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Top 10 Disability Stereotypes

1. Inspirations- Indomitable disabled person, aka 'Super Cripple' over comes every challenge, "doesn't think of self as disabled" never asks for help, declines accommodation of any kind, climbs Mt. Everest in a wheelchair with a cheesy smile.
2. Deviant, Sinister and Evil- Naturally crooked, operate outside normal rules of nature and society, must be contained, controlled or destroyed.
3. Victims- Vulnerable, weak, tragic object of violence and abuse
4. Exotic Freaks- Generate feelings of horror, aversion, fear of difference, embarrassment
5. Clowns- Comic relief, laughable appearance, funny voices, the butt of jokes, dumb and dumber, court jesters, fools
6. Pitiful and Sweet- Pathetic, innocent, grateful for crumbs, sometimes speak gentle words if extraordinary wisdom (especially if intellectually impaired) need to be looked after, in film and fiction often finds miracle cure
7. Twisted and Bitter- chip on shoulder, whining, acrimonious, angry and difficult, taking out inner hurt and rage on the world, okay to ignore their concerns, pointless trying to communicate with them
8. Burden and Outcast- costly, non-contributing burdens on society, "can't" and "don't" fit in anywhere except amongst others of the same kind- should be segregated, institutionalized, provided with the bare minimum or euthanized ("better off dead anyway"), preferably prevented from reproducing
9. Non-Sexual- can never be in a relationship (unless partner is a pervert or martyr)
10. Incapable of Full Participation in Everyday Life- Nothing to do with how society is built or organized, just can't learn, earn, play, socialize, shop, travel, go to a nightclub or use the phone (cause for unlimited astonishment if can do any of above)

With thanks to Richard Reiser's Work in the UK

Digital Distribution Affecting Consumption of Media Products Essay

To what extent does digital distribution affect the marketing and consumption of media products in the area of media you have studied?

Digital distribution has an effect on the film industry as more and more people are watching films in their homes, whether this is on DVD, Blu-Ray or, more often, online. Television premiers also mean that less and less people are going and spending money on film tickets at the cinema, however this doesn’t necessarily mean that digital is the way forward.

In the science fiction thriller ‘Prometheus’ directed by Ridley Scott, a huge marketing strategy was put into place in order to promote the film to a wider audience. A huge amount of funding was given by 20^th Century Fox as well as marketing partners including Amazon. An advertising budget between $40 and $50 million was given ($20 million from the initial film production budget of $130 million and the other $30 million from advertising) in order to promote the film.

Ways in which the film was advertised was by creating a viral marketing scheme. This included four videos about the film which were released online. The first video was of Guy Pearce who plays the character Peter Weyland in ‘Prometheus’ doing a futuristic TED talk about the mission.

The next video was showing the robot ‘David 8’, another character in the film. The video was first released to the visitors of WonderCon, who got business cards from ‘Weyland Industries’- the business in the film- which directed them to a website. This website then gave them a link which showed them the ‘David 8’ advertisement. A while later, an extended version of the video was released to the public listing the qualities of the robot portraying the video as an advert.

The third video was of Naomi Rapace who stars in the movie as one of the main characters Elizabeth Shaw. She is shown asking various questions and explaining the reasoning behind the mission, which was carried out in order to create excitement about the film. The fourth and final video used in the viral marketing campaign of ‘Prometheus’ was of the ships captain preparing for the mission. It was kept short to add an element of mystery for the viewer and would make them even more excited and more desperate to go and see the film at the cinema. 

As well as this, ‘Prometheus’ released a tease, unfinished trailer before releasing the complete film trailer. This was to create a bigger buzz for the film and makes it more exciting for the film audiences. The virals and trailers were all distributed digitally as they were put on to the main ‘Prometheus’ website as well as on the ‘Prometheus’ channel on YouTube. This allowed for thousands of people to hear about the film and make them want to go and see it. Promoting to a large audience is expected for this type of film as it allows for more people to go and see the film. For big budget films, big audiences are needed in order for the film to make its money back and be an all around success.

‘Prometheus’ was released on DVD on the 18^th of September 2012 in over 50 countries. It was then released on Netflix on the 6^th of November 2012, just over 150 days after the initial cinema release. This would have had an impact on a lot of people who would have been interested in seeing the film because it would cost a lot less. As well as being released on Netflix, ‘Prometheus’ was released on LOVE FILM meaning that people are able to rent the DVD from the company for less money than it would cost for them to either buy the DVD or go and watch the film at the cinema.

