“Vertical Integration actively stifles creativity in the movie industry”

Vertical integration is the process by which a media institution owns several companies at different stages of production or the supply chain.  20^th Century Fox is owned by News Cooperation and 21^st Century Fox, which is a huge an American multinational mass media corporation. It is one of two companies created from the 2013 split of News Corporation (as founded by Rupert Murdoch in 1979); 21st Century Fox retains the previous News Corporation's broadcasting and film assets and serves as its legal successor, while its publishing assets were spun off to form News Corp at the same time. Among its holdings are Fox Entertainment Group—owners of the 20th Century Fox film studio and Fox television network among other assets, and pan-Asian pay channel operator STAR TV.

In terms of infrastructure in the film industry, an early example of vertical integration would be the merging of companies of two different types. For example  The Fox Film Corporation was formed in 1915 by theatre chain pioneer William Fox, who formed Fox Film Corporation by merging two companies he had established in 1913: Greater New York Film Rental, a distribution firm, which was part of the Independents; and Fox (or Box, depending on the source) Office Attractions Company, a production company. 20^th Century Fox now owns companies at each stage of the supply chain enabling the institution to maximise profits and tap into new global markets. 20^th Century Fox’s more recent titles are currently available in cinemas, on digital HD, Blue-ray and DVD. The company owns Fox Studios in Los Angeles and Fox Studios Australia which is Australia’s largest film and television studio. Fox Broadcasting Company also owns Fox TV channels which show popular programmes such as Glee, New Girl and Family Guy. 20^th Century fox also owns DVD rental shops, they have ownership over all of these different chains so they can make money from every part of it. Vertical Integration allows them to make money, therefore actively stifling creativity as film companies are constantly thinking of ways they can maximise their profits.

 X-Men: First class (2011) is a good example of how 20^th Century Fox has used vertical integration in order to maximise the potential earnings from productions. It was produced by 20^th Century Fox, Marvel Entertainment, Bad Hat Harry Productions and the Donners’ Company. It was then distributed by 20^th Century Fox which also distributed all the other X-Men films. The X-Men franchise is one of Hollywood’s biggest franchises. X Men: First Class was the fifth instalment in the franchise about superhero mutants, a big-budget action movie based on a popular comic book series. However, in X-Men: First class, “X-men” is a vastly different creature from the other films which presented some unique marketing challenges. It lacked a big name star and is set in the early 1960s, a period unfamiliar to much of the films target audience.  Therefore, it had to use marketing successfully in order to attract the audience’s attention. The entire production had to be immersed in the culture of that era, and there was one method used to help bridge that time gap in the minds of viewers – stunt casting.  One of the most critically lauded television shows airing today is the advertising period piece “Mad Men”, and replicating that feel was clearly a goal, having “Mad Men” cast member January Jones as one of the main mutants helped to achieve that goal.  The motion picture magazine Total Film got involved in both the contemporary marketing and the throw-back vibe of the production. 20^th Century Fox exhibits its X-Men films to an international audience, showing the films in cinemas all over the world. On the 20^th Century Fox website it says “As the digital revolution reshapes all aspects of the entertainment industry, 20th Century Fox remains on the forefront, embracing new technologies that take our audience deeper into our films.”

In November 2012, 20th Century Fox announced plans to create their own shared universe, consisting of Marvel properties that it holds the rights to including the Fantastic Four and X-Men, with the hiring of Mark Millar as supervising producer. This shows how 20^th Century Fox uses vertical integration to appeal to its audience.

Vertical Integration is important for multi- national media conglomerates because it enables them to squeeze out competition from independent film makers who cannot compete to the same level. Since 20^th Century Fox is able to produce, distribute, market and exhibit its products using its own integrated companies it means that anything produced by 20^TH Century Fox takes priority over anything produced by a different company’s studio. In conclusion, Vertical Integration does actively stifle creativity as it enhances competition between film studios. Vertical Integration is a threat on independent studios. For example, a British independent picture wouldn’t necessarily have the same advertising space or marketing tools as a 20th Century Fox picture would.

