Theory Summaries

 Curran and Seaton/power and media industries-

 patterns of ownership and control are important and how the media functions, media industry is a capitalist and aim to increase concentration of ownership, owners pursue profit at the expense of quality or creativity, impact of the Internet on the ownership of news is nominal and is still controlled by an oligarchy 

Hesmondhalgh/ Cultural industries

They follow a capitalist pattern of increasing concentration and interrogation so production is only controlled by a few conglomerates, risk is seen in terms of loss of money because production costs are high, companies rely on repetition to minimise risk and cover failure

Livingston and Lunt/ regulation

Consumers are individuals who seek private benefits from the media and require regulation to protect them from the damage of the media, regulation in the UK is under threat but increasingly globalised industries because of technological convergence 

Audiences 

Bandura/Media effects

The media influence people directly, or indirectly three related platforms such as social media  

Gerbner/Cultivation theory

Exposure to particular media forms genres or content over long periods of time can cultivate and shape our behaviour, repetition of negative media messages and values are likely to create mean world syndrome

Hall/ reception theory      

Including/decoding model explain the relationship between producer, media product an audience in creating meaning, media produces include product to the preferred meaning, dominant reading negotiated reading and oppositional reading

Jenkins/ Fandom

 New media have enabled participatory culture where audiences are active, participatory audiences create online communities using the media for me to develop or influence how media is consumed    

Shirky/ End of audience

Traditional media are shaped by centralised producers, audience were seen as a mass of people with predictable behaviours, audience behaviour is now variable, user generated content creates emotional connection

Media Language 

Barthes/ semiology

Demonstrations can signify quality shins, they are organised into maps, myths create an ideological meaning and help ideology feel natural real and acceptable

Todorov/narratology

Narratives can be seen to move from state of equilibrium to disequilibrium, The narrative structure the characters we see within it and the role they play help to reinforce ideological values

Neale/ Genre theory

Do you wanna exchange a decline in popularity, there is a process through which generic codes and conventions are shared by produces in audiences, genres aren’t fixed but are constantly evolving

Levi- Strauss/ structuralism

This is the study of hidden roles that shape the structure to communicate ideology or myths, understand the world and our place within it based on binary oppositions

Baudrillard/ post modernism

Post modern society is concerned with hyperreal simulations play with signs of images, social distinctions are no longer rigid

Representation 

Hall/representation       

Through stereotyping and communication ideology those in power tried to fix the meaning of representation, many meanings of representation can generate super third readings can’t be contested, meaning is created by representation, stereotypes in the way they are constructed should be pulled apart and deconstructed

Gauntlett/ identity 

The media have an important but complex relationship with identities, many diverse and contradictory messages that individuals can use to think through their identity

Van Zoonen/ feminist theory

Women’s bodies are represented as objects, ideas of femininity and masculinity are constructed in our performances, gender is what we do rather than who we are and changes meaning depending on cultural and historical contexts

Bell hooks/feminist theory

Into sick she analogy refers to the coming together of gender race class and sexuality to create a white supremacist it’s media representation, women should develop an oppositional gaze that refuses  identify with characters that reinforce patriarchal ideology and politicises the gaze

Butler/ gender performativity                            

Gender is created in response to a performance of gender roles, we learn how to perform gender roles through repetition and ritual that becomes naturalised

Gilroy/ethnicity and post colonialism

The black Atlantic is a transatlantic culture that is simultaneously African-American Caribbean and British, Britain has failed to mourn its loss of empire creating post colonial melancholia leading to a version of British colonial history that criminalises immigrants, representations support a  belief in the inherent superiority of white western civilisation.

House Of Cards

 Directed by David Finche and was broadcasted online by Netflix in January 2013, produced by the studio Media Studio Rights Capital in which it purchased the right to HOC with intent to create an original Netflix series of episodes. Netflix agreed to contribute $100 million to the cost of producing the show for 2 seasons.

Production- Netflix produced and streamed the series for 26 episodes which was two seasons, it had no traditional programme structure. The show wasn’t reliant on artificial cliffhangers unlike UK soap operas where it shows on a regular basis through the year with cliffhangers to hook audiences to watch the next episode. HOC represented the first show made for Netflix, signposted Netflix’s clear desire to be a producer of content and not a distributor. It is an unique example of how long form tv drama has developed along with releasing all the episodes at the same time for one season. This illustrates the changing nature of media ownership and distribution.

Audience- An example of how audience has changed in the online age, The attitudes to watching this type of long form TV drama illustrates the way in which the consumer subscribes to it in order to discuss and share the content, The engagement highlights the need for producers to understand the reception of online dramas in more depth, adaptations in the way that it is watched. As Netflix has viewers who subscribe this results in more freedom to watch and download according to individual choice meaning that the House of Cards had more freedom to develop and invest in the long form drama as there wasn’t constant constraints of building a brand or maintaining a Conservative programme content. They also offer something that cable networkers cannot called asynchronous viewing giving the audience to total control over when and where they watch it which challenges media theory and carries implications for how audiences consume media texts.

Gerbner’s cultivation theory – examines long term effects of television, The primary proposition is of this theory is that the more time people spend living in a television world the more likely they are to believe the social reality alliance of the reality portrayed on TV, but if the traditional TV audience is changing because of subscription channels then the effect of these channels on new viewing patterns cannot be measured. The audience for House of Cards is more male and female given the nature and tone of the program the typical interest in political thrillers and the payments that the subscription potentially has the demographic of ABC1 

Netflix is biggest challenge was to create an episode of House of Cards that could be used to establish seriality when all episodes are available at once, narratives the functions to maintain a revenue stream, helps ensure that the audiences tune in daily to advertisers messages.

It is Netflix is willingness to give the audience control over serial viewing at challenges assumptions that the best way to control program consists of stretchout episodes overtime measuring demand then to raise and lower other advertising prices.

Audience control the pace of narrative consumption which will affect social media communities, also challenges synchronous viewing as a business model based on the limitations of legacy technologies rather than inherent quality of seriality, they expand offerings on commercial programming to attract new subscribers.

Representation- it reflects the reality between politicians and the media, One of the episodes represents the media and the government as to opposing forces with the media city and oppose of the wrongdoing this suggests the theme of corruption in public life as a preferred reading of the text, House of Cards indicates the audience in creating its meaning and power in deciding who are key influences with the episode, we see power represented not only in its typical political settings but also in its domestic settings and themes, two of the characters Frank and his wife Claire are represented a stronger than any single individual and as a power couple typically a reference to people the circumcision of power and authority. It is through such stereotypes of the audience is in courage to negotiate meanings in this text.

As it interweave the themes of the male politician and the female reporter were there being a professional journalist she contrasts with Claire who is defined by being franks wife as part of a couple , this assumes that the relationships with males ultimately have the most important in this women’s life is a feature of Van Zoonen which is described as a patriarchal society. The journalists actions can be interpreted as unprofessional and unethical The representation of women in the episode needs to be understood in relation to Franks actions as women are represented as serving his needs.

As the Van Zoonens concept of the representation of women and in the media suggest gender is performative or ideas of femininity and masculinity are constructed in the performance of these roles.

Revision Reading Material

Notes-

Page 54-58

The first episode of House Of Cards was directed by David Finche and was broadcasted online by Netflix in January 2013.
Produced by the independent studio, Media Studio Rights Capital which purchased rights to House Of Cards with the intent to create an original Netflix series of episodes.
Netflix agreed to contribute $100 million to produce the show for two seasons.
The co-chief executive 'Modi Wiczyk' confirmed that Netflix won the right to distribute the series because it gave the creators total artistic freedom

Production-

HOC was pitched to several cable networks including HBO.
Netflix was interested in launching it's own original programming and outbid the networks, it produced and streamed the series for 26 episodes (2 seasons)
Netflix was the only bidder that was interested in purchasing the rights without seeing a completed pilot, show was not forced into traditional programme structure and this enabled producers to manipulate story arcs introduced in episodes, not reliant on artificial cliffhangers.
HOC was the first show made for Netflix, clear desire to be a producer of content and not a distributor of media products, this could be seen as a threat to existing cable networks in the USA, HOC is a unique example of how long form TV drama has developed along with Netflix's strategy to release all 13 episodes for the first season.

