Tuesday 22 April 2014

Case study peer assessment-Vijay

I am assessing Vijay Sahota's blog, he has chosen to research Thor the Dark World. He has covered all three media platforms: Print, Broadcast and E-Media. He has particularly looked at billboards, magazines and reviews for print and analysed them. For broadcast, Vijay has focused on Thor's DVD release, radio interviews with the cast and television promotion on channels such as Sky. For E-Media he has looked at social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

The promotional techniques for Thor and Ill Manors are the same in terms of E-Media. Both films use social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. This is because it creates word of mouth and the internet is used on a mass scale, therefore targets a wide, specific audience.

Vijay has looked at all three platforms in depth and picked out various promotional techniques. After looking at his blog work, I could look at more examples of the different media platforms in more depth.

Monday 14 April 2014

MEST 1 Cross Media Study-Toy Story 3

5) What institutional issues are raised in the case study?

The key instituions involved in promoting and producing Toy Story 3 are Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar animations. Walt Disney Company bought Pixar in 2006 at $7.4 million. Pixar produced Toy Story 3, along with the first and second edition of the film. The institutions funded the film and produced it using CGI (computer generated imagery) as it is an animated film. The other insitutions involved in Toy Story 3 are Walt Disney Studios and Motion Pictures, as they were the distributors. This means that they were responsible for marketing the film. They were involved in promoting as they set the release date for Toy Story 3, cinema release and when the film will be available on DVD, or whether it can be viewed online, in cinema and on DVD at the same time. In this case however, the cinema release was first (IMAX 3D, Disney Digital 3-D and Real D), the DVD released soon followed and then the film was aired on television and available online e.g Netflix.

Print media:
The official Toy Story 3 magazine is used to target children, whereas newspaper and magazine reviews and interviews with cast target an older audience. Billboards are publicly displayed, targeting children, adults, families. As the institutions involved in Toy Story 3 are well established and successful, they did not face any economic issues in this platform, funding was fully available within the budget for the film.

Broadcast media:
Radio interviews with the cast target a teenage/adult audience. TV advertisements target children, adults and families. The DVD includes the film and extras such as behind the scenes footage, targeting families again. As 3D televisions are now available, it provides audiences with new experiences as they can watch the film as if they are on set. Cinemas also provide 3D experiences. As the institutions involved in Toy Story 3 are well established and successful, they did not face any economic issues in this platform, funding was fully available within the budget for the film.

E-Media:
Social networking sites are used to target a teenage/adult audience. YouTube trailers of the film aim to target both children and adults, as both are aware of technology. The official Toy Story 3 website is dedicated to its younger fans (children) and includes video clips, pictures, games and quizzes for interactivity. Social networking sites such as Twitter allow audiences and fans to directly tweet the cast from Toy Story 3, allowing new experiences as this would not have been possible 10 years ago (founded in 2006). As the institutions involved in Toy Story 3 are well established and successful, they did not face any economic issues in this platform, funding was fully available within the budget for the film. Internet piracy did not have a harmful impact on the selling of the official Toy Story 3 DVD's. The film successfully sold 3,859,736 units (equal to $73,096,452) on its first week of release, on November 2nd-7th 2010, North America. 

Overall, all of the institutions involved in the production and release of Toy Story 3 worked well together successfully. Each company did their part in producing and marketing the film across all three platforms: Print, Broadcast and E-Media. Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar animations took the main responsibility of making the film, while Walt Disney Studios and Motion Pictures focused on distribution and marketing. Disney Interactive Studios also produced a video game based on the film, for Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PSP and Nintendo DS on June 15th 2010. This helped to reach the technology aware audience of children and teenagers. 

MEST 1 Cross Media Case Study-Toy Story 3

4) How are representations constructed across the three platforms?

Print:

The Telegraph newspaper held an interview with cast member John Ratzenberger who plays 'Hamm' in Toy Story 3. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/7898867/Toy-Story-3-John-Ratzenberger-interview.html)

One way in which this print platform meets the key conventions of print media is by having a 'question and answer' style interview with Toy Story star John Ratzenberger. Although this is commonly used in magazines, the newspaper is still effective on those who are particularly interested in the film's release as the newspaper is widely available and distributed. John Ratzenberger is presented as a down to earth guy in this interview. As he speaks about Pixar movies in a positive light, readers can see his real passion and enthusiasm for Toy Story 3 and being a part of it through his character Hamm. I believe John is likable in this interview and it creates awareness for himself as an actor as well as the upcoming movie. John is represented in a positive way in order to make his character more likable. If he is liked by audiences then they will be more likely to want to watch his films and especially Toy Story 3 as this article features on it. This then leads to a larger fan base for the film and audiences will be willing to purchase DVD's and watch the film in the cinema. Audiences can represent themselves by writing in to the official Toy Story 3 magazine for example, where their comments a photos can be displayed in the last page of the magazine.

