Key Assignment PART 1 the film chain

KEY ASSIGNMENT

part 1 , Researching the film chain

Production of a film

The main stages include : Pre production , Production and post production

Pre production is the stage in which all the planning for the project takes place.Everything is broken up into littler parts, everything from the scenes , props , costumes , effects and actors etc . The script is written and schudules are made.

Prodcution is where most of the filming takes place . Scences have been planned out in the pre-production and are filmed in the right location.Every scene is filmed the same number of times as the director regards fit, to guarantee the best quality scenes will be utilized to build the film. This is the place the quality of the pre-production work is put under serious scrutiny. Incredible consideration must be taken to verify that all the filming is carried out accurately and all important shots are taken, as it is here and there troublesome or difficult to backpedal and rehash certain occasions if the filming is fragmented with regards to the post-production stage.

This is the stage in which the film is amassed by the editor. The main employment of the film editor is to manufacture a rough cut taken from sequences (or scenes) focused around individual "takes" (shots). The reason for the rough cut is to choose and request the absolute best chances. The following step is to make a fine cut by getting all the shots to stream easily in a consistent story. Trimming - the procedure of shortening scenes by a couple of minutes, seconds, or even edges - is carried out amid this stage. And also the altering of footage, all music, graphics, menus and so forth are included this stage. After the fine cut has been screened and endorsed by the director and producer, the picture is "bolted," importance no further changes are made.

The Main Producers in America (companys )

Time Warner

Walt Disney

Comcast/General Electric owns NBCUniversal ( Illumination Entertainment, Working Title Films and Universal Animation Studios.)

New Corporation

Viacom(Paramount)

The Weinstein Company

Dreamworks

MGM

The ownership of a studio can have a impact on what films they make.As some owners may only specialize in certain movies , for instance you wouldn't see Wald Disney company producing a horror movie.Also if the owner is a conglomerate it may only make Films that they have production and distribution company's to save time and money .

An independent film is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced and/or distributed by subsidiaries of major film studios.

DISTRIBUTION

Film distribution is the process of making a movie available for viewing by an audience.

A film distributor is a company or individual responsible for the marketing of a film.

They people who produce the film are not always the distributors such as Dreamworks (A production company ) use Walt Disney to distribute their films as they are not a conglomerate like Disney so they would have to pay Disney for this service however Disney don't have to pay for this as they own a distribution company.

Traditional way of distributuing includes Threatrical release and Then DVD release

The distributor needs time to find open slots/appropriate slots in the calendar for theatrical – and it’s competitive out there so getting a booking takes time, and getting the right one for the film takes even more time, again, months. Sometimes even 6 months is needed to book the right theatre for the right time.. Some of the best screens are locked in well in advance.

Cash flow is needed to launch marketing campaigns. This can be an issue for some distributors. Recouping some revenue fromprevious releases will be needed in order to fund future ones.

Major digital outlets take several months to upload and make a film available. Cable VOD has solicitation windows. DVD and digital also require set up times and announcing the title and marketing it ahead of time so again months of planning and slotting. One wants to be strategic about release time.

The time of release is sometimes specific to the film. It may be theme driven and demand specific timing or it may want to avoid directcompetition. Also inventory shifts in retail stores dictate the optimal time for DVD release (ie. certain times of year, like Christmas or Halloween, call for more of a certain kind of film).

Newer way of disbuting a film is using digital online platforms this used by independent film makers when they want to demonstrate there talent , the most used websites are vimeo and youtube.

Film Festivals
The traditional route for a film seeking distribution to be shown in cinemas is to enter a majorinternational film festival such as Cannes, Berlin, Sundance or Toronto. If a film is lucky enough to be selected for these A list international festivals, they provide an invaluable shop window for the global distribution markets. A film selected for these festivals will be seen by the world’s distributors and if you’re lucky they will bid against each other for the right to distribute your film in their respective countries (both theatrically and in the home).

Distribution Deals

It is up to you to negotiate the rights a distributor will acquire in your film i.e. you may want to hold back distribution rights in certain territories. If you conclude a deal it should be formalised in a written distribution agreement. Some clauses to look out for are:

Territory: this specifies the countries in which the film can be distributed by the distributor.

Term: this sets out the period of time the distributor will hold distribution rights in the film.

Rights granted: the agreement should distinguish between the media rights granted to the distributor (theatrical, video and DVD, television rights etc.) and those media rights which are reserved to the producer e.g. radio rights. You should determine whether the rights granted are exclusive or non-exclusive. If you agree to exclusive rights, it will stop you allowing others to show your film within the specified media/territory/term.

Producer's warranties and representations: the producer will be asked to provide assurances that there is no infringement of copyright.

Gross receipts: this means all monies actually received by the distributor from the exploitation of the film before any deductions have been made.

