Lo1 Task 4: Cross Media Study Case

 Cross Media Study Case

Product: Star Wars

Star wars has been successful on different media platforms to help grow their fan base and viewership over the years. For example, Star wars use Instagram as their primary source of advertising, along with creating their own video games with companies such as, Lucasfilm Games LLC, Ubisoft, EA and many more. 

Star Wars have used above the line advertising to market and distribute their products, as their YouTube channel is used to release trailers and teasers of their upcoming products. For example the latest upcoming product Skeleton Crew, as their homepage on YouTube features the official trailer for the series. The title includes the name of the product, when it is being released and where it can be streamed.

The video game Star Wars Jedi Survivor was a very successful game made by Star Wars and Respawn Entertainment, as it caught the attention of many gamer's who have a large fanbase who would stream and upload the gameplay on apps such as Twitch and YouTube which not also brought more success into their games, but with their fans wanting the main character brought into the films. 

Instagram is used by Star Wars, as they can post content from behind the scenes, new comics, upcoming content for both films and video games and even interactions with fans. 

The target audience for Star Wars are both male and female and those who do not wish to be included in them categories from the ages of 5-80. For example, Star Wars have recently became a very diverse company, as on pride month they released a comic about a non-binary Jedi, along with releasing kids TV shows. However, they do not stray away from all the SI-Fi action they are known for, as they still want their audience to know what genre the company dominates still.

With Web 2.0 and the introduction of the smartphone, Star Wars made websites and many apps that their audience can access for free, as their website holds additional information such as news, videos, films, series, games and interactive. Also, Star Wars has their own account on IMDB where you see their products and posters for films that get released to cinema, along with their ratings. 

The brand adaptation was successful, as Star Wars have 16.9 million followers on Instagram, along with Star Wars The Force Awakens in 2016 being their greatest cinema attendance along with being their highest grossing film, due to the hype it got around social media on Instagram and Twitter, as it became trending on Twitter and the most talked about film before and after release day. And since then Star Wars still get a lot people seeing their films in the Cinema and Disney Plus due to their use of advertising on social media.

L01: Task 3 Technological convergence, and advertising, Distribution.

 Technological convergence, and advertising, Distribution

Star Wars

The reason why Star Wars does well with technological convergence and advertising, is because we can see on multiple media apps such as YouTube, Instagram, that they have different channels to promote latest films and series. They do this by having people who follow them be notified on their phones that Star Wars has posted. This allows their promotional video to get multiple views and increase and expand the hype around their product being promoted. 

For example, when Star Wars released the Mandalorian Series, they used different social media platforms to promote their teaser trailers and unseen images on apps such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook which would not only allow their audience to share their opinions by commenting on the posts. By doing this Star Wars are able to have their audience react and add hype around the product, along with feeling a part of the product as Star Wars would also often reply back to some of the comments and share them on the stories, to show those who may not have seen the posts just how excited their audience is for the latest product. The reason why Star Wars would've done this, is to gain audience feedback before release day, incase they need to change something or add content the audience wants to see. An example of this would be when another company such as Paramount released the first trailer for Sonic trailer on their social media pages, and received a lot of hate from their target audience due to how bad the design was for Sonic himself due to him looking more human like. Later, Paramount released another trailer later on in the months of a new design for Sonic, which was a great improvement which overall gave the product more attention positively, compared to their first trailer. 

The advantage of VOD has became increasingly important to companies, as using services, such as Netflix and Disney Plus allows multiple different types of audience from a broad scale of genres to watch their favourite or movies or tv shows they have not seen. What makes this effective is because their audience can access these products whenever they want and wherever they are. This allows their audiences to consume more media within the day due these services also being accessible through websites and app stores, which means their audiences can access them on Laptops, black box devices such as phones and tablets whenever they want. The reason why this benefits the company and the audience themselves is it allows their audience to binge movie trilogies to escape reality and feel the same experience they felt when they first ever watched the films. The reason why this benefits the companies is because the more these products are streamed, the more profit they make along with the companies who made the films themselves would gain more confidence within those platforms to add more their products. 

