Film Industry - Black Panther and I, Daniel Blake

Industry

The collective term for varying institutions that work in one area (e.g film industry, music industry, video game industry)

Institution

An example of a company in the media that creates something to be consumed (e.g Disney, Sony, Paramount, MGM)

Conglomerate

A multi-industry company - i.e a combination of multiple business entities operating in different industries under one corporate group, usually involving a parent company and many subsidiaries.

→ often very large and operate in many global territories

Subsidiary

A company owned/controlled by another company, which is called a parent company or holding company

How do conglomerates flourish?

• They don’t stand still. They are always expanding with the purchase of smaller, relevant subsidiaries.

• They diversify into new industries to increase their power and reach. The largest media conglomerates operate across a number of different cultural industries.

Vertical Integration

When one media company owns different businesses in the same chain of production and distribution.

Horizontal Integration

When one organisation develops by buying up companies in the same section of the market (e.g competitors)

Distribution

The process of making a product available for viewing/receiving (e.g cinema, DVD sales)

Small number of institutions controlling the media STATS

Approximately 90% of broadcast media is owned by just six companies.

Small number of institutions controlling the media THEORY

Curran and Seaton Power and Media Industries Theory:

• Media is controlled by a small number of companies primarily driven by profit and power.

• Media concentration generally limits or inhibits variety, creativity and quality.

• More socially diverse patterns of ownership help to create the conditions for more varied and adventurous media productions.

Examples of Subsidiaries Disney owns

• Marvel Studios

• 20th Century Fox

• Lucas Arts

• Pixar

Teaser poster features

• Designed to tease the audience and generate hype

• Usually released a substantial time before the film is released

• Often gives away little about the film’s plot

• Often doesn’t have a definite release date

• As the film isn’t out for a substantial time, some aspects of the film are likely to change in the time between the teaser and main theatrical posters’ releases.

Main Film/Theatrical poster features

• Usually consists of a dominant image or a series of images/characters

• More key information is included e.g a release date

• May also have a credit block with institutional information e.g IMAX

Black Panther global profit

$1.3Bn

Black Panther domestic and international profits

Over $660M domestic

Roughly $630M international

Rankings in release domestic and international

Domestic: Third biggest release of all time
No.1 Superhero movie of all time
Biggest February release of all time

International: 10th biggest release of all time

Synergy

Combination of elements to maximise profits within a media organisation or product.

Types of Trailers

• International

• Teaser

• TV spot (30 secs)

• Theatrical

Black Panther Teaser Trailer

• Poses questions

• Withholds answers

• Reveals partial information

• Upbeat, fast-paced music

• Audience can infer some information about characters: heroes/villains

• Impressive shots of action/CGI e.g car flipping over

• Not linear narrative based

Black Panther Main Theatrical Trailer

• Much bigger focus on protagonist: see his suit and him in action

• Dialogue from hero with other characters

• Bigger focus on villain. He has dialogue e.g “I’m going to burn it all”

• More linear narrative: sequential shots e.g arriving in Wakanda, being greeted by his mother

Intertitles

A piece of text edited directly into the middle of a film or video to convey information to the audience.

How much did Walt Disney spend on national TV advertising for Black Panther?

$37M

What made Black Panther successful?

• Audience has already been exposed to areas of Black Panther → Wakanda mentioned in Age of Ultron, Black Panther features in Civil War

• Teaser trailer released during NBA finals

• Tweets acted as free marketing for Disney

• New York Fashion Week hosted a ‘Welcome to Wakanda’ catwalk show and features in magazines

• 360-Degree Marketing

• #oscarssowhite - 2015 and 2016

• Africa historically portrayed as ‘backwards’ and in need of Western ‘civilisation’

• Black Lives Matter (movement began in 2013)

• Barack Obama president up to 2018

What is 360-Degree Marketing?

A marketing campaign that reaches customers at all points of contact (i.e wherever you look, there is Black Panther)

How many Black Panther tweets? What percent of ticket buyers were women?

• 35 million (Most tweeted about film ever by Mid-March 2018)

• 44%

Additional Black Panther Merchandise

• clothing

• food

• accessories

• products

• toys

• movie tie-in books

• Lexus used in Black Panther (product placement)

Marketing strategies of Black Panther

• Merchandise synergy → Lexus, Hasbro

• Soundtrack → Kendrick Lamar, SZA, GLOBAL artists with global fanbases

• Trailers released during key global events (e.g NBA final 2017)

• International trailers (e.g more tech-focused trailer for Asia)

• YouTube (e.g Wired interview)

• Multiple posters released e.g teaser, character, post-release, international posters
  - character poster appeal globally due to GLOBAL CELEBRITIES e.g Chadwick Boseman, Martin Freeman, Michael B. Jordan

Age Rating of Black Panther

12A

Afrofuturism

A cultural aesthetic that combines sci-fi, history and fantasy to explore African-American experience and to connect those from the black diaspora with their African ancestry. It imagines a future for black people.

Zeitgeist

The general mood or quality of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs common at the time.

Independent (Indie) film

An independent film is one that is produced outside of the major film studio system.

• Often multiple organisations involved in making film (e.g external distributor needed).

• Budget no more $20M

Auteur Theory

• Director of a film is comparable to the author of a work of literature.

• Fundamental visual elements, rather than the plot line, convey the messages of the film.

• Most cinematically successful films will bear the unmistakable personal stamp of the director.

• Indie films use the identity and high profile of ‘auteur’ directors to convince audiences to watch their latest film.

Criticisms of Auteur Theory

• Saying a film is the sole creation of one person understates the contribution of all the hundreds of people it took to make the film.

• Judges based on a director, not the film individually.

Ken Loach

• Political film maker - gives a voice to the working classes and marginalised communities (left-wing)

• Moral compass

• Shoots films chronologically

• Uses non-professional actors → verisimilitude

• Not about star power: it’s about stories/people

• Films on location: in real places

• Has won awards on a global level: his films tend to heavily on funding from Europe (mainly France)

• Often in tune with zeitgeist and highlights specific social issues of the time

Who wrote I, Daniel Blake?

Paul Laverty

Who produced I, Daniel Blake? (production company + person)

Sixteen Films (Ken Loach’s production company)

Rebecca O'Brien

Where was I, Daniel Blake filmed?

Newcastle

2 organisations which funded I, Daniel Blake

• BBC

• BFI

Which company distributed I, Daniel Blake in the UK?

eOne

Which UK newspaper helped the run a promo campaign for I, Daniel Blake?

The Daily Mirror

I, Daniel Blake innovative marketing strategy

Projected the film’s title onto Houses of Parliament and other UK landmarks.

Age Rating of I, Daniel Blake

15

Stuart Hall’s Reception Theory for I, Daniel Blake

Dominant-Hegemonic Reading

• sympathy for working classes

• see Katie and Daniel as ‘heroes’

• system is stacked against workers

• community of working classes

Oppositional Reading

• Denial: they don’t believe it’s a problem

• Conservatives

Negotiated Reading

• People may like the characters, but not feel like it’s possible to change the system

• Agree with message but struggle with graffiti/illegal behaviour

Social and Political Contexts of I, Daniel Blake

• Conveyed a left-wing political message and criticises specific government policy.

• Portrays a group of traditionally underrepresented characters in Newcastle struggling in poverty to gain benefits and support from the state.

• Addresses contemporary British social issues in 2015-16, such as poverty, the welfare system and fit-to-work assessment