It was broadcasted with no commercial breaks or advertising meaning that it was not under pressure that the broadcasters are to spread episodes over time to regularise and sustain the audiences attention, advertising revenue pays for the programme.
When they released the full episodes of season one it generated an industry rethink of TV audiences. Discussion of how it made binge viewing possible at the click of a button, audiences can control their instant gratification which has made traditional TV schedules and their advertising outdated.

Audience-

HOC is an example of how the audience has changed in the online age, online audience should be based off of subscribers and not viewers, the engagement with the audience highlights the need for producers to understand the reception of online dramas, fascinating change to the environment especially in adapting the way it is watched.
Netflix doesn't release audience viewing figures for it's shows and doesn't organise audiences viewing, TV flow and viewing managed by the cable broadcaster whereas Netflix and House Of Cards have viewers who subscribe  which results in more freedom for the certain individual. Also means that House Of Cards had more freedom to develop and invest in the long form TV drama as the Netflix model meant there were no constraints of building a brand and maintaining the programme to deliver audiences to advertisers.

Netflix offers asynchronous viewing ( viewing does not happen at the same time) which cable networks don't offer, as it gives the audience total control over when and where they watch, challenges media theories and implications.

Gerbner's cultivation theory examines the long term effects of television, the proposition of this theory is that more people spend 'living' in the television world, more likely to believe that social reality aligns with the reality portrayed on television. Traditional TV audience is changing because of subscriptions, effect of these channels cannot be measured, draws attention to the need to investigate the long term effects on people who consume long form TV drama.

House Of Cards audience is more male than female, given the nature and tone of the programme, typical interest in political thrillers and payment set for subscriptions, potentially has the demographic of ABC1.
Biggest challenge for them to be able to establish seriality when all episodes are available. In narrative with functions to maintain a revenue stream, Serialisation helps ensure that audiences tune in daily to advertisers messages and build loyalty.

Media Language-

Form and content of HOC is affected by the nature of it's release and ownership, episode 1 displays some challenging features, evident in high production values of the opening scene. It deploys unusual camera work and editing. Breaking of fourth wall is characteristic of its visual style, even though its unconventional it is a device that allows exposition of the characters motives, the first episode establishes interweaving plot lines between politics, the media and personal relationship, open episode encourages viewing of multiple episodes and higher viewer engagement lead to more subscriptions.

Drama is set in Washington DC, USA's political capital, uses a variety of domestic, political and business locations.

Political, Social and Culture Representation-

The episode represents the media and the government as two opposing forces, with public reading as preferred reading of the text from corruption, House of Cards in implicating the audience in creating its meaning and power, drama has the scope of creative freedom and budget to be realistic and accurate for the audience to believe in it, has references with certain position of power and authority, through stereotypes that the audience is encouraged to negotiate meanings.

Also interweaves themes of male politicians and a female reporter, this assumes that relationships with males ultimately have the most importance in women's lives, which can be an attempt to break with traditional feminine typecasting in the media.

Van Zoonen's concepts of the representation of women in the media, which suggest gender is performative, ideas of femininity and masculinity are constructed in the performance of these roles.

Minecraft

Minecraft-

Minecraft is a three-dimensional sandbox game , created and developed by Swedish-based Mojang Studios. It sets no specific goals for the player to accomplish, allowing users a large amount of freedom in choosing how to play the game. Game play is in the first-person perspective by default, but players do have the option to play in third person and there are different modes of play including Story Mode features. The game world is composed of rough 3D objects – mainly cubes and fluids – representing various materials such as dirt, stone, ores, tree trunks, water and lava. The core game play revolves around breaking and placing these objects. These blocks are arranged in a 3D grid, while players can move freely around the world. Players can mine blocks and then place them elsewhere, which allows for constructions to be built. The key characteristic of Minecraft as a video game is its creative and educational functions, which are more explicit in the gaming experience than in market-led rival games.

Sandbox game A game free of structure and constraint; players are free to roam and make choices about how they use the available content.

Marketing and Distribution- 

This is a parody made by a popular creator 'Captain Sparklez' to promote themselves and the game Minecraft with views of over 200 million and the creator having over 10 million subscribers it shows how it has been distributed across the YouTube community. They are mainly focusing on fitting a younger audience.

Minecraft is the second most successful video game of all time behind Tetris. 

It was created and designed by Markus Persson, a game programmer, who also developed and published the game through his company Mojang. A full version of the game went on release in November 2011. 

To date, well over 121 million copies have been sold across all platforms, including over 27 million PC copies, making it the biggest selling PC game of all time. 

The success of the games market.

The UK’s US$4 billion;  - £3,065,600 Pounds

China, US$24.4 billion  £2,556,900,400,000.00 Yen 

America’s US$23.6 billion. 

Minecraft’s Swedish creator, Markus “Notch” Persson started creating the game in May of 2009 having been inspired by similar games such as Dwarf Fortress, a single- player construction and management game; his goal was to produce a Role Playing Game variation. 

Minecraft’s initial reception wasn’t commercially viable, seen more as a niche product for players with expert knowledge of computers and programming. 

Advertising revenue, the game relied on word of mouth between gamers and featured on sites such as the Penny Arcade web comic to generate interest amongst gamers.

by January 2011, the beta-version of the game had passed over one million purchases in just only a month, and by April 2011 Persson estimated that US$33 million of revenue had been made. 

Minecraft inspired videos gained significant popularity on YouTube generating viral hype and talkability. 

By 2011, with Minecraft being developed among the game community, Persson and his company, Mojang Studios, had a game concept with exponential global growth but without commercial backing from a mainstream publisher. The game’s publicity relied on word-of-mouth recommendations between gamers – its users. For many media companies this would not typically have enabled growth or development of the concept. But, in the online age, Persson had the vision to circulate and generate the game via the internet and the video game community, so spreading the message virally about the game’s value. This is a clear example of the power of collaboration.

A consequence of this was that the beta version of the game had passed ‘over one million purchases in just a month in January 2011, and by April 2011 Persson estimated that US$33 million of revenue had been made’

In November 2011, prior to the game’s official release:

Minecraft had over 16 million registered users 

and 4 million purchases. 

Due to its popularity, Minecraft was released across multiple platforms, becoming a commercially viable franchise with increased interactivity. 

In particular, Minecraft: Pocket Edition was released on Sony Xperia Play, available on Sony Xperia smartphones.

 Minecraft also become available on Android and iOS devices shortly after.

It was this ability to strike a franchise deal with an existing technology company, in this case Sony, to distribute the game that was a key feature of its success. 

This commercial deal helped secure Minecraft ’s place in the video game market. Its significance was twofold: 

■ It was released on multiple platforms and increased audience interactivity. 

■ It was packaged as a game brand for a wider global audience and not just video gamers.

Synergy- the interaction or cooperation of two or more organisations

Minecraft Education- This is important because people learn in different ways so if someone was more of a visual learner this would be an advantage to them as it will be a strength for them. 

In 2014, Microsoft acquired Minecraft intellectual property for $2.5 billion. In 2015, it reached 30 million copies sold. 