Rudimental- Not Giving In. Music video analysis.

Rudimental-Not Giving In.

Genre: Dance, Electronic, and Soul.

Audience: Primarily young people. The content of the video reflects the target audience, the street/break dancing relates the video to youth culture and focuses it on a younger popular audience.

Narrative: The music video tells a narrative story. It shows the story of two brothers living in a shanty town in the Philippines. The music video shows the conflicting decisions that the brothers face, living in a poverty-stricken town. One brother chooses to learn to dance whilst the other gets involved in gang violence and the drug trade. The video cross cuts to juxtaposing shots to show this. During the lyrics ‘not giving in’, a mid close up of the ‘good’ brother is used to show him dancing and working really hard to improve. This shows that he’s determined to achieve his goals and he’s not going to give up. This then cross cuts to a mid shot of the other brother carrying drugs and handing them to another person. He’s stood with his ‘friends’ and the other gang members all encouraging him to do it and take part. This shows the peer pressure that he’s facing, they’re stood around him in circle, which suggests that he’s now ‘trapped’ in that life. This shows that he’s chose to be a part of a gang involved with drugs in contrast to his brother who doesn't want to be associated with that life. It emphasises to the audience how the decisions they make shape the rest of their lives.

Shots: The opening shot of the video is a close up of a hand flicking down a penknife. This has connotations of violence and danger. This then cross cuts to a mid shot of the two brothers sat looking miserable and scared. This introduces the two characters to the audience and straight away suggests that they’re in danger and about to face a difficult, violent situation. A close up of one of the brothers follows this, the close up emphasises the tears running down his face. This is effective as it makes the boy look vulnerable and allows the audience to emphasise with his situation. A cross cut is used after this, which shows the man that was holding the penknife, grabbing the boy’s mother and abusing and hitting her, the brothers try to help her but get thrown violently to the ground.  This is effective as it shows the audience their troubled home life situation, which makes the message of the video, and song seems more inspiring. It allows the audience to understand why the boy was crying in the shot beforehand. It also shows the objectification of women as the male showing the inferiority and abuse she faces slaps the mum. This is important as it raises the issue of inequality in their lives. It creates audience interaction as the close ups capture how the characters feel throughout the video. An establishing shot is used after this to show poor run down city, it shows how high the poverty is in the area and the low circumstances the characters face. The props and location are effective in this shot as they enforce how deprived people living in shanty towns are. Irony is used effectively here, in the background you can see the city with big buildings and lights, it shows the juxtaposing situations. It shows how close they are to civilisation yet so far away from any help.          

A medium close up dolly shot of both brothers’ shoes is shown in the video as they leave their home, this is effective as they’re both wearing old flip flops. This enhances their lack of materialistic items or general everyday essentials which further shows their poverty stricken lives. It could also represent how both boy’s start off on the same path and in the same shoes but later on in the video will choose which route to go down. It foreshadows the different directions they choose to take. Both brothers start off sticking together, this is shown through the medium two shot of them both laughing, whilst running away with drinks and money that they just stole. This is effective as it shows the audience that at the start of the music video the brothers have a close ‘jokey’ relationship, it’s not until later on that things start to escalate. The two shot allows the audience to see the body language of both characters together portraying a family bond which the audience can relate to. It highlights the comparison between the beginning and the end of the video. It could also show how pick pocketing and stealing is the norm in the characters situation. A significant shot in the video is when the ‘good’ brother is drawn to a dance off/dance lesson in the street, the mid shot shows him looking to his brother encouraging him to come watch. This is significant as it’s the beginning of him drifting from his brother and the start of his determination to dance which emphasises the title ‘not giving in’ which is repeated throughout the video in the lyrics. This is followed by a reaction tracking shot close up of his brother shaking his head and walking off with one of the gang members, the shot shows him looking back as he walks off. This suggests that maybe he knows that he’s made the wrong choice, however the gang member has him arm around him which could show that there’s no going back for him as the peer pressure has him trapped. I think the penultimate shot in the music video is the most important, the reverse zoom shot shows the ‘bad’ brother lying dead on the ground after being shot by a gang member. The reverse zoom is effective as the further away the camera goes from the boy the more alone he looks. It allows the audience to feel empathy and emotion towards him.

