“Successful media products depend as much upon marketing and distribution to a specific audience as they do upon good production practices”.

I agree with this statement that for the media to be successful they need to do well in all areas such as marketing, distribution, audience and production practices. The media area i have studied was a film (Star Wars:The Force Awakens) Star Wars has always been a big hit since the first film in 1977. Even though it was a film as it was very successful it was created in to other types of media such as: film, DVD, Blu-ray, CD's and downloads. For example a CD was made with music from the film by John Williams. He created music for all 7 movies. The film used was 'Star Wars: The force awakens'. It was released on film on the 17-12-15.

Marketing was key for this film to be successful. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was widely advertised globally. Even though the film was already very well known and a big hit they still needed advertising to get lots of the public to want to go see the film. As the film was produced and distributed by the company Disney, this enabled the film to be heard about more due to the connections Disney have with other film and TV companies and printed media. To market the film they used: adverts, websites, posters, apps, toys and games, newspapers, clothing, etc. To make marketing beneficial they needed to appeal to the right audience, for example, toys and games would attract the younger members of the public whereas newspaper articles and adverts are aimed more towards older viewers who are likely to have seen the previous films and were fans. By doing this created a wider audience therefore the company makes a much bigger profit as more people see the film.

Distribution is a very important part in making a film successful. The force awakens only had one distributor however it was an extremely large company. They had Disney. Disney has vertical integration as it is the production company that has the ownership and the means of production, distribution and exhibition. The Force Awakens was filmed on IMAX cameras as all previously made Star Wars films were recorded this way. Then The film was digitally distributed, this was due to it being a lot easier and much cheaper. To produce and ship a 35mm print to an American cinema would cost about $1500. A previously made Star Wars film, Attack of the Clones was the first on digital and cost $16,000 for 220 hours of digital tape, if this was on traditional film it would have cost roughly $1.8 million. Also many cinemas have got rid of their film projectors and just use digital, this means by distributing digitally more cinemas could show the film thus making more money. The Force Awakens was shown on 4,134 screens in the USA and on 670 in the UK.

Star wars obviously already had very big fan base widening its audience due to having new fans and the old combined. Nostalgia played a big part in the film being a success due to the audience. Using old stars such as Harrison Ford as Han Solo, Carrie Fisher as princess Leia, Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Peter Mayhew a Chewbacca and Anthony Daniels as C-3PO. By using some of the original cast link to the original trilogy drawing in older viewers. However people also liked the fact that there was new younger characters introduced into the Star Wars series. The audience were interested in seeing the first female  (Daisy Ridley) and black male (John Boyega) as leads. John Boyega had to audition 9 times over a seven month period until he was finally offered the part. The film was age rated 12 so was intended to be aimed at teenagers and adults. However toys came out and when the film was released on DVD, younger audiences watched it and became interested in Star Wars. The film was a hit to audiences around the world. However there was some people that weren't to thrilled about the new film. China didn't like the film due to there being no Chinese characters or the fact there nothing was filmed their either. Also some old fans believe the film was remarkably similar to the old ones and there were no new ideas. On a well known review site 'Rotten Tomatoes' the audience score was 89%.


The film was produced by: Kathleen Kennedy, J.J Abrams, Bryan Burk and production companies Lucasfilms and Bad Robot. Lucas film was formed by George Lucas in 1971, but then sold to Disney for $4 billion and stock shares to George Lucas.  It was very beneficial to the film to be produced by Lucas Film due to the previous Star Wars films being made by this company and for the fact that the company is very good at what they do, producing other hit films such as Indianna Jones. 

The film could not be as successful as it was without the director and cast. The film was directed by producer J.J Abrams. J.J Abrams also directed major films such as Star Trek, Armageddon and Mission Impossible. As mentioned before the film had some of the old recurring characters and also new ones to change up the plot slightly. Some celebrity guest stars were also featured in the film such as Simon Pegg playing the role of the junk dealer in Jakku at the beginning of the film. Daniel Craig played a storm trooper. Lead star from 12 years a slave Lupita Nyong'o used motion capture to play the part of Maz Kanata. This character was inspired by J.J Abrams late English teacher. Another little robot character was introduced into the film that fans seemed to love. B-B8 was controlled in two ways either by puppeteers wearing green suits so they could be editied out or remote controlled. Andy Serkis is a big name actor when it comes to motion capture films. He's famous for playing the roles of Gollum in the Lord of the Rings and Ceaser in the Planet of the Apes. In The force awakens he played supreme leader General Snoke. With him there he was also able to help Lupita develop her character and improve her acting skills as she hadn't worked in that area before.

The first scenes of The Force Awakens were filmed in Abu Dhabi, later into the film it was filmed in Iceland and ended with filming in Ireland. This made the film multi cultural so had a wider fan base. The locations were chosen as they had great potential to look realistic and metaphorically was a blank canvas for the set of the film. They were able to use practical effects a lot more, such as fire and and explosions and build parts of space ship wrecks, they then used CGI to add in extra bits to make sure everything was realistic and up to their high standards. However even though less CGI was used in this film than the other previous Star Wars films, special effects were still used to create things such as light sabers, lazer guns, some explosions etc. 

