Elysium

1. The issues raised by media ownership

in contemporary media practice.
Who owns the film and the films genre affects
how the film will do when it is released at the
cinema. Big companies like universal are going
to make films they see will do well also they will
most likely include the things that will make it
successful, Mark Kermode thinks that the things needed to make a films successful are an A-list
star, good SFX, a large budget and not to be a comedy. So big companies most commonly give a
film a high budget so they can get A-list stars and the other areas also that films with a high budget
usually do the best. This film had a budget of $115 million and it grossed a total of $286.1 million
so evidently it didn't make a huge amount of money in return however it did break even and get
some more money back so it can be regarded as successful.
This film is owned by the companies: Media Rights Capital, QED International, Alphacore, Kinberg
Genre. The film was then distributed by Tristar, Tristar is a large company owned by Sony, they
most likely used a large distribution company to be able to get it out there as much as possible.
Also that this is an American company so they have a very large sphere of influence when getting
there film out there to a wider audience. They are also going to distribute the recent large film the
walk. Media rights capital isn't a large typical production company as they have only produced a
total of 16 movies which is a small amount compared to its distributors like universal or disney.
They seem to form relationships with the makers of there films and then produce some more of
there films for example after Elysium was made they also produced Niell Blomkamps films
Chappie also they have produced all of Seth Macfarlanes films. The only film that can be regarded
as a large film with a very high income was furious 7 as all the other films are smaller films that
have generally done okay at the box office for example 30 minutes or less which didn't even break
even. The second film producer/financier is QED international, they are again a small producing
company compared to their large Big six counterparts. They again don't really produce large films,
the only film that they have produced that can be slightly regarded as a large film is fury which
grossed $211.8 million compared to a budget of $68 million. The third producer is Kinberg media
they are again a small producer but this one is very small it signed a first look deal in 2010 with
20th century fox, on of the big six. Kinberg medias first film it produced was Elysium, this was the
first of only six films they have produced, however they did go on to produce Chappie showing that
this producer also made a relationship with Niell Blomkamp. The most noticeable film they have
produced is the blockbuster the Martian starring Matt Damon and directed by Ridley Scott. It had a
budget of $108 million and grossed a huge $328.3 million.
2. The importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and
marketing.

Cross media convergence and synergy is the teaming together as it were of two or more
companies to make sure that they make larger impact on the world or audience than if they
were working alone. They work together by sharing costs, distribution contacts and ideas.
Because of the growing impact of media convergence certain ways of viewing films are
becoming more popular for example netflix or Amazon prime, and older ways of viewing
films are dying out like dvd or mail order dvds from love film also whats adding to this is the
growing impact of technology so more people will more likely view a film from a game
console, laptop or mobile phone as it cheaper and more accessible than going to the
cinema.
Media Rights Capital, QED International, Kinberg Genre will all work together on this film o make it
as successful as they can. Also that two of the three have worked with the director/writer
before this will also add to the over all success of the film as they can adapt there ways of
working together because they see a relationship forming so they may act more kindly
towards the director.
The film being distributed by Tristar would ultimately form the success of the film as they have
relationships with all the big six so this will increase the sphere of influence. Also that the
producers will use the distributor for advice on how to make the film as they will have also
produced films so they know how to successfully make a film.
3. The technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production,
distribution, marketing and exchange
IMAX: This is a higher resolution of film shown on a much larger screen also it has a better quality
soundtrack over all adding to a better film experience as it makes the audience more
emerged in the film.
Video On Demand: This is when films are put onto the internet for someone to access at anytime
they want from a phone, laptop, gaming console and many other means the most
noticeable companies doing this are Netflix, Amazon and Now tv.
Downloadable content: This is something that may come along with a film like when it is brought on
iTunes it will come with iTunes extras which will be the directors commentary or deleted
scenes.
Another thing that has greatly added to the success and making of films is CGI and green screen,
this is massively used in Elysium this is because it is based in the future and partly in space
so CGI and green screen is used to create the effect of them being in the future.
4. The significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences
A main way in which access to technology has changed is that films are no longer shot on film,
apart from some films, they are more commonly shot onto a hard drive digitally, this ends