Distribution: Versions of the game can be purchased over the internet using such outlets the PlayStation Network or Xbox Live Arcade. Recent additions include the Nintendo platform which was excluded from the initial Minecraft releases; available to download from December 2015 with physical copies from June 2016 and most recently for Nintendo Switch (May 2017) and Nintendo 3DS (download only from September 2017). The Minecraft:Story Mode - Minecraft has evolved from the technology being able to creative a narrative with choices you can choose what happens next. Price for a season is £29 for a season pass. For the whole series it is £107.

Sandbox games are games in which the player explores an open-ended world and they can do whatever they want to do with a few key note rules set in place. Other than those key note rules, the player can do whatever they want to, whether it would involve building structures or adventuring around the world to kill monsters. 

Action

Arcade

Adventure

Fighting

Racing

Shooter

FPS- First Person Shooter

Third Person Shooter

Role playing Game

MMORPG

Youtubers that promote Minecraft
Pewdiepie- Over 100 mil
Yogcast Lewis and Simon - Over 7 mil
Sky Does Minecraft- Over 11 mil
Reviews
Tutorials
Video
Short Cuts

The way that Minecraft has effectively managed and maximised its audience is the foundation of its success. Initially, Mojang relied upon word of mouth from its users and the online community of computer programmer and gamers. Since the Microsoft takeover, Minecraft has developed plenty of opportunities to market the brand and its gaming features. If a company buys the intellectual rights to a video game in a deal running into billions of dollars, then it expects a sizeable financial return.

Minecraft had originally debuted as a downloadable game with no money for its marketing budget. In 2011, Minecraft became a gaming giant because Persson built the game with his community. As he recalls:
 It’s a weird way of making a game. You just put it out and keep working on it as you’re making it … I tried to make sure it’s clear that ‘This is not the game [that the buyers will see]. I’m just working on it, and you can play it while I’m making it.’ (Source: http://observer.com , 14 March 2017)
He found, however, that his early adopters helped improve the game. Users reported bugs and, more importantly, created ‘mods’ (game modifications) that were new worlds, characters and items for gamers to play with inside Minecraft .

The introduction of the Minecraft Realms service in 2013 was an attempt to give the producers more control over the distribution and circulation of the game. Realms are servers that are created specifically for players and are intended to keep players’ Minecraft world online, accessible and safe to allow them to create, survive or compete. This invokes a sense of belonging, community and play amongst its users. It is the establishment of a community within its marketplace that signals Minecraft as a lead video game.

Minecraft Wiki ( http://minecraft.wikia.com/wiki/Minecraft ) is a free-to-use website referenced by Minecraft users to find out how to craft an item or realm in Minecraft . Users ask for help in the online forum. There is a history of the game’s development on the site and a wide range of fans’ feeds. This networked community of users exchanges ideas, finds free game resources and asks questions in relation to problem solving and creativity. Away from established and recognised internet platforms, Minecraft reddit is a forum widely used and lists websites for add-ons and game features.

2010 Minecraft was developed as a multiplayer game using JAVA code..
Gamers were able to contribute to the development of the program eliminating bugs and facilitating multiplayer capability
In September of 2013, Microsoft bought all rights to Minecraft from Mojang for $2.5 billion dollars.

Minecraft, in November 2014 of that year, plans to work on a virtual reality version of Minecraft in Partnership with Oculus

Minecraft , as a PC Java game, became a globally successful phenomenon across all consoles and hand-held devices.
 It is now a multi-platform game appealing to a wide range of users – not only PC gamers but those who own smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.
Mojang has struck deals with Nintendo, the largest game software seller, and Sony, as a hardware manufacturer and global conglomerate.
By 2014 the intellectual property rights had been acquired by Microsoft, an American multinational technology company. This is not simply a case of the product being in the right place at the right time. These gaming giants and technology companies had a vision for Minecraft and how it could be distributed both globally and through its own gaming community. Their view was that beyond sales of hardware or software,
gamers’ could readily be sold add-ons and a whole range of merchandise, including Minecraft: Official Magazine e, T-shirts, mugs, calendars, backpacks, hoodies, tie-ins with Lego, and Minecraft mini-games. Most recently a Minecraft movie has been proposed for 2019 (with Warner Bros. film studio). Minecraft has become a global brand with its own marketplace (its fans) to which to sell these offline commodities.

Is it inevitable that independent media producers, such as Mojang, will be bought out by conglomerates like Microsoft? It does seem that in the history of the media there is a recognised pattern of diversification of interests by leading commercial companies in the takeover of independent producers – a pattern that has been long established in, for example, Film making. 

2017 Microsoft ownership develops the cross platform capability of Minecraft which is now available on C gamers but those who own smartphones, Microsoft consoles (Xbox); Playstation 3, 4 and PS Vita; and more recently Nintendo consoles (Wii U) and hand-held devices (Nintendo Switch and Nintendo New 3DS, New 2DS XL and New 3DS XL) 

This opens up the market for the game (potentially increasing profits)

Newer games e.g. for smart phones were programmed in C++ (which limit the Minecraft community from modifying the code)

Newer games such as cross platform play are more complex and refined in their graphic content

Microsoft is finally bringing all those platforms together with the “Better Together” update, which is rolling out today for Xbox One, mobile devices, and Windows 10 PCs. The Nintendo Switch is still set to get the Better Together update, too, although that’s been delayed until later in the winter.
That means that the console versions of Minecraft on Xbox One (and eventually, the Nintendo Switch) will now run the same version of Minecraft as PCs, mobile, and VR, built on what Microsoft calls the Bedrock Engine.

 Once the Better Together Update hits in the summer, the game’s editions on Windows 10, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, mobile, and VR will simply be called ‘Minecraft’. They will share DLC – and players – in fulfilment of a plan the publishers have been working towards since they bought out Notch in 2014.
Minecraft: Java Edition – the original Minecraft – is not invited to Microsoft’s unification party, and neither is the ginormous modding community that has sustained it for this long.

17th
Audience

Minecraft has sold over 100 million copies sold (across PC, mobile and console)
Minecraft is a global product. . With users in the 112 countries that register legal downloads
the USA, the UK and Canada have the most appetite for Minecraft downloads.
Countries in northern Europe, Japan and Australia constitute the remaining top ten.
Grand Theft Auto V , which has sold approximately 65 million copies

Microsoft reports that the game has been selling at an average pace of 53,000 copies a day since the start of 2016.

AGE                                           Analysis : over 85% of the demographic is represented by                                                                              Under 15’s through to 22 – 30’s
under 15 (147 votes [20.59%])
15-21 (312 votes [43.70%])
22-30 (150 votes [21.01%])
31-40 (58 votes [8.12%])
41-50 (23 votes [3.22%])                                         
51-60 (5 votes [0.70%])
61-70 (1 votes [0.14%])
71-80 (1 votes [0.14%])
81+ (17 votes [2.38%])

An age poll on Minecraft Forums ( www.minecraftforum.net ) states that the profile of the 86 per cent of players who were under 30 was made up of:

 20 per cent aged under 15, 

44 per cent aged 15– 21, and 22 per cent aged 22– 30. 

Teenagers in North America and Europe seem to be the dominating demographic , with the majority of that demographic being male. 

This is reflected in the ethos and game design, which have particularly masculine characteristics in terms of constructing and creating.

Even though the game can be played by everyone, there seems to be  an affinity for males, predominantly young <30

40% of Minecraft players are women

39% of PC players are female

43% of console players are female

56% of mobile players are female

Uses and gratification Theory:

As a sandpit game users may be drawn to the game for the purposes of 

Entertainment

Education

Interaction

What makes Minecraft popular with its audience is its multiple game play modes, which consist mainly of adding and mining a variety of different blocks in a digitally created world compared with other game genres, such as the ‘shooter’ genre. 

