Monday, 16 December 2013

LP: Discuss the ways horror films are produced and distributed.


Film production is mostly made up of large companies, for example the 6 major Hollywood studios, which sell their film productions to British audiences. They take over the film industry, creating nearly all the films we see at the cinema. Every year Warner Brothers bring out high quality films for the audiences around the world to enjoy, including British audiences. This studio has a large availability of funding allowing it to create a range of films and if one doesn’t succeed they still have enough money to create more. These studios also have more revenue to invest in future films because the industrial films invest more in terms of budget and therefore attract a higher box office. This constant flow of cash allows them to put their money into other things, such as promotion, to create an even wider audience for films. This is done by symbiosis and synergistic partnerships, the studios will forge links between different aspects of the company to promote the films, for example sell the sound track or create games based on the film. Also different companies work together to promote a range of related products in a symbiotic partnership, for example John Lewis may partner with one of the studios and create bed linen decorated with characters from a certain film.

 Warner Brothers distributed the horror movie ‘A Nightmare on Elms Street’ in 2010, directed by Samuel Bayer, had a budget of $35 million and a box office of $117,729,621 so therefore it was very successful. It was released on April 30th so therefore it is a mainstream movie. Mainstream movies are there to allow a reliable stream of product, as they are released outside of the holiday seasons to enable a regular cash flow.  They rely on word-of-mouth to promote their films. They used various sources when distributing their film, for example in March 2010, the National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA) released two new Freddy Krueger action figures; one original Freddy from the first movie, and one based on the new burn design from the Nightmare on Elm Street remake. In addition, NECA also released a replica of Freddy's clawed glove, which promoted the film and allowed people to use this character as someone to dress up as, at parties for example. An online game was also released, based on the movie; the user would have to keep a young girl awake by coffee, taking cold showers, etc. to keep her safe from the violence of Freddy. Steve Jablonsky composed the ‘A Nightmare on Elms street’ soundtrack, with a 60-piece string ensemble by the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Sony Scoring Stage. On April 6th, 2010, this soundtrack was released on CD; this is an example of synergistic promotional activity. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 5th 2010, and it’s only feature was a featurette “Freddy Kruger Reborn”. The Blu-ray’s special feature disk was the same as the DVDs but also contained one deleted scene, and alternative opening and ending allowing audiences to see other ways the director may have decided to make the film.

In contrast to these major studios, is the idea that we live in a pluralistic media landscape. In other words implying that there is no dominance in the industry, and the Internet has helped enable this. The Internet allows people to stream films, and even download them illegally causing less people to go to the cinemas. The Internet has also enabled more prolific distribution of films in other territories, and promotes art house films and cult films. Art house films attract a niche audience in the UK especially through the use of style, as they can take risks that industrial films do not tend to take. People who make art house films tend to market their productions at film festivals or reviews are written about it in newspapers such as the Guardian, this means they can take risks because they have such a small audience. Independent films can be produced more cheaply using the Internet and distributed and exhibited via the Internet. Nevertheless, the hegemonic status of the US major Hollywood studios means that US production dominates cinema listings, For example at the beginning of September ’13 the Odeon Tunbridge Wells has 8 out of 11 Hollywood productions showing. There were also no foreign films showing, this is because the English see it as effort to read subtitles, as they have supposedly gone to the cinema to relax and so subtitles are seen negatively.

The Lords of Salem, released on September 10th 2012 is an example of an independent horror film, it was directed by Rob Zombie and distributed by Anchor Bay Films, who also distributed the TV series ‘The Walking Dead’. Its budget was $1.5 million and it’s box office was $1,165,882. After Zombie made two remakes of the film ‘Halloween’ and wasn’t successful, he re-tried and created the film ‘The Lords of Salem’ which reaffirmed his ability to create a horror movie with strong abilities to scare people, this may have been due to the help of the ‘Paranormal Activity’ producers Oren Peli and Jason Blum. In October 2012 Zombie stated that he had hired guitarist John 5 to create the movie's soundtrack. John 5 stated he wanted it to be "material that wouldn't distract audiences but also wouldn't be easily forgotten" Zombie later released the soundtrack's main song, "All Tomorrow's Parties" by The Velvet Underground, commenting that "Every RZ movie has at least one song that gets stuck in your head and changes the way you will forever hear the song". The Lords of Salem's soundtrack was released by UMe on April 16, 2013. Independent films have a greater chance of success since the making of the Internet, according to BSAC 2012 independent UK film garnered a 9% market share in 2012, the second highest in the last decade, and this is mainly because of the internet. Websites and Magazines reviewed the film and allowed their followers to read positive reports on it, for example Twitch Film expressed enthusiasm for the film and recommended it as a good film to watch if you are a horror fan. Fangoria and The Playlist gave it a positive review at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and Nick Schager from Slant Magazine wrote: "Rob Zombie understands horror as an aural-visual experience that should gnaw at the nerves, seep into the subconscious, and beget unshakeable nightmares." More websites are being set up allowing us to watch films online and causing less people to go to the cinema, 16 new original YouTube channels in Europe have been set up providing another avenue for content producers to find an audience.

To conclude, although the Internet is the one barrier allowing the British public to create a pluralistic landscape, the global institutions still dominate the media production industry. They are large companies, with huge amounts of funding operating them and allowing them to take control of British audiences. The hegemonic status of us studios means that British audiences are more likely to consume American content. However, what is noticed when looking at the types of horror films the institutions and independent film makers create is that the institutions tend to stick with the idea of re-making, but the independent film companies take more risks and create their own story lines. This is because the institutions don't want to take the risk of now getting back the profit they think they deserve, so they instead re-make older successful horror movies to allow a large box office. For example, the original Friday the 13th was made in 1980, with a budget of $550,000 and a box office of $59,754,601 million, allowing it to be a very successful horror movie. It was then re-made in 2009, and distributed by Paramount Pictures with a budget of $19 million and an extremely successful box office of $91,379,05These art house films are popular because they can take risks that industrial films wouldn’t ever take. Industrial films won’t take these risks and instead turn to best-selling books or franchises so that they are certain to get a successful box office. As Roy Stafford said in ‘Agenda Setting’ “producers will often be happier spending a great deal of money on a production that could be made for less, simply because they feel more comfortable with big budgets” this refers to industrial films and the amount of money the six major Hollywood studios are comfortable with spending.

2 comments:

  1. Well done Laurel, excellent case studies chosen and a lot of detail included which is very useful, particularly on the production of the films. The marketing campaigns are underdeveloped however and need outlining more. Very good understanding of the contrast between the two business models. Please email me when you have put in the detail required and I will give you a final grade.

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  2. This is really good, and will help us when planning our horror opening, you have highlighted the fact that music is very important so we will have to focus on that aspect during planning!

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