2 How important is technological convergence for institutions and audiences within a media area which you have studied?
Candidates focus on one of the following media areas though you may make reference to other media where relevant to your answer.
• Film (This is our schools chosen subject.)
• Music
• Newspapers
• Radio
• Magazines
• Video games [50 marks]
Comments from the mark scheme
Candidates will be assessed on their ability to illustrate patterns of production, distribution, exchange and consumption through relevant case study examples and their own experiences as audiences. Candidates may cover the use of convergent technology in one or more of the following areas in their responses to the question:
- Production practices which allow texts to be constructed for specific audiences
- Distribution and marketing strategies to raise audience awareness of specific products or types of products
- The use of new technology to facilitate more accurate targeting of specific audiences
- Audience strategies in facilitating or challenging institutional practices.
Candidates should be given credit for their knowledge and understanding, illustrated through case study material, in any of these areas; there is no requirement that they should all be covered equally. Examiners should also be prepared to allow points, examples and arguments that have not been considered if they are relevant and justified.
Explanation/analysis/argument 20 marks
Use of examples 20 marksUse of terminology 10 marks
Chloe received 45/50 for the following answer. However as you will see the examiner found this hard to read and includes a comment to this end.
Technical Convergence has advanced significantly since the introduction of the Internet in 1998. First seen in the Blair Witch Project's success in '99 which was a sleeper hit which did extremely well as it converged television resources with Internet creating an online world for the audience.
Furthermore technological advancement has also benefited institutions and distributors greatly as they are able to research the audience wants and needs within a movie greatly.
In 2008 in particular two movies were campaigned mainly online to bring in its target audience. Firstly there was Coverfield whose first advert was shown on the 4th July weekend before the Transformers film in the cinema. The teaser trailer was brief and held no title which made the audience curious and led to them researching online. All that was shown was the date 18-1-08. This was all the audience had to go on which ultimately became the movies official site (http://www.18-1-08.com/) which was updated regularly with mysterious pictures for its audience to find clues in. This idea involves the audience ???? a background story which then led to other sites; Teddy & Jasmines site, T.I.D.O. wave, Taraguso and the Flashes drink site which all circled around the events of the night the monster, the characters and the incident that awoke the monster.
The convergence of the original television source connecting with the Internet using the websites, social networking sites and widgets created a whole fan base of curious Internet users which ultimately created an extremely good word of mouth which led to the great success of Cloverfield.
Later on that year ads for Twilight were released on television as well as online. A survey shows however that 83% of people saw the trailer online first. Showing the great influence of the Internet. To add to the campaign Facebook, MySpace and Youtube Channel, Widgers and Fan sites came about to update the audience regularly as well as promoting the book which became No.5. in book sales charts over two years after its original release.
Linking to the Internet and the convergence of another technology was Twilight's soundtrack which reached No.1 on billboards charts as well as high ranking on Amazon and other such sites. 29% of sales were digital. Thus showing the influence of music as the soundtrack became a hit before Twilight's Nov 27th release. With the help of MTV.com to promote Twilight to a young target audience Summit Entertainment was a sure success.
Also the advancement of mobile phone technology converging with Itunes, Fandangs and Movietickets.com (sites where music and tickets can be purchased) allowed special codes which can be sent to aid from phones for unique music re-mixes and phone wallpapers which further reaches its young target market.
As well as the convergence with the Internet an illustrated companion was released, as well as posters, further expanding