Part I
Question 1: Box Office and Film Success Measure
Box Office is slowly becoming irrelevant in measuring the success of film because of its metrics of measurements. Box office emphasizes in the amount of revenue of a film as the primary measure of success. While money can influence the production of a good and successful film there are many other factors which should be considered. Besides, there are films which may not have massive investments but in terms of audience reception, it is a boom. Hence, it is a flaw if the revenue of a film is used as a measure of success without analyzing it against the cost of production. Some filmmakers invest heavily in marketing the movie due to available capital resulting in high level of purchase. Thus, money is not the only measure of the film success. There is need to incorporate other factors such as expert criticisms, fans reviews, and the worldwide ticket market.
Question 3: Direct Cinema Movements
The Direct Cinema Movement was made a reality in the film industry through the development of required equipment to achieve the new cinematic realism. Direct Cinema is considered a documentary genre (Cook, 2016). Different technological advancements enhanced the development of Direct Cinema movement. The sound systems prior to the rise of the Direct Cinemas were unreliable or heavy. However, the development of portable sound systems was considered a serious boost for the development of the direct cinemas since sound could be recorded on site or prior to being synchronized into a film. Besides, the development of lightweight cameras which made it possible to have hand-held cameras also played a critical role in the success of the filmmaking ( Cook, 2016) . Indeed, it was easy to capture motions in different angles and locations in a faster manner to create a new cinematic experience. Nonetheless, the existence of the lightweight cameras only boosted the rise of Direct Cinema but did not cause its birth.
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Question 4: The Rise of Indie Films
Before the 1980s, one could certainly know where a film would come from, but things changed with the rise of Indie films. These are independent filmmakers away from the main film studios such as Hollywood. The rise of these independent films was significantly influenced by the advancement of technologies (Teo, 2017). While the filmmaking technologies improved, the cost of purchase also decreased over time. This allowed the independent filmmakers to have the ability to buy some of the equipment needed to produce a good film. The independent filmmakers also became successful because they employed low-budget styles to make their films, which were refreshing and new amongst the landscape of the Hollywood tiring formula ( Teo, 2017) . As a result of a low-cost budget and successful films among independent filmmakers, investors started backing their film projects which led to penetration into the market which was previously limited; thus, it expanded its mass consumption share.
Part II
Question 2: Media Conglomeration
Part A
The rises in film corporations have increasingly changed the role of films across the world. These firms have concentrated on profit making as opposed to adhering to the actual film production’s role. In the past, films were major tools through which different aspects in the society were represented and communicated through the film to the society. In many cases, it was educative and focused on getting the best message and styles, which would influence the society in a given way. Nonetheless, the development of the corporations has shifted this goal to profit-oriented. The film today is more about the amount it can generate than the influence it can have in the society. The media conglomerate is considered as the huge corporations which own various mass media firms, for instance, theme parks, radio, television, and motion pictures. With few corporations owning different filmmaking firms, it has become increasingly difficult to release a film that directly criticizes the actions of such corporations or their friends. While the film also acted as a means to directly critique different social issues, the increasing media conglomerate is jeopardizing such a role. Besides, such practices significantly reduce diversity in programming and ownership of TV shows, since the practice leads to few independent media.
Part B
Media Conglomerate directly affects the ability of the new and small media firms to compete directly with the big-budget blockbusters and mega-pictures in several ways. Firstly, the huge corporations have increased economies of scale, which allows it to use sophisticated technologies and systems to produce unique films (Lucini, 2010). Thus, in film production, the huge companies due to merges and corporation can reduce its production costs by sharing the risks and investing in different mega projects, which the small firms cannot attain. Besides, marketing and distribution is a critical factor in the film industry. With several firms merging, it is easier to reduce the cost of marketing and access different marketing platforms to boost the awareness of a film which would directly result in increased viewership. Such access to marketing platform may be limited for the small firms. Thirdly, the platforms through which the big-budget firms air their films increases compared to the small film firms who may not have access to the most serious streaming channels. When a firm owns different revenue media streams, it is easy to produce a film and run it on its television network, for instance, Disney and restrict the absorption of independent films making competition hard for the small firms.
References
Cook, D. A. (2016). A history of narrative film . WW Norton & Company.
Lucini, B. A. (2010). Analyzing the ROI of Independently Financed Films: are There Many
More “Slumdogs” than “Millionaires”? Glucksman Fellowship Program Student Research Reports 2009-2010 , 1.
Teo, S. (2017). Eastern Westerns: Film and Genre Outside and Inside Hollywood . Routledge.