However, another benefit that these platforms have is the option to download media products available within the apps. For example, Netflix allows you to download films and series episodes, incase you are going on a holidays where internet is not accessible, such as camping or places with weak signal. However, this is also common on other platforms as YouTube and Spotify also have this add on for their audience, as most people when they are out prefer to listen to music rather than hear everything around them. In addition to this, Netflix has also led to 'Death of the Schedule' (Sonia Livingstone 1999) as streaming services have almost gotten rid of the tradition of families sitting down and watching films together, as their children would stay in their room and watch the type of content they prefer by themselves rather than watching it with their family. 

LO1: Task2 Technological convergence and production techniques

 Technological convergence and production techniques 

Convergent Technology has positively impacted the production of products, as we see more smaller business that aren't the likes of Disney or Sony, created short films or parody videos to entertain their audience. For example, influencers can use apps such as TikTok, as they have full access to creating videos in styles that they choose. This is because TikTok use an app called CapCut that allows you to create your own videos. However, there are some limitations of CapCut, as the app has a premium version that allows you to go full out with editing and adding more unique filters and effects. 

Film Made Purely on CapCut

                          The Combat Suit Official Teaser | Sierra Leone Action CapCut Movie           

The link here is a trailer of a recent film trailer from actors living in Sierra Leon, who have created their own adaptation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe made with CapCut. This shows how easily accessible it is to have apps that can allow people to use their imagination and make their own content. 

The reason why making this film would have been possible to make, is because they could have used Powerpoint for their pre-production they could have made a mind map, and mood boards of example images that can inspire their film. An example of this could be having access to YouTube with Marvel film trailers, or Disney Plus that stream Marvel films. This would allow them to take scenes from certain films and influence that idea into its own. For example, the product is called "The Combat Suit" meaning it could be inspired by the Marvel character Iron Man, as the suit is basically a combat suit. 

For Production of their product, the content creators could have used apps such as the camera on their phone or CapCut. The reason why CapCut would be best for filming is because, it has a large storage space, and gives you choices of filters for your film. This allows the producer to have multiple choices of how he or she wants to style their video. Another reason why CapCut is also great for recording, as it allows you to have multiple cuts of the same shot, so having to worry about having to use the same clip and going over it is not an issue. 

When entering the stage of  Post-Production, the best app to use would be Adobe Premier or at a push still CapCut. The reason why I would choose Adobe Premier, is because it has everything to create a film at a professional standard, when it comes to arranging and cutting out scenes from videos to create a product. However, people would rather not use Adobe Premier is due to it having a paid subscription to edit without any limitations. The reason why people would use CapCut instead is because the premium version of CapCut is cheaper by a lot compared to adobe and more simplistic. So content creators, would be able to create contents quicker than waiting weeks or months to create a video, not only does this keep their audience with them with quicker  content but it also shows how people can use more than just professional software to make videos.

L01 Task 1 Media products in the audio visual industry

Audio Visual Industry 

 Industry: Audio-Visual: Using the Audio Visual Industry- use your knowledge of how a conglomerate operates from Unit 1 (e.g. 21st Century Fox) compared to an company (e.g. Warp) to discuss the type of products that each company produces. 

Horizontal Integration- is a benefit of vertical integration which allows a conglomerate to distribute media across different platforms they own.   

Vertical Integration- is when a conglomerate uses subsidiaries to produce, distribute and exhibit a product, giving the owing conglomerate full control of the production process.

Ownership-  A conglomerate company due to it having a large income, it would be able to distribute high quality films. For example, Disney can make marvel films with CGI and high quality filming equipment to make the product look as realistic as possible. This can also be done with Star Wars, since Disney also own Star Wars, they can put enough funding into the product to make the SI-FI atmosphere as aesthetic as possible for their audience. An Indie company would struggle with this, because they will not have enough funding to have good quality CGI and other graphics making the product look poor compared to a conglomerate company.  For example, Warp Films have created low budget films such as Little Birds, Ghost Stories and many more, that u would not normally find in cinemas, but might find in other streaming platforms. Disney use Horizontal Integration as they use platforms they own such as Disney Plus to stream their own products to their audience which includes Pixar, Star, Star Wars and Marvel. 

Adaptation- Adaptation is when a company has there product distributed in more than one way. This can be done with a video game, comic or anything else that is separate to the original product. For example, Star Wars was first produced as a film in 1977, and was later then distributing comics to create non-cannon content fort the fans to enjoy reading. The reason why companies would create comics of action and SI-FI films is due to the events taking place in those comics can have no impact on the current films that are released. This allows the producer to create new stories and characters that the fans have never heard of and can create a completely new era that the fans would want. Also, some products like Resident Evil a popular horror game franchise was turned into a film due to the high success the game had. In addition to this, Star Wars and Marvel have both collaborated with Lego and Travelers Tale to make the famous games such as Lego Star Wars The Complete Saga and Lego Marvel Superhero's.  However, an independent film that Warp Films has done, is Everybody's Talking about Jamie, was first brought out as a West End Film Production, which was turned into a movie released in 2021. 

