Media Studies

Case Studies

Big Picture• Candidates should be prepared to understand and discuss the processes of

production, distribution, marketing and exchange as they relate to contemporary media institutions, as well as the nature of audience consumption and the relationships between audiences and institutions. In addition, candidates should be familiar with:

• • the issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice; • • the importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production,

distribution and marketing; • • the technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of

production, distribution, marketing and exchange; • • the significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and

audiences; • • the importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences; • • the issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically,

British) by international or global institutions; • • the ways in which the candidates’ own experiences of media consumption

illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour. •

Production Ownership

• Produced by:

• Warner Bros Animation Studios (animation specialist division)

• Walt Disney Pictures (film production company)

• Both of which are divisions of:

• Walt Disney Studios (the big studio with a number of specialist divisions) – these handled Frozen’s distribution

• Which is in turn owned by:

• The Walt Disney Company (the conglomerate at the top)

Walt Disney Studios

• Established in 1953 as Buena Vista Distribution Company, the unit handles distribution and marketing for films produced by the Walt Disney Studios;[3] including Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Disneynature and, since 2012 and 2015, Marvel Studios—which is a part of Disney's Marvel Entertainment subsidiary—and Lucasfilm.

• Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is noteworthy for having seven films that have surpassed the $1-billion-mark in worldwide ticket sales:

• Marvel's The Avengers (2012; $1,511,757,910)• Iron Man 3 (2013; $1,215,439,994)• Frozen (2013; $1,169,229,000)• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006; $1,066,179,725)• Toy Story 3 (2010; $1,063,171,911)• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011; $1,045,713,802)• Alice in Wonderland (2010; $1,025,467,110)

Walt Disney Company

• American diversified multinational mass media corporation headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. It is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue

• Disney also owns and operates the ABC broadcast television network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, A+E Networks, and ABC Family; publishing, merchandising, and theatre divisions; and owns and licenses 14 theme parks around the world. It also has a successful music division.

Budget

• Frozen had a production budget of $150 million

• computer-animated feature in stereoscopic 3D

• unique artistic style by blending features of both computer-generated imagery (CGI) and traditional hand-drawn animation together

Factors Influencing Production

• Cast and Crew experience – Directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee had been involved in previous animation successes (Tarzan, Wreck-it Ralph), producer Peter Del Vecho had produced Winnie the Pooh. Star Kristen Bell sung on The Little Mermaid and Idina Mentzel is a famous Broadway actress

• Filmed shared technical style with Tangled

• It offers ‘more of the same’ in an attempt to replicate some of the elements that ensured the previous films were successful

• Repetition and Difference

Distribution

• Distribution was handled by:

• Walt Disney Studios

• Another Disney division Disney Character Voices International, Frozen was translated and dubbed into 41 languages (compared with only 15 for The Lion King) – this indicates massive worldwide distribution

Poster Campaign

Promo Campaign

• Disney’s own YouTube channel built hype by releasing a number of trailers, from ‘first look’ to ‘TV spots’ to full trailers (each emphasisingdifferent elements e.g. comedy, music, tension)

• Also key links with other merchandisers• “Disney has announced it has formed a partnership with frozen food

retailer Iceland to promote the upcoming release of ‘Frozen’, set to hit cinema screens on 6 December.

• The family-oriented campaign will give Iceland customers the chance to pick up complementary child’s ticket with the purchase of an adult ticket with a grocery spend of £15 or more.

• A marketing campaign, launched today, will also incorporate in-store branding as well as TV and newspaper adverts featuring key characters from the film.”

• Bloomberg Businessweek magazine reported in March 2014 that outside analysts had projected the film's total cost at somewhere around $323 million to $350 million for production, marketing, and distribution

Exhibition: Box Office

• Frozen received a saturation blanket release

• Numerous platforms – 2D, 3D, ‘singalong version’

• The film grossed $65,310,130 in the UK

• The film earned $110.6 million worldwide in its opening weekend

• Total worldwide gross: $1,169,229,000

Home Release

• Frozen continues to make profits well after cinema release

• Disney’s website has a specific Frozen page which promotes the film across a number of platforms

• Blu Ray/DVD

• Games/Apps

• Digital downloads across a number of platforms

• As well as links to merchandise from Disney store

• The page also links in to other Disney related films

Synergy

• “In March 2014, Bloomberg Businessweek reported that Disney had sold almost 500,000 Anna and Elsa dolls, with a 5,000 limited-edition run selling out online in only 45 minutes in January. Demand only increased further after the mid-March home video release; toy industry expert Jim Silver explained home video enabled children to "watch it over and over again" and "fall in love" with the film's characters”

• “meet-and-greets with Anna and Elsa at Disneyland and Epcot had been initially sponsored by The Walt Disney Studios as short-term temporary attractions to promote the film, but in February 2014, Disney Parks decided to extend them indefinitely in response to unprecedented demand”

Synergy

• Bob Iger, chairman and chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company, stated in a January 2014 interview with Fortune that Disney Theatrical Productions is in early development of a Broadway stage musical adaptation of Frozen.

• Due to its status as a massive conglomerate, Disney can utilise its various divisions in order to maximise profit. Each strand makes profit and also advertises the other strands.

• The film is not a singular entity but merely the centralised point for a huge volume of related merchandise