Evaluation | What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? | Question 3

Which cinema would mostly likely distribute our production?

ODEON Cinema Cinema City

Our production, ‘The Unseeable’, would appeal more to a mainstream audience of a multiplex cinema, much like ODEON Cinema, or even VUE. Firstly, if we look at the listings for the past week, a large majority of the films shown were thrillers (see below): these thrillers were new releases, which would appeal to our young audience as they want to be ahead of new trends, while also being slick and modern with lots of violence, highlighted by their age ratings of 15 and above, which our older teenage audience would approve. Also, ODEON’s prices are lower than that of independent cinemas, such as Cinema City, appealing to our demographic of students who have far less money to spend compared to an earning, adult audience.

Our production of ‘The Unseeable’ would not appeal to an independent cinema, such as Cinema City, for a number of reasons. Firstly, when we consider the film listings, we have to take into consideration that very few thrillers are shown, due to the fact that the films below were taken from next months listings; this shows that the demographic of Cinema City prefer art-house films, such as ‘Still Alice’, which dominated the listings. Secondly, the thrillers that are shown are either repeats of classics, such as ‘Psycho’, which does not meet the ‘on trend’ needs of a young audience, or indie productions, such as ‘The Signal’, which do not meet the big budget thrills which a younger audience are attracted to.

Overall...

I would chose to exhibit our production at a mainstream cinema, such as ODEON, due to their lower prices and modern film showings, appealing to our young audience demographic which independent cinemas, such as Cinema City, do not meet.

Evaluation | What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? | Question 3

How would digital technologies offer new distribution activities?

How would your status as a student film-maker offer opportunities for distribution?

Different media devices will offer a variety of distribution opportunities for our thriller ‘The Unseeable’. For example, social media will help to publicise our production, such as Facebook and Twitter, through advertisement campaigns; hashtags can trend worldwide to increase our audience, while exclusive clips and stills can be published to build excitement and expectation of the final production. Also, websites such as YouTube can advertise trailers on videos, once again increasing the audience seeing the product (see below for the thriller ‘Kingsman’). Due to the fact we have a young audience demographic, social media will appeal to them as they use it in everyday life and can connect with it more than a more mature audience; teenagers nearly all have accounts on the most popular social networking sites, therefore widening audience appeal for our production.

‘Kingsman’ advertisement campaign (L-R: Facebook, YouTube and Twitter)

Our film can also be distributed on film-on-demand services, such as Netflix or LoveFilm. This is suitable for our audience of young adults, as many students use internet sites to watch films for less money that would it would be at a cinema to save money; also, they have easy access to these services at home, which enables them to watch films while studying. Many thrillers can be found on Netflix already; for example, Tarintino’s Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction which have a similar audience demographic. These streaming services also provide recommendations; this means if someone has watched a thriller similar to ours, the service will mention our production to increase audience viewings.

Our status as student film-makers offers different opportunities for distribution. We can enter first film and student film competitions, which will allow us to gain recognition with a young, teenage audience, our target demographic, as they will be able to engage with a film by directors they can relate too. Also, if we won any awards for our film, this will further interest our audience and will encourage to come and view it, while also further promoting our film.

Which film distribution company would be most likely to distribute your film?

I think that the distribution company ‘Universal’ would not be suitable to distribute our thriller production; this is because they are better suited for more mainstream, high-budget productions that can appeal to a worldwide audience, as seen through their thriller film franchises, such as the ‘Jason Bourne’ series. Due to the fact that our film production is set in the UK, this would immediately appeal to a British audience; the suggests that our distribution company would want to primarily focus on the independent British market, so FilmFour could be a suitable company. They have distributed thrillers such as ‘71’, ‘A Most Wanted Man’ and ‘Trance’, which have performed well in the UK due to their use British locations, much like in our thriller; this appeals to a British audience as they can recognize locations so they feel more involved in the film, which would otherwise pass over the heads of a global audience. Also, these films feature a mostly unknown cast as they like to broadcast new talent, which is suitable for our thriller as we too have an unfamiliar cast; distribution companies like universal often use A-List stars to sell their films to a global audience, another reason they are unsuitable for our thriller.