The Film Industry
Production
Production companies are one of the most important participants in the production of a film. If the production company accepts the idea it is then pitched to investors. Hopefully, they will think the potential film will be a blockbuster hit and invest into it. From this stage, the production company will then edit the script/storyline, choose cast members, figure out locations and most importantly, decide on the producers, editors and directors.
There are several main jobs in the production stage, they are:
Job | Description | Average wage |
Director/ assistant director | They are responsible for the film. They have superior control over everything and everyone else. They oversee the whole film being created. | $5 to $10 million per film |
Director of autography | They are responsible for all the sound in the film. It includes making sure dialogue is louder than any unwanted background noise. | N/A |
Casting director | This person is responsible for hiring each character and deciding what roles they will play. | $40 to $60 thousand per film |
Location manager | They have the job of finding a suitable location to film, where the actors will stay whilst there, how they will get there and any other factors that are related to the location of the filming. | $50 to $150 thousand per film |
Storyboard artist | The person responsible for drawing out the storyboard. | Up to $100 thousand. Dependant on what film |
Costume designer | To find/ design suitable costumes for the cast | Around $92 thousand in 2010 |
Makeup and hair | They are in charge of preparing the hair and makeup of the cast on the day of filming | $1000 to $1200 per month |
Producers | Similar to the director and oversee the film | Producer Laura Ziskin is estimated to have been paid over $30 million for the latest Spider-Man film. This is not the average but it is a good example of how much it can cost. |
Production companies
There are hundreds of production companies around. Well-known companies include ‘Universal Studios’, who have produced blockbuster phenomenon’s such as ‘E.T’ and the ‘Bourne’ series. Another production company is ‘Eon Productions’. They have produced the ‘James Bond’ series.
Universal Studios
Created in 1912, Universal have produced around 1500 films and an estimated 212 television programmes in their 100 years of service. In 2011, Universal made $4.239 billion making it the fifth biggest film production company in the world. The most famous film to be produced by universal includes:
Film | Year released | Budget (million) | Total Gross (million) |
‘ET | 1982 | $11 | $359 |
‘Fast Five’ | 2011 | $125 | $210 |
‘Jaws’ | 1975 | $9 | $260 |
‘Despicable me ‘ | 2010 | $69 | $252 |
‘Ted’ | 2012 | $65 | $219 |
Founded in 1961 by Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, Eon Productions are recognised for producing the ‘James Bond’ series. The only films that Eon Productions have produced, excluding the ‘James Bond’ series, is ‘Call Me Bwana’ in 1963.
The top 5 ‘James Bond’ films that generate the highest gross revenue are:
Name | Year released | Budget | Total Gross |
‘Skyfall’ | 2012 | 200,000,000 | $796,574,734 |
‘Casino Royal’ | 2006 | $150,000,000 | $599,200,000 |
‘Quantum of Solace’ | 2008 | $230,000,000 | $586,090,727 |
‘Die another Day’ | 2002 | $142,000,000 | $456,000,000 |
‘The world is not enough’ | 1999 | $135,000,000 | $390,000,000 |
Total for all ‘Bond’ films | 1962-2012 | $1,263,000,000 | $5,847,614,757 |
Film related to our project
‘Shaun of the Dead’
Created in 2004, the ‘Shaun of the Dead’ storyline relates closely to ours, it too is based around zombies. It was produced by Universal Pictures; with a budget of £4 million it made £1,603,410 on the weekend of release. As of 28th November 2004, it made $13,464,388.
Distribution
Distribution can fall down to individuals or distribution companies. It is then their job to decide on when to actually release the film publically, they also design the trailers and distribute the film to cinemas. They may choose to release it onto DVD’s, to website that allow users to download the film and to services that provide ‘on-demand’ services.
There are two ways distributers sell the film to cinemas:
Bidding
This is where the cinema bids for the film. They may choose to pay the distributers £10,000 to show the film for a week. The cinema will then calculate the profit or loss by subtracting the amount they made by the amount they paid the distributors.
Percentage
This is when the distributor gets a percentage of the revenue made by the cinemas ticket sales for that set film
Steps of distribution
- The studio creates an agreement with a distribution company. The most famous ones are 20th Century Fox Film Co. Ltd and Universal Pictures UK
- The distribution company then assesses how many copies of the film need to be made. They then print this off.
- The distribution company pitches the movie to potential buyers that are representing the cinema.
- The cinema owner then negotiates a fee on which they want to rent the movie for.
- The prints are sent to the theatres a few days before the opening day.
- The cinema will then show the film for the arranged amount of time
Film Marketing
Film marketing falls under film distribution. The distributor’s main objective is to make as much profit as possible. Advertising platforms that distributors tend to use include movie trailers, newspapers, magazines, television, radio, the Internet and billboards advertising. Types of advertisements include:
- Posters
- Newspaper/magazine adverts
- Trailers and Television adverts
- Interviews
- Merchandise
- Other forms of media, Internet ( YouTube and Social networking sites)
Posters
A film poster is a poster used to advertise a film. Distributors will print posters of many different sizes, content and languages. A typical poster will include vital information such as the actors who are starring in the film; the directors, the movie title and most importantly, the release date. The image featured on the poster is almost always of the main actor, his co-star and a location relevant to the film.
Newspaper/Magazine advertising
One of the most viewed forms of advertisement is in magazines and newspapers. Newspapers and magazines are available almost anywhere around the world, meaning any advert included in them has the potential to be viewed by millions of people.
This print screens from http://ww.metro.co.uk/ show that film has a big part to play in everyday life. This page is dictated to film advertisement.
Created by the distribution companies, trailers are a way of ‘showing off’ the film to potential viewers. A stereotypical film trailer will reveal to the viewers the main actors/actresses. They will also include a dramatic clip from the film so the audience is aware of what genre of film it is and lastly they also include important information such as the release date and producers.
‘James Bond – Skyfall’ trailer
Skyfall is a very good example of a film trailer. It reveals the main actor the co-star who is the ‘Bond Girl’, location two tense, high action clips.
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The second action scene revealed to the audience.
Interviews The main cast and crew are often interviewed on TV shows to publicise the film. Such programmes include the 'Jonathon Ross Show' and '35mm'
Merchandise
Films often bring out merchandise to publicise the film. They are often targeted at children but films, such and ‘Star Wars’, can release merchandise targeted to collectors. Other merchandise includes mugs, posters and stationary.
Social Networking
Over the past five years social networking has exploded. In 2011, the total number of video views on YouTube exceeded one trillion, which is equal to 127 views per person on earth. As well as this Facebook now has over one billion users, Google+ has over 600 million members and Twitter has over 500 million tweeters. Social networking is the perfect platform for releasing adverts and trailers.
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