FILM INDUSTRY

Purposes of a media product

• MONEY
• entertainment
• to enrich lives
• to change people's perspectives (propaganda)

The Birth of Films Facts

• First film was to settle debate about wether horses hooves hit the ground (by Eadweard Muybridge in 1897)
• First films were all under a minute long 
• Sound wasn't introduced until 1927 (The Jazz Singer)
• First film studios built in 1897
• Classical Hollywood cinema was like a production line
• Early films made by women because films were considering not very important 

Classical Narrative Cinema

• Emphasis on spacial continuity - audience always knows where they are at any time
• Emphasis on temporal continuity - the audience always knows in what order the events have transpired, and any flashbacks and so forth will be clearly signposted
• The film must be realistic, and must not make reference to other filmic or narrative texts 

THE STUDIO SYSTEM  

PRODUCTION  making a media product

DISTRIBUTION  getting the product out there

CONGLOMERATION  a corporation that consists of a group of businesses dealing in different products or services (e.g. Disney - films, theme parks, tv channel, clothing, toys)

REGULATION  the rules and restrictions followed by media products 

HORIZONTAL INTERGRATION  when a company buys other companies in the same sector to reduce competition

VERTICAL INTERGRATION  when a company buys other companies involved in different stages of the production and and circulation 

DIGITIAL TECHNOLOGIES  technology made possible through computers 

CONVERGENCE  when 2 separate media industries come together (e.g. music videos - film and music)

EXHIBITION  showing of a media product (e.g. Youtube, cinema)

Digital technology has changed the way films have been distributed and exhibited in the last 2 decades (iTunes, streaming, Youtube)

DAVID HESMONDHALGH 

THE CULTURAL INDUSTRIES 

The factory and industrial process of creating culture

IDENTS iconic opening logos (e.g Universal an Disney)

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

• Founded 30th April 1912
• Founded by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane^[a] and Jules Brulatour
• In its early years Universal released three brands of feature films — Red Feather, low-budget programmers; Bluebird, more ambitious productions; and Jewel, their prestige motion pictures.
• Its studios are located in Universal City, California, and its corporate offices are located in New York City.
• Highest grossing film ever released is Jurassic World ($652,270,625)

CURRAN AND SEATON

POWER AND MEDIA INDUSTRIES 

Media concentration limits variety, creativity and quality

The media is controlled by a small number of companies primarily driven by the profit and power - more socially diverse patterns of ownership can create more varied and adventurous media productions

REGULATING FILMS

REGULATION  the rules and regulations that media producers have to follow

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is a non-governmental organisation, founded by the film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films exhibited at cinemas and video works

UC  suitable for all children, especially under 5 (e.g. Tweenies, Pingu, Teletubbies)
U  'universal', meaning suitable for all children, only mild references to relationships, violence and bad language (e.g. Wallace and Gromit and Garfield)
PG  'parental guidance', can be viewed by all ages, with or without an adult, but younger children may need to be supervised, mild bad language and mentions of sex, stronger violence than U, no use of weapons making them look attractive (e.g. Stormbreaker and The Chronicles of Narnia)
12/12A  12A only used in cinemas, aimed at children over 12, but children under 12 can watch if with an adult, more mature content with stronger language, some violence and some drugs (e.g. King Kong and Pirates of the Caribbean)
15  only suited for those 15 and over, more bad language, violence, nudity, and scary scenes (e.g. IT and Ted)
18  only suitable for adults, bad language, violence, sexual scenes, nudity, some scenes too scary for children (e.g Silence of the Lambs and The Libertine)
R-18  only supplied in specially licensed cinemas and licensed sex shops, only for adults, sex and fetish material 
E  material exempt from being classified by the BBFC, for films primarily to inform and educate instead of entertain (e.g. documentaries)

I mostly agree with the statement "regulation of film in the UK has largely become pointless due to the rise of digital technologies like the internet" because you can find most films on streaming websites, which don't ask for age, making it easy to watch any film desired. Additionally, video games and social media often show a lot of violence, therefore, anything shown in films will likely to have no affect on the audience. However, it is useful for parents who have more control over what their children see, and it makes it easier for the audience to judge what the film will be like and whether they'd enjoy it.

• We regulate films in the UK because they can influence children 

NWA

Fuck the Police

GENRE - hiphop, gangster rap
POLITICS - unfair treatment of black people by the police
strong political message - campaign for rights
mocks court system
DEBATES - strong language is controversial 
re-appropriation of n-word, group of people take a word and put it into different context (owning the word to desensitise it)

Straight Outta Compton - Theatrical/Official trailer

• official music of N.W.A - added piano to make it more dramatic, to target and maintain an audience(conventional)
• target audience may be older teenagers - interested in rap/hiphop
• biopic film - based on a true story but characters are fictional
• fast-paced editing - 'wow' affect on audience, humour, guns, family trauma , drama
• picks up on serious issues - expands target audience 
• censors bad language so that it reaches a wider audience
• less controversial - sends a positive message about how they still succeeded