Editing: Cross cutting shots are used consistently throughout the music video to show the contrasting actions of the brothers, this is used especially effectively when the ‘good’ brother is dancing in the dance competition and falls to the ground (as part of the dance), it then cross cuts to the ‘bad brother’ also falling to the ground but because he’s just been shot. This portrays the ending of one brother’s life and just the beginning for the other, it allows the audience to see the characters juxtaposing lives because of the decisions they made. Slow motion is used at the beginning of the video when the brothers’ mum is being abused by their dad, this creates emotion as it emphasises the pain she goes through. It could also explain why the ‘bad’ brother made the wrong choices, his home situation could've led to him acting out. This is effective as some of the audience can relate to being in the same situation. Continuity editing is used in the establishing shot when showing the shanty town that they live in, this makes the editing seem seamless and makes the video look more realistic to the audience. It’s effective as it shows the audience that people do actually live like that currently and makes them more thankful for their lives. The audience could use this video as a form of escapism as it makes them forget any problems they have in their own lives. Jump cuts are used during the lyrics ‘I'm gunna be stronger, no not giving in’ as the ‘good brother’ goes to get ready for his dance competition, it jump cuts to the other brother who’s getting ready for a fight. It takes away the actual competition and fight to create suspense with the audience, they have to wait for the next shot to see what happens.

Lighting: Ambient lighting is mostly used throughout the video, especially during the outside shots showing the setting and when the characters are running through the town. This is to create a realistic tone to the video in order for the audience to empathise with it. Low key lighting is used during the dance competition to focus the attention on the ‘good brother’ and how he didn't give up which links to the lyrics of the song. It also enhances his skill and how much he’s learnt because of his motivation.

Costume, Connotations & Denotations and Representation: The characters shown in the music video all tend to have the same costume style, both the brothers wear baggy sports shorts and vest tops. This fits the stereotypical representation of ‘lower class’ young people who can’t afford to have the ‘latest’ branded clothing. The brother that chooses to street dance wears flip flops/ bare feet when doing so. This shows that he didn't need the latest trainers to be able to learn to dance which highlights the message of the song and the idea about working hard no matter what obstacles you face. In this video, the example being living in poverty. When the ‘bad’ brother chooses to be a part of the gang and drug culture, his costume changes. He’s shown wearing baggy jeans, trainers, hoodies and a ‘flat peak’ hat. The contrast between the clothes he wore before joining the gang and after is significant because it suggests that they’re stolen as he couldn't afford them before. Also, all the gang members wear the same type of clothing which could represent the problem of peer pressure in young people. Hoodies and ‘flat peak’ hats have connotations of being quite ‘chavy’ which represents him as being out to cause trouble. Straight away in the video, the audience are shown a violent situation in the mid shot of the mum being abused and one of the brothers trying to help. This denotes that their lives are violent and they’re treated badly. This shot is followed by a long reverse zoom shot of the ‘good’ brother looking out his small, old and worn-down house and uses a tracking shot to show the surroundings. This is effective as it has denotations of everyone around him being in the same situation which allows the audience to emphasise with him. The fact that he’s looking out of the window has connotations that he wants more from life, it could show him looking at his future wanting something better. This foreshadows the goals he achievers through dancing later on in the video. 

Vertical Integration and Star Theory

The Paramount Antitrust Case

The Hollywood Antitrust Case (The Paramount Antitrust Case):
·       -  On May 3^rd 1948, the US Supreme Court decided the Paramount Antitrust Case, a long running government antitrust lawsuit against Paramount Pictures.