However, ‘Prometheus’ was also released in IMAX meaning that audiences who wanted this feature would have to go and see the film at a special IMAX cinema. This would have meant that people would have to have gone out and paid the money for this purpose.

As well as this, it was released in 3D meaning that audiences would have gained a better, more fun and interesting cinema experience as they would have been able to see rocks and spaceships flying at them and made them feel as though they are in the film. The film was also released on DVD in 3D so people with 3D televisions would be able to watch the film in this way using this feature.

A way to increase the realness of the film ‘Prometheus’ was released in 4D meaning that people were able to feel movements in their seats as well as seeing mist and smelling things which the film characters would be experiencing. Although this was only released in one 4DX cinema, it would have been a major factor and would have played a large part in the amount of money the film made. Digital distribution would not have prevented the 4D film from being successful as there is no way of digitally distribution a film in 4D and so the unique experience would have made audiences want to go and see the film in 4D.

Films need to make their money back which is why illegal downloading and streaming of films is such a huge problem. Although the cinema experience is becoming increasingly expensive, some films are finding it difficult to make a profit. The large amount of money spent on marketing a film such as Prometheus means that people are more aware of the film. The more hype, the more likely it is for the film to be up for illegal downloads as the people uploading them will know it would be worth it as it is almost a guarantee with big budget films and so there is always the fear that illegal downloaders will be more successful than the actual film makers. Advances in technology have allowed for people to be able to sit in their homes and watch the latest releases with one swift click. Luckily for ‘Prometheus’, this wasn’t an issue, however for many, lower budget films this is not the case.

For example, a low budget film such as sci fi adventure film ‘Attack the Block’, directed by Joe Cornish, did not have the money for the amount of marketing as ‘Prometheus’. This meant that less people would have heard about the film. The shortage of marketing meant that they were only appealing to a small audience in comparison with ‘Prometheus’ however this was expected due to having a significantly smaller budget of £8 million. The budget was put together by Studio Canal, Film 4 and also from the National Lottery Funding. These companies are used to making low budget, low grossing movies and so will have to consider the use of digital distribution in order to reach a wider audience.

As well has having the small budget, the audience was limited even further because of the age rating for the film. This meant that even less people were able to see the film. Because of digital distribution, people under the age of 15 would have been able to watch the film online because of things such as streaming and downloading the films.

Although the streaming could have had an effect on DVD sales of ‘Attack the Block’, it would not have really affected the audiences in cinema. With the age rating being a 15, only a small audience was targeted for the film. This meant that it wasn’t surprising that the film only grossed £2.5 million however the film wasn’t a flop. Over time, through the sales of DVDs, ‘Attack the Block’ will make its money back. Digital distribution didn’t really have an affect on ‘Attack the Block’.

Meida Ownership, Production and Exchange Essay

Discuss the issues raised by media ownership in the production and exchange of media texts in your chosen media area:

There are many issues which can occur in production and exchanges in media texts

An example of when issues were raised in media ownership was in Matthew Vaughans comic book adaptation action packed film ‘Kick Ass’. The production company ‘Marv’ (owned by Matthew Vaughan) made up the original budget for the film which amounted to $10 million which is extremely small. Having no backing from any of the major film companies meant there was a problem with the production as there would not be enough funding for the film to actually be created and exhibited.

Luckily for Matthew Vaughan, Plan B Entertainment, a film production company owned by Hollywood ‘star’ Brad Pitt, joined in with the venture and raised the budget from $10 million to $30 million. Although this budget is still small, it allows enough money to pay for the production and promotion of the film as well as the exhibition of the film which allowed more people to go and see the film which ultimately made the film a success.

The low budget meant that issues were raised with the cast. The stars of the movie were relatively unknown and therefore did not have a huge fan base and did not bring masses of viewers to the cinema to see the film. For this reason, there was fear that the film would be unsuccessful and not be a big hit at the box office.

However, with the use of big, successful Hollywood actors who work for low budgets such as Nicolas Cage, the film would instantly gain more publicity. Nicolas Cage is a very successful actor who, after having money troubles, now works on small films with low budgets that tend to be fairly successful- ‘Kick Ass’ an example of this. Because Cage only required a small section of the films budget (unlike he would a few years ago- in 2009 he was one of Hollywood’s highest paid actors earning an estimated $40 million) it meant that the rest of the budget could be used more in the production as well as other, less known actors.