Broadcast:

The official Toy Story 3 DVD is available in Blu-Ray and can be purchased in stores and online. It includes the movie itself with exciting extras such as behind the scenes and deleted scenes.
The front cover of the DVD itself is immediately attractive for audiences. As all the characters look as though they are running towards the audience, it means the audience can feel as though they can connect with the image. The content of the DVD includes the film, deleted scenes and behind the scenes (making of Toy Story 3). This allows viewers to be able to gain a first hand insight of the characters both on and off set. The behind the scenes allows viewers to see the actors playing the roles of the characters when rehearsing their lines for example. This shows audiences about the actors personalities as we can see who takes the role seriously and which actors laugh every now and then. The deleted scenes may include extras that did not get added into the movie or funny scenes where the actors/characters were humorous. The representation however of all the actors/characters is positive as they all get on well with each other. I believe that a positive representation of the characters is used to make the actors more likable for audiences. If this is the case, Toy Story 3 are likely to gain more fans. This could then lead to fans watching the film in cinema, buying the DVD etc and creating a larger fan base as well as revenue for the film.

E-Media:

The online interview with the Toy Story 3 cast allows viewers to gain access to the actors with a question and answer style interview (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bive50EsTT).

The actors in the movie face a question and answer style interview, which gives viewers an insight to the roles they play in Toy Story 3 and the experiences they faced when playing their characters. The interview shows clips of the characters the actors play while speaking to them about their roles. The stars of Toy Story 3 face a positive representation as they talk about how they enjoyed their roles and working with the other actors. The producer and director are also spoken to towards the end of the interview and they discuss how they wanted to make Toy Story 3 different and unique. The main purpose/idea of this interview was to be able to discuss how characters in the film found their role to be for them and whether it was challenging. This is presented to the audience because it shows the build up of the film and the challenges characters had to face in order to make a perfect film. The older audience for the film get a chance to represent themselves through social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Across all three media platforms, the actors of Toy Story 3 always are presented in a positive light and reinforce their enthusiasm about the film and their enjoyable experience of working with Pixar and the rest of the cast. The actors star personas come across as genuine and likable towards audiences of Toy Story 3. The print newspaper article with John is more likely to target an older audience as it features in The Telegraph, whereas the Toy Story 3 DVD, as that is more appealing for children as shows the visual side of the making of the film. I believe all three platforms purpose is to entertain and create awareness of Toy Story 3. 

Thursday 3 April 2014

MEST 1 Cross Media Study-Toy Story 3

3) How do audiences access the text across all three platforms?

Toy Story 3 is a children's animation film and targets an audience of children aged between 3-12. However, as this is the third follow on film, teens/young adults have been following the film from 1995, when Toy Story 1 was released.

Print:

Toy Story 3 is promoted through billboards, the official Toy Story 3 magazine and magazine interviews with the cast and director. Young audience who read the Toy Story 3 magazine experience a psychological experience as their interest in the magazine means that if they see anything related to the film such as the DVD they are likely to want it. The print platform reaches everyone as billboards and Toy Story 3 posters are put up publicly. Official magazines are sold in shops, therefore reach a wide audience of all ages. The producers target kids through the magazine by making it colourful, attractive and full of fun activities to interest them. The Toy Story 3 magazine allows kids to enter competitions and includes quizzes and interactive activities. The audience rewards and enjoyment include the chance to win competitions from the magazine.

