“Media production
is dominated by global institutions, which sell their products and services to
national audiences”. To what extent do you agree with this statement?
To some extent, I both agree and disagree with this statement.
There is no doubt that media is fed to us on a daily basis by the same media
conglomerates; they dominate large numbers of various mass media such as
television, radio, publishing, movies, and the Internet. Household names such
as “Walt Disney” reach global audiences and successfully sell their products.
The Disney name remains as a mark on all parts of American popular culture,
namely animated movies, live action films, network television, children’s
books, merchandising and theme parks. Disney has been passed down for generations
and its history is well respected and therefore, people choose to invest in it.
The trust Disney has formed with its audience boosts sales
and box office figures, enabling it to be a multi-million dollar phenomenon. These
huge sums of money are invested in partnering projects such as with Marvel
Entertainment. In 2009, The Walt Disney
Company acquired Marvel Entertainment, Inc. for 4.64 billion dollars. The “Guardians
of the Galaxy” movie was produced my Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt
Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
Disney is always looking for multiple platforms to increase
brand recognition and to introduce a wider audience; synergy is used. An Animated Series of “The Guardians of the
Galaxy” will be introduced to Disney XD, further boosting profits.
Despite the advantages, there are some difficulties
companies such as Disney may face. Although Disney may partner up with other
major firms to create successful films and products, if Disney partner up with
a British film maker for example, it would be difficult to categorise the film
and label it as either British or American. Also convergence between two
film-makers may lead to disagreements on finances and one company may dominate
the other.
Some of the greatest cinematic masterpieces were
made on a low budget and have gone on to be just as successful as big budget
films, earning millions of dollars and becoming multimillion firms just like
the global institutions. For example, “The Inbetweeners Movie” only had a
budget of 5.3 million dollars; it went on to make £44 million in UK cinemas. The
film remained true to the series, as well as finding a fitting ending to the
story. Another successful film with an
even lower budget is “Paranormal Activity”. It is believed to be the most
profitable film of all time. Made from just $15,000, it took over $193 million
at the box office. A part of its success may be due to its premiere at the “Screamfest
Horror Film Festival”, it is the largest and longest running horror film
festival in the United States and allowed the film to be viewed by a wide
audience.
To conclude, I think low budget films now have a better
opportunity to become successful and earn large sums of money than they would
have a few decades back. This is down to improvements in technology and being
able to share and stream movies online and the opportunity to screen them at
film festivals. Many great, original ideas are also well respected as it is now
increasingly more difficult to create a movie with a unique storyline. However,
‘the big six’ global institutions (Universal, paramount, 21st century Fox,
Warner Bro’s, Sony and Disney) all find producing films a lot easier and will
continue to be successful as they have the money to distribute and advertise
their creations to worldwide audiences.
No comments:
Post a Comment