P2: Industry
Film Industry
4-11-24
Paramount
Paramount Own -
-Nickelodeon
-CBS
Worth - 53.4 billion USD
Products - TV, film, animations, sport streaming, streaming services, websites
Conglomerate - Large corpo that owns numerous businesses, subsidiaries, that factor into different product types, separately managed, benefit from hared resources
Walt Disney
- conglomerate, various industries, consumer products, films, TV, Entertainment, Theme parks, own companies such as Lucasfilm, Marvel, ABC etc
-use diversification and acquisition, being more diverse by buying companies that dominate certain genres, w.g Pixar or marvel being different to Disney's style
-Worth 173.6 billion
- Theme parks - Disney Land, Disney world
- TV - Owns several television networks, ABC, ESPN, Disney channel
- Film - major player in film industry, distribute and produce
- Merchandise - production of own merch, toys, decor, clothing, collectibles
Acquisitions
- Pixar - 7.4 billion USD, 770million USD revenue 2023
- Lucasfilm - 4 billion USD, suggested 12 billion USD value
- Marvel - 4 billion, 54 billion worth
- 20th century fox - 71.3 billion USD
8-11-24
Horizontal integration -acquisition of or merger with a company that operates in the same industry (can be different industries as well) and at the same level of value chain, goal of horizontal is to increase market share
Vertical integration - acquisition of or merger with a company that operates i na different level of the value chain, control more of the supply chain, improves efficiency and costs
Snow White and The Seven Dwarves
Early Cinema technological developments
- development of the film camera that could display moving image
- Editing technology
- late 1920s, synchronised sound
- Warner Bros.
- MGM
- FOX
- Paramount
- RKO
- Columbia
- United Artists
- Universal
- Each studio had their own personality, certain themes, genres and values were present per studio
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
- Follows the character of Snow White and her interactions with 7 dwarves, alongside the Queen who wishes to end her
- Represents older males as sleazy, submitting to female attention,
- Depicts femininity in beauty and capability, with the 2 polar opposites of Snow white a beautiful princess who helps the dwarves whilst the Queen is an evil and envious being who follows the format of a Witch
- first full length animated feature film
- first time movie related merchandise released day of film release
- first film soundtrack released on phonograph records
- most viewed film a time
- became known as 'Disney's Folly'
- Bank provided funding after the ran out from previous fortune
- animators would animate in the day and study motion at night
- Film based on Classic story by the Grimm brothers, made changes to story
- Took 3 years to complete
- Used a multi-plane camera to add depth to animation
- Walt Disney heavily involved in production, oversaw every aspect from story to development
- Premiered December 21st 1937, highest grossing film of 1938, critical and commercial hit
Influences
- Original fairytale, themes of true love and friendship
- tradition of European ballet and opera
- European animators
- new colour technology
22-11-24 German Expression
- By 1920 only film industry able to compete with hollywood
- Aim to defer attention from the declining economy
- Decla reshaped cinema
- Use of Mise-en-scene stood out
- Led to the convention of exaggerated Mise-en-scene
- Subjective pov
- anti-authoritarian themes
- Unchained camera
- German film makers fled to US, Uk, EU to escape German fascism
- Evil Queen's angular lines and sharp angles alongside its contrast to the rest of the film heavily draws from German expressionism
- duality seen in characters like Grumpy
- Creation of story, narrative told by Walt
- Everything was looked at by Walt
- Flipping of paper for animation in frames
- clear paper which allowed tracing over other frames
- small projector allowed preview of animation in its rough form
- Colour added later with secret formula of paint
- Backgrounds produced in watercolour separately
- sound effects added by composer with sound technician
- Foley art
- multiplane camera
- Rotoscoping
A view of American wholesomeness is visible in the dwarves and Snow White, their relationship is a portrayal of the kindness upheld by stereotypical woman at the time, despite the sexist undertones of her being a cook and housekeeper it maintains a kindness with her care for the dwarves.
American mid-west upbringing
- idealised America, innocence and wholesomeness
- care for family, community and work
- nostalgic view of rural America with small towns
- narrow and simple view of life
- community
- demanding, difficult, deep respect for art and passion
- highly involved in creative process, perfectionist, personally supervise each animator and critique elements
- organised company events and outings alongside company benefits
- encouraged employees to pursue their creative interests to develop skills
- employees remained loyal to him
Snow White was influenced by the idealistic view of America held by Walt Disney alongside the fairy tale and the rising German expressionism. The fairytale of SW by the Grimm Brothers served as a foundation that despite being altered is the main inspiration for the story and world, whilst Walt Disney's midwestern upbringing heavily inspired the family values, having a simple and overly wholesome view of what an idealistic America should be. This is reflected in the traditional role of a carer in SW and the working Dwarves who are cared for by the maternal figure of SW, whilst the Prince serves a masculine hero who makes the world greater with his presence for SW. The new animation techniques allowed for more advanced water painted backgrounds to be landscaped on the multiple layered camera which added depth to the film creating a more fairytale design which further reflected
25-11-24 The Golden Age
1930s cinema
- segregation of black people
- war tax as it was seen as an escape
- seen as being for the working class
- built more luxury cinemas (movie palaces) to appeal to upper and middle class
- main form of entertainment
- double features - 2 films for the price of 1
- newsreels and cartoons before the feature film
- Intermissions for long films
- Censorship from Gov or industry bodies
Distribution
- Studio system massively important, owning theatre chains and having long contracts with certain actors
- controlled production, distribution and exhibition
- theatres paid percentage to distributor
- reels of film required heavy printing and transportation of film, high cost
- important to have vertical and horizontal integration
2-12-24 Exhibition
Why was Snow White such a success?
