Institutional Context

Institution -

For my task I have been asked to create a film trailer, film poster and a movie magazine, this will involve me undertaking most of the jobs which are involved in this such as producer, director, writer, camera man, photographer, editor and so on. For my product I am considering making a mainstream product, such as ones made by Universal so as to reach a larger audience in the process. Universal is an example of horizontal intergration as it offers a variety of products within the media genre other than film, such as it's music company under the same name. If I was to work with a company like Universal; a horizontally intergrated company, it would mean there would be more resources and knowledge available to me in the production stage, rather than if I was to work with an independent company. A larger company would be best in most cases of this work, such as with the film magazine a company like Bauer Media would be a better choice in company as like Universal it is also horizontally intergrated meaning again that more resources and knowledge will be available, also larger companies are more likely to be well known and therefore people will be more willing to buy or view their products, meaning a pretty large audience would be established quickly. A large business would be needed to distribute the product, because of its link to a large production company, the products would be expected to be seen across the country or world, so a large company like "WWMD" for example, would be needed to distribute my magazine. Because of my products audience of mainly 16-24 I would expect the product to be stocked in shops like Tesco, due to their popularity with the younger generation and being a well known supermarket, it would mean the product would be more readily available and seen by it's audience, therefore making them more known of the product and likely to buy it.

The Process -

To collect information on the process I might undertake when my product I decided to look at http://www.skillset.org/film/business/ for an idea.

1. The Idea

The idea involves the process of coming up with an idea for a film and taking steps to push the idea into action by way of finding people interested in the film such as the producer, who will be the one who takes the action of producing the film. For this stage in the process, I do most of the work, such as the jobs producer, director and writer who are all part of this stage and are jobs that I will personally be taking up for my product. While ideas and the pitch although majorly owed to me, I took some action in the research stage in my focus group to involve and ask people of what they wanted for a storyline within the horror genre, whereupon they provided ideas of their own or agreed with my own.

2. Development Finance

This stage describes the finance needed to develop a script for a film, it could involve the producer finacing it, or a production company finacing it, but in many cases this involves pitching the idea to people, so takes charisma and time. This stage also involves finding a distribution company and the Film Council, this will mean your product will be able to reach your audience and be have some funding. With my own products I would follow much the same process as this, finding people who are interested in investing in the film.

3. Script Development

This stage refers to the key development of the script of a film, it involves a close working relationship between all people involved in this stage. This stage will mean the creation of a synopsis, step outlines, drafts and finally final draft, which will all show a variety of things including what will be seen on the screen, what the dialogue is and so on. Again with this stage, it is fairly suitable to any film, so therefore a would be using it for myself.

4. Packaging

Packaging is a stage which involves creating a budget for a film, by combination of a sales treatment and the final draft. Actors or stars are important assets for getting funding for a film, as they package the film in a certain way, meaning the bigger the star the more likely they are to get funding for the film. Finally the stage is also a time to start setting up schedules, plans and budget, mainly revolving around finance. This would be the same process I myself would take in this case, as it is a key planning stage, whereupon I would be able to make the film more appealing to people who would offer finance.

5. Financing

Again another key stage, this stage of the process involves attracting people who would fund the film production, these investors could be from private, co-production or even public, sources, yet attracting the investors is quite hard work. A producer can gain money selling the rights to the movie even before it has been made, this could be to a broadcaster, a distributor or a sales company. Banks are another source of finance in this stage. One point within this stage that may cause problems is the financer, a financer may impose conditions for the film, such as a certain crew or cast, meaning this may distrupt the production process. After everyone is happy and everything has been done in this stage, they are allowed to start production of the film. Financing with my film would be a key issue and I would like to see myself gaining money and such from the large production company I would be working with, one such as Universal.

6. Pre- production

This stage, is mainly collecting staff and arranging departments for the different aspects of the film, it also means making the finishing touches on the cast of film. This stage needs a lot of time and planning as it involves storyboarding each key scene, planning scenes and plans for special effects. With my own product, I myself would be filling most of the positions available within the film, such as writer, casting director, editor, production designer and so on. For my film, planning will involve, taking reece shots, storyboarding and much more.

7. The shoot

The shoot involves the creation of the film, such as the acting in combination with all the different departments like camera, lighting and sound and special effects. This stage is probably one of the longest as it takes a while to film scenes and then combine them together. For my own trailer I will be taking most of the jobs available here, such as camera man in most cases and possibly an actor, but majorly acting will be taken up by people of my choice.

8. Post-Production

This stage involves inserting computerized effects such as music into my film, while it is also a combination of editing as this stage involves putting all the scenes together and enhancing them with colour. With my own trailer, this stage will be quite similair as I will aim to put all the scenes together into my desired narrative sequence, while also inserting possible music choices as well to enhance emotions within the trailer.

9. Sales

This stage is the point in which a producer will aim to sell their product out to the public, but to do this they use a distributor. This stage also involves creating a trailer and commencing with screenings, so as to increase the suspense of the film within the market. With my own product I would aim to follow the same sort of thing by selling the product, creating a trailer, taking it the market and commencing with screenings.

10. Marketing

This stage is the begining of starting to advertise and market the product to the desired audience, it could involve an audience focus group, advertising by billboards and such, press and media coverage and internet advertisements. This stage is the time when the film starts to establish itself and target its audience, with this stage in my own product, I will being doing a similair thing by producing posters, magazine articles and creating a trailer, I will also try to create an audience focus group for this stage to get feedback on my product.

11. Exhibition

Exhibitions is the time in which all the hard work and planning is tested as the film is released and premiered to the public, if the film is a successful box office, it equals finacial success for the film and all involved, therefore investors can recoup their money. For this stage I would follow the same process as this, by premiering the film to get more attention and hopefully being succesful in getting a postive revenue for the film.

12. Other windows

This stage is basically the sales after the product has been released, such as DVD's and videos, games and broadcasts on the TV, this will mean more of a profit for the producer as they will gain more of larger revenue than they did for the cinema release, this is usually the final stage unless they are thinking of bringing out a sequel.

Job Descriptions -

Editor - The job of an editor is a very notable one, involving overseeing the whole of the magazine, controlling and laying it out so that it achieves its purpose of appealing to someone, maybe through appropriate articles or images and such.

Publisher - A publisher ensures that all texts or articles within a magazine are writtin well and suit their purpose, they will also oversee their rights as a publisher within the organisation. They control theory how the product is going to be sold and who to and also ensuring everything is done on time.

Photographer - The photographer is in charge of taking the pictures for the magazine and also ensuring they maintain purpose, mostly through mise-en-scene, shot distance and angle.

Delivery person or company - The people in charge of delivering the magazine are to ensure that the product reaches it destination on time so as to reach the shelves quicker.

Casting Director - It is the casting directors job to list actors appropriate for the roles appropriate to the genre and script, they may conduct interviews or casting sessions.

Camera man - The camera mans job is to control the camera and position it in the correct shot and distance so as to get the desired final shot for the film or in my case the trailer.

Light and sound man - It is this persons job to control the use of sound and lights on the set of the film, it will mean in reality hiring a team of people to help out in controlling the lighting and sound.

Production designer - This person has a busy job as they are in control of all designs, such as sets, costume, locations and props, they are the ones who held accountable for the authenticity of the film as their designs need to be appropriate to the storyline and genre.

Producer - It is the producers job to be in control of most things within the film, as they are the ones who set the film production into motion and control most of the important things such as finance.

Director - Directors are important for the script of a film to actually become a reality, as they are the ones who develop the script into a visual aspect.

Writer - A writer is the person who writes up a script for an imagined storyline for a film; without a writer their would be no script, therefore they are an important asset to the production of a film.