Audience interaction 

Minecraft also relies on audience interaction across games in order for the gamer to access an infinite world of craft and building. This is the key characteristic and asset of Minecraft as a sandbox game, which is immersive in its play in different realms and cultures. Users can create a digital world and invite fellow gamers, for example, in the Gardens of External Fall. It is in these realms that interactive play creates characters or mods, and modifications are created by the audience as an extra for the games that they are playing. It is this creative and interactive aspect of the game that engages Minecraft ’s audience. Creating mods has the feel of programming in the beta version of the game. It gives more options to the player to interact with the Minecraft world, changing the feel of it – indeed, Minecraft ’s users see the game as thrilling and imaginative.

Vidcon, Comicon, Minecon

Forums and servers- Minecraft

Chats + Whatsapp group

Online Community

Vloggers, Bloggers- Gamers

Virtual Reality

Video games Evaluate how ongoing audience interaction influences the production of video games. Make specific reference to Minecraft in your answer. 

This question focuses on the influence of audience interaction on video games. You should avoid writing lengthy contextual introductions to the history of Minecraft , but recognise how the game’s development was intertwined with how it was produced. Stay on-task and be succinct with the two or three main points that you want to make.

 Support your answer with examples and reference to your study of Minecraft . Aim to spend 25 minutes on this question.

Essay-

Audience interaction is a highly used method in influencing the production of many video games, mostly from people online with a following.

When the game was starting to create in 2009, many other games influenced the variation/style of the game for example Dwarf Fortress which was a single player construction and management game but the goal was to produce a role playing variation. It was seen as more of a niche product for players with expert knowledge of computers and programming, The audience interaction started from word to mouth between gamers and the Penny Arcade to generate interest amongst gamers with the game getting more popular it sparked minecraft inspired videos which significantly gained popularity on YouTube creating an ongoing hype and talkability from being developed amongst the game community in 2011, in a month the game had passed over one million purchases and by April had an revenue of US$33 million. Following this in November 2011 prior to the games official release minecraft had over 16 million registered users and 4 million purchases, with the game being circulating and generated through the internet (the video game community) about the values of the game gave us a clear indication of the power of collaboration. This meant that the distribution of  multiple platforms had to increase making it  a commercially viable franchise which it then got released for Minecraft Pocket Edition on Sony Xperia Play and their smartphones and shortly after on Android and IOS, the significance of the deal was that it increased audience interactivity from the multiple platforms and was packaged as a game brand for a wider global audience and not just video gamers which led to the release of physical copies from June 2016 and then the majority of the Nintendo franchise alongside Minecraft Story Mode which is a narrative choice where you choose what happens. 

As YouTube started to become popular as well, many youtubers started to promote Minecraft such as Pewdiepie (over 100 mil subscribers) Yogcast, Lewis and Simon ( over 7 mil subscribers) and Sky Does Minecraft (over 11 mil subscribers) this came with reviews, tutorials, videos and short cuts, the benefits of this happening was that the creators get to play their favourite games whilst being paid for doing so and the game gets free advertisement each boosting each other up.

With it having users in the 112 countries that register legal downloads, the most common seems to be the USA, UK and Canada with the most interest for Minecraft downloads.

With many Youtubers creating  content for the game, some are to target more of a younger audience such as Minecraft Parodies where they use a song and replace the lyrics to fit the video game, an example of one is 'Revenge' to Ushers DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love created by Captain Sparklez the video has over 220 million views with the creator having over 10 million subscribers showing how they are boosting/benefiting both themselves and the game. 

Radio 1 Breakfast Show

Radio 1 Breakfast Show-

C-Class - ABC1
A-Age - 15-29 year olds
G-Gender - Male/Female
E-Ethnicity - 90% audience is white
D-Disability - Inclusive
S-Sexuality - Inclusive

Target Audience- The target audience for Radio 1 is 15-29 year olds with its remit to entertain and engage a broad range of young listeners with a distinctive mix of contemporary music and speech. It also provides some programming for younger teenagers.
The audience profile of Radio 1 listeners is slightly more female than male, while 58% of the audience is ABC1 (vs. the population average of 55%) and 90% of the audience is white.

-Entertainment
-New Music
-Support Emerging Artists
-Radio 1 XTRA
- Asian Sound

PBS- Public Broadcasting Service
TV License- £154.50 for colour
90% of the TV License fee goes to the BBC TV channels, radio stations, I player, sounds and online services
Sky Subscription-
Sky Entertainment TV + Sports + Cinema HD + Kids not included £66 per month
Sky Entertainment TV + Sky Cinema + Kids + Ultimate On Demand + HD not included £55 per month
Sky Entertainment TV + HD not included £27 per month

Technologies Radio-
Websites
Apps
Digitally- Streaming
Dab- Digital Audio Broadcasting
Video

Public Service Broadcasting- 
In the United Kingdom, the term "public service broadcasting" refers to broadcasting intended for public benefit rather than to serve purely commercial interests.

The communications regulator Ofcom requires that :

All of the BBC's television and radio stations have a public service remit, including those that broadcast digitally.
The BBC, whose broadcasting in the UK is funded by a licence fee and does not sell advertising time, is most notable for being the first public service broadcaster in the UK
Their remit is to "inform, educate and entertain"

It should offer a range of new music, support emerging artists - especially those from the UK - and provide a platform for live music. News, documentaries and advice campaigns should cover areas of relevance to young adults.”

Emerging Artists-
Arlo Parks. Arlo Parks - Super Sad Generation. ...
beabadoobee. Beabadoobee - She Plays Bass (BBC Music Introducing session) ...
Celeste. Celeste - Love Is Back. ...
Easy Life. Easy Life - Pockets. ...
Georgia. You must enable JavaScript to play content. ...
Joesef.
Joy Crookes.
Yungblud.

Getting on the Radio-
Target the stations, specialist shows and DJs who play the music you make. Send your stuff to as many suitable stations as you can, big and small. If you need some fresh ideas of which stations may work for you, or want contact details check out sites like Radio Now or Media UK.
Send a copy to the show's producer and presenter. These days a lot of stations only accept MP3’s, do your best to research this before you send anything.

It all starts with undiscovered artists registering with our uploader. They fill out a few bits of information like their artist name and postcode, and then they can upload their tracks. It's as simple as that.

Those uploaded tracks get sent to the BBC's local radio shows where they get listened to by our team of local presenters and producers. If they like them the tracks could get broadcast on those local stations and even propelled onto the national stage through BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, 6 Music, Radio 3, Asian Network and World Service.

Advice- The Surgery with Katie and Dr Radha

1.To show the most creative, highest quality and distinctive output and services. Radio 1’s daytime programmes offer a mix of music, information and entertainment and use an extensive playlist to introduce unfamiliar and innovative songs alongside more established tracks, for example the promotion of Live Lounge as a music feature.
 2 To provide impartial news and information to help people understand and engage with the world around them. Speech programmes, including documentaries and social action campaigns, form an integral part of the schedule. This includes broadcast news during its daytime output that is accurate, impartial and independent. For example, The Radio 1 Breakfast Show provides (via Newsbeat) news that is aimed at its target audience.
3 To support learning for people of all ages. BBC Radio 1 contributes significantly to this purpose for its audience, primarily through its social action output, its regular advice programme, its documentaries and its vocational initiatives, for example the BBC Academy.
 4 To reflect, represent and serve the diverse communities of all of the United Kingdom’s nations and regions and, in doing so, support the creative economy across the United Kingdom. BBC Radio 1 fulfils this purpose for its audience through its extensive live events schedule. This connects the station directly with its listeners and reflects the diverse range of music enjoyed around the UK, for example the BBC Big Weekend event. Interactive forums allow listeners to share experiences and discuss areas of common interest, including music
 5 To reflect the United Kingdom, its culture and values to the world. Radio 1 plays its part in this purpose primarily by offering UK audiences access to the best global musical talent and coverage of significant international music events.