Broadcast:

Toy Story 3 trailers were shown on television channels such as BBC One and BBC One HD. The film was also shown on these channels and viewers also have the chance to catch up with the film on BBC iPlayer, available online and on Sky catch up TV. The official DVD allows fans to purchase the disc. There was also a radio interview with the director on BBC 1Xtra. The audience faces an instant interaction with this platform as they witness trailers on TV or listen to radio interviews. Broadcast reaches a wide audience of all ages as it is on television and radio. Trailers for the film however may be prominently advertised on children channels more as that is the primary target audience. The producer Darla Anderson uses broadcast media to appeal to families by showing the trailer on family channels such as BBC One. The Toy Story 3 trailer includes the official website at the end of the trailer, by giving viewers additional information it gives them the opportunity to interact. The producer widens the audience appeal as they mainly attract families as to children only.

E-Media:

Facebook and Twitter social media is used in order for fans to interact with the film, therefore is used as a promotional material. The official Toy Story website (http://toystory.disney.com/) allows fans to purchase items, play games, watch videos, view the gallery and buy the movie, therefore they gain a deeper insight adn interest into the film. The world wide web allows people to view as much information as they want on the film, Youtube shows the official trailer and online sites such as Netflix also allows audiences to watch Toy Story 3 online. The audience using e-media experience an emotional connection as they have the chance to tweet and get in touch with stars from the film personally. E-Media mainly target an older target audience due to social networking sites. However, the Toy Story 3 website targets children as it includes games and activities specifically for young kids. The producers aim to appeal to both children and adults through e-media and more particularly the website and social networking sites. Social networking sites allows audiences to interact by leaving comments. The website allows children to enter competitions and includes activities. Audiences play a role in social networking sites as they help to build fan pages and spread the work of Toy Story 3. As social networking sites have on going competitions, it gives audiences the chance to win Toy Story 3 goodies. The producer widens the audience appeal as they mainly attract an older audience as to children.

Using uses and gratifications, Toy Story 3 targets Mainstreamers as it promotes the film on a wide scale to audiences consisting of children, adults and families. All the three media platforms target an A-E working and middle class social demographic. This is because although the film was a big budget blockbuster ($200 million), it still appeals to people of different status'. Although a D/E audience may not go to cinema to watch the film they can still view promotions on the interent (e-media) e.g. trailer or on free view TV channels (broadcast) such as BBC One or even read cast interviews in free newspapers (print). Moreover, print magazines for Toy Story 3 narrowcast a niche market of children as they are especially designed to appeal to them. Also, using mode of address, the producer would assume the magazine targets both male and female children, therefore uses multi colours to appeal to this audience.

Thursday 27 March 2014

MEST 1 Cross Media Study-Toy Story 3

2) How are texts in the three platforms constructed?

Disney Pixar promote Toy Story 3 through print, broadcast and e-media. Print media such as colourful billboards and magazines are used to attract a young audience. Broadcast media such as trailers and cinema release dates are available online (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435761/releaseinfo). E-media such as Facebook and Twitter have Toy Story 3 sites which allow fans to interact.

Print:

The official Toy Story 3 magazine has easy to read formal language. This is because its targeted for children and specialises for their needs e.g. games, puzzles, interactive quizzes. The codes and conventions of a magazine is to inform as well as entertain children in particular. Empire magazine also conducted an interviw with Tom Hanks who plays Woody in Toy Story 3 (http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=24621). Reviews of the film also contain formal language as it targets adults more than children, examples are The Guardian (broadsheet newspaper) where information about the cast, certificate, narrative and ratings are given (http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/jul/18/toy-story-3-film-review). Within print, the official magazine is obviously promoted differently from the Empire magazine as they target different audiences. The Toy Story 3 magazine targets children and Empire targets an older C1-D audience.

Broadcast:

Talk radio interviews with director Lee Unkrich and producer Darla Anderson have taken place on BBC Radio 1Xtra (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00923z4). This is in the form of a question and answer interview, where exclusive information about the film can be revealed. Television also offers exclusive interviews with the cast along with behind the scenes on BBC One. Radio interviews tend to target an older aydience whereas children would be more interested in watching exclusive scenes on television.

E-Media:

YouTube offers several cast interviews and behind the scene exclusive footage. The Toy Story 3 website offers instant interaction with audiences e.g. games, competitions, video clips and quizzes. Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter also offer interaction with an older audience as they have the chance to like pictures, videos and leave comments.  Reviews of the film also contain formal language as it targets adults more than children, examples are Rotten Tomatoes where information about the cast, certificate, narrative and ratings are given (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/toy_story_3/). The Toy Story 3 website targets children as it offers interactivity relevant for them e.g. games and competitions, whereas social networking sites target an older audience as they have the opportunity to leave comments and their thoughts on the film.

