LO1: Task 1 (P1) Media products in the audio visual industry

INDUSTRY: AUDIO VISUAL:  For this task I will be studying the conglomerate 21th century fox, and will also be studying the independant company Warp in order to compare the two.

OWNERSHIP: Conglomerates are large media companies that own many smaller media companies called subsidiaries. For example 21th century fox own smaller media comapanies such as Blue Sky Studios (the creators of Ice Age). Subsidiaries usually only specialise in one type of media, for example Blue Sky specialise in computer generated animations. Because of this conglomerates are able to produce many different types of products across a huge range of medias. Because of conglomerates ownership of subsidiaries, when bringing out certain products, 21th Century Fox are able to use their subsidiaries as they please to maximise the success of the product, this is called using horizontal integration. For example during the production of a movie, a conglomerate would use subsidiaries that specialise in print media and then use that subsidiary to advertise the product through visual adverts. The conglomerate would also use subsidiaries which specialise in TV Broadcasting, and then use that subsidiary broadcast the advert for that movie, this is called cross media ownership. Meanwhile independent companies, such as Warp Films are more comparable to a subsidiary than a conglomerate, since independent companies usually specialise in one certain type of media, Warp Films speciality is live-action films, and it is also common in these independent companies that type specialise in a certain type of genre/style, Warp Films in particular are known for creating gritty thrillers, which take a low budget to create, however have incredibly sophisticated scripts. Independent companies usually have a very low budget to create their products, which is why the amount of products they are going to release are going to be limited compared to the amount of products released by conglomerates.

ADAPTATION: Because Conglomerates have huge amounts of money, they are able to buy the rights to ideas/stories and adapt them into films/series. For example the highly popular graphic novel character Deadpool for recently adapted into a huge budget live action picture by 21th Century Fox. Deadpool was a joint venture between Marvel Studios and 21th Century Fox. The film included/referenced other characters from the marvel universe casted Ryan Reynolds, who was origonally casted as Deadpool in the Wolverine Origin movie. The reason that 21th century fox were able to execute the Deadpool movie so successfully, was because 21th century fox had already previously made X-Men movies, and will have mantained a valuable relationship with those who own the rights to Marvel's characters. Fan's would have also antisipated the film's arrival more due to this, since they are likely to be fans of the previous X-Men movies. 21th Century Fox would have also been able to acquire an incredibly high budget, which was required for the film due to the immense amount of computer generated graphics sequences and special effects, this will also create synergy with the rest of the Marvel films, which use a very high budget. The audience, being males aged 15-18 (due to the films 15 age rating and gory nature) would have appreciated the large budget, since younger audiences are a lot more likely to watch a high budget action film than anything else. The sub-culture of this audience, who are likely into video games as well as comics, would have had a high amount of appreciation for detailed special effects, due to the appreciation of the computer graphics power required to create these visual products.

BRANDS:

Star Wars ROGUE ONE: A Star Wars STORY:

The first brand I am going to discuss, is the Star Wars brand, which has impacting the audience so much that an entire sub-culture of 'Star Wars Fans' now exists, some just enthusiastic nerds, and others who actually follow the 'Jedi' religion.

This is because Star Wars is now a huge franchise that have released many huge budget films as well as money other media products such as animated series, and comic books. The main media product I am going to focus on is Star Wars Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, since that is a recent media product which uses technological convergence and an incredibly high budget to appeal to the specific audience of Star Wars fans and high budget scientists-fi fans.

Star Wars Rogue One uses many different advertising platforms to generate an appeal for the project, including below the line advertisement such as Snap Chat filters which show the users own face in a filter which make you look like you are in a scene from Rogue One, which make the advert more personal since they can see their own face. The user may also take the photo of themselves in the Snap chat filter, and then share it to their stories in order for their other friends to see it, which means the advert will spread for free via social media and generate a larger appeal.

Another advertisement includes the above the line TV adverts which will be scene by the target audience Star Wars has for families, since stereotypically most families like to watch TV after their day at work/school. These adverts will be very cinematic on comparison to  the actual genre of Star Wars, which has the main convention of being a very cinematic and beautiful film. The advert being played through the television will also be able to advertise to a larger audience since almost everyone has a television.

Star Wars brand themselves as a very exciting and family friendly brand, as well as being a brand which isn't too dark in order to appeal to younger audiences, since as well as targeting the sub-genre, Star Wars also aims to advertise themselves to families of all ages. This is why Star Wars films range from very bizarre and wacky and comedic characters, to more threatening characters like Darth Vader and Kylo Ren.