Dua Lipa is an English singer, songwriter and model.(Pop)
Avicii was a Swedish DJ, electronic musician, and songwriter who specialised in audio programming, remixing, and record producing.(EDM)
Eminem is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive and actor. (Hip-Hop)
Taylor Swift is an American singer-songwriter. (Pop)
 J Hus is a British singer-songwriter, rapper and model. (Rap)
Tom Walker is a British singer-songwriter (Pop)
Alexander O'Connor, better known by his stage name Rex Orange County, is an English recording artist. (Indie Pop)
Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and dancer. (Pop/ Funk)
Calvin Harris, is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter. (Pop)
Anne-Marie Rose Nicholson is an English singer and songwriter. (Pop/ Grime)
Lewis Capaldi is a Scottish singer-songwriter. (Pop)
Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell is an American singer and songwriter.

6:30
Track

6:42 Brit Awards- Promoting British Artists
Track

6:54 Feature BBC 3 This Country- Suits
Track

7:00 Corona Virus, Flights, Housing Crisis, Beating Racism, Boxing, Rugby, Football, Weather
Track

7:15 Yesterdays Quiz, Game of Cones, 90 seconds, Love Island, food, football, music, rugby, boxing, music, Disney, time, football, England women, television, spelling, celebrity, days, pottery and television.
Track

7:25 Sport relief (inform)
Track

7:30 Corona Virus, Weather, Boxing, Floods
Track
7:50 Love Island Winners

Competitions important- attraction to people to win money or prizes, interaction with listeners. Suits younger audiences definitely to 15-29 year olds.

The BBC uses celebrity endorsement to interact with the audience and to make it possible that people gets to talk to or play along with their favourite celebrity, in this competition a member of the public has phoned up and the radio connected their line and they played a game in which they had to finish the lyrics from pop songs.

The BBC is under more severe assault than ever before, threatened with licence fee cuts – and perilous charter renewal ahead.  Cameron on his battle-bus said of the BBC: “I’m going to close them down.” Joke or threat, it’s too close to what many in his party want to be laughed off. Many of the newer Tory MPs, Thatcher’s children, detest the very existence of the BBC – its phenomenal success an affront to market ideology. Decriminalisation would lose the BBC an estimated £200m a year – and that’s deliberate. The BBC may lose £600m if forced to carry the Department for Work and Pensions’ cost of exempting over-75s from the licence fee. And there’s a proposed five more static years to add to the current seven-year licence fee freeze.

BBC-
Our mission is "to act in the public interest, serving all audiences through the provision of impartial, high-quality and distinctive output and services which inform, educate and entertain".

Mission and Values
1. To provide impartial news and information to help people understand and engage with the world around them
 The BBC should provide duly accurate and impartial news, current affairs and factual programming to build people’s understanding of all parts of the United Kingdom and of the wider world. Its content should be provided to the highest editorial standards. It should offer a range and depth of analysis and content not widely available from other United Kingdom news providers, using the highest calibre presenters and journalists, and championing freedom of expression, so that all audiences can engage fully with major local, regional, national, United Kingdom and global issues and participate in the democratic process, at all levels, as active and informed citizens.
2. To support learning for people of all ages
The BBC should help everyone learn about different subjects in ways they will find accessible, engaging, inspiring and challenging. The BBC should provide specialist educational content to help support learning for children and teenagers across the United Kingdom.
3. To show the most creative, highest quality and distinctive output and services
The BBC should provide high-quality output in many different genres and across a range of services and platforms which sets the standard in the United Kingdom and internationally. Its services should be distinctive from those provided elsewhere and should take creative risks, even if not all succeed, in order to develop fresh approaches and innovative content.
4. To reflect, represent and serve the diverse communities of all of the United Kingdom’s nations and regions and, in doing so, support the creative economy across the United Kingdom
he BBC should reflect the diversity of the United Kingdom both in its output and services. In doing so, the BBC should accurately and authentically represent and portray the lives of the people of the United Kingdom today, and raise awareness of the different cultures and alternative viewpoints that make up its society. It should ensure that it provides output and services that meet the needs of the United Kingdom’s nations, regions and communities. The BBC should bring people together for shared experiences and help contribute to the social cohesion and wellbeing of the United Kingdom.
5. To reflect the United Kingdom, its culture and values to the world
The BBC should provide high-quality news coverage to international audiences, firmly based on British values of accuracy, impartiality, and fairness. Its international services should put the United Kingdom in a world context, aiding understanding of the United Kingdom as a whole, including its nations and regions where appropriate. It should ensure that it produces output and services which will be enjoyed by people in the United Kingdom and globally.

The BBC says its a neutral company/news, many of the right wing papers/ politicians dislike the BBC

Why is the licence fee under scrutiny?-
 Mail/Telegraph/ Sun does not like the BBC
Boris Johnson- 'We are not looking at getting rid of all the license'
People using TV do not have a valid license
Out dated compulsory subscription
Not good value for money
Decriminalisation
2019 £80 m cuts

Unpopular opinions- It’s where they get celebrities and ask them unpopular opinions and the celebrity decides in their opinion if it is unpopular or popular.
Yesterday’s Quiz- Members of the audience phone up and they get asked questions in which they have to answer as many as they can, they have to try and beat the other people
Where's Greg (aired on 24/02/2020)- It is where Greg got kidnapped at The Brit Awards, the DJ explained to listeners that he had in fact been “captured” and “blindfolded” after attending a party and implored fans to help him work out where he is - and who took him - as part of a new challenge called Who’s Got Greg?
his gruelling “Gregathlon” fundraiser- challenges for sport relief with  rapids and crocodiles of the Zambezi river and in 2016 he completed five triathlons in five days.

Greg James took up the mantel of the BBC Breakfast Show following Grimshaws departure and has had an increase of around 240,000 listeners. His slogan 'Have fun for fun sake'

DigDat (feat. Aitch) - Ei8ght Mile          More grime and rap links to the an urban character, some of
Future (feat. Drake) - Life Is Good                  them are British artists but their music relates to an
                                                                                               urban background
 HIP HOP, RNB & DANCEHALL

■ High Quality – New technology, good presenters
■ Original – From the use of their games like innuendo bingo
■ Challenging – Yesterday's quiz for examples, competitions through quizzes
■ Innovative – Greg James bringing in 240,000 more listeners from being fun
■ Engaging – People ring up and they get to talk to celebrities (pop quiz)
■ Nurturing of UK talent – Talking about the Brit Awards, emerging artists

Marketing-

Branding 
The process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product or service.
Synergy  

The extended impact of sequential media messages delivered by multiple media forms and/ or where audiences are exposed to a sequence of advertising messages from a single source idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzOzzM8Oixc

In this video, they are interviewing Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart on their film Jumanji 2, The Next Level, if people like the actors and the film then they are going to watch the video with them/it in it to support it in which gains publicity for themselves and the film.

Describe how the news content is tailored towards a 15 – 24 year old audience- With the news being every 30 mins and lasting for 5 mins it is tailored to the younger audience because they don't want to listen to the news they want to listen to music instead, sometimes the news relates to the things they like, like Love Island, Boxing, Football and the Corona virus which is an example from last week.

Commercial Broadcasting-


Radio stations such as Capital FM and Heart are funded by advertisements played on air, which in turn affects the content and style of the programmes. Capital and Heart are owned by parent company Global, and are sister stations to Smooth FM and Classic FM. For their funding, all are subject to selling airspace to advertise companies, products and services on the high street or in the local area. As a result, the output of these stations is highly commercial, with chart and popular music dominating the schedules.