·         This Case was actually two major suits (and numerous minor ones). In result there were two "Paramount cases."

·         It effectively brought an end to the studio system and class cinema.

·         Before Paramount, there was a 1928 antitrust lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade commission against the Famous Players- Lasky Corporation (forerunner to paramount) and nine other major film studios.

·         They were declared guilty of violating antitrust law in 1930, however the studios were able to continue running as normal after making a controversial deal with the government.

·         In July 1938, the government took back its stance towards Hollywood and filed its lawsuit against seven major studios: Paramount, Universal, MGM, Twentieth Century- Fox, Warner Bros., Columbia and RKO.

·         The government’s case accused the studios of violating the Sherman Antitrust Act in their total control over movie distribution and exhibition (vertical integration. At the time, the studios controlled almost all the countries movie theatres. They did this through either ownership of their own theatre chains or block booking which was where independent theatre owners signed contracts with studios that meant they had to show a “block” of films.

·         The government was demanding that studios end block booking and get rid of their distribution arms or their theatres.

·         The case first went to trail in June 1940 but was called off when the government and studio attorneys comprised a deal where studios would keep their movie theatres but limit block booking.

·         This led to the formation of the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers (SIMPP) by some of the leading movie producers of the time, including Charlie Chaplin, Walt Disney, Samuel Goldwyn, David O. Selznick, Mary Pickford and Orson Welles.

·         This then led to the government’s antitrust case being back into court in 1945. The case got taken to the U.S. Supreme court.

·         The trial proceeded quickly once it reached the Supreme Court in 1948.

·         On May 3^rd, the court issued its ruling, which confirmed the earlier verdicts and declared the studios guilty. The studios were made to sign consent decrees that would end block booking by requiring films to be sold on an individual basis.  

Class Notes

Vertical Integration: 

• Production, distribution, exhibition.

Block Booking: 

• It was an important part of the studio system
• A studio would sell multiple films to theatres as a unit
• This would typically include only one attractive A-budget movie that the theares really wanted and the rest would be a mix of budget pictures of dubious quality and lower budgeted B-movies
• B-movies use up coming stars. The actors can then get noticed to be in A-movies.
• Block booking gave a freedom to choose what you want to watch

Key term: Monopolisation(having full control and power)

• The big five owned cinemas
• In some cases, one studio would even control all theatres.
• By 1945, the studios owned either partially or outright 17% of the theatres in America, accounting for 45% of the film revenue
• Studios were infamous for owning their stars, a practise that is known as the star system
• In 1945 there was no television, cinemas showed newsreels about the war.
• Studios usually had the actors, producers, directors and writers under contract.

Narrative in the media

Narrative

• Narrative is an important convention of media
• Characters and events are packed into stories to present media texts. 
• Narrative can be developed, for example in film drama and documentaries where the whole story is told.
• Continuous narrative/serial narrative is used  for television news broadcasts and soap operas.
• Mini narratives like short images seen on the news are called 'snapshots'.

Things that make up a narrative:

- Narrator

-Point of view

-Listener/audience

-Structure

-Genre. (Genre governs its setting, what's narrated about, the characters and the effect on the reader)

Genre

• Setting has to make the genre recognisable. For example, for Gothic you would typically have a dark, old setting.

Characterisation 

• The factors of characterisation are the complexity, status, function of character and the reliance on stereotypes and the emphasis on particular aspects of those characters-sexual,moral,,psychological.
• This then links to the plot as the characters are a part of what makes it interesting.

Plot and Structure

• Genre influences the plot. For example, romantic text always involves a desired object or person and is based on that pursuit.
• Narratives are structured on the principle of the disorder(the problem), transgression or disequilibrium. 

Themes and Concern

• Particular genres are concerned with exploring certain issues or themes. E.g romance text usually faces the issue of reason vs passion 

Pleasure, expectations and Narrative address.

• Each genre creates expectations with the audience. These expectations are different types of pleasures. These are usually cognitive (problem solving, analytical) or affective (empathy,escapism).   