Brands-  Disney use cross media, as they create books that are targeted at a younger audience. These books are typically based around films they have created in the past, and created another aspect of that chosen product. For example, Disney could make a book based around Beauty and the beast, while having it targeted to an audience of girls from the ages of 4 to 8, as the book would have simplistic short words for them to read much easier. Also, Epic Games use cross media to promote their products, as they use their own website to showcase the latest games. For example Epic Games could promote their game Fortnite to their audience which are both male and female from the ages of 12-40, as their Pegi rating is 12 and above.  However, they also use social medias such as Instagram and  X which are both popular apps for that teenagers and adults use to browse media of their interest. However, Disney also have films that are based at different ranges of audiences. For example, the film Frozen is targeted at a younger female audience from ages of 5-12, as it gives them a set of characters along with the protagonist being someone they aspire to be. However, Disney also created another product such as Mandalorian which would appeal to a male audience from the ages of 13-30, as it gives them a protagonist who was a bounty hunter, who would later become a leader of survivors of a fallen army. 

Audience Pleasures- . Disney keep their audience entertained and updated with their website. For example, Disney UK has Inside Out 2 as the first thing you see when you open up the website, as at the moment it is their most recent film, and would like to have their audience to know about it instantly. The reason why Inside Out 2 would link to audience escapism, is because the audience gets to discover other peoples thoughts and feelings which can bring them a sense of grief and relate to that character. However, Inside out also creates moments that allows parents and their child to communicate as the film itself goes over topics that can be seen as relatable and emotional to both parent and child, that would cause them to talk about what they have just witnessed in the film. Also, the website promotes musical productions of their products, such as Lion King has its own musical in London. The website also consists of upcoming films that are coming out, which allows their audience to. create early hype around these projects. However, Epic Games keep their audience entertained who are into video games, as on their social media, Epic Games allows their audience to see upcoming games and other features for the current games to ensure they stay modern and do not become out dated, which is why they would announce new updates for their products. Examples of products they would showcase on their website would be games such as Fortnite, and Rocket League, as these two games are their highest grossing games. 

LO2: Task 4- Professional Etiquette

 What Does Professional Etiquette mean?

Professional Etiquette stands for the unwritten code of conduct that people are expected to use during a professional standard. 

How does this link to my job role?

The reason why having a professional etiquette in screenwriting is important, is because your professionalism in that area will have improvements, and can be noticed by your peers and those around you, that can potentially build up more trust and opportunities for the future. 

Contribution to other roles

Where would screenwriters be placed?

In my opinion, i would place Screenwriters at the top instead of actors. The reason why i would do this, is because they have a massive impact on the formation of the pre-production of a film that help builds up towards the production side of the film. For example, a screenwriter, would write up the story, the characters, their looks, personality and the role in the film, along with location, where the characters are placed, and the whole moral of the story as a whole. I would also place a director below a scriptwriter, as they would often rely on the script to gain knowledge on how the film is to be presented and laid out to the others working on the film. This would also be important for auditions to see who is best suited for which character.

How would screenwriters impact other roles?

Screenwriters would impact other roles such as producers, as they would inform them on the Characters and location settings, which would then be the producers role to go and find the actors and locations around the world that are best suited to match the script. Next, would be the director, as they would need additional knowledge from the screenwriter on the production side of the film, as they would have more knowledge on how to help run the story line of the film. The reason why a good relationship between the Scriptwriter, Producer and the Director, is because with a healthy working atmosphere between the three, can make filming and planning become more efficient with better quality.  However, if there was a bad relationship between them, the quality of work and planning will be poor, due to the lack of communication and enthusiasm between them. This could also end up having actors or other staging crew leave the production due to a poor working environment. 

