Part 1 - General Introduction Questions

Q1. Why is convergence both a blessing and a curse for the UK film industry?
Convergence presents many benefits for the UK film industry. First off it can greatly increase the amount of money that a film makes by making a film accessible to a larger audience. For example, a film based on a book already has an audience of all the fans of the book. Likewise when a film is based on a comic such as Spider-Man, any fans of the comic are likely to go and watch it. This also means that there will be more word of mouth for the film even before people have seen it as it already interests a great number of people regardless of the end product. Video games based on films are also common such as Quantum of Solace, a video game made based on a British film. This means that there's an even bigger audience consuming the film.

However, convergence also means a huge rise in popularity of digital media and the downloading of media. This means it is very easy to download any film you might want to see illegally over the Internet. Thus, UK films don't make as much money in DVD sales etc. and less money gets circulated back into the UK film industry.

Q2. How has the Internet allowed film-makers to find and attract audiences in different ways?
Popular Internet institutions such Youtube and Facebook allow film-makers to reach out to specific audiences. For instance, many Youtube videos have adverts these days, and if a film studio wishes to reach out to a younger audience then they can purchase ad space on the videos most popular with youths. Google also helps out film studios as it will monitor your searching and then provide adverts related to your searches. For example, if you were to search "action movies", a Die Hard advert may come up.

Q3. Summarise how you think sites like YouTube, Spotify and Facebook are good for film audiences. What do they let us do that we couldn't before?
Sites like YouTube, Spotify and Facebook allow users to share and indulge their interests instantly. If one wants to view a trailer for a film, they can go straight onto YouTube and watch it. They can then share it with their friends on Facebook, while listening to their favourite film soundtrack on Spotify. This means we can find what we want and are interested in very easily and have much more choice in our selection of media we choose to consume.

How to make an intelligent blockbuster...

What I've learnt about the film industry:


One important thing I have learnt about the film industry from reading Mark Kermode's excerpt is the pressure put on modern filmmaking to do well financially and how that can cause filmmakers to make films that pander to a modern audience. Studios also appear to use the media to build up a lot of hype for films and to draw audiences in, such as, on 'Pearl Harbour', circulating rumours like "Michael Bay quit the project four times over various budgetary disputes", suggesting to audiences that the amount of money put into the film was controversially excessive and thus the film would be fairly spectacular. This is also shown in a studio's reluctance to let any director make a project he feels strongly about without a strong record of success with other projects.

Ways In Which I Can Consume 'Friends With Benefits'

As soon as you visit the 'Friends With Benefits' official site, you are met with a pop up video in which the actors of the film inform you that there is no option to set "Friends With Benefits" as your relationship status and encourage you to click a link that will set your Facebook status to "I will be silent no longer! I support a "Friends With Benefits" relationship status option on all social networking sites. Click the link to join me."

There is a videos page on the website in which you can see the trailer for the movie and a few clips from the film. There is also a video quiz for the film and a game, as well as an interactive trailer.

There is also a gallery page on the website where you can view stills from the film.

My Media

Films:
Fast Times At Ridgemont High - Downloaded on filestube.com
Dazed and Confused - Downloaded on filestube.com
Final Destination - Downloaded on filestube.com
Adaptation - Downloaded on filestube.com
Being John Malkovich - Downloaded on filestube.com

TV:
The Office (US) - Downloaded on thepiratebay.org
Breaking Bad - Downloaded on filestube.com
Entourage - Downloaded on filestube.com
Curb Your Enthusiasm - Downloaded on filestube.com
Twin Peaks - DVD Box Set

Music:
Police - Outlandos D'Amour - Vinyl
Dillinger - Cocaine in My Brain - Vinyl
Elvis Costello - Last Year's Model - Vinyl
Metronomy - The English Riviera - MP3s bought on 7digital.com
Jamie XX - Far Nearer - WAVs bought on store.nmbrs.net
All other music listened to on Spotify.
All vinyls borrowed off my dad.

Social Media:
Ultra Culture - Blog
Dazed and Confused - Magazine
The Independent - Newspaper
Empire Online - Website
Cyanide and Happiness - Webcomic

Social Networks:
Facebook
Flickr
Twitter