The film had a budget of $306 million (gross). In the end the film made $2,058,662,225 at the global box office. The film was rated a very high 92% on 'Rotten tomatoes'. This shows that it doesn't just take good production practices for the film to be a success. It also takes other key areas to build the film and improve it so it can be the best it can be. 

Downton Abbey: Status and Class

Background

Downton Abbey is a british series following the lives of the Crawley family and their servants. It's set in 1912 in North Hampshire. This episode is set when the titanic sinking has just taken place and the family have heard the horrific news and recieved a telegram. The series shows the contrast between upper and lower class, and the different roles people have in the house.

Editing

In the clip continuity editing is used as the scenes flow. Shot-reverse shot is used when the lord comes in for his breakfast, he speaks to his butler off of screen. 
There are elements of fast pace editing when the servants are rushing around in order to do their job and serve the breakfast, everyone is running around it switches between scenes quickly showing what each servant is doing. 

Sound

Background music is used which is non diegetic. The use of the music builds the scene and draws in the audience. It creates anticipation for the viewers. There is also diegetic sound for example the sounds of clinking plates and cups when the maids are rushing in the kitchen. An example of a way sound is used to show class is when the bells ring in the kitchen and staright away the servants know what they need to do, showing how the servants are lower class and following the orders given. When the Lord opens the telegram intense dramatic music begins to play suggesting that what is written is far from good news.

Camera

The scene opens with an establishing shot. This shows the fields and countryside. It shows the path and drive towards the house. Then there is a wide shot of the house showing how big and expensive it is, this links to class and how wealthy the owners are and how they can afford to live the rich lifestyle.The opening also consists of a tracking shot of the man on the bike as he rides down the long path.This is then turned into to an ariel shot, this shows where the man is biking and his job role as you can see he is going to deliver something to the manor. A steadicam is used to record as it's not shakey and flows nicely. A canted angle is used whilst the Lord is reading his newspaper.

Mise-en-scene

The men are wearing suits showing that they are of a higher class.The women who are wearing aprons shows their position as servants and how they haven't got high status as they obey orders. They Cutlery and dining set used at breakfast shows the wealth of the family, it is very formal and expensive. 

The lighting also shows class and status due to upstairs (where the family are) is natural lighting and very bright, whereas downstairs in the kitchen (where the servants are) is very dark and dismal. Artificial lighting is used.  

Hotel Babylon Textual Analysis.

Hotel Babylon is a BBC series following the lives of hotel workers in a 5 star London hotel. It aired from 19th January 2006 to 14th August 2009. In this scene the immigration officers have arrived and the workers at the hotel are in trouble due to being immigrants. Its a quite fast pace scene.

Camera

This Clip uses an establishing shot to begin with to set the scene and show the surroundings. A hand- held camera is being used as it has a shaky effect giving the audience the feeling as though they are apart of the action. In the scene tracking shots are used for example the camera follows the action when the man is being chased and follows the woman fall down at 2:05. This draws in the audience as they feel more attached to characters and can see exactly what is happening and how. Point of view shots are used so the audience can see the characters perspective and therefore are drawn in. Near the end of the clip when the locker is being cleared out, the pictures are zoomed in on this is because it makes the audience feel sympathetic for the immigrant who had been caught. At 3:22 the camera zooms in on the woman face to express her emotions and her agitation. Long and Short takes are used to show the importance and represent power of the officers for example the long close up of the officers face. 

Sound

Background music which is non diegetic sets the scene and tells the audience whats happening and pin points important parts in the programme. Throughout the clip a instrumental music piece is played its quite tension building. At the beginning the tone in the receptionists voice and the way she speaks shows she's trying to stay calm but is actually very panicked. Diegetic sound is used for example the heavy breathing when the immigrants are hidden in a storage cupboard, the panic and fear can be heard in their voices and breath (this is also synchronous sound) .Showing their emotions this way helps the viewers get more involved in the show and understand the circumstances which the characters are facing. Another way diegetic sound is used is when the man is running you can hear his speeding footsteps which makes everything seem much more dramatic and rushed. Also when the woman tells them supposedly that immigration are here you can hear the mumbles and yells of the people. Ethnicity is shown through the multiple languages used showing the hotel is multi-cultural. 

Editing

A cut is used when the immigration officers find the man and chase him in the hotel corridor at around 2:50. It switches between the people in the cupboard and the man being caught to show the contrast between their situations and how some are safe yet one is going to be caught. This is gripping to the viewer. A shot-reverse-shot is also used at the beginning of the clip when the receptionist talks to the man sitting own and tells him a reminder but is actually trying to be discrete and tell him to hide the immigrants.

Mise-en-scene

The women in the hotel are dressed formally for their job. The immigration officers are dressed quite casually. The main immigration officer is followed by 2 other men who always
 walk slightly behind him, this shows that he has a lot more power and is in a higher position of authority. Another representation of ethnicity is when put in the storage 
cupboard to protect the immigrants being taken some of them pray showing their religion and culture. They also pray towards the end of the clip after one immigrant was unfortunately caught. Artificial light is used upstairs however downstairs is natural light 
which represents status. The reception who is English wears white which represents  
innocence, however the Asian woman is on black this could show the contrast between cultures. Another possible representation of this is that the clothing is showing hierarchy.