A0B 5 Distribution

Notes:

before graphic novels comics, realtes to comics
1950's old model
artist/ writer make book/comic
go to puplishinng houses
DC book. marvel
peridocial distributor - national geographic for example
-gather newspaper articles
get distributed to news stands, toy stores, drugstores.
whole process takes 2-3 weeks.
retunable- when the shop doesnt sell books, go back to publisher... they get payed for sending them back.
60's- disposable income, things mass produced so had more money.

Direct market
artist writer
publisher
headshops - smoknig/jokes
bookshops
specialist book comic shops
bad news for sjops- things are NOT returnable. stey on the shelves, gather a following, back issues are created.
fast turnaround, may make a loss due to mass ordering
publishers collectde together loads of books into one big book - the birth of graphic novels.
age of buyers/audience increased - content of graphic novel changes.
gross stuff, far more adult things about sex and violence for example.
Birth of graphic novel - technology, authors wanted to be different, economical issues throughout the times changing.

Represenation in Graphic Novels

Extension of experience of reality.

in the novel Maus, the different races are represented as animals.

The fact that animals are used helps us relate that to the importance and power of the particular race and where they are in the 'food chain' so to speak.
In the book Jews are represented as mice, which indicates they are very timid, shy and that they are a lower down in the ranks of life. Germans are represented as cats which shows that they are the ones who pray on the mice, almost like bullies. It can widen your view on things or narrow it depending on which way you look at things.

The different animals that are used to represent the different races are very stereo typical and racist. The drawings of the animals in the book all the characters look the same which gives the impression that there is no individuality and that everyone is the same. Which is wrong, everyone is there own person and individual. It is also only written from one persons perspective and how the interpret what happened in the holocaust. If it was written by someone else, the characters would more than likely be different animals or maybe even not animals at all. Art spiegelman could of represented people as being animals as it is easy to tell the difference between them as a mouse is a mouse, a dog is a dog and so on and so fourth. But this interpretation wouldn't work in real life situations as not all jews look the same. People cant be categorized as simply as spiegelman makes out in the book.
He put people as animals to show how ridiculous it is to put people in boxes. This is so as people are all the same because they are human but yet they are so different.
If you look at it from a different point of view, it could be done due to the personality traits of the specific animal and the role of their particular race/nationality had in the Holocaust.

news paper

Graphic Novels

Web Comic example:
www.cabbagehasawebsite.com

AOB6

Refer to AOB5 question about the BBFC and the one after.

Functions:

AOB5

Film distribution podcast.

Introduction about the type of film and a synopsis of the plot.

There are several parts to the film chain, film distribution being the third in the process, it is often referred to as the ‘invisible art’, a process which is known only by people who are in the industry, and it is a part of the film making process which is barely written about.

Some people argue that film distribution is the most important part of the film industry, they say this as this is the part where the films are brought to life and connected with an audience.

Interviewer: So what is film distribution?

Well it is about releasing and sustaining films in the market place. Distribution however is different in Hollywood than in the UK. In Hollywood and other forms of industrial cinema, the phases of production, distribution and exhibition operate most effectively when ‘vertically integrated’, where the three stages are seen as part of the same larger process, under the control of one company. Where as in the UK distribution is more focussed on marketing and sustaining a global product.

Interviewer: Why did you decide to distribute the film in the way you did?

I decided to use several distribution companies to help me advertise to my desired audience. I thought the audience would have a wide range as parents would want to watch it to show what they are doing to their kids when they buy them lots of takeaways. I decided to use Mac Donald’s as one of my food chain industries as statistics show that it is on of the most popular fast food restaurant in the UK, and it is very widely advertised everywhere and it is also known more or less worldwide, along with other places such as Burger King, KFC and Little Chef. Then I also decided that I should make it so that it interests the younger audience as well as they are the next generation of adults.

I chose the film distribution companies that I used very carefully as some would not have been suitable for my requirements. I chose to use the film distributers that I did cause then it wouldn’t be over or under advertised, also I distributed to several countries including, Hong Kong, Spain, USA, Japan, Brazil, Finland, Germany, Philippines, Singapore, Switzerland, France, Turkey, Chile, UK and more. I did this as like I said Mac Donald’s is a worldwide known fast food restaurant. I used roadside attractions in the USA as I thought they would be able to distribute it in many different states across the USA and are well known there also you can follow them on such social networking sites such as Twitter. I thought that, that would be an advantage as there are a wide variety of age ranges that use social networking sites. Also they would advertise XXL on Billboards which would be seen by lots of parents or potential parents and it would interest them. Although these are all good ways to distribute from this company, they are mainly a theatrical distribution company, I also used other companies like this such as Showtime Independent Films (USA), EDKO Films, (Hong Kong), Bir Film (Turkey), Notro Films (Spain) and many others that distribute films in this way.

