The film industry, though a form of media on its own, has to incorporate Media Convergence into the production, marketing and distribution of a film, in order to make that film a success.
For example, behind the scenes footage was filmed alongside the production of Kick-Ass, and was aired before the film's release, so as to increase publicity and anticipation of the main event.
The same was done for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, but it was not aired until after the film had been released, as it would have spoiled, rather than promoted the film, for its already adoring fans.
In relevance to Kick-Ass in particular, it is clear that the kind of people who frequently check out internet movie sites are the ones who tend to enjoy comic book movies the most and who look forward to humorous action movies, and so the story of Kick-Ass was heavily documented from the first clips shown at Comic-Con.
The problems in which Matthew Vaughn had experienced whilst looking for a distributor, the way the movie was developed in parallel with the comic, and the fact that several TV spots were created, all for teaser purposes, had given the movie fanatics something to talk about.
However, the mainstream movie audience had still never even heard of the film.
Most people who go to see movies make their choices based on which billboards they see in the street, which trailers they come across between TV shows, and because of the occasional full page splash in a national tabloid.
In regards to this, a batch of trailers and posters had to be made, and pages on social networking sites were also created to try and reach a broader audience.
Kick-Ass mainly relied solely on the trailers themselves to generate word-of-mouth, though, and there was a lot of controversy as to how badly the marketing for the film had been constructed, as it portrayed the film to be much less violent than it turned out to be, and did not make a lot in sales figures - although it did make a small profit.
This proves that Media Convergence is extremely important in selling a film to an audience and to the institutions which are trying to make something from it.
The final Harry Potter film was a different kettle of fish, however, as a growing franchise had already been established before the film's release, and had been around for quite some time already, which meant that millions of fans only had to find out that the film was being made to want to go and see it.
This meant that marketing was not as big of an issue as it was with Kick-Ass to create a fan base, as there was already an audience for the film.
Although, this did not mean that marketing was not achieved to its best ability, and because of the enormous budget for the film, Warner Bros. did not sell themselves short when it came to advertising.
A number of fan sites were created due to the film's release, and J.K. Rowling (author of the book the film was based on) even created her own site entitled 'Pottermore', which, although was not entirely linked with the new film, coincided with the film's release and created a whole new wizarding world for the people at home to be a part of.
There were numerous posters and trailers made for the film, which could be found pretty much wherever you looked, and Harry Potter even had its own ticketing app located on several ticket sites and also on Facebook, which meant that people could purchase tickets before the movie had even been released, and friends could be invited to do the same.
Although the film's huge success was not based around its marketing and Warner Bros. were such a big company that they didn't need much help in the first place, Media Convergence had definitely played a big part in constructing the Harry Potter franchise throughout the years, as it could not have been everything that it was without the mix of so many different windows having been introduced from the very beginning, such as video games and merchandise, as well as the fans of the novels who had always supported the story and had watched it grow into something completely new.
Attack The block, on the other hand, was neither here nor there.
Social networking sites offered teasers of the film, whilst an official website had also been created to do the same thing, but apart from the release of a trailer and a poster, and a brief mentioning at Comic-Con, Big Talk Productions didn't come up with any extraordinary ways of promoting the film.
However, this was mainly due to its incredibly low budget, and reflected in the total sales the film made, which was considerably less than the budget itself, meaning that it did not succeed at the box office at all, although ratings of the film were generally good.
This reinforces just how important Media Convergence actually is, as Attack The Block is a perfect example of a film which was well received, but was considered a flop because of the lack of publicity it had, and so could not make enough money to succeed, though those who went to see it did enjoy the film.
Social networking and websites dedicated to publicising film reviews have become increasingly popular when in mid-production of a film or soon after its release, as they allow constant updates to be posted and opinions to be expressed through the best way to advertise a product - the internet.
For example, Twitter initiated an increase in the circling of information and hype surrounding Kick-Ass, and Rotten Tomatoes gave Attack The Block very good ratings.
As well as this, home media, such as DVD and Blu-Ray, is important for Audiences and Institutions, as they provide extra income and another way for people to view the films which they may not have had the chance to go to the cinema to see.
If we look back at Kick-Ass, we know that it was distributed by two different film companies - Universal Pictures (in the UK), and Lionsgate Films (in the US).
With Universal being one of the 6 'major' studios, and Lionsgate being a current 'mini-major' studio, a lot of publicity was created for the film; and as both companies were American based, Vaughn was able to promote Kick-Ass successfully overseas, and pretty well in the UK, as Lionsgate took care of the US, whilst Universal Pictures specifically targetted areas closer to home.
This sense of working together also meant that a vast assortment of advertising techniques, such as trailers, posters, games etc., could be used in different areas of the world to attract an audience, and also to spark a range of different responses and anticipation in build up to the film's release.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was solely distributed by Warner Bros., and so you could say that in this aspect, Media Convergence was not as important as it was for say the marketing of the film, as the company was big enough already to account for the many millions worldwide who wanted to view the final installment of the Harry Potter series.
Also, the fact that there had been a staggering 7 films already made in the same series must have counted for something?
There was already a huge fanbase wanting to view the film, as I mentioned before, and because it was the final film, anticipation was nowhere near inadequate in the weeks leading up to its release, anyway.
This goes to show that if you have a big enough company supporting you, and an ever-growing audience which is eager to receive their next fix - and let's not forget the enormous budget the film acquired - you need only do very little in order to succeed, as it is almost a given.
Attack The Block was a little different, as each company which contributed to the film was UK based.
Big Talk Productions, UK Film Council, StudioCanal and Film4 all worked together to create an audience for Joe Cornish's first blockbuster; but Film4 publicized the film the most and distributed it on a huge scale, by making it possible to view on their channel on numerous occasions in the UK, Republic of Ireland and even Switzerland.
Optimum Releasing, StudioCanal's British distribution company, released the film on 11 May 2011 in the UK, and Screen Gems distributed the film elsewhere after Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions acquired the film's US distribution rights, although this was on a significantly smaller scale and the film did not become a hit over there.
Because Attack The Block was such a low budget, British film, these small companies were ideal to collaborate with each other, as they knew exactly how to work well as a team and how to achieve the best outcome.
However, the fact that the film was so small on account of both of these things meant that it couldn't use its size to gain publicity, and so there was a slight problem from the beginning, which lead into marketing and then distribution.
Overall, Media Convergence is definitely important to Audiences and Insitutions, as it allows for the targetting of an audience, and helps to create extra windows surrounding the films, which again will make people more interested.
I have found out that this was the case for Kick-Ass and Attack The Block, as these were completely new films and were not part of any other franchise; but if we come across a film such as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, we can see that an existing fanbase has already been established, and so promoting too much may lead to the exposure of secrets which are best left not revealed, and also that the storyline of the film is obviously a big factor in drawing in the public on its own. However, obviously if there was no advertising surrounding a film at all, it would not have the chance to do half as well as it could have, as the public need to obtain a certain level of awareness in order to make an informed decision as to whether they want to see the film or not, and so Media Convergence is well worth the time and effort.
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