Genre

1)Defining Genre:
Genre isn't fixed/system.

Identify Generic ConventionsWhat you would expect to see in a filmExample: Cowboy film: Horses

Plot Structure > Character types > Narrative Structure
-- what type of villan/hero is associated with that genre

--EXAMPLES
--Vladimir Propp's Theory (Briefly)

Hybrids?

2) Why do people make genre films?
-most blockbusters are genres because they are set up of familiar generic conventions-genre film set up audience expectations-similar actors, props, sets, costume

-Expect things to happen but hope they happen differently to the last genre film.

-Important for filmmakers: Millions of £/$ invested in these films-More likely to invest in a genre film in Hollywood - guaranteed more success in terms of profit

-Independent filmmakers are less likely to make genre films (high production costs/values)-Independents can be more edgy and unique

-Good script, good story > genre isnt as important

CONTEXT AND CULTURE

-why are certain types of film popular at certain times? --westerns: disappeared and then reappeared suddenly, Brokeback Mountain, True Grit, No Country for Old Men, Cowboys and Aliens (hybrid)

-Social Realism: Romcoms, Period Dramas, more popular in Britain

--This is England (culture, about hard times)

SHORT FILMS AREN'T A GENRE
Factors to make a good short film > simple narrative with a twist > few characters > few settings


TASK
1)Defining a Genre
3)Explaining why genre is important and expectation of audience
4)How it has developed and evolved over time

WHAT EXPECTATIONS HAVE WE SET UP FOR OUR AUDIENCE? WHICH ONES DID WE FULFILL?

Piracy

Some producers of music don't care for piracy. The above is a quote from Dave Grohl, frontman of the Foo Fighters. The Kaiser Chiefs also did a similar thing with one of their albums. When they released it, the consumers got the option to choose which songs they wanted on the album. Also, the band Radiohead gave the option for their fans to pay what they thought the album was worth for it.

Marshall McLuhan

McLuhan is known for coining the expressions "the medium is the message" and "the global village" and predicted the World Wide Web almost thirty years before it was invented. Although he was a fixture in media discourse in the late 1960s, his influence started to wane in the early seventies. In the years after his death, he would continue to be a controversial figure in academic circles. With the arrival of the internet, however, there was renewed interest in his work and perspective.

"Hot" and "cool" media
In the first part of his book Understanding Media, McLuhan stated that different media invite different degrees of participation on the part of a person who chooses to consume it. Some media, like the movies, were "hot"—that is, they enhance one  vision, in such a manner that a person does not need to exert much effort in filling in the details of a movie image.

 McLuhan contrasted this with "cool" TV, which he claimed requires more effort on the part of the viewer to determine meaning, and comics, which due to their minimal presentation of visual detail require a high degree of effort to fill in details that the cartoonist may have intended to portray.

A movie is thus said by McLuhan to be "hot", intensifying one single sense "high definition", demanding a viewer's attention, and a comic book to be "cool" and "low definition", requiring much more conscious participation by the reader to extract value.

Media Imperialism

Domination over media. Big media companies are like empries.

What is the danger of few companies dominating the worlds media? Makes it harder for small companies to be successful. Harder for countries to represent their own cultures.

BIG FILM COMPANIES

- Warner brothers

- 20^th century fox

- Lionsgate (up and coming)

- Universal

- Pixar

- Paramount

- Columbia

- DreamWorks

Is like Britain taking over many parts of the world and Britain occupied those countries and imperialism is an empire that takes over for their own reasons. These media conglomerates are empires creating media imperialism. It makes it more difficult for independent companies to represent their own country and make a difference in the industry and have their own industry. Imperialism creates cultural imperialism. For example: Foreign language films being dubbed represses culture.

Whatever is being said by David Gauntlet about anyone being a prosumer it is difficult for it to make any sort of difference to the industry because the main conglomerates are still dominating the world, they are still very powerful.

PIRACY Massive media companies, just how threatened are they? Piracy isn't really a threat, not worth criminalising.

The same companies are still dominating the world, they are very powerful.

Warp Films: This is England, 4 Lions...
Also a British film company.

Online age has changed consumption massively. The way we watch films has changed completely. Example: Blu-ray, dvd, streaming via games consoles, online, cinema...

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-80% share of the UK box office goes towards American films.
-2004: 27 films total output of the UK film industry
-$63 billion global market for the film industry.
-Film 4 funds 20 films each year
-1996: Channel 4 releases Trainspotting
-$3,500,000: Budget for Trainspotting
-1994: Channel 4 films help release Four Weddings and a Funeral
-$6,000,000: Budget for Four Weddings
-Andie MacDowell: American star who features in Four Weddings and a Funeral

Attracting wide audiences into British rom-coms.

-2008: Slumdog Millionaire released (Danny Boyle- Started with Trainspotting)
-$15 million: Budget for Slumdog Millionaire
-"Route to Market" Providing a way for a film to get a market
-300,000 audiences in 2006 to 18,.000,000 today via freeview

WORKING TITLE:
The King's Speech, Slumdog Millionaire...
Part of Universal Studios, they are a British company.
Simon Pegg turned very American in Paul and it was not as good or interesting but it was because working title company made it, they made Slumdog millionaire and the kings speech but are also part of universal. The advantages of working title is that they have a lot of money to spend on the film, they can spend 30 million on a film without even asking for it from universal.

-Tim Bevan and Sarah Radcliffe founded Working Title
-Established in 1984 (Similar time to Film4)
-Started out as a British company
-1991: Set up an office in Hollywood
-Bought out by Polygram
-Released Four Weddings and a Funeral in 1994
-Polygram bought out by Universal
-Universal is the American company thart now owns Working Title Pictures.

Individual companies end up being swallowed up by big companies.

UNIVERSAL IS A MULTI MEDIA CONGLOMERATE$35,000,000 amount of money working title can invest without consulting Universal

1999: Working Title 2 Film: Billy Elliot

Doesnt always work out in their favour: Captain Corelli's Mandolin Budget: £13,000,000
UK box office takings for it: £9,800,000
Made a loss at the UK box office.

2000: Bridget Jones Diary budget £14,000,000
UK Box office takings for it: £42,000,000

Love Actually budget: £30,000,000
UK box office takings for it: £36,000,000
As a company: working title has made £4.5 Billion