The similarities of the three broadcasts are that they all offer useful information to audiences related to Toy Story 3, e.g. TV and the internet show trailers and the official magazine offers information of the official website where the trailer can be watched. The differences between the broadcasts are the audiences that they target. For example online social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter reach a 15 and over audience, however the Toy Story 3 print magazine is made to target children. E-Media is better at reaching audiences rather than print as it is usually free, and widely/easily consumed.

Monday 24 March 2014

MEST 1 Cross Media Study - Toy Story 3

1) Film Media in context

Toy Story 3 is promoted to audiences through print, broadcast and E-Media. This means that hand copies of the film's promotion are available e.g. magazines. Broadcast is where promotion is done through television, e.g. advertisements and film trailers. E-Media uses the internet for promotion e.g. the official Toy Story 3 website.

Print Media:

As print media is costly due to producing official magazines and billboards for advertisement and promotion materials, it means that Disney's budget of $200 million had to go towards print media. Below are examples of billboards and the Toy Story 3 official magazine.














Broadcast media:

When Toy Story 3 is scheduled on television channels such as BBC One and BBC One HD, viewing may not always be taken into account and counted as Sky Plus allows viewers to record the film and watch later and also showed the Toy Story 3 trailer before the movie release. Viewers also have the chance to catch up with the film on BBC iPlayer, available online and on Sky catch up TV. The official DVD allows fans to purchase the disc.



E-Media

Facebook and Twitter social media is used in order for fans to interact with the film. The official Toy Story website (http://toystory.disney.com/) allows fans to purchase items, play games, watch videos, view the gallery and buy the movie. As there is alot of piracy on the internet, it is hard to police Toy Story 3 films posted on the internet as most are not legit. The world wide web allows people to view as much information as they want on the film, which could be overwhelming.  Youtube and online sites such as Netflix also allows audiences to watch Toy Story 3 online.



Changing technologies:

As technology is increasing for both adults and children, print media such as billboards used for promotion along with TV guides are also used with e-media in order to promote to an audience on a large scale. For example, print media such as billboards offer film release dates and so do the Toy Story 3 social networking sites e.g. Facebook and Twitter. Due to audiences preferring e-media, it is used on a much larger scale, whereas print media was preferred before. E-media is free for audiences to use as they would not have to pay to follow the twitter fan page, however they would have to pay for prints such as the Toy Story 3 magazine.

Tuesday 18 March 2014

Ill Manors e-media questions

Facebook:

1) The Facebook page has 30,096 likes.

2) The top of the page is promoting the film Ill Manors.

3) The photos available on the page for Ben Drew's appearance at the Brit Awards 2013 promotes the film as it states 'It caps off a great 2012 for Ben who released his debut film Ill Manors, which is out now: http://bit.ly/iLLManorsDVD', providing the link and opportunity for fans to purchase and watch the film. The British Independent Film awards also promotes the film as it mentions Ben Drew is again nominated for awards. While promoting Anuvahood and Offender, Revolver Entertainment give the chance to celebrate Total Film's 200th issue, and have goodies to giveaway. People who want to win should dead over to have the chacne to win Ill Manors, Anuvahood and Offender Signed Merchandise and Blu-rays! At: http://bit.ly/Sc3LxU

4) Revolver Entertainment give fans a chance to win a copy of Ill Manors as a celebration of their 15 year anniversary. Also, a question saying 'Is Ill Manors your anthem of the year' with the video link attached below is asked to fans, encouraging them to watch the music video. Another question asked is 'Aged 16-19 years old and want a chance to make a short film? We've partnered with the BFI Film Academy to give you that chance. ' This gives fans the opportunity to win. 

5) The top image of the page shows the DVD cover of Ill Manors, below it in the information section it includes the 'buy now' DVD links for the film. The album is promoted through a video link and the opportunity for fans to leave their comments/reviews. Also, the DVD is promoted as a post says 'Pick up the Limited Edition Lenticular cover on Blu-Ray or DVD at Amazon UK or Download it on iTunes (UK) today', providing relevant links to purchase. 

6) 

7) In May it released the film trailer, the coming in cinema date, film review links, win a chance to attend the world premiere of Ill Manors, exclusive previews etc. 