LO2: Task 3- Career Pathways

 Career Pathways 

Independent 

A freelance scriptwriter would need the basic skills of being able to form a script, and have it presented in the standard that is required. This is because when being a freelance scriptwriter,  it is the same as being self employed. This means that you would have to go out and find people who are looking for someone to write up a script for them. This could be from an amateur company all the way up to a professional company. However, in order to get these companies to pay you to make them a script, you would need to have a good reputation with other companies who can reference you. By doing this it will make it easier for you to find other companies that will be willing to pay you, which means you could end up writing scripts for famous companies and get paid a good amount for it. 

20 Best Freelance Script Writers to Hire in 2024 | Contra
Voluntary Sector

From the link below, voluntary experience for scriptwriting is available for everybody from the ages of 16 and above. This allows people to learn how to make scripts with having experience or having no experience at all. The skills you will learn from doing this, is being able to form a full standard script that people can use to perform. Also, you will be able to understand what is needed on a script and how they all benefit each other. By doing this experience it will give you an advantage when being employed as it gives you the experience that an employer would be looking for. 

Volunteering Opportunities | Industrial Scripts | Film & Editing

Employment

With being employed to be a scriptwriter, the required skills that would be needed would be experience. This is because most employers look for people who have the required amount of experience, so they know you will have some form of professionalism when working. Also, another skill the employer would be looking for would be having a good imagination. This could be either placed in your CV or you could mention it if the employer was to ask you to talk about yourself. However, if the employer was asking for proof that you have experience, the best way to convince them, is either by having a GCSE or A Level in Drama, as the exams for Drama requires you to write up a script. If you do not have this then you can show the employer, evidence of you writing up scripts for either a theater company who have decided to try and make their own show. This will then show the employer that you are capable of writing up a script above an amateur level which can be used to create a public show. 

Script Writer Jobs | Indeed.com

Work based training

Work based training is a form of education where an employee would be educated while gaining work experience on the work they have selected. This would benefit a scriptwriter as Channel 4 careers offers people this experience, which will allow employees to gain experience and learn from what their employer is teaching them. However, the course is only 2 weekends, so individual learning would also be required in order to give you an advantage against others. What you will be doing in this course is that you would be required to create a 1 hour Drama piece, while having your script after the performance being considered an option for 6 months, before setting up a meeting letting you know if you have the job or not. The skills that Channel 4 would be looking for before even considering you suitable for the role is experience in forms of scriptwriting, grades in either GCSE or A level drama to show you have knowledge on how a script should be presented. However, having references from other companies that you could have worked for when writing up a script for their productions would be helpful to both you and the employer. 4Screenwriting | Channel 4 Careers

Further education

Further education for scriptwriting can be obtainable in courses such as University. For example, The University of Manchester offers a 1 year course of Screenwriting. This would benefit a student who wants to become a full time scriptwriter, as not only by achieving the requirements to pass, they would also get a Master of Arts Degree awarded to them. 

Course overview- During the course, students will have a 1 year course that aims to develop students writers voice, along with giving them a professional practice of screenwriting, to help guide them through the professional aspects of screenwriting that can inspire their own work and format it to how others present their screenwriting/scripts. However, the course also includes opportunities for internships at production companies, that can either be used for work experience or full time employment. 

https://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/masters/courses/list/09832/ma-screenwriting/

Higher education 

Higher education is also available in University such as Central Film School London, that do a 2 year full time course in Screenwriting. From doing this course students will get a Bachelor of Arts Qualification once they have passed their course with the work up to standards. In the first year, you will study Visual Storytelling, where you use moving image along with drawing traditions of art, Photography and theatre. 

Next is Screen Studies, where you focus on the study of films from multiple perspectives. This includes thematic, narrative structure and genre. 

For the second year, you would write Episodic Drama, which will get you get you to examine the characteristics of episodic fiction on TV and streaming platforms. 

BA (Hons) Screenwriting 2022 - Central Film School

LO2: Task 2- Job roles in a Chosen Sector

Lo2: Scriptwriting

Scriptwriting is a technical skill that comes into the media industry, that helps create a blueprint for the product that is being created. Scripts are mainly used in films and other performing societies as it acts as the backbone and others working in the industry to gain an idea on what the characters are like. This will then help the actors in that role. The skills required for scriptwriting is creativity and good English. This is because in order to write you need to have a creative mind that will build up a story and characters in a lot of detail that will develop a character. An industry that would use this is Disney, as they are a conglomerate company who specializes in the film industry. The reason why they would need a script writer is to expand on the ideas gathered by the company. By doing this the company will be able to start on the practical work once the script is complete. 

