(1) The issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice

After watching most modern blockbuster and high budget films,

it becomes clear that the money and success involved in a film
depend massively on the size and popularity of the company
that creates it. This becomes much clearer when the financial
statistics of these films are compared with those of films
created by much smaller and less popular companies.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is an incredible example of how
the size of companies involved with films affects the success and
popularity. This is because the latest film in the Star Wars
franchise was produced by multiple large companies that are
renowned for being involved with popular films in the past. One
of these companies is Lucasfilm Ltd.; this company was involved
in the production of the previous Star Wars films in the franchise. This made Star Wars: The
Force Awakens much more popular because the previous films in the franchise were
incredibly popular and received high ratings; this meant that people expected the seventh
film to be just as great because the same main production company was involved.
The company Lucasfilm Ltd. Was also involved with the production of another incredibly
popular and well received film franchise: Indiana Jones. This franchise of four films had a
total budget of $279 million which is quite high considering the first three films were
produced before 1990, a time where much lower budgets were considered to be high. This
franchise received a total of $1.983 billion at box office; this is an incredibly large box office
figure that shows how popular the franchise was. Due to this massively successful and wellreceived franchise being produced by Lucasfilm Ltd., people expected Star Wars: The Force
Awakens to be just as great as the same main production company was involved.

Another company involved with the production of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was Bad
Robot Productions, the production company owned by director J.J. Abrams. This company is
incredibly well renowned for being involved with the production of several other popular
films; these include the Star Trek trilogy (2009, 2013 and 2016), Super 8 (2011), Mission:
Impossible Ghost Protocol (2011), Cloverfield (2008) and 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016). These
films all received exceedingly large box office figures and were popular all across the world.
Due to these massively successful films being produced by Bad Robot Productions, people
expected Star Wars: The Force Awakens to be equally good as the same production
company was involved. Also, the owner and founder of Bad Robot Productions, J.J. Abrams,
is also the director of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, this meant that people expected the
film to be even better because it was directed by a very successful and experienced film
producer/director.

The final company that was involved with the production and distribution of Star Wars: The
Force Awakens was Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, a distribution division owned by
the multi-billion-dollar parent company The Walt Disney Company. This company has been
used to distribute all of the motion pictures created by The Walt Disney Company and its
subsidiary companies since 1953, including The Avengers (2012), The Lion King (1994), the
Toy Story trilogy (1996, 1999 and 2010) and Frozen (2013). Each one of these films that
were distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures were incredibly popular and
successful, without a single one receiving a box office figure less than $370 million; this
shows that this company is very experienced in distributing popular and well received films,
therefore increasing the expectation of Star Wars: The Force Awakens being a success.

The contributions of these three large companies to the production of Star Wars: The Force
Awakens had a massive impact on how it was made as they provided it with a great amount
of experience and money. This is definitely a large part of why the film received such a great
profit and likeliness, proving that the media companies involved with a production do
influence its potential success.
However, it is also possible to create a very successful and profitable film with a smaller
production company providing a low budget. An example of this is the Paranormal Activity
franchise; these six films were produced by Blumhouse Productions, a company that
produces micro and low budget films, and had a total budget of just $28 million. These lowbudget productions received a massive box office figure of $889.7 million, proving that
smaller production companies can also produce successful, well-received and extremely
profitable films.

(2) The importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution
and marketing
The company that distributed Star Wars: The force Awakens was Walt Disney Studios
Motion Pictures. Disney is a very big company in the film industry, suggesting that they were
involved with how successfully the film was marketed and that they are the reason for the
scale of it. The film was produced by two slightly smaller companies: LucasFilm Ltd. and Bad
Robot Productions.

On November 28th 2014, LucasFilm Ltd. released on 88 second teaser trailer that was
screened in selected cinemas in the US and Canada. It was also released in worldwide
cinemas in December 2014. This teaser trailer was also released on YouTube and iTunes on
the 28th November 2014, with a record of 58.2 million views in its first week. Although
LucasFilm Ltd. is a smaller company than Disney, they were able to gain such numbers due
to their involvement with the previous hugely successful Star Wars films.
Due to the popularity of the franchise and the size of Disney and LucasFilm Ltd., on April 16
2015, the second teaser trailer was released. This was shown at the opening panel at the
Star Wars Celebration in California. This trailer was viewed 30.65 million times within the
first 24 hours of release.
J.J. Abrams and many of the actors and actresses in Star Wars: The Force Awakens attended
the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con International, where they showed behind-the-scenes
demonstrating the use of practical sets and effects in the film. Also, in August 2015, Disney
and LucasFilm Ltd. presented a sneak preview at the Force Awakens at Disneys D23 Expo
2015.

The first official trailer was released on October 19th 2015, alongside the theatrical release
poster. This trailer was shown during the halftime break of Monday Night Football before it
was released online. The trailer received 128 million views in the first 24 hours, breaking the
world record. 16 million of these views came from the Monday Night Football airing.

At the end of October, Air France began to offer a flight and cinema package for those
who booked a flight to Paris to a theatre to see the film; they did this due to France being
one of the first countries to release the film. On November 6th, a Japanese trailer was
released. On December 17th 2015, elected theatres in North America showed a Star Wars
marathon that consisted of all six of the original films in 2D, then Star Wars: The Force
Awakens in 3D.