up helping the editor adding the CGI and SFX which will have happened in Elysium
because of it high use of SFX and CGI. This film was filmed on a mixture of 35mm and
IMAX and for normal cinemas that aren't IMAX it was coded down to 4K quality.
However modern day audiences want SFX and CGI that looks more realistic so Niell Blomkamp
the director of elysium took this on board and made it all as realistic as possible with props
for the actors the interact with and models which they would film over then eventually adda
bit of CGI to also for the robots in the film they used doubles or green screen suit in which
actors would wear a suit which later on the editor would be able to add the effects to to
make the person look like a robot. They also used doubles for the spaceships which would
fly people to elysium and round Earth, they would film a helicopter doing the manoeuvre
they wanted then they would use the doubles again and edit in the design of the space ship
that they want. All of this overall added to the best SFX seen in a long time as it was mainly
props and locations making it look so realistic. For example for the shots of Earth as its
slum look they went to the largest rubbish dump in the world in Mexico which people live to
give the effect of the slum in the future.

5. The importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences

Technological convergence is the ways in which the use of digital technology in the film industry
and media which enable people to share, consume and produce media that was difficult
just a few years before. For example how you can now download a film for a cheaper price
than going to the cinema to see it, also how films like Beasts of no nation and What Maisie
Knew which can be good films the cinema completely skipped this process and went
straight to VOD and still got high reviews from critics. Also readily available software like
final cut pro can be used to take a film edit it and add a new soundtrack then be uploaded
to youtube can be done an example of this is the film drive in which BBC radio one took the
film and added a new soundtrack and then BBC showed it on TV and it is regularly put on
to BBC Iplayer. Also very commonly with cinema is that they download the digital version
from the company which made the film and this is a much easier and quicker way of doing
things than getting the film through the post.
6. The issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically, British) by
international or global institutions.
Every film released is aimed at a certain audience whether it is mainstream or niche, so this means
that the films content can be aimed at the interests of the viewers so they can gain a higher amount
of popularity and the people who made the film end up gaining a higher amount of money. Films
can also be targeted at regional audience. An example of this is Slumdog millionaire which was
targeted at the British asian population and Danny Boyle fans. However the film did very well at film
festivals and also it was nominated for oscars so this prompted the films second theatrical release
and it moved from independent films audience to the mainstream audience. British films makers
like Shane Meadows often make films that apply to British culture and social standards shown in

This is England and this often lack the sphere of influence to be able to become a worldwide
success.
Also certain films are changed to be able to appeal to other audiences like Elysium was dubbed
over in German so it will appeal to a wider audience in Germany than just English speakers. Also
that films had a wide range of subtitles from Spanish to Afrikaans. Elysium is aimed at a mainly
mainstream audience but particularly Niell Blomkamp fans from his previous film of District 9 and
fans of Sci-fi. The film is also aimed at 15-25 year olds and this is the age range of people that
went to see it.
7. The ways in which the candidates own experiences of media consumption illustrate
wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour
This is how you view films, whether it is on a laptop, at the cinema, on DVD/Bluray etc. People
more commonly now a days watch films at home from VOD or downloaded from places like iTunes
rather than DVDs this is causing a high fall in DVD sales. So younger audiences are also going to
stay at home and watch VOD which is 6 a month for hundreds of films rather than 6 for one film
which will most likely end up on one of the VOD services anyway. Or they will illegally watch the
film which is very common with younger people which obviously is free. However I think that with
older audiences and some younger people that they prefer going to the cinema or IMAX as it is
more of an event and with this you can make a full day of it if you wanted.
I myself am a great lover of films, I believe that certain films require a certain viewing style for
example films made by Quentin Tarantino i believe look better and feel better on a larger screen in
the cinema even though it is hard to get into the cinema for these also that if I do watch one Ill
watch it on a TV rather than a laptop another film that feels this way is Inception I think that films
you have to concentrate on are better viewed in cinema or on TV, because I prefer the cinema
experience I commonly visit cinema de lux because fit high end screens and seating but I will also
visit the Phoenix mainly due to its cheaper ticket prices and there occasionally film festival or
double bill. However I do enjoy VOD due to its cheap prices to the amount of films but I use these
to watch more independent films, tv shows, documentaries or comedies which all generally don't
need much attention to watch and enjoy.