Another issue with the casting in ‘Kick Ass’ due to the budget was having Aaron Johnson as the main character Dave Lizewski and his alter ego ‘Kick Ass’ the superhero. Aaron Johnson, a young actor who the audience would have probably recognised from the John Lennon film adaptation ‘Nowhere Boy’, is young and relatively inexperienced. The issue with this is that Vaughan wouldn’t know how good a job he would do starring as the main character in a film of this type- something which he is extremely unfamiliar with. His performance could have either made the film brilliant or made the film horrendous. The risks taken by Vaughan to put him as the lead roll could have been the reason behind the unsuccessful film.

Also, the other main character of ‘Hit Girl’ and Mindy McCready was played by another unknown, upcoming child actress; Chloe Grace Moretz. Having only had minor roles in previous films, this was another risk taken by the films producers. If her performance wasn’t up to the standards, critics and viewers wouldn’t enjoy the film and wouldn’t promote through word-of-mouth and so the film wouldn’t have been as big of a success as it was!

Also, a lot of the cast who were playing Americans were British actors. This is because issues with the budget meant that Americans who would have expected a bigger pay check than the British actors would have been too expensive. Also, with Matthew Vaughan being a British director, it meant that people who he would have worked with in the past would be happy to work with him because they are loyal rather than the money aspect of the job.

Another issue which was raised about the exhibition of ‘Kick Ass was the age rating. With ‘Kick Ass’ being an action film adapted from comic books, the idea audience would have been young teenagers, however this was not the case. Instead of the 12 or 12A rating which would have been expected, ‘Kick Ass’ was a 15. This meant that the audiences who were able to see it may not have been attracted to the film and not wanted to go and see the film. This could have made the film extremely unsuccessful.

However with the release of ‘Kick Ass’ on Blu-Ray and DVD, the people who were unable to see the film in the cinema were able to buy it from a shop. Because they couldn’t go and see it in the cinema, they would have to buy it on DVD or online and so made the film more successful after the release.

Also, something which didn’t impress film critics was the language used throughout the film. Having a twelve year old girl swearing would have been slightly off putting for certain people (even if it was what made the film so humorous) and would have put them off going to see the film. May critics said that the bad language should have been taken out of the film- as well as being kinder to ears, it would have lowered the age rating and made the film available to a larger audience- however Vaughan and script writer Jane Goldman decided against it as it was one of the main features of the film.

As well as this, the sound track consisted of songs notably from many other films. This is because the small budget didn’t allow for songs to be produced purely for the film. There was one song- the main song- used in the film which was recorded for the pure purpose of the film and was recorded by star of the time; Mika. This was good publicity for both Mika and the film as he was fairly successful in 2010 when ‘Kick Ass’ was released. However using songs from other films could have been risky because some of the songs were used from well known movies.

Lastly, the small budget meant only small amounts of CGI used. This could have made the film have a poor effect on the viewer; however this was not the case as the poor quality of some of the fight scenes were what made the film funny and appealing to the audience.

Another example of where there were problems with media ownership, production and exchange was in Ben Wheatley’s action/horror film ‘Kill List’. With a budget of just £500,000, there was hardly any money to get any well known actors or actresses and so had to use unknown actors in the film (including Neil Maskell, MyAnna Buring and Michael Smiley). This meant, as there were no huge stars, no amount of fans would have gone to the see the film as no one who was in the would have created a large amount of excitement for the film.

Also, the small budget left no money for promotion meaning, again, that no buzz was created amongst potential audiences. The lack of promotion meant that no one really knew about the film unless they went to small, art house style cinemas to see a film of the same genre and saw the advert for it as a trailer before their actual film.

There wasn’t a proper premier because there wasn’t a large, well known cast and the potential audience was limited. This also meant that there was no buzz created for the film. The only place where the film was ‘premiered’ was at the Film 4 Fright fest- It was held at the Film4 Fright Fest because Film4 were one of the film production companies that put money into the film along with Warp X and Rook Films. They all put the money together in order to create the film- meaning that the people who were interested in the genre would have seen it. This was a good way to promote the film to the target audience, however this audience is only limited and so would not have been a guaranteed success.

