The Dark Knight RisesCase Study

Technical Aspects of The Dark Knight Rises

Release date: 20th July 2012 (UK Cinema), December 4th 2012 (UK DVD)

Genre: Action/Crime/Drama

Running time: 165 minutes

Main distribution companies: Warner Bros. Pictures

Budget: $250-$300 million

Worldwide gross: $1,081,041,287

Directors: Christopher Nolan

Producers: Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas, Charles Roven

Main actors: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine

Structure of the companies in The Dark Knight Rises

Distribution – Warner Bros. Pictures

Legendary Pictures/Syncopy Films/DC comics

Batman

Warner Bros. has production deals with

DC Comics owns

Owned by Time Warner

The production side of The Dark Knight Rises

Producers: Christopher Nolan/Emma Thomas/Charles Roven

Music: Hans Zimmer

Costume Design: Lindy Hemming

The cultural industry theory applies to The Dark Knight Rises, it is similar to other movies of it’s genre (superhero movies) in the fact that it is the simple “hero beats villain” story, with a couple of extra twists. However, this film and it’s respective trilogy tries to do something different, the film is a lot darker than most other superhero films released and The Dark Knight Rises was heavily praised for that.

Synergy was also used a lot during production of The Dark Knight Rises, Nolan used the IMAX corporations “IMAX” cameras to film The Dark Knight Rises, as he does not believe in 3D but still wanted the film to be of a high quality. Other companies sets were used, most notably the American football team “Pittsburg Steelers” playing field was used, along with them themselves. This is an example of horizontal synergy.

Promotion of The Dark Knight Rises

“The official website launched in May 2011 introducing a viral marketing campaign similar to the one used to promote The Dark Knight. The website streamed an encrypted audio file described by users as chanting. Users decrypted the audio to the Twitter hashtag, "#TheFireRises". Warner Bros. removed a pixel from the webpage for every tweet using the hashtag. The website revealed the first official image of Bane.” This is an example of New Media Technologies being used to promote a film. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Knight_Rises)

The teaser trailer to the film was advertised with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, and the theatrical trailer was released with Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. The Dark Knight Rises theatrical trailer was shown again with the release of The Avengers.

marketing campaigns for the film continued as magazine companies Empire and Wired received “CIA documents” which revealed plot elements of the six-minute prologue of the film screened at the Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol premiere.

Before the films release, At the American International Toy Fair, Mattel unveiled figures for Batman, Bane, and Catwoman, and Batman’s flying vehicle, The bat.(http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/comics/story/2012-02-01/Dark-Knight-Rises-Batman-movie-toys/52906568/1)

The Cultural Industry theory would apply here, because a lot of “high-end” superhero films will advertise themselves with films of a similar genre, this is a proven method and was used with The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises respectively.

The Distribution Methods of The Dark Knight Rises

On July 6th 2012, a special screening of The Dark Knight Rises for more than 100 critics and reporters was planned, but had to be delayed for one day due to technical problems.

The film later premiered on July 16th 2012 at the AMC Lincoln Square Theater in New York City, New York, followed by a European premiere on July 18th 2012 at Leicester Square in London, England. The film was released in Australia and New Zealand on July 19th 2012, and was later released in North America and the United Kingdom on July 20th 2012.

The Dark Knight Rises was released on November 28th 2012 in Hong Kong and New Zealand, on December 3rd 2012 in the UK and on December 4th 2012 in the United States. It was available for purchase on DVD, Blu-Ray, as well as on a digital download. Websites and programmes such as Netflix were also releasing the film to the public for viewing. A box set showcasing the trilogy of The Dark Knight films was also released, coinciding with the release of The Dark Knight Rises.

The Dark Knight Rises methods of consumption

The Dark Knight Rises was, at first, consumed in the cinema. It had a typical cinema run, releasing in cinemas across the globe, IMAX or not.

Around 5-6 months after its cinema release, it was released and able to be consumed via Blu-Ray, DVD and digital download. It is also available on the internet, unfortunately piracy viewings come into play as well.

The encoding/decoding theory could loosely be applied here, with the preferred reading seeing the film legally, be it via the cinema, DVD, Blu-Ray and digital download, and the oppositional reading being viewing the movie in a way that breaks the law. Whether that is online without paying for the film, or buying a pirated DVD.

