Q2 - film industry Flashcards
(56 cards)
Production
The entire process of making a film, from the initial idea through to the final edit.
Product placement
The inclusion of a product in a film for an agreed fee. Typical examples include cars, watches etc.
Pre-sold elements
Things which have been previously sold successfully that have a pre-existing fan-base e.g adaptions that use characters and stories from books/comics.
Franchise
A suite of products based around the same intellectual property. Franchise products feature some of the same characters and settings in a new product. E.g The batman franchise includes: comic books, films, TV series etc.
Guerilla filmmaking
Shooting a film with a small crew and cast, typically on a very low budget and with a lightweight kit. Uses locations rather than sets.
Digital stock
Memory cards and hard drives used for recording footage. Reusable and therefore marginal cost of shooting is zero, in stark contras to very espensive 35.. film stock or even more expensive 70mm film stock (used in IMAX cameras). Some independant filmmakers have taken advantage of digital stock to have far greater shooting ratios
Shooting ratios
The number of hours of footage shot in comparison to the duration of the finished film. When shooting on film stock a shooting ratio might be between 4:1 and 10:1 (shooting between 8 and 20 hours of footage to cut into a 2 hour movie).
Tapeless workflow
Digital shooting and editing, working without physical film.
Production budget
How much a film costs to make
Crowdsourcing
A collaborative method of production whereby many people contribute a small amount (of money, labour or ideas) to produce something together.
Crowdsourced finance
A way of raising a budget that attempts to attract many small investors to chip in to pay for a budget, often with something small in exchange such as a credit or piece of memorabilia
Above the line costs
The costs of key creative talent such as directors, actors and screenwriters. These costs are fixed.
Above the line costs
The costs of key creative talent such as directors, actors and screenwriters. These costs are fixed.
Below the line costs
All variable costs, including equipment, crew, accommodation, transport, sets, catering etc. These costs can change fr example if bad weather causes the shooting schedule to be extended.
Tent pole movies
Hollywood studios typically rely on a production system known as tent-pole programming. Studios will release one or more major summer blockbusters like “Wonder Woman” and expect it to be so phenomenally profitable that the outsized profits will support the studio’s investment in riskier properties (ie, the non-blockbusters), like “Magic Mike”, the 3D adaptation of “The Great Gatsby,” and other “prestige films”. Tent-pole movies involve the huge investment of budgets usually in excess of $100m in production and a similar or even greater amount in a marketing budget. They are designed to be a safe bet and as such often make use of A list
actors/directors and pre-sold elements - both of these aspects frequently coming together in prequels, sequels, remakes and reboots. Tentpole production strategy is supported by saturation marketing campaigns to build up hype and the widest possible release. Studios attempt to retain maximum control of many streams of revenue. They achieve this by distributing the film through their own distribution networks in many territories around the world, agreeing to a wide range of licensing deals (merchandising e.g. toys, costumes, food and drinks) and maximising opportunities at later stages of the value chain. All of these are designed to maximise revenue and guarantee a return on investment.
IMAX
Image Maximum. IMAX footage is shot on 70mm film stock that captures an incredible level of detail, alongside the cinematic texture of 35mm stock. There are three methods of exhibiting on IMAX screens – 70mm film prints (classic beautiful cinematic texture of film), digital film prints (not quite as sexy but a hell of a lot cheaper - essentially only costs are transfer costs as hardware can later be reused). Used in the most recently opened, much, much smaller IMAX screens such as Wimbledon and Kingston) and IMAX 3D (massive huge detailed image and also 3D).
CGI
(computer generated images) – images of characters, settings and scenes created on computers, rather than physically acted out and filmed (which is called ‘practical filming’). CGI is often integrated with live action to create special effects and stunts that could not be effectively or economically achieved with actors, stuntmen and pyrotechnics
Genre movie
A movie that predictably follows the conventional narrative structure of other movies within the genre
High concept movie
A movie with a straightforward plotline that can be easily marketed due to the ease of relating the concept to the target audience e.g Snakes on a plane
Social realism
one of the traditional genres of film made by British filmmakers. A form of filmmaking that attempts to portray realistic characters and situations as a means of exploring social issues, frequently social inequalities and the lives of the working classes. Also known as Kitchen Sink Dramas. Notable directors include Ken Loach and Mike Leigh.
Distribution and marketing
Making the film available to exhibitors (agreeing deals, producing digital ad physical copies), raising awareness and demand through marketing.
Horizontal integration
A company grows through merging or acquiring (buying) a competitor inthe same media area and at the same stage of the process. E.g. Disney (film production company) also bought out Pixar, LucasFilm and 21st Century Fox (which are also film production companies)
Vertically integrated
Describes a company that operates at more than one stage in the same industry. E.g. Warner Bros own a film studio at Leavesden, produce films and also distribute films globally.
Conglomerate integration
Describes the process by which previously separate companies from different media areas combine through mergers and acquisitions to form huge global corporations that operate in several different media industries and in many different territories. E.g. AT&T has subsidiaries such as Warner Bros (film industry), CW Network (TV industry), DC Comics (publishing). NeverRealm Studioes (video game developers) etc. The whole company, including all of the subsidiaries is known as the parent company or a conglomerate.