Style

• Genre influences a films technique and the way its produced. The audience are usually able to tell what type of film they're watching.

Studio Presentation

My presentation on 21st Century Fox and Universal Studios.

Popular film in the 1920's

Wings

Music from this clip:The Gift Of Mortality (Instrumental

)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84xEZ2xZQYs

Wings is a 1927 American silent war film set during the First World War. It was produced by Lucien Hubbard and directed by William A.wellman.It was released by Paramount Pictures.It stars Clara Bow, Charles "Buddy Rogers, Richard Arlen and Gary Cooper appears in a role which helped launch his career in Hollywood. 

• Wings, a romantic action-war picture won the first ever academy award for best picture in 1927

Why was it so successful?

• The film was widely praised for it's realism and technical prowess
• Was very popular because of the public infatuation with aviation(flying) in the wake of Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight 
• The combat scenes of the film were praised for being so realistic
• It was Paramounts biggest star of the time
• Wellman (the director) was the only director with experience who had World War 1 combat pilot experience in the time
• Was one of the first films to show two men kissing and also one of the first widely released films to show nudity 

Task 7

UK Based Drama:Top Boy

Top Boy is a UK based drama about young lives lived on the edge in east London. Channel 4 describes it as 'an honest and gripping rendition of inner-city drug and gang culture.'

Top Boy represents young people as troubled, bad tempered, violent and stuck in gang life, it uses a number of techniques to portray this. Costume is used effectively throughout the programme. Characters wear baggy trousers/jeans worn quite low with their boxers showing. This shows the audience that they think they look 'cool' with their clothes worn like that. This suggests that young people don't care what they look like or how their represented. They also wear trainers and often have their hoods up. Having their hoods up has connotations of being quite 'chavy' and meets the stereotypical convention of being a 'hoodie.' This suggests that young people are anti social and intimidating. The fact that they're always in trainers shows that they never go anywhere that would require wearing smart clothing. This shows their quite lower class and stuck in inner city gang life which suggests that young people that grow up in a similar area will experience the same problem.The young girls all tend to wear short skirts and big hoop earings, the short skirts could show promiscuity and little self respect whilst the hoop earings further emphasise the 'chavy' appearance. 

Props and setting are also used to present the lives of the young people. The programme starts with a mid long establishing shot of the flats on the estate and the run down surrounding area. This is important as it allows the audience to see the area and sets the scene for them. It straight away shows the violent area that they live in. Most of the characters in the film are of a black ethnicity. This is important as the programme gives a stereotypical representation of a young black person living in a rough part of London. Following the establishing shot there's a crosscut to a mid close up of the main character thirteen year old Ra' Nell looking out from the balcony of his flat watching the violence and mayhem going on in the car park in front of him. This suggests that he's looking out onto the life he knows he'll one day have. This shows that young people need help to make sure they don't end up like that. In the car park, gang members are sat on cars with alarms going off and holding knives and baseball bats. This presents young people as violent and feared by the rest of the community. This is followed by a jumpcut to a mid shot of a busy market in East London where gang leader Dushane who runs the underground drug business is doing drug deals. This shows their way of life and suggests that young people think that drugs are acceptable. It shows the audience the lack of morals that the characters have. The gang members all use slang like 'yo bro' which further emphasises their lifestyle. It also represents young people as being often illiterate. 

The camera is eye level to make the programme seem more realistic. It could also be to put the audience in the perspective of a young person in that situation. Ra' Nell and his best friend walk past the market and witness the drug deal. This suggests that this is something young people have to witness every day. When Ra'Nell and his friend arrive at the flat there's a sideway tracking shot to show the flat as they walk through it. It's  messy with food and glasses left all around the rooms. There's little furniture, anything they do have is old or damp.This shows they Ra'Nell and his mum both leave the place untidy and don't have much money. This suggests that most young people living in a rough area are in poverty. His friend has his dog, a Staffordshire bull terrier with him at all times. This suggests that the dog is used for protection and has connotations of violence. He says to Ra'Nell 'wheres your mum?' Ra'Nell replies 'I don't know' the lack of concern in his answer suggests that his mum is rarely at home. This suggests young people often have to look after themselves. A jumpcut is used to show his mum in hospital where the doctor diagnoses her with a mental illness. She doesn't say anything to the doctor or mention her son as she doesn't want him taken into care. This shows that Ra'Nell would have to be looking after himself whilst she's in hospital. 