Interviewer: This sounds like a lot of distributing for one documentary film?

Although this sounds like a lot of distributing, when in fact it is hardly any, so that is why I chose to use even more distribution methods and companies such as; Arts Alliance (USA), this is a DVD distributor, so they would advertise the DVD or on a DVD as like another movie trailer, I did this as it could be linked with people who eat a lot of regular fast food, as they are ‘stereotyped’ to watch a lot of T.V. or watch lots of movies. I used several other distribution companies like this such as; Paramount Home Entertainment (Germany), Imagem Films (Brazil) and others.

But even with that I felt that it wasn’t enough so I decided that I wanted to use even more distributors as I had a message to put across about the industry as I feel that they are allowed to advertise too much and that it is effecting the younger generation and in some cases the older generation, this is even worse as children tend to look up too older people as a role model, and if they see them eating unhealthily regularly then they would proceed to do the same.

As I felt it was a necessary, I used some distributors that choose the television to distribute on, again for a very similar reason to the DVD, it is another stereotype that I came to realise was, because of this I felt that it was a good idea to use it, I used distributors such as Yleisradio, YLE (Finland), as it used ITV2 as one of its channels, I felt this was good as it is a well known channel, also I used Showtime Networks (USA) as they do the same but on a popular American channel.

I chose to use Sony U.K Ltd as one of the UK distributors as Sony is a very well known product make and distributor, so it would be recognised by many people in my desired age range audience, also it would not just appeal to an age range but also to health fanatics, fitness instructors, cooks etc. Because of this it was important that I distributed my film in a necessary way and I felt I achieved this.

The distribution cycle in total takes up to about 4 months for this type of film, for bigger films/movies, they tend to be advertised for longer, and tend to have a more bold impact. The distribution companies think that someone will look at a poster for an average from between 1 and 4 seconds, so they have to catch the eye of the audience quickly.

Interviewer: So what is the process from when everything starts, so someone has an idea for a movie.

Well someone has an idea for a film, it could be anyone from a director, a writer or even someone like you. From here a studio has to be convinced that the film is worth making, this is called the pitch. Someone has to talk them into it. In order to get the idea across, it will normally be developed into a summary f how the film will go. Once a studio has been convinced that the film is worth making, it then goes to the studio. They then put together the team to make the film. Once a director has been picked, they find actors that they think will suit the characters, this is done very carefully, as different people will have a different effect on the film. Sometimes, a studio needs to find investors n order to raise money to produce the film. From here the location scouts find the places where they think is good to shoot the film, when all of this the film is ready to be made. The film is never filmed in the order that you see when you watch it. The director has a story board, and what they film first depends on the locations and actors which are available at which times. When this is going on, this is when distribution happens, or post production if you will. The advertising and the raw filming, (which is called rushes), is edited during this stage. The music is added and sometimes the actors re-record lines that weren’t clear enough when first filmed. The editing of the film is mostly done on computers, whereas in the past editing was done by cutting bits of the film out and sticking it back together, this is known in the film industry to be called a ‘cut’. After all this and the distribution. But before this happens the distributers send the film to the BBFC, once they haven given the film an age rating and the okay to be released, the film is then released to the public, depending on the predicted popularity of the film or the genre/type it is depends how many cinemas/theatres will allow the film to be shown.

Interviewer: What happens at the BBFC?

Well the distribution companies send the film to the BBFC. The BBFC then assign the film to their employees who then rate the film, and give it an age rating. Also they decide if they think it is suitable for the age range that the film maker wanted it to be, if they think that it is unsuitable, they will say where they think cuts should be made or where any changes should be made. If this is the case, they send the film back to the distributors and they then tell the producer/director/editor what the BBFC have said. Once the changes have been made, the same process happens again. The BBFC then give it the stamp of approval so to speak. The film can then be released. When my film was sent to the BBFC, they made me cut a scene where I did an experiment, where I got 4 overweight teenagers and 4 healthy teenagers, so I could compare the effects it had on there body when I gave them lots of MacDonald’s food for the day and to see the different amounts that they ate and what they were like when they had finished. The BBFC made me cut this scene as they said it was cruelty to children and that it wasn’t suitable for the film. Once I had taken this scene out it had to be sent back then they gave it the all clear and then it was ready to be released.

You have mentioned ethical constraints were there any legal problems that came about?