2019

Sept-Dec 1.8 million listeners per week

Competitions : win a holiday - sponsored by B.A

Celebrity Gossip- Katy Perry - Pregnant 

Social Media - Tik Tok

Links to Netflix

Music - playlist linked to Tik Tok

Promote music videos

 Capital play more American artists than British artists

Despite this decline in listeners, The BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show consistently attracts young audiences with its programme style and content. It has had to cope with the transformation of radio in the online age. The scale and scope of available music-streaming services and independent digital radio, along with a shift in audience use and gratification of the media, are contributing factors. Radio 1 is ‘suffering’ because its core audience is turning away from traditional listening. This is largely thanks to the arrival of streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music.

The BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show lost audience numbers between 2012 and 2018 throughout the time Nick Grimshaw presented it, but he had been brought in specially to develop larger audiences in the target age range of 15– 29 and to shed the over-30s, a strategy implemented by Radio 1’s controller Ben Cooper. Cooper stated that the station should not be judged solely on Radio Joint Audience Research ( RAJAR ) audience rating figures: 

You can’t judge Radio 1 on RAJAR figures alone – just as you can’t judge a newspaper solely on physical sales. You have to take into account our digital innovations as well. … I’m pleased that Grimmy is doing what I’ve asked of him by keeping his young audience happy and scaring off the over-30s.

In fact, 90 per cent of the dip in Grimshaw’s figures was from losing the over-30s. The show’s use of social media and video content aimed to attract the target audience and, although the show had the lowest figures since RAJAR began, this reflects young people’s media habits. Cooper went on to say that 

‘Radio 1 is evolving with its young audiences as we live through changing times for traditional radio, so it’s particularly gratifying to see that in addition to around 10 million listeners, we have seen record figures for Radio 1 videos on Facebook with 80 million monthly views, and 1.4 billion total views on Radio 1’s YouTube channel. As you can see, although traditional radio audience ratings exemplify a gradual decline in listeners, online media has raised the profile of BBC Radio 1 and the Breakfast Show in a different way.’

Explain how economic contexts influence radio production-

PBS- Public Broadcasting Service

TV License- £154

£34 m spent on BBC

- Celebrities

-Presenter, Production

-YouTube

Production Content- Inform, Educate, Entertainment

Inform (Newsbeat)

Educate (Emerging Artists, Yungblud, Joesef)

Entertainment ( Greg James, Competitions)

Global are part of Capital and they also own Heart and Classic FM

Ad revenue allows for them to host competition sponsored by various companies and products

Competitions- Win a holiday, shopping etc

The main focus on commercial radios is to entertain, they focus on celebrity gossip to keep with younger audiences as they want to listen to music and not so much news.


Explain how economic contexts influence radio production refer to the BBC Radio 1 breakfast show.

Many economic points influence radio production to do with the BBC as it is a public broadcasting service (PBS) which provides to us features of the BBC such as iPlayer and the radio every day.
One of the major factors that influences radio production quite heavily is the TV licence fee, which is any household watching or recording live television transmissions as they are being broadcasted is required to hold a television licence. Per year a licence costs £154.50 however this will increase by £3 on the 1st of April 2020 making it £157.50, 90% of this fee goes to the BBC in general including TV, Radio, Sounds etc. In total £34 million is spent on the BBC this is for celebrity endorsement, the presenters/staff and production, this doesn’t include advertising as it is funded by the UK.

This links to their audience engagement and remit, as the age range for radio is 15-29 year olds which is a mostly for the younger generation which involves the type of music that it does like pop, rap and indie for example. Their remit is to inform, educate and entertain, the inform part of the radio station is news beat which is a thing they do every 30mins and it lasts for 5mins this provides news in which relates to the majority of the younger generation it has included Love Island, corona virus, football and boxing. The educate part of their remit is the emerging artists area, which provides a platform for live music to be played on the radio this occurs from people sending their music into the radio stations through the producers and presenters alongside with filling out bits of information like their artist name and postcode and then they can upload their tracks where they get sent to the BBC’s local radio shows where they get listened to by the team of local presenters and producers which if they are liked can be propelled onto the national stage. The entertainment part of the remit is to do with one of the presenters Greg James who took over Nick Grimshaw in 2018 since Greg took over the listeners increased by 240,000 as he is more interactive with the listeners and his motto is ‘have fun for fun’s sake’ so that’s what he aimed to do, with this came competitions such as the yesterday quiz where they test the audience members on what happened yesterday they normally go head to head with other people to see who can get the most. They also use celebrity endorsement to interact with the audience and to make it possible that people gets to talk or play along with their favourite celebrity.

As the BBC relies quite heavily on the licence fee, with it being under scrutiny this will have a bad effect on the BBC, it’s under scrutiny because the mail/telegraph and the sun does not like the BBC, some people using TV do not have a valid licence linked with outdated compulsory subscription, not good value for money, decriminalisation and in 2019  have £80 million cuts.

Film (Media Industries)

Definitions-

Media production means the making of a motion picture, television show, video, commercial, Internet video, or other viewable programming provided to viewers via a movie theatre or transmitted through broadcast radio wave, cable, satellite, wireless, or Internet. The action of making or manufacturing from components or raw materials, or the process of being so manufactured.

Distribution (or place) is one of the four elements of the marketing mix. Distribution is the process of making a product or service available for the consumer or business user who needs it. This can be done directly by the producer or service provider, or using indirect channels with distributors or intermediaries. The action of sharing something out among a number of recipients.

Exchange- an act of giving one thing and receiving another (especially of the same kind) in return.

The Jungle Book (1967) is comparable to The Jungle Book (2016). According to the OCR specification: The Jungle Book (2016) has taken over 1 billion US dollars already at the cinema box office alone (and will generate more income as a DVD/Blu-ray disc and online). The film has a clear pattern of production, distribution and circulation that can be easily distinguished and is a film production from a major studio.

The Jungle Book (1967) is a historically significant media product and film text. The 1967 film is currently one of the most successful films of all time (it has taken over 100 billion US dollars) and followed a traditional pattern of production, distribution and circulation, although it enjoyed a ‘second life’ on video and DVD.

The Jungle Book (1967) is over 50 years old.
 It is a very successful film and to date has grossed over $100 billion.
The Jungle Book was made by Disney Studios under the production company of Walt Disney Productions, a famous film studio in Hollywood that specialises in animated cartoons.
The film is often described as an animated musical comedy.
Other Disney texts from the same director, Wolfgang Reitherman, include One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) and The Sword in the Stone (1963).

The production of The Jungle Book (1967) involved a specialised and institutionalised method of media production, which for Disney is animation and is still crucial to the studio’s brand identity to this day. 

The Jungle Book (1967) was produced by Walt Disney Studios and cost $4 million to make. 

Walt Disney Studios is an American film studio based in Hollywood; between 1937 and 2016 it produced 56 animation films.

 During this long history, Walt Disney Studios has been considered the best animation company in film production, and as recently as 2007 Walt Disney Animation Studios purchased Pixar Animation Studios. 

This is a typical characteristic of a media conglomerate that has enough money and power to take over its competitors.

The Jungle Book (1967) is a prime example of such high-cost and top-quality animation

Media conglomerate: 

A media group or media institution that owns numerous companies involved in mass media enterprises, such as television, radio, publishing, motion pictures, theme parks or the internet. Conglomerates are usually global in size and reach.

Historical context 

The 1967 film is important to Disney Studios’ history – it is a magical landmark film that is among the best ever written for Disney and includes the Oscar-nominated songs ‘The Bare Necessities’ and ‘I Wanna Be Like You’. 

The original soundtrack for The Jungle Book was also the first to achieve gold disc status in the USA for an animated feature film. 

The Jungle Book (1967) itself is premised on an imaginative interpretation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, and the film credits a notable cast and production team that had been in place and had worked together in the studio – at this time still a family-run business – for a number of years.

The racialized representations of the 1967 film were not repeated in the 2016 version and perhaps reflect the institutionalised racism of America at the time where races were segregated.