The Dark Knight Rises Merchandise and Synergy

Warner Bros. partnered with Mountain Dew to do a cross-promotion that included a special paint scheme on the No. 88 Chevrolet Impala owned by Hendrick Motorsports and driven by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. On June 17, 2012, the car won the 2012 Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway. On July 4, 2012, the studio signed a deal with Formula One team Lotus F1 to have the films logos appear on the Lotus E20s driven by Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean at the 2012 British Grand Prix. Raikkonen and Grosjean went on to finish the race in fifth and sixth place respectively. Warner Bros. had previously followed a similar promotion in the 2008 British Grand Prix, when the now-defunct Toyota F1 carried a livery to promote The Dark Knight. (http://www.itv-f1.com/news_article.aspx?id=

43173)

The Woman in BlackCase Study

Technical Aspects of The Woman in Black

Release date: 10th February 2012 (UK Cinema), 18th June 2012 (UK DVD)

Genre: Drama/Horror/Thriller

Running time: 95 minutes

Main distribution companies: Momentum Pictures (UK)

Budget: $15 million

Worldwide gross: $127,730,736

Directors: James Watkins

Producers: Brian Oliver, Richard Jackson, Simon Oakes

Main actors: Daniel Radcliffe, Janet McTeer, Ciarån Hinds

Structure of the companies in The Woman in Black

Distribution – Momentum Pictures and Hammer Film Productions

Alliance films

Who distributed the film in Canada

Owned by

Independent company

The production side of The Woman in Black

Producer: Tobin Armbrust

Music: Marco Beltrami

Cinematography: Tim Maurice-Jones

“For its British release, several changes were made in order to qualify for a 12A certificate: Momentum Theatrical, the distributor, arranged to have six seconds cut and for changes to other shots, with some scenes darkened and the sound level reduced on some others. The cuts were never released to audiences, but comparing the US and UK cuts were never revealed to audiences, but comparing the US and UK cuts of the film reveals that the scenes where the woman hangs from the nursery ceiling and when Lucy Jerome sets herself on fire were cut short in the UK version. This could have been because one of their target audiences when producing this film was Harry Potter fans, who have a lot of fans that are under the age of 12.

Although a somewhat loose link, synergy was used in the fact that this film was filmed in the United Kingdom, this in turn advertises the United Kingdom and would generate tourist income, similar to how New Zealand generates income from the Lord of Rings films.

Promotion of The Woman in Black

The Woman in Black was promoting their film constantly on social networking sites such as Facebook. They had their own “group” on the site and were releasing information about the film periodically to a wide audience.

Advertisements could also be seen all over the internet, appearing as banners, trailers, etc. on web pages.

There were 3 main audiences targeted whilst promoting The Woman in Black, Harry Potter/Radcliffe fans first and foremost, horror fans and fans of the play/book.

Promotion of The Woman in Black

Large posters were used to advertise the film throughout the world, whether that be on billboards like seen here or on bus shelters.

Advertisements could also be seen in newspapers worldwide

Social networking sites such as YouTube were also used via a competition designed for the target audience, and allowing them a chance to win multiple prizes, providing they submit a “ghost story”. This would entice people to enter the competition and subsequently make them interested in the film.

Distribution of The Woman in Black

The Woman in Black was available on all of the typical platforms, allowing for the widest possible audience to view the film.

These platforms were blu-ray, dvd, digital download, online (via piracy), online subcription (such as lovefilm, or netflix).

The film was originally released in cinemas across the globe, and had a successful cinema run, like The Dark Knight Rises.

The Woman in Black’s methods of consumption

Like I stated above, the film is available on all of the regular platforms and just not try to steer away from the norm.

“The encoding/decoding theory could loosely be applied here, with the preferred reading seeing the film legally, be it via the cinema, DVD, Blu-Ray and digital download, and the oppositional reading being viewing the movie in a way that breaks the law. Whether that is online without paying for the film, or buying a pirated DVD.”

The Woman in Black Merchandise

Although not as heavy on the merchandise as The Dark Knight Rises, most likely due to it being a much more serious genre and having a more mature target audience, it still has some.

T-shirts, mugs and cups and flash lights could all be purchased and would bring in some extra money for the company.

The mugs and cups and the t-shirts are all very typical of films, however the flashlight could be referring to the scary nature of the film, and cashing in on the whole “darkness is scary” thing.

Secondary Notes

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Press Conferences

Allows audiences to receive information about the film from the actors and directors themselves more reliable

CGI Used for some of the characters and settings entirely, such as the multiple

goblins Motion Capture

Used for the dwarves, as well as gollum, and other characters. Advertising

Airplanes Airports Banners Billboards Public Sets