The next morning on his way to school Dushane stops him in the street and asks him to start 'rolling with them' Ra'Nell replies 'my mum wouldn't like that' which shows that as he's young there's still time for him to make the right choices. However his friend pushes him suggesting that he should take the offer. This shows that young people often experience peer pressure. As he returns home from school it's raining. This use of pathetic fallacy is effective as it sets the tone and suggests something bad might happen. Low key lighting is used in his flat which creates a sad, lonely atmosphere. It could also suggest that his future isn't bright.

Task 6

Chosen Director : Steven Spielberg

Chosen Director: Steven Spielberg

Known for: War Horse, Saving Private Ryan, Jaws, E.T, Jurassic Park, Casper, Schindler’s List, Lincoln, Close encounters of the Third Kind and many more.

Genre: Spielberg directed many films with different genres such as action, adventure, sci-fi, thrillers, children’s, historical, drama, war based and true life stories. His early years were mostly science fiction and adventure films for example; E.T, Close encounters of the Third Kind and Jurassic Park. However, in the later years he began addressing humanistic issues such as the Holocaust, transatlantic slave trade, war and terrorism for example; War Horse, Saving Private Ryan and Munich. His historical based drama films are also very popular such as Schindler’s List, Lincoln and Amistad.

Storylines/themes of the films: Spielberg’s films tend to follow similar themes, they tend to convey a certain ‘heaviness/darkness’ regarding adult life but joy regarding children. For example in E.T and Empire of the Sun. His portrayal of adult life is usually marked by dark destructive behaviour, such as Schindler’s List and Amistad. His war films also tend to follow similar storylines, for example War Horse and Saving Private Ryan where the main characters embark on a mission at war.

Lighting/Colour: Spielberg uses lighting to create effect. In a lot of his films the scenery interior involves a backlit window with streams of light on the character to create a silhouette. He also uses a lot of low key lighting to set a dark tone. He uses intense lighting usually from above or outside. For example in Close Encounters the small boy standing against the doorway is blasted out with an alien light. This is effective because the light represents the danger that awaits outside the door.

Spielberg uses similar camera shots, angles and edits in a lot of his films. Sideway tracking shots are used effectively, the camera follows the characters usually from a long shot as they're walking or talking. This is shown in both Saving Private Ryan and War Horse. It’s effective as it adds a fast pace to the film and allows the audience to see the characters movement clearly and feel as if they’re in the film. Sideway tracking shots are also used when the character approaches the camera at the end this is effective when a character is trying to persuade another character. For example, the scene in Jaws where Martin Brody and his wife walk and talk before he boards the boat. It makes the audience feel as if the character is talking to them. Long establishing shots are used in a lot of films to set the scene for the audience such as in War Horse. Spielberg also likes to use over the shoulder shots, this is effective in emphasising a movement of particular significance. This is shown in Munich and Catch me if you can. The most common technique I’ve seen used is a wise lenses. He uses it to emphasise the characters and the setting around them. He does this a lot in Schindler’s List.

Spielberg doesn’t tend to use the same actors, however he uses a lot of John Williams’s music. John Williams is a music composer and has worked on most of Spielberg’s films such as Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Close Encounters and Jaws.

Amblin Entertainment is the production company that distributes Steven Spielberg’s films. It’s an American film and television production company founded by Spielberg himself. The company mostly distributes Spielberg’s film however it also distributes some of a similar genre such as the Men in Black films.