Practical and Technical skills 

As a Scriptwriter, the practical and technical skills that are needed is the ability to be creative. This is because when it comes to Scriptwriting, you need to have a creative mindset to come up with ideas and picture what you want the story to be. The script must also fit into the genre of the movie or series that is being filmed, as it is your job to create that atmosphere and character development, of how they are going to come across when the actors play them roles. Another skill needed for a scriptwriter is quick writing. This is because a scriptwriter would have a deadline for the script and they would have to make sure they have all the details that a script would need. For example, the scriptwriter would have to make sure they have all the names on the script, and spelt correctly that fits in the standards for the production. 

Specific Industry Knowledge 

A scriptwriter would need to have knowledge on the industry they are working for, as every industry has some way of having their products different to rival industries. For example, Disney would like a script that would benefit everybody, and keep their stories diverse with no  stereotypes that include either hidden adult humour that they had to keep their audience happy and the people who review the products. However, Warner Bros tend to like most of their films with comedy and find ways to entertain their audience. This means as a scriptwriter, you must try and come up with jokes and other humours that will fit within the script that keep their audience entertained. This shows how important is it for you to know who you are working for and how they like to have their films distributed. It is also important to gain knowledge on what you are making for them companies, as if the product is based of a historic event, it will be the job of the scriptwriter to include the important people in the script, along with making sure the lines the people say with their quotes or facts are as historically accurate as possible.  

Communication Skills

With the role of being a scriptwriter, it is important to communicate with your client to gain any improvements on the script. This is because if there is a line in the script that the producer is not happy with then the script can be edited before reaching the actors to not confuse them with their current lines. Also, the scriptwriter would also need to talk to the actors, as during filming the scriptwriter would have to speak to the actors and tell them who their character is and how they have to play that role. The benefits of doing this allows the actors to get in characters straight away without having to guess who their actor is, and how they have to act like that character. A scriptwriter could also get advice from other scriptwriters or people they know that could potentially help to structure a professional script.  

Organization of a script

The organization of a script is important, as the script must be set in chronological order, with the characters that are needed for that are needed for each scene having their names on the left side of the script. This is because it keeps every scene being rehearsed well organized as the actors that are needed on that scene will be there, along with the set and scenery being in the right place, as the script should tell everyone where they are and what stage directions will be used on set. The reason why a script should have stage directions, is because it will tells what props are needed to be on set and how they are going to be used. This is helpful as everything that would be needed for that set can be put out and ready to use during the rehearsals the day before or before the actors arrive on set. This makes rehearsals less time consuming and quicker to do as the producer will know what is next to rehearse and have set out for the next scene. The script should also consist of lines for the actors. These lines should also be in chronological order and consist of every characters lines, which will allow the actors to know their ques when the other characters last line has been said. The characters lines will also have stage directions in between them which tells them the emotions they should use during that scene, along with the tone of their voices that should be used in the scene, which will bring more of a flow and a sense of what is going on during the scenes.

Problem solving    

The reason why problem solving would be needed for a scriptwriter is because the script will be the main use source that actors and rest of the production team would rely on the script. This is because the script will have the correct lines for a character, so if an actor forgets his lines, he can look back at the script to read out the missing words. If the producer is not sure on where the characters are on set or if they are in a different location. The script should tell them where the characters should be on set, along with having the location as the sub heading.  

Wider Responsibilities 

When being a scriptwriter, it is very important to get your facts correct when writing up a film that is either non-fictional or based around a significant time period or event. The way a scriptwriter would gain their knowledge on these topics would be looking at historic or present researchers who would go out and discover what happened during these times. For example, if the scriptwriter was in charge of making a script for a film based on World War 2, the best way to gain an understanding on what weapons were used, where battles take placed and who fought in the war, can come from books written by people who experienced the war or a veteran being interviewed on Remembrance Day.  

People/ Characters Representing Ethics

The reason why scriptwriters must include their character being ethical is to bring a sense of responsibility towards that character typically social responsibility. This is normally seen in the main character of the film who would either build up social responsibility to show the development of that character or start of the film who would lose their ethics and go on a tangent before realising what they had done. 

The reason why scriptwriters do this is to create character development within the movie, but some do it to inspire their audience to have social responsibility by creating heartbreaking scenes for the characters who don't have any social responsibilities but also shows how some overcome it as well.