Having this issue with the audience meant that only people over the age of 18 were able to go and see the film, however I think that people who are most interested in horror films are slightly younger teenagers (like 16 year olds) and people who are 18 and over wouldn’t necessarily be attracted to this genre of film.

Also, the extreme violence and strange plot meant that some film critics loved it and some hated it. It was important for the success of the film that it got good reviews as that was one of the only ways people would be attracted to go and see the film. Luckily, most thought that the plot and violence was good and gave fairly good reviews meaning that some of the people who read the reviews went to see the film. Could the good reviews from critics have played the major part in the film grossing over £16,000?

Digital Media Technology Essay

What significance does the continuing development of digital media technology have for media institutions and audiences?

To a certain extent, the development of digital media technology has allowed media institutions to connect and branch out to their specific target audiences. In a way, it allows the media institutions to promote the film on a smaller scale- and budget- and creates more excitement for the film among the target audience and therefore creates a bigger buzz in the run up to the films release date.

One example of when digital media technology being used in a successful film was in Ridley Scott’s science fiction film ‘Prometheus’. Digital media technology was used in both the production and the promotion when the film from the ‘Alien’ franchise was released. It was shot using 3D cameras and was released in 2D, 3D (in selected cinemas) and, in one cinema in Mexico City, even 4D. 4D is where physical effects in the cinema allow the audiences to feel as if they are in the film by including motion in the seats and sometimes smell-o-vision which is where smells are released in the cinema. ‘Prometheus’ was released in a 4DX cinema which allowed the viewers of the films to feel motion in their seats as well as having a feature which released and allowed then to feel the mist, wind, fog and smell which the characters in the film experienced.

Ridley Scott’s film production company teamed up with Brandywine productions (a production company which has worked on all of the films from the ‘Alien’ franchise) and 20^th Century Fox, one of the ‘big six’ Hollywood production companies in order to come up with a budget for the promotion. They came up with $50 million ($30 million of which came from promotional partners such as Amazon) which paid for a huge advertising campaign. The advertisement budget allowed a series of videos which were created and released on the internet in order to be shown all over the world. One of the virals was of Peter Weyland- a character in the film played by Guy Pearce- doing a futuristic style TED talk about the basic plot of the film in front of thousands of people. This viral was released a few months before the films release. The growing use of media technology meant that a website was created especially for this reason. As well as this, a Weyland industries website was created as a fake website for the fictional company in the film owned by the TED taker Peter Weyland.

As well as the TED talk, at WonderCon- a science fiction convention- the film panel (people who attended the convention) were given a business card which directed them to a website which featured a video advertisement for the ‘David 8’ robot (played by Michael Fassbender) which is featured in the film. Later in the year (and closer to the films release date) an extended version of the video was released listing all of the qualities and functions of ‘David’. As a free method of promotion, a twitter account was created for David which allowed twitter users to ask the character/robot questions and get to know more about the character.

Also, two more videos; one of Rapace starring as scientist Shaw and the other of the ships captain Jack preparing for a mission were all released consecutively in order to create excitement about the film.

However digital media technology was not only used in the promotion of the film, it was also used throughout the production of the actual film. As the film was released in 3D, it was shot in 3D as it is easier and was better for when the footage was being edited. Scott was focusing on the 3D footage as he said it added the ‘illusion of depth’ showing that the continuing growth of digital media technology is not only good for promotion but also makes the quality of films a lot better for audiences.

Also, a lot of special effects were used in the film which required CGI. This would only have been able to happen due to the growth of digital media technology. For example, in ‘Prometheus’ a lot of alien creatures are used, most of which required some form of CGI, in order to make them seem realistic. Neal Scanlan and Connor O’Sullivan developed the alien creature trying to make them all seem to have a logical biological function and purpose. The ‘Engineers’ were created to resemble Roman Gods and were created by the application of bulky, full body prosthetics to the actors- whose facial features were diminished by the material and were later digitally enhanced to portray a god-like perfection. Another snake-like alien called the ‘Hammerpede’ was created through a mixture of CGI and practical effects after the practical puppet wires were removed.

As well as alien creatures, sets and vehicles required lots of special effects to create a realistic effect for the film. Arthur Max, the set and vehicle designer, used digital 3D models and miniature replicas of each set to allow designers/makers to know where the CGI elements would be inserted. The realistic look of the ships and the vehicles would not have been conveyed as well as they were without the use of digital and CGI which is all a direct result of the growth and advances in digital media technology.