(3) The technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production,
distribution, marketing and exchange
Many modern types of technology were utilised at many stages of the film production
process of Star Wars: The Force Awakens; these types of technology that have been
introduced over the past few years were used to ensure that the film was up to date and
meets what the audience expects to see from a multimillion dollar blockbuster.
Production
During the production stage of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, several different types of
modern technology were utilised. One of these technologies were 65mm/70mm IMAX
cameras used to record the film; this method of capturing footage has been introduced only
recently as IMAX cinemas have become more popular. Rather than using a digital storage
format, J.J. Abrams decided to use tape to film and store Star Wars: The Force Awakens; he
did this to retain the nostalgic aspect of the film as the original Star Wars were recorded in
this way. This shows that, even though much cheaper technologies that are easier to use
have been introduced over the last few years, directors are still opting to use older ones.

Distribution
The company that distributed Star Wars: The Force Awakens was Walt Disney Studios
Motion Pictures; due to this distribution company being exceedingly popular and
experienced, the film was available to the public in many different modern technologies.
Recently introduced technologies allowed the public to watch the film in cinemas in 2D, 3D
and IMAX. People can also purchase the film on DVD in 2D or 3D and on BluRay in 2D; the
film will be released on BluRay in 3D in November. These are available to purchase because
of recent technology allowing distributing companies to store larger film files on discs
(BluRay discs), meaning that they can be sold at higher definitions and resolutions. Also, the
higher definition allows people to have a more immersive home cinema experience using
modern surround sound speaker technology; this decreased the amount of people that
went to the cinema to watch the film as they have a similar setup at home.

(4) The significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences
Marketing has changed to support the advancements in the technical aspects of film
production. A lot of marketing is done virally and digitally, rather than physical copies, such
as posters. However, traditional methods of marketing were also used, including bus
advertisements and showing trailers on TV and in cinemas. But the main method used was
online marketing, such as YouTube (as there is a large audience on there), various social
media sites and websites.

This shows how advanced technology has become and how companies can use both
worlds while market their films to get the widest audience they can. Due to these technical
advances and exchange, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was able to use many different
methods of showing the film. This film was able to be shown in 3D at cinemas and in IMAX
cinemas. Also, because many people now have 3D TVs at home, 3D BluRay and DVDs are
available, alongside 2D BluRay and DVDs, to purchase from many stores and websites.
Additionally, the film is available for streaming and downloading from YouTube, Google
Play, Sky Cinema and iTunes (being the main platforms). All of these platforms are available
on most devices that are connected to the Internet, including gaming consoles.

Audiences have changed their viewing habits from going to the cinema to see a new film
due to the growth of technology. This growth has given people the ability to illegally record
and download new films prior to release. This is not good for any film company as they are
losing out on money they may have made from the people that do these illegal downloads.
Also, when the film is domestically released, many websites, such as Netflix and iTunes,
allow the audience to view the film at any time or any place. On top of this, Sky Cinema,
Virgin, BT etc. allow the audience to view the film on even more devices for rental or
purchase. In terms of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the DVD and BluRay release date was
April 5th 2016, the digital release was April 1st 2016, and the 3D BluRay release is
November 15th 2016. After these dates, audiences are able to purchase the film in any of
these formats and watch them as many times as they wish; this may include extras and
bonus material.

(5) The importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences

Many different technologies were used during the production process of Star Wars: The
Force Awakens; these were either older or more recent technologies. This convergence of
technologies was most significantly used during the marketing stage of the film production
process.
A very successful marketing method used for Star Wars: The Force Awakens was by using
below-the-line technology to spread the word about the film. The largest below-the-line
marketing technology used was the internet and social media. However, above-the-line
marketing methods were also used to spread-the-word to different audiences and to build
anticipation about the film. The main above-the-line marketing methods used for this film
were showing official trailers and teaser trailers in selected cinemas and on the television
worldwide.
By combining the use of multiple different marketing techniques and strategies and by
mixing above-the-line marketing with below-the-line marketing, the film was advertised
hundreds of millions of people across the world no matter what kind of person they are or
what they are interested in. This widened the films audience massively which had an
enormous impact on the success and popularity it had. This proves that, the more marketing
techniques used, the larger the films audience and therefore the higher the success.

(6) The issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically, British)
by international or global institutions
The USA premiere was held in Los Angeles on 14th December 2015, the first premiere for
the film. The US host a Comic-Con, in 2015, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was one of these
films. Also, on September 4th 2015, Force Friday was held in the US, which reviled all of
the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens toys and merchandise in retailers like Target, The
Disney Store and Toys R Us.
The UK premiere was 16th December 2015 in London.
In China, a premiere was held in Shanghai, December 27th 2015. They also promoted the
film at Shanghais International Film Festival. Using the Great Wall, 500 Stormtroopers
marched the length of the wall whilst projecting the trailer into it. With the previous films in
the franchise, there hasnt been much success in China nor has it been released for too long
(the previous films being released a few months before The Force Awakens).

(7) The ways in which the candidates own experiences of media consumption illustrate
wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour
The film was released December 17th 2015 to UK cinemas, the UK DVD release was April 5th
2016. This is really close to the cinema release date. This could be because they didn't want
the audience to forget that a new Star Wars movie was released and wanted them to rewatch the film, effectively creating even more money quickly before the hype goes.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a huge film in the sense that it broke many film records
and was recognised for its unique marketing methods. On a domestic point of view, the film
has made $27, 416, 746 through DVD sales and $129, 130, 683 through BluRay sales - this
shows many people prefer BluRay over DVD.
The millions of dollars that the companies put into the marketing of the film definitely
affected the attractiveness of the film as it brought in many people, however, I believe the
techniques used were more than enough to entice me into watching the film. Also, there
are now many ways in which new films can be watched; most people believe that going to a
cinema is the best experience by far, especially for a first viewing. Finally, the film was made
for 3D, so seeing the film in 3D would be much better than in 2D because the third
dimension aspect definitely adds to the effectiveness of the computer generated imagery
and special effects,