Economic contexts 

By the time The Jungle Book was released Disney was already a successful film company, and the Disney Corporation was diversifying into theme parks (Disneyland), television series and merchandising deals.  These were set up through its distribution arm, Buena Vista, in 1953. In part this was Disney’s reaction to the baby boom of the 1950s, and the expansion of its business interests in home entertainment focused on its television series. 

The Jungle Book was released in October 1967 and grossed nearly $24 million on its first worldwide release.

The film was produced on a budget of $4 million and was the fourth highest grossing movie in 1967. 

The Jungle Book was re-released in cinemas in the USA in 1978, 1984 and 1990. 

It enjoyed European screenings throughout the 1980s, with a particularly strong German market. 

The film has been released on a number of occasions to home entertainment markets.

The success of the film exemplifies how Hollywood conquers not only the home market, but also the global market. This is typical of the Disney brand and the quality of films that the company makes. The film also offers an example of media translation as it has benefited from evolving digital technologies and developments in home entertainment. The following timeline of its re-releases illustrates how historically Disney has embraced technological change to ‘exploit’ its product:

■ The Jungle Book was released in the United States in 1967. 

■ In 1991, it was released as part of the Walt Disney Classics collection – illustrating how a media institution benefits from a back catalogue of movies that can be resold to younger generations. Three years later the home video sales totalled 14.8 million copies. The aim was to price the Disney Classics movies so that every family could afford to buy a copy. 

■ A limited issue DVD was released in 1999 by Buena Vista Home Entertainment and there was a subsequent release as a two-disc DVD in 2007, marketed as a platinum edition to celebrate the film’s 40th anniversary. 

■ In 2010 the film was released as a Blu-ray/DVD/digital copy combo-pack. 

Disney gains longevity of sales. Each time it translates an animation classic via the latest media technology to make it available in a new format, the company captures the next generation who then commit to the brand loyalty. 

Most recently, The Jungle Book (1967) has been released as a digital download via iTunes and is available on streaming services such as Amazon Video and Google Play – demonstrating the ‘legs’ of a movie made over 50 years ago and the success of Disney as a media institution in reselling the brand over and over again to different generations.

The total gross for the movie is $141 million in the USA and $205 million worldwide.

Ownership, distribution and control Making money out of producing films to be shown at the cinema is very difficult. This is because there are so many other media platforms the film can be sold by, for example, through merchandising. 

Media companies practise vertical integration in order to control and maximise efficiency of the supply and distribution of the product – not just as films, but also as television, soundtracks and merchandise and, in Disney’s case, theme parks as well. 

This illustrates how media synergy can support the continuing presence of a film and so promote horizontal integration across media and business interests, for example Disney film characters being evident in its theme parks and Disney Stores. 

The Jungle Book is an example of how important synergy and merchandising is to a media conglomerate as it commodifies a successful media text. 

Vertical integration When a media company owns different businesses in the same chain of production and distribution. Media synergy Using a single-sourced idea to create multiple selling points and products.

Horizontal integration- When a media company creates a chain of goods or services across different divisions, often subsidiaries of the same company. Licensing deal A legal contract between two parties, which grants a deal over a brand or product.

Disney's new streaming service Disney Plus has launched. A month-by-month subscription costs $6.99/month. The yearly subscription is a little cheaper and costs $69.99/year ($5.83/month).

Hesmondalgh’s Cultural Industries Theory-
Controlled release date, if the film is only being shown in one country it could be pirated in another leading to them losing profit, so its better to release it in majority of the countries.
Vertical- goes down the process list and takes over one thing at a time.

Jungle Book 2016-

The Jungle Book (2016) The Jungle Book was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and directed by Jon Favreau,
Jon Favreau had previously produced Iron Man and Iron Man 2 under his production company.
 The Jungle Book (2016) is a fantasy adventure movie with a darker and more sinister interpretation of Kipling’s stories
The 2016 version is a shift away from the light-hearted, toe-tapping and joyful original 1967 animation.
Disney’s rationale for changing the narrative was to attract a wider audience through producing an immersive experience in which the characters were no longer playful/funny but believable.
This was largely achieved through use of CGI animation

Production.

Given the estimated production budget of $175 million, above-the-line costs were high in relation to creative talent such as actors, directors, writers and producers. The casting and use of more than 30 stars for the voice overs, including film actors such as Scarlett Johansson and Ben Kingsley, was just as important as in the 1967 film.

The casting of established actors helped to attract a more adult audience who might want to watch the film because of “Celebrity Appeal” 

  Scarlett Ingrid Johansson is an American actress and singer. The world's highest-paid actress since 2018, she has made multiple appearances in the Forbes Celebrity 100. Her films have grossed over $14.3 billion worldwide, making Johansson the third-highest-grossing box office star of all time.

Lupita N Yong'o

Idris Elba

Ben Kingsley

Production.

The contemporary version is well thought out and was an expensive movie to produce.

Disney was able to rely on a tried and tested formula with The Jungle Book , targeting a global market and family audiences with a successful brand.

Disney chose to “reboot” a 50-year-old film in a CGI format, as it represented a product that people were familiar with. 

Previously Disney were unsuccessful in CGI blockbuster films such as  John Carter (2012) and The Lone Ranger (2013)).  The selection of THE JUNGLE BOOK MADE ECONOMIC SENSE AS IT HAD AN ESTABLISHED AUDIENCE AND THEREFORE REDUCED THE RISK OF FAILURE AT THE BOX OFFICE. (This links to Hesmondalgh’s theory. 

Disney wanted to create a visual spectacle that could easily translate across multiple territories or overseas/global markets.  ( this is reflected in the global actors used) 

Note Disney has followed up on the use of archived films through CGI reboots of “Beauty and The Beast”,  Dumbo  and Cinderella

Beauty and the Beast- 425 million USD (old) 1.264 billion USD (remake)

Cinderella- 263.6 million USD (old) 542.4 million USD (remake)

The Lion King-968.5 million USD (old) 1.657 billion USD (remake)

The Jungle Book (2016) can be described as a live action/CGI film as it combines live action and animated animals interacting on screen.

 The animals and landscapes were created on computer by the British digital effects house MPC. 

The Jungle Book (2016) was: Planned by Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn as one of a series of remakes of their classic properties: ‘Hollywood makes lots of films for kids, but the Disney reboots may be one of the few safe bets. They revive classic characters for a new generation of kids, and their already smitten parents may be especially willing to shell out for related merchandise.’

Why CGI?

Within Hollywood there is the emphasis on spectacle, which tends to privilege some genres over others, for example action, sci-fi and fantasy. These types of films dominate studio budgets, marketing and distribution spends, and Disney is no different – especially when it has a history of being an early adopter of new media technologies. 

Modern audiences increasingly engage with CGI content which has made significant advancements in the past decade  to films such as Avengers, transformers and the Lord of the rings.

The time was right in development of this film property to combine the animation trademark qualities of Disney with the latest digital technology (photo realistic rendering, computer-generated technology and motion capture). The proliferation of digital technology in film has been driving film production in recent years.

Proliferation A rapid and widespread increase in use, in this case of technology.

MPC is a relatively new cryptographic method that separates private keys into multiple parts. It is often compared with a technology called Shamir's Secret Sharing (SSS) which has been around since the late 1970s and is used to split a single private key into multiple parts.

As lead VFX studio on Disney's The Jungle Book, MPC artists built a complex photo-real world creating The Jungle Book's stunning CG environments and bringing the film's iconic animal characters to life.

Photo realistic fibres, face mapping, body suit, green screen, genesis, Tessa, Space, Alice, Furtility

Tessa (‘asset’ backwards!) gives productions a pipeline that can track, automate, and organise movement of digital assets between artists. The artist is insulated from the complexity of the underlying data and processes – allowing them to focus on their creative tasks rather than worrying about where something is.

