A.M: Discuss the ways in which horror films are distributed and produced

UK cinema admissions increased by 1.4 percent in 2011, mainly this was caused by the release of 3D.  Film makers have a lot of added pressure due to the risky business they are in. To create a profit and recuperate the costs from their films they need to make 3 times the budget they spent.  For companies such as Warner Bros they use hard money which it receives from Time Warner, a conglomerate. The conglomerate also enables the films to horizontally integrate with media platforms such as Gameing companies, music companies and merchandise companies. Due to the large amount of assets Time Warner owns the companies have the opportunity to use synergistic promotional activity. Smaller Independent companies such as Vertigo films  and Glass Eye Pix who often use soft money and have a low budget and do not have a lot of the advantages that bigger film companies have. This means that distribution and production become more difficult for the smaller companies who don’t have assets such as cross media convergence. 

Due to digital technology advances in film production audience now have higher expectations. Consumers are now expecting special effects, HD and the added option of seeing the film in 3D. In general  the global institutions which produce films with ultra-high budgets will have a high enough hard money to be able to satisfy audiences demands. An example of a high-budget supernatural horror film distributed by Warner Bros is the conjuring (Wan,2013), which had a budget of $20 million and box office of $316 million. The Conjuring had very realistic special effects, this is due to their budget meaning they can afford good editing and filming equipment needed to achieve this. The visual effects team, led by visual effects supervisor Ray McIntyre Jr, edited footage to augment the signs of possession. The VFX, and special effects team, led by David Beavis, were also integral to creating various poltergeists that plague the Perrons. The professional team produced high quality visual effects making the film look realistic and intensifying the scare factor of the film. This is very beneficial as most horror film viewers want a film that makes them jump. A soundtrack was produced especially for the film. Wan incorporated audile cues to build tension towards the inevitable culmination of the terrifying battle between the Warrens and the inimical forces afflicting the Perrons. “It’s what you believe you see through the music and sound design that really gets you,” says the director. As the film was loosely based on real life events surrounding Ed and Lorraine Warren, Farmiga and Wilson in preparation  for their roles to Connecticut to spend time with Lorraine Warren, who also visited the set during production. Over the course of spending three days at the Warren home, both actors took in information that could not otherwise be achieved from secondary research. Shooting took place primarily at Screen Gems Sudios as well as other locations in and around Wilmington,North Carolina.

 

The 6 major US studios have hegemonic status in the film industry due to the number of films they create and the revenue that ultra-high budget tentpoles produce. These institutes are conglomerates and use cross media convergence to enable vertical and horizontal integration. Distributors can then use subsidiaries to produce distribute and exhibit their film products and services on various platforms. The marketing campaigned used for The Conjuring was a success which is evident in the revenue of the film. They utilised all aspects of their synergistic promotion by taking advantage of other media related products also they used symbiotic promotion of non-media related products such as t-shirts and mugs. A teaser trailer was released which kicked off the film’s marketing campaign in February 2013 to create a buzz. There were adverts for the film on billboards, posters, online and TV. Throughout the campaign, the film was promoted heavily as "based on a true story." When the release date was near trailers and TV spots began to feature the real-life Perron family to make the storyline of the film more known to the public. This was followed by a feature called ‘The Devil's Hour’ in which Lorraine Warren and other paranormal investigators explain some of the supernatural occurrences seen in the film to create a hype about the film. Through horizontal integration with ‘havefuns.com’ an online gaming website ’The Conjuring hide and seek’ game was created. The film was shown at the Los Angeles Film Festival and the world premiere took place at the Madrid International Fantastic Film Festival which also featured a Q&A section with the director. The film had a wide release and its red carpet premiere was then held for the film on July 15, 2013 at Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles. DVD and Blu-ray editions of the film were released through Warner Bros Home Entertainment and the soundtrack through the Water Tower music label, this was done through horizontal integration. Through horizontal integration different companies and websites such as flickfeast and entertainment-focus.com promoted competitions to win exclusive The Conjuring merchandise. This prize included a the conjuring merchandise mirror, mug, flashlight and ladies and men's t-shirts  The conjuring also had official Facebook and Twitter accounts to promote their products to positive technological determinists online : https://www.facebook.com/TheConjuringUK and https://twitter.com/TheConjuringUK.

Independent films tend to be produced with a low budget, possibly co-produced and often funding is received from the lottery.  Due to the fact they have low budget soft money means they can’t spend as much money on CGI, special effects, HD and the special camera equipment needed to achieve certain assets, such as 3D. Independent films would first focus their budget on essentials, for example paying for the crew, set, actors, costume, props and prosthetics.

