Task Three- Film distributers and audience research

My next section of my Critical Approaches blog is looking at films and how they are distributed and the audience.

What makes us see a film? 
- The film i last went to see was Captain Phillips, and before that About Time. Since starting the BDC corse at the Brit School i have been much more enthusiastic about seeing films in the cinemas. I saw Captain Phillips as i had never seen in my opinion a sort of documentary type of film in the cinema, to my surprise i really found it engaging and loved it. About Time i had seen posters and adverts all around London which really drew me in to going to see it, I loved it! I cried and laugh, all things that i love film being able to do. 

During my first lesson on task three i realised how many ways films are advertised and you don't always realise that you are being bombarded with advertisements for some many different things.There are so many ways of advertising a film, here are some examples: 

.Buses
.Train stations
.Online posters
.Trailers
.Social media (everyone else talking about it) 
.Cinema adverts 
.Tv adverts/clips
.Promotional tv shows
.Word of mouth 
.Celebrity interviews 

I thought of the ways that persuade me the most, first of all would be the adverts in the cinema, second would be the tv spots and then third the posters that i see on buses and on the underground on the way to school. 

Film Distribution: 
Distribution is promoting films and getting them into cinemas, also on DVD as well as creating prequels and sequels and related media products. They evaluate the perfect target audience and  type and number of cinemas. 

Theres two different ways of advertising, above the line advertising and below the line. Above the line is funded advertising such as posters, websites and trailers, below the line is not funded and example of this would be celebrity interviews.

The Role of the distributor: 
The distributor will acquire a film, if this film is a small independent movie it will most likely be found through a film festival or if they view a scrip through a major company such as Warner Brothers. 

The distributor will decide:
.When to release the film,
.How much to spend on marketing and promoting 
.How may prints of the film to make
.Where to release the film 

The distributor will:
.Create trailers and advertising materials
.Create publicity 
.Develop promotions for films 
.Arrange delivery of the film to the cinemas

Distribution Deals:
Leasing model- The distribution agrees to pay a fixed amount of the rights to distribute a film.

Profit sharing- The distributers get a percentage (typically 10-50%) of the next profits made for the film.

Unique selling points: 
When starting to plan a marketing campaign the distributor has to decide how it will present a film to potential audiences e.g actors, director- these can automatically create an audience and are stressed when advertising. If your favourite celebrity is in a film you will want to see it or even if you like a directors previous films. 

Target audiences determine where to advertise and what type of advertising to be used. 16-24 is the most targeted audience. 


Distributors are said to be the engine of the film industry 

Lord Attenborough said "It is clear to me that the films only achieve their extraordinary potential when they are able to reach global audiences, week in, week out"