Approximately 1,300 digital effects shots were used in ‘Prometheus’ meaning that most of the film was created through the use of digital which is also a direct result in the growth and advances in digital media technology. Studios including Movin Picture Company (MPC) created the shots, with the most complex effects being used for the orrey 3D digital map which contained over 80 million polygons within it, taking several weeks to render as a single, complete shot. This made the map look realistic and futuristic and would not have created the same effect if the advances in digital media technology hadn’t been as big.

Another science fiction film which used a lot of digital media technology was ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ directed by Rupert Wyatt. It was released in 2011 and had a budget of $93 million- less that ‘Prometheus’ which had an estimated budget of $130 million- which was financed by 20^th Century Fox and was a film following on from the ‘Planet of the Apes’ franchise.

Digital technology was used when creating the apes in the film. Originally, real apes were going to be used in the film rather than computer generated creatures; however the producers decided to use actors which would then be digitally transformed into the apes we see onscreen. Andy Serkis, the actor who played the role of lead ape Ceaser in the film, has had roles in films like this previously, such as King Kong in the 2005 film ‘King Kong’, and so is familiar in the ways in which the apes move and makes it look realistic.

The performance capture process begins with Serkis in a grey tracksuit with green stickers tracking his movements in an ape style way on set in Vancouver. When the producers are happy with the movement they send the footage over to the WETA digital studio base in Wellington, New Zealand where they create a more ape-like look by adding skin and fur. The end result is very realistic showing that digital technology is useful in the film industry. Without it, ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ wouldn’t have been nearly as good and wouldn’t have had such a realistic look.

Digital technology was also used on some of the sets of ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’. The budget allowed the crew to have freedom when filming on set and it often led to them using exterior environments to shoot in. However, in some cases- such as the golden gates bridge scene- physical set was used with additional computer generated parts to create a scene of better quality.

The growing use of technology also meant that the adverts and promotional trailers were able to be shown/viewed worldwide. With the ever increasing use of smart phone technology, websites such as YouTube enable people to see film trailers and teasers on the go. This also means that if a film has its own website, it can ensure that a mobile phone version of the website will be created so that people can search for information on the film wherever they are rather than waiting until they get to the nearest computer.

Facebook and twitter pages and accounts were also made for ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes.’ This was used as a cheap method of promotion for the film as facebook has over 1 billion activated accounts and twitter has over 140 million users meaning that the pages would show to a huge amount of people. The more people that know about the film, the more chance a film has of success and so it was important that ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ branched out to a large audience. People use online social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter every day so it is almost impossible for the dedicated film pages to not attract anyone to go and see the movie. It worked. ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ grossed over $480 million.

Without CGI and digital technology, ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ wouldn’t have been as good and wouldn’t have had the same effect on the viewer. The way the apes all looked so realistic meant the audience felt a connection with the character and made them more emotional when they watched it as all of the chimps actions and emotions were shown and created purely for that purpose.

CGI was also used in low budget British film ‘Attack the Block’ which was directed by Joe Cornish when creating the aliens. The CGI effects were used to create the glowing teeth of the monsters which made them original and scary. The addition of fur was also added by the digital effects team and the overall effect wowed critics, some of whom said that the creatures were what made attack the block so good.

IMAX (Image Maximum) is a motion picture film format and a form of digital media technology. It improves the quality of display images up to a greater size and resolution which ultimately ends up in having a film with a better quality image. Since 2002, some feature films have been upgraded to the IMAX format purely for display in IMAX theatres and some films have been partially shot in IMAX.

The IMAX conversion with Warner Brothers (WB), one of the Hollywood ‘big six’ film production companies, means that, as well as increasing the worldwide popularity of the IMAX experience, the quality of the 20 films WB plan to release in IMAX will be much better and will be more pleasing for the audience to watch. Since the decision to release various films in the new format, massively successful films such as ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ have been released by WB in IMAX and gained incredible reviews proving that this huge advance in digital media technology makes the film industry more enjoyable and overall more exciting for the audience

Overall, the growth and advances in digital media technology mean that the quality of the films released in the future will be much better. The idea of things such as IMAX and 4D cinema experiences makes the film experience much more enjoyable and more exciting for the movie audiences and aims to create a boost in the number of people going to the cinema and supporting the film industry.