However in terms of creating the more direct appeal to the sub-culture of Star Wars fans, the media product Stars Wars Rogue One specifically has scenes which link and reference directly to the original Star Wars films, by ending the film leading into the beginning of Stars Wars: Episode IV. Since this was the very first Star Wars film, very enthusiastic fans would have found the scene where Darth Vader be a badass very exciting, since the film creates a spectacle of the Scene through the beautiful CGI shots of the Death Star, as well as keeping the Star Wars suit very similar to the original. The film even uses special effects to create a scene where the audience see Princess Leah through the use of special effects being applied to the original Star Wars footage. This means that scenes like this create Audience Pleasures (theorised by Rick Altman in 1999) which suggests that audiences gain pleasure through genres.

This applies to the brand Star Wars, since the genre is Sci-Fi, which means the film offers scenes in many different planets, with characters which include a range of scientific-fi species like aliens created through special effects, you will see that all Star Wars films have these different conventions.

It is also is created through Star Wars having a really large budget, which means that the product will have a more direct appeal on people who like to play video games with good graphics, since those types of people have a huge appreciation for high definition special effects, as well as having a more direct appeal to ABC1 audiences who enjoy buying expensive products, such as large TVs which can play high quality films such as Star Wars Rogue One.

The mode of address Star Wars uses as a brand is parent to the child, since most of the narrative focuses on Older Characters giving advice to younger more child like ones about using the force and following the path. This creates direct appeal to younger audiences, and makes watching Star Wars a more enjoyable and meaningful experience.

MARIO KART:

Another brand I am going to discuss, is the brand of Super Mario, more specifically the game franchise Mario Kart which is a game which has been released on a range of devices, which creates a direct appeal to wide audiences, as well as the sub-culture of people who play Mario games as well as other games by Nintendo.

The portable gaming device, the 3DS uses technological convergence by converting a gaming console, with a computer, as well as combing the use of the technology of a 3D Camera, as well as a 3D screen which allowed users to take pictures in 3Dimensions. The game Mario Kart 7 was released on the Nintendo 3DS which meant that people who had a 3DS were very likely to buy and play the game.

More recently, due to the release of the Nintendo Switch, the brand of Mario Kart was advertised further for the release of the new game Mario Kart 8. The Nintendo Switch also used technological convergence, since it combined a portable gaming device with a home console, since the Nintendo Switch can be played using the screen on the device, as well as being able to plug the device into your high definition TV at home through HDMI cable.

The brand Mario Kart during the release of Mario Kart 8 was advertised though above the line adverts, which advertised the new game as well as the new console, in order to get the target audience excited and buy both of the products. The product appeals to the target  audience of families, since the game is family-friendly, and entertains a huge range of audiences including adults.

The product of the Nintendo switch also appeals to a range of audience, since it can be played individually as well as being played as a group of people (including families). The more direct appeal Nintendo creates for audiences include gamers who are specifically loyal to the gaming brand Nintendo, due to growing up with their previous consoles as a kid, including the Nintendo Wii, which combined sensory movement with gaming.

This means that the games visual style and familiar game play (based on previous versions of the Mario Kart franchise) will create a sense of audience pleasures, since the genre is familiar to the target audience due to the style the characters have been designed in.

Below the line advertisement for this game included the creation of the Super Mario App, which offered a game similar to the game Super Mario Bros 2 for the 3DS, which meant that the genre and style of Nintendos games is advertised and experienced personally by a huge range of audiences, since the app can be accessed by anyone with a mobile phone, and will mean that a larger audience will want to buy the Nintendo Switch and play the game Mario Kart 8.

Above the line advertising was also used through the use of billboard posters, which will be seen by most people, including of parents of potential children in the target audience, who are wondering what to buy their children for Christmas whilst stuck in traffic.

Another above the line advertisement used was the TV advert, which seemed to encourage consumers to buy the product as a Christmas present for children, which appealed to a huge western audience, since Christmas is celebrated very highly in the west.

The appeal is created to the target audience, through Mario Kart 8 having very high graphics, and being made in an improved style comparable to the previous games, as well as clearly being a game created by Nintendo, which means that the games are fun, quirky and enjoyable to play.

The mode of address of Mario Kart is also parent-to-child, since the game prompts and informs the player of how to play the game in a very childish way.