An example of a horror film produced by Glass Eye Pix is ‘The House Of The Devil’ (west,2009). It had a budget of about $20,000 and created about $100,000 at the box office. It combines elements of both the slasher film and haunted house subgenres. The film was purposefully created similarly to horror films of the 1970s and 1980s, recreating the style of films of that era using filming techniques and similar technology to what was used then. The film was shot in Conneticut. Taking place in the 1980s, the film was made with 16mm film, giving it a retro stylistic look that matched the decade. Similarly, some aspects of the culture of the 1980s are seen in the film as signifiers of the decade. The cinematography of the film also reflects the methods used by directors of the time. For instance, West often has the camera zoom in on characters rather than dolly in as is now common in film, a technique that was often used in horror films of the 1970s and continued to be used into the 1980s. Other stylistic signifiers include opening credits which became less common in films in the decades after the 1980s in yellow font accompanied by freeze frames and the closing credits being played over a still image of the final scene. Shots are tripod-steady and the editing is calm and precise. The special effects are pre filmic as during production they made use of old-fashioned makeup and stage blood as an alternative to using CGI and special affects in post production.

 

Smaller institutions which produce independent and cult films find it is almost impossible to make them known by a large viewing audience. Due to the fact they aren’t part of a conglomerate means they can’t integrate horizontally and vertically with other companies as easily. This results in their being a lack of interest for the independent films as they can’t get the attention of new viewers.  This is why they tend to aim independent films at niche audiences.    The marketing for The House Of The Devil was very well done as it used strong visual identity by releasing 7 different posters for the film. The posters had a variety of fonts images and tag lines such as: “Talk on the phone. Finish your homework. Watch TV. Die…” Like many other independent/indie/art house films this film relied on its style, and it pushed this idea through its advertising. Releasing the film on VHS meant that it targeted the niche audience of people who were VHS fans. This relates to the fact it is a 1980s style film. The box was produced oversized just like the old fashioned cases. Later in february DVD and Blu-ray versions of the film were released. As the Internet  has democratised film making for audiences and given distributors new ways of pushing content at the core audience the 12 to 29 year olds who are largely positive technological determinists films can be exhibited online on websites such as Netflix and Lovefilm. The trailer produced for The House Of The Devil was put on YouTube as a way to target more potential consumers. Using Youtube means that the trailers can be easily shared with the large number of viewers and internet advertising is very effective and cheap. Which is exactly what this film did. The film also has an official facebook page and website to advertise it's products. The House of the Devil reviews were in a number of magazines such as :

'A near masterpiece of old fashioned suspense' - The Oregonian

"After years of vivisectionist splatter, here is a horror movie with real shivers." - Manohla Dargis, THE NEW YORK TIMES

"Pick of the Week" - Time Magazine

"The House of the Devil is by far the freakiest and most unnerving shocker in theatres this season." - The Austin Chronicle

 

 

In conclusion Industrial films produced by the hegemonic US film companies appear to have a lot of advantages when it comes to production and marketing campaigns of their films. Independent films struggle to keep up with new digital technologies whereas industrial films can due to their ultra high budgets. Digital Technology has had a large and lasting impact on institutions and audiences in the film industry. A major impact is that institutions can market and distribute there films a lot easier now due to the amount of different pathways that they can choose to do this. Therefore they have more ways of directly targeting their  advertising and marketing campaigns at their audience and this is a huge advantage. This is very beneficial for independent producers  as they can produce distribute and exhibit their films through the evolution of technology and the internet  as they can launch a viral marketing campaign. Companies could use websites such as Netflix Lovefilm and Youtube to distribute trailers. Also they can use pop-ups on social networking sites to get even more attention drawn to their film.   As well new digital technology has the potential to redistribute power within societies and across different countries giving everyone the chance to access media content, this means that when using viral marketing the company has a great chance of targeting a large audience. Industrial films still have many more pathways  to market their films due to the fact they are part of a conglomerate and utilised horizontal and vertical integration. Independent films  value style over genre  and are available to consumers but find it difficult to catch the attention of core audiences. Due to the Digital Technology advancements  audiences now have a lot more ways to communicate interact and find out about the film industries products.Technological convergence has  improved the ease of accessing information on films. For example you can access the internet easily on your phone from the push of a button. This means consumers can look up reviews, trailers and what time certain films are on at the cinema. Another digital technology development is a triple play Blu-ray. This includes a DVD, Blu-ray and digital copy. The digital copy allows audiences to transfer the film to laptops and then onto mobile devices so it is possible for consumers to watch films on the go. Independent films have a number of ways that they combat the fact they have a lower budget which could limit them. For example they use pro-filmic effects  and prosthetics instead of special affects and CGI, this can be seen as limited but can be very effective in certain sub-genres such as zombie horror or slasher films. Also they use real locations instead of sets, for example a very affective location for horror films are the woods.