Twitter:

1)  The Ill Manors logo and background image is used from the DVD cover on the Twitter page, promoting the film.

2) The hashtags used are: #illmanors, #legaldownloads, #vod, #mustbuy, #support, #brilliant, #loveit.

3) Anouska Mond tweeted 'Anyone watch #illmanors this weekend? Watcha think? Hope you enjoyed it!' This obviously appeals to the Ill Manors audience as Anouska starred in the film as one of the main characters. Plan B also tweeted 'Big thanx all the peeps who came out to HMV tonite! Enjoy the movie!! #illmanors'. Plan B is the director of the film, also appealing to the Ill Manors audience as he is the main face of the brand. Chris tweeted 'HMV Ill Manors DVD signing was great!! Thanks to all Ill Manors fans who came down!!! Good to c @iLLmanors family!!'. Chris also plays a mian role in the film so targets Ill Manors target audience/fans.

4) The twitter page includes pictures of the Ill Manors DVD cover, HMV signings with the cast of the film and behind the scenes images. All of these are related to Ill Manors, whether it is the characters or DVD cover, therefore promoting the film.

5)  The Tag London campaign in the Ill Manors twitter feed tweeted 'Olympics gonna leave us with #taglondon', '#illmanors look around, what do you see? #taglondon' and '#illmanors simple word... life!!! #taglondon'. This does not target a particular audience, however targets those who want to make their views on London and life clear and spread to everyone.

6) During May/June 2012 posts such as 'Excited about the release of the film next week? Make sure you check out the album Ill Manors, out July 16th' were tweeted. This tweet is straight forward and to the point, it clearly promotes the film release and gives a specific time period of the release along with a date for the album release. Another tweet is '5 days to go: Ill Manors is out in cinemas next Wednesday and booking is now open. Find your nearest cinema.' This promotes the film effectively by telling followers when the film is out and what day in cinema. In October, the tweet 'Have you pre-ordered your copy yet' was tweeted, with the relevant links e.g. Amazon. This provides links for followers to be able to easily access and buy the DVD.

Instagram:

1) The instagram page '4planb' focuses on the Ill Manors film. The film is promoted through images posted on the page such as the DVD cover and posters with release dates.

2) The image of the DVD cover promotes the film by showing followers it is out for them on Blu-ray and DVD and available for them to buy. Another post of an Ill Manors poster shows the release date of the film, encouraging viewers to look out for it and watch it. Finally an image of several signed copies of Ill Manor posters has been posted. This promotes the film along with Ben Drew the director himself as his autograph is on them.

3) The hashtag #illmanors is used on the instagram page, as well as other social networking sites such as twitter. Therefore there is a consistency, this is used to establish the brand name itself. Therefore everything that has this specific hashtag is related to Ill Manors film.

4) The DVD cover of Ill Manors has the hashtag #illmanors. On the e-media sites, when promoting the DVD through twitter and facebook this hashtag is also used. The DVD helps to promote the Ill Manors branding. Another image with #illmanors is a canvas that looks like the billboard (print) of Ill Manors. This image is instantly recognised as it is the Ill Manors background image constantly used in platforms. Audiences can easily recognise this and relate back to the film. Finally, images with Ben Drew at awards on stage are also tagged with #illmanors and #britawards. This shows he was at the awards for his nominations for his film Ill Manors. This broadcast platform allows a mass audience to watch Ben Drew on television and virally and discuss Ill Manors, also promoting it.

YouTube:

1) The planbuk channel promotes the Ill Manors album along with the film which has the same title. It includes reviews and ratings from newspapers and maagzines. The page includes video links which contain related information to the Ill Manors film that Plan B has published. For example, the 'I am the narrator video' and the official Ill Manors trailer.

2) The YouTube channel also the Ill Manors album by showing that it is available to buy on iTunes and also provides a link. This is also seen on media platforms such as social networking sites (Facebook and Twitter), billboards and magazine print ads. All of these promote the film as Ill Manors is both the title of the film as well as the album. Therefore by seeing the title 'Ill Manors', it would remind an audience of film which is why the album is so widely promoted. These platforms appeal to the Ill Manors target audience as they usually allow interaction (e-media). The target audience is generally young and therefore more technology aware.

3) Links to social networking sites such as, Facebook, Twitter, Google plus, Soundcloud are available on the YouTube page.