a four quadrant film with an age rating of 12 so it’s a film that can be easily agreed on. This shows that Walt Disney Motion Pictures were successful at distributing the film which shows me how having a big company as a distributer for the film will benefit the overall success as larger companies will have more experience in the film industry so they understand how wide spread distribution is benefital to the overall success of the film.  Walt Disney is a huge company and it has lots of money which means the film can have a big budget which means the film can include A list cast and the director, impressive locations, CGI and successful wide spread marketing and distribution. These are all shown in Star Wars the Force Awakens as it had a gross budget of $306 million, it contained many A list actors but the main recognizable character was Harrison Ford and the director was J.J. Abrams who is well known for his work in directing the sequel to Star Trek which was Star Trek Into Darkness, scenes were filmed in huge locations such as the desert near Abu Dhabi, Rub’ al Khalu desert and the area in Myvatn which is around the Krafla volcano in Ireland. We can see the marketing was very successful as many products were released such as games, books, CD’s, Lego, games, comics, vinyl, toys, download and streaming, DVD and Blu-ray and the soundtrack. As children can watch the film compared to Ex Machina which has an age rating of 15, it’s likely many children enjoy the Star Wars series as it’s aimed at both so this helps marketing as it was released on the 17^th December so it’s in the build up to Christmas so many children will ask for Star Wars products for Christmas. This shows a positive impact that media ownership has on the range of products as Walt Disney is very well known and generally children enjoy the films and merchandise more than adults so by Disney releasing the products, it means children will see the toys in the Disney shop and in the build up for Christmas as parents are Christmas shopping and as they know the positive representation the Star Wars Films have, they will see the products and be reminded the film is out so they will buy both the products and tickets for the cinema. This shows the audience consumption of the film of how products benefit the film as through my own media consumption, I remember seeing the products everywhere when the film came out and I knew my younger cousins enjoy the Star Wars series so I would buy them the toys as Christmas presents. This is due to the successful marketing as if the products weren’t released at a benefital time near Christmas, it may of not been as successful with the selling of products.  This shows how having Walt Disney Motion pictures as a distributer most likely made the selling of products more successful which increases the interest in the film in the audience.

In comparison to this, Ex Machina was produced by Film4 and DNA Films and was distributed by Universal Pictures and although Universal is a big company, it isn’t as well known as Walt Disney but since Ex Machina has an age rating of 15 and Walt Disney is more recognized by children so I feel that it doesn’t make too much of an impact on the film. Ex Machina didn’t use as effective marketing techniques as although their Tinder publicity stunt brought a lot of interest to the film, there wasn’t much advertisement apart from on social media which teenagers typically use more than adults so this marketing technique may not reach all aspects of the target audience.  The products Ex Machina released was the CD Soundtrack, vinyl, download and streaming, DVD’s and Blu Ray so we can see the difference in products released for both films. This tells me that the media ownership for Star Wars: The Force Awakens was more successful than Ex Machina which effects the overall box office for the film due to the selling of products. Ex Machina was released in cinemas on the 21^st of January 2015 for the United Kingdom but the date has no effect on the selling of products such as toys due to the fact they didn’t release any. I feel the success of the film could’ve increased if they released the film around December time like Star Wars: The Force Awakens did and released products including the character Ava which would be seen in the build up to Christmas which may increase interest in the characters and built up publicity in the film.

Overall, I feel that Star Wars: the Force Awakens had a much more effective marketing and distributing campaign than Ex Machina did and this effected the overall success of the film due to the audiences’ consumption of products. As Ex Machina released minimal products for the film, they failed to take this opportunity to increase publicity and increase the profit in the film.  Star Wars: The Force Awakens was successful as it’s a mainstream blockbuster that’s interesting to all ages and it earned on opening weekend $247,966,675 in 4,134 theatres earning a $59,982 average at a #1 rank. In comparison to this, Ex Machina is niche film that’s aimed at an older audience due to the fact it’s a Sci-fi/Indie film so requires specific interest. It earned $5,349,500 on it’s wide opening weekend in 1,255 theatres earning an average of $4,263 and was at #6 rank. Looking at the differences in these figures we can see the success rates of the film and the effects of distribution as Star Wars: The Force Awakens was shown in more theatres in the opening weekend and the peak number was higher than the theaters for the opening weekend with Ex Machina. This shows how the media ownership effects the overall success of the film through the range of products available to the audience.