Media Industries

Historical context

• From the 15th-20th century, european powers colonised Africa and exploited the continent for resources and slave labour

• During the 20th century, African americans attempted to establish new black cultural identity

• The Black Panther party was a political activist group established initially to prevent police brutality in the US.

Cultural context

• Science fiction and superhero films have traditionally been dominated by white male characters

• Marvel had topped the box office for 15 years, but non-white characters were usually sidekicks. There were also very few films with a female lead

• Black cinema traditionally consisted of issue based social realism

• Media potrays Africa as under - privileged, Very few feature films from Africa reach the mainstream and when it does it is potrayed as dangerous (captain philips)

• In 2016- the #Oscarsowhite meme drew attention to the lack of diversity

Afrofuturism

A cultural movement that combines African culture, history and identity with science fiction, technology and futurism

Economic/ political context

• Barack Obama created many initiatives that aided minority and women’s groups

• Trump vowed to reverse many of these. Trump insulted other countries (including those in Africa) and also refused to condemn racist attacks in America

• The attacks led to the #blacklivesmatter campaign, which used social media to gain awareness

Distributer

Walt Disney motion pictures

Vertical integration

When a company controls multiple steps in the production of a product, from making it to selling it

Black panther is a good example since Marvel is owned by Disney and Walt Disney distributed it.

When did Marvel begin to produce films

Early 2000s

Who did Marvel sign a deal with in 2013

Netflix

Release

• Crowd-funding projects to buy under privileged children tickets won support from celebrities

• Released during Black history month

BBFC

British board of film classification

Black Panther BBFC rating

12A

Why was it given 12A

• Little romantic drama

• No sex/ nudity

• There is some violence, but it is fantastical (hard to imitate), And there is moral code for the conflict

Teaser trailer

• Released June 2017 by ABC (Disneys sister channel)

• Within 24h, it was views 89 million times

• Became the most tweeted about film ever in March 2018

Where is film most likely to be consumed

• Theatres

• Online (Netflix, disney, amazon etc)

The impact of digitally convergent platforms

• Made it easier to access trailers, clips

• People can share thoughts and reactions making the film more accessible and interactive

  • BP was the most tweeted about fiom of 2018, with 5 million tweets globally

  • It eventually become the most tweeted about film ever

How the internet changed marketing

• Viewers actively search for trailer e,g

• Reaction videos

• Consumers analyse the products to a greater extent

• Audiences can watch trailers, repost and comment instantly

Are audiences more likely to seek out?

Yes, they can turn into active consumers through reaction videos, which give feedback

Word of mouth marketing

People share trailers, and talk abot the film is a form of WOM marketing as it influences other to watch the film

How did BP create a more political social media campaign to create a cultural event

Black Panther used social media to highlight cultural significance, including themes of African identity and empowerment. Campaigns like #WakandaForever and discussions about representation helped make it a cultural event, bringing people together around its message, beyond just the film itself

Cultural industries - David Hesmondhalgh

It’s argued that films within a series can become repetitive and lack risk

• The film could be argued low risk - as the character of Wakanda was introduced in Captain america - civil war which is over 50 years old

• However- the afrocentric approach could be seen as risky, especially outside Africa and the US.

Hesmondhalgh also states that media conglomerates operate across a range of industries

• This links to BP and its use of synergy with its release, such as fashion, music, events and cars etc.

Curran And Seatons powerful industries

Curran And Seaton argues that the media is dominated by a small number of media institutions which limits creativity.

This isn’t true for BP - as there is arguably a high level of creativity for this film.