- Innovation
- Storytelling
- Music
- Marketing
- Reception, critical reception and positive reviews
- Snow White merchandising, toys and other themed items developed and sold in the year before the films release
- Painted figurines by people who made figures of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck
- over 2000 different products for film
- sold out merch numerous times
- Continued production of animated feature films
- expanded into other areas, e.g TV in 1950s and 1960s
- Theme parks, 1955 California, 1971 Florida
- Acquisition of other companies
- Digital streaming, first studio with own streaming site
- Figures
- Toys
- clothes, outfits of snow white
- shoes
- Lego sets
- plushies
- books
- Tiaras
- wallets
- shirts etc
- Working with other companies for toy production or marketing
- McDonalds, Disney happy meal toys benefit both, sponsoring of each other for mutual benefit
- introduces film to a new generation of kids
- double feature 195 with Alice in Wonderland
- 30th anniversary celebration
- celebrations and anniversaries alongside promotion for upcoming release for video etc
- keep films in public conscious
- 1994 VHS
- DVD 2001
- Blu Ray 2009
- released digitally, e.g Amazon
- 4K ultra HD 2019
- add bonus content in each to derive appeal
- always limited editions prior to digital release
- Nostalgia
- Timeless storytelling
- Groundbreaking animation
- Memorable characters and music
- Brand image
- live action remakes
- leverages intellectual property rights
- allows breathing of new life into classics
- changing of audience preferences and film industry
- takes advantage of the nostalgia factor
- BBFC - regulate films in UK
- US - Hays code, regulated film
- Aimed to eliminate content that was immoral or offensive, such as violence, sexuality or profanity
- enforced through system of self regulation with an administration office for approval
- Snow White pushed boundary of what was acceptable in animated films, with dark + scary themes
- Britain - British board of Film censors
- viewed and classified films
- U (universal), A (Adults only), X, (viewers over 16)
- could cut or ban films deemed offensive or harmful
- classed as a U, concerns raised about the Evil Queen, warned as not suitable for very young children
- Social, cultural, historical, political, economic
- reflection of social, cultural and political attitudes towards wider issues and beliefs
- how media reflects historical contexts
- how media can serve as an agent in facilitating social, cultural and political events
- how media productions reflect economic contexts through production, financial and technological opportunities
- 1.5 million dollar production
- highest grossing film of its time, 8 million dollars in initial box office release
- Guaranteed future revenue from re-releases
- merchandising
- Allowed financing of future films
- Proliferation of technology - audience expectation
- source of income - merchandising and additional revenue sources
- Dominance of Hollywood majors
- Disney's personal role n the making of the film
Shang Chi
9-12-24
Blockbusters
- Large budget, major studio, high production values, well known actors and directors
- designed to appeal to a wide audience
- released in peak moviegoing periods
- become cultural phenomena, high critical acclaim
- financially and culturally significant
Cinematic universe
- MCU, over 47 films of interconnecting films in the same universe
- First film was Iron Man
- TV shows and films effect others within the same universe
- Became a cultural phenomena
- DCU is the direct competitor to marvel
- MCU has a greater interconnectivity and cohesion in comparison to DC
- Marvel offers a wide set of characters with vastly different abilities and characters, DC uses a smaller roster of well known characters that are underdeveloped
- MCU had a light tone, humour and wit with heartening tone, DCU is arguably overly dark and serious
- Marvel had heavy box office success
Legacy character
- character whose identity is passed down from an older character
- allows reboots or several legacy characters e.g Spider Man no way home
- pays homage and brings new audiences to a franchise/character
- Origin story film, rather than focusing on the established character they told the origin
- introduced the character to the MCU
- Cultural representation e.g cultural heritage, diverse cast, first MCU Asian hero
- Action sequences - innovative and visually stunning scenes for the time, with both CGI and choreography
- Villains, complex villain who was compelling
- Connections to MCU, is a semi standalone but connects in cameos and references
Main Characters
Narrative
In the film, Shang-Chi is forced to confront his past when his father Wenwu (Leung), the leader of the Ten Rings terrorist organization, draws Shang-Chi and his sister Xialing (Zhang) into a search for a mythical village.
In the mythical village Shang Chi inherits the Ten Rings after his fathers death from releasing a soul stealing Dragon
Themes
- Family
- Moving on
- Equality and cultural appreciation
Representation
- Men and women in equal power in the fight, with the female character being more skilled
- Asian cast in the intro, unusual for a blockbuster
- Chinese representation is based off of actual Chinese culture, with both modern and traditional elements
Changes in the industry
- High cgi use alongside well choreographed fights to create visual appeal
- links into other films due to the modern model of interconnectivity
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