Genesis is our Virtual Production platform. Virtual production enables filmmakers to make better creative choices much earlier in the production process, leading to better quality outcomes. Genesis is a multi-year development project that has been used on some of the biggest movies of the past few years.

We go to great lengths to ensure the security of our clients’ content. At the same time we want artists around the globe to collaborate as if they were all in the same room. That’s why MPC has built their own communication platform SPACE from the ground up. From straightforward text conversations and group chat to video conferencing and screen sharing, SPACE has it covered – applying the highest security standards in the industry.

ALICE stands for Artificial Life Crowd Engine. Our in-house crowd software was created originally for Troy in 2004. ALICE enables artists to manage crowd behaviour, motion clip editing and blending, and customised scripting for large groups of agents, and is one of MPC’s flagship software products.

Using ALICE, the Crowd team can tackle everything from a couple of agents to several hundred thousand. Crowd will use a mix of motion capture data and animation clips to inject life into a given scene and have previously used the software to to simulate huge armies, flocks of birds, herds of mammoths, swarms of insects, zombie hordes, space battles and many other types of scenarios.

Furtility is MPC’s technology for creating photorealistic hair, fur, feathers, vegetation, and other fibres like clothing and ropes. The first version was written in 2005 for 10,000 BC and was fully re-written for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian in 2006. It has since been used on most of our film and advertising work, and remains one of our key technologies for creating our visual effects.

The Furtility engine itself is solely built on proprietary or open source technologies and then exposed via interfaces for the main 3D packages we are using: Maya and RenderMan. We also have the ability to render high quality previews using our in-house OpenGL renderer: MugginsGL.

Media companies practise vertical integration in order to control and maximise efficiency of the supply and distribution of the product – not just as films, but also as television, soundtracks and merchandise and, in Disney’s case, theme parks as well.
This illustrates how media synergy can support the continuing presence of a film and so promote horizontal integration across media and business interests, for example Disney film characters being evident in its theme parks and Disney Stores.

There are Six Disneylands—that is, “castle parks”—around the world—in California, Florida, Paris, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. Each Disney resort has one “Disneyland” or “castle park” and four resorts have other parks as well.

Jungle Cruise= 24th July 2020

After three years in the making from concept to product, The Jungle Book (2016) was released from April to July 2016 across 70 different national territories. 

The highly competitive business of launching and sustaining a film to the largest appropriate audience was timed by Disney for a summer film release, traditionally seen as coinciding with events for school-age children and family time. 

The Jungle Book was released in North America in Disney Digital 3-D. 

The film was also released in RealD 3D, IMAX and IMAX 3D, with a worldwide opening figure for IMAX of $20.4 million from 901 IMAX screens, remarkable for a PG-rated film. 

the film grossed a total of $39 million in IMAX screenings worldwide. The film became a critical and commercial success, grossing over $966 million

Films usually open in cinemas first. This gives a product commercial value and creates further demand for viewing – especially in high-end technology formats. 

Following a big-screen run of approximately 16 weeks, films are released on a flexible timescale through other formats:

 home entertainment release, such as DVD, 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray and digital  

 PPV or subscription television, streaming and broadcast free-to-air TV

 as downloadable movies on Disney Anywhere, iTunes, Google Play and Amazon

The reboot of the JB was targeted to a wide audience including males and was released to appeal to global audience. 

As a product of this global brand it succeeded in attracting a wide range of age groups, not just the under-16s or its traditional family audience, to see the film. Disney’s achievement in re-making a Disney classic is phenomenal, in part due to the technology involved and the reinterpretation of the characters and the narrative, but also to the ability of the conglomerate to market and distribute the product and to value its audience.

The film enjoyed unrivalled success in its marketing and distribution to India, China and Europe and other overseas markets – a characteristic of Disney Studios.

 In addition the film was made appealing to action-adventure fans and animation and special effects viewers. These are identifiable as middle-aged and male movie-goers – not typically associated with The Jungle Book ’s audience. This is reflected in the global box office returns for the film, over $966 million, and in the critical acclaim it received – winning the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.

The casting of an Indian actor as the main protagonist and international actors would have helped develop global sales.

Explain how films can be marketed to become global brands. Refer to the Jungle Book films in your answer.

Discuss the advances in technology within the film industry referring to the JB 1967 and 2016 in your answer.   Explain how these advances are useful in attracting a wider audience

In the Jungle Book, technology has advanced massively from the production of the film in 1967 compared to the one in 2016. The 1967 version of The Jungle Book is a historically significant media product and film text. The 1967 film is currently one of the most successful films of all time in which it has taken over 100 billion US dollars and followed a traditional pattern of production, distribution and circulation, although it enjoyed a second life on video and DVD. The Jungle Book is a prime example of a high cost and top quality animation from the use of using traditional cel-animation, pioneering the art of story boarding, developing the use of the multiplane to create an early 3D-like effect however story boarding in the form widely known today was developed at the Walt Disney studio during the early 1930s. The film was produced by Walt Disney Studios and cost $4 million to make. The film was produced on a budget of $4 million and was the fourth highest grossing movie in 1967. The Jungle Book was re-released in cinemas in the USA in 1978, 1984 and 1990. It enjoyed European screenings throughout the 1980s, with a particularly strong German market. The film has been released on a number of occasions to home entertainment markets. The use of technology advanced a lot with modern times as from 1991 it was part of the Walt Disney Classics Collection, having media institution benefits as it was shown to younger generations in which after three years the home video sales came up to selling 14.8 million copies, in 1999 it was then released by Buena Vista Home Entertainment and a two disc release in 2007 which was marketed as a platinum edition to celebrate the 40th anniversary and in 2010 released as a Blue- Ray.
The Jungle Book (1967) is comparable to The Jungle Book (2016). According to the OCR specification: The Jungle Book (2016) has taken over 1 billion US dollars already at the cinema box office alone (and will generate more income as a DVD/Blu-ray disc and online). The film has a clear pattern of production, distribution and circulation that can be easily distinguished and is a film production from a major studio.
The Jungle Book 2016 changed how the audience would see the film as the film was mostly focused on younger audiences however in this film it has a dark side to it in which all age groups would be able to watch it which is why they changed the narrative to attract a wider audience through producing an immersive experience in which the characters were no longer playful/funny but believable. There was a high use of CGI animation this was because they wanted to reboot the 50 year old film with actors that people were familiar with, this was also because many films produced use CGI format such as Avengers and Lord of the Rings. They combined animation trademark qualities of Disney with the latest digital technology (photo realistic rendering, computer-generated technology and motion capture).Which is why they wanted to create a visual spectacle that could easily translate across multiple territories or overseas/global markets leading to why the global market is so common which reflects the global actors used because digital technology in film has been driving film production in recent years. With the film becoming so popular they wanted to expand the marketing from merchandising so Disney granted licenses to other companies to produce merchandise related to The Jungle Book (2016), These features also gathered audience attention social recommendation is the most effective trigger for cinema attendance and can give a film ‘legs’, so interest remains high for weeks after release, posters, trailers, social media messages – for example The Jungle Book 2016 Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.  Disney’s achievement in re-making a Disney classic is phenomenal, in part due to the technology involved and the reinterpretation of the characters and the narrative, but also to the ability of the conglomerate to market and distribute the product and to value its audience.
The film enjoyed unrivalled success in its marketing and distribution to India, China and Europe and other overseas markets  a characteristic of Disney Studios. They were quite popular because parents were growing up with many Disney films so if there is a remake they are going to watch it in which the children would too with it also being released in summer which is a high targeting point because the children are not at school and increased family time. The special effects to make it look so real even though most of the film is just green screens, puppets and computers. Live action remakes are very popular among Disney at the moment due to the advances in media technology and popularity of nostalgia among their audience.