I wanted to use some footage from the documentary Supersize me, but I didn’t get permission from Morgan Sperlock, therefore the scene couldn’t be used.

So who chooses the films that we see?

You do, but some people say you don't have a completely free choice. The big movie studios have a say in which films are shown at your local cinema, because they own some of the multiplex cinemas. Studios also release a film on the date when they think it will make the most money. That means you might have to wait for what seems like ages to see a film that is already out in the USA. Some people say the power of big studios is unfair on smaller filmmakers, but in the end no-one can make you go and see a film. There are lots of examples of big budget films from major studios that have opened in thousands of cinemas and bombed.

Who are the big companies, what else do they own ? and what benefit you have from producing and distributing with a smaller independent?

There are six companies that are known as the big five majors, they are: 20^th century fox, RKO, Paramount Pictures, General Electric, Walt Disney, News Corp, Time Warner and VIACOM. All these major companies own smaller well known companies such as Warner Bro’s, Pictures, this is owned by Time Warner, also it owns companies such as New Line Cinema. News Corp owns several well known film companies such as 20^th century fox, which is well known and is often one of the first things that is shown before the movie starts. There are other ‘bits’ so to speak to 20^th century fox such as home entertainment and also the Spanish version of the company. There are several different companies which News Corp Owns, it has companies in several different countries such as Asia and Spain. General Electric owns companies such as universal pictures, Universal has production agreements with imagine Entertainment, Jersey Films, Tribeca Films, Playtone Company and others. This is because even the big companies like this of universal are owned by bigger companies, which tend to be less known as they are not the ones that the audience notice. The audience relate to the companies that they see on the ‘screen’ to whether or not it will be worth viewing or not. VIACOM owns companies such as Paramount Pictures, this includes things such as dreamworks, paramount vantage, MTV films, and others, this another prime example of large companies owning smaller companies which own more companies. Some companies such as Time Warner own little companies such as Village Roadshow Pictures, which isn’t known very well by the public but then if you relate it to a bigger name they become interested in the production.

There are several benefits and disadvantages of distributing with a smaller company rather thatn a larger well known one, this most obvious reason is that they don’t have as much money to spend on advertising the film, they tend to have to get sponsors and such like to help fund the film and advertising. Where as if you use a more well known company, they are likely to have there own resources` available to use which results also in the process being quicker and more productive as they are not having to find sponsors which could take a lot of time as many could not be interested in the film that is being made.

How do you know what type of audience the film will interest most?

Well in order to find this out, we run a private viewing of the film, we invite different types of people and we get them to give us feedback of what they thought and what could be changed about the film. From the information they give us, we find out who the film is more suited for and then we aim to advertise more aimed at that type of person. This is done so that maximum profit can be made.

So how do the films actually make the money?

Well there is gross profit, This is the total amount of money that people paid for tickets for a film. It's not the same as how much money the film makes, because you have to take off the cost of producing the movie in the first place, advertising and distributing the film around the world. Making money out of films isn't just about selling cinema tickets. There's loads of other ways of cashing in.

· T-shirts

· Toys

· Fast food tie-ins

· Theme park rides

· Renting out DVDs and videos

· Selling DVDs and videos

· Getting money for TV screenings

Many of the companies that make films are also involved in TV and they can use a successful cinema release as a way to promote their channel - it's hard to say how much that's worth to a business.

Mode of address

Mode of address.

Mode of address is the way that a film addresses the audience, and the way in which something is put across, for example the same information could be included in one documentary to another, but the way it is recorded and put together would attract different people.

Looking at Supersize me mode and address.

There are lots of different styles of film making in this extract from supersize me, it uses animation, live action, interviews, archive footage, still images. All these aspects of film making is what makes up the mode of address. When it is being filmed it is filmed as though you are there with him when he is going through it all, rather than it is being obviously a guy with a camera walking about, some parts is almost as though the main character is making a video diary of his experience. All the animation that is used is rather humorous, almost trying to say people that regularly eat fat food are ‘jokes’. This theme is carried out throughout the whole documentary, at the beginning of every scene there is an illustration of Ronald McDonald, all these painting perceive him to be a devilish influence and are against McDonalds. The people that are interviewed are made too look important, and thery have been placed in a certain place wearing certain clothes, in certain surroundings, this is mis-en-scene, and film makers use this to give the desired impression to the audience, they use certain effects so that the audience can cannotate what they see how they want, each person conotates things in different ways and there is no wrong connotaion for anyone thing. The film maker uses things which can be connoted all throughout the the documentary. Mis-en-scene for the interviewee’s who are discussing factual information tends to be scientific and official.