Net proceeds: this is the amount payable to the producer from the proceeds derived from the exploitation of the film after costs incurred by the distributor have been deducted. Costs can include distributor fees, commission and expenses.

Expense caps: there should be expense caps in order to prevent the distributor claiming unreasonable amounts, which would reduce the amount left for the producer to recoup.

Distributor's obligations: Distributors should use their best efforts to realise gross receipts from marketing and exploitation of the film.

Accounting: The distributor should be under obligations to maintain accurate and true records of sales and expenditure and the producer should have the right to receive regular accounting statements on the film.

Termination: You should pay special attention to the circumstances in which you can terminate the relationship with the distributor. If your distribution agreement is for a long period of time and a better deal comes along during that period, the wording of such a clause will often determine as to whether you can end the existing agreement.

Marketing

Film marketing is the practice of promotion specifically in the film industry, and usually occurs in coordination with the process of film distribution.

Different types of marketing for films

Trailer For the Avengers 2 age of Ultron

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1OKBqHICMQ

For big budget blockbusters will be promoted with huge Billboards and advertisement on things like public transport .This is huge budget as it costs a lot to have rights to put these up . They may advertise during prime time television so they have to pay a lot for this .Both Big Budget films and small budget films will promote using social media as this is a free service with a load of potential audience so why wouldn't this be used .

When the distributors agree to market a new film, they will watch it severalmonths before it is released into the cinema and plan a marketing campaign.This includes deciding what should go into the posters, trailers, websites andother material that will market the film.

As the release date of the film draws closer, movie marketers try to get early favorable press coverage in newspapers, magazines and on entertainment TV shows. The main movie publicity tactic is something called a press junket. At a press junket, journalists, entertainment reporters and movie critics are flown out to a special location for a day or weekend of interviews with the stars and creators of the film. The actors,directors and screenwriters sit in separate rooms and the reporters are brought in one by one to ask their questions.

Marketing Differs to the audience as for children they will tend to sell mermerchandise

d market using children's meals such as McDonalds this will give the child more of sight into the movie.

Exhibition

Ways people can see a film

• Cinema
• Television
• free online hosting sites ie Youtube and Vimeo
• On demand service , Netflix etc.
• Online illegally
• Flim Festivals
• Inflights

Box office is the total amount of money paid by people worldwide to watch a movie at cinemas

The Box Office shows us how much money it made and if it broke even and made a lot it shows us that people obviously enjoyed the film as many people went to see it generating that money as the cinemas pay more to have it in the cinemas longer .

The producers and the studios get most of that money. Out of that, the operating costs are covered, some of which are fixed and have to be coveres whether or not the film makes money. Examples of these costs include, the craft unions, such as camera operators, grips, carpenters and other crewpersons. Equipment rentals, film processing, editing, etc all has to be paid for as the expense is incurred. If a film loses money in the box office, those costs are paid out of the studio's and producer's pockets.
Actor's salaries are mostly included in those costs mentioned, but sometimes, the principle actors are offerred a percentage of the profits. If the film makes money, these actors make money, if not, the actors don't.
The theaters, themselves make very little of the box office. They pay the studios a fee for the right to show the film. This fee is based on how many times the film is shown, not on how many seats are filled.

Concessions make up the bulk of the theatre's profits, with most of the ticket sales (up to 100% for the opening weekend for a major blockbuster) going back to the film's distributor.

Most of the money from ticket sales goes back to the movie studio… During the film’s opening week, the studio might take 70 to 80 percent of gross box office sales. By the fifth or sixth week, the percentage the studio takes will likely shrink to about 35 percent.

Cinemas give you a nice surrounding that you can enjoy a film , friends and family , it's a universal get together , this encourages people to visit the cinema.Also the Cinema is constantly innovating , now people will go to experience IMAX which is the quality you will not get at home unless you have a lot of money . They also have adverts at the start of a film saying why the cinema benefits from them viewing and not pirating the movie , this will star A famous actor such as Daniel Radcliffe . Also offers such as 2 for 1 Wednesdays encourages people to go on low revenue day .

Ancillary markets are non-theatrical markets for feature films, like home video, television, Pay Per View, VOD, Internet streaming, airlines and others.

These allow the producers still to gain money even after the box office .

BFI

The BFI exists to promote greater understanding and appreciation of, and access to, film and moving image culture in the UK.

BFI procures goods, works and services totalling £25 million a year from the private, public and voluntary sectors to meet charitable objectives and to provide high-quality and cost-effective services.

This helps

• We aim to increaseaccess to high quality British independent and specialised films.
• Funding to drive export opportunities for British films selected by important international festivals.
• A scheme to encourage UK distributors and producers to form strategic partnerships.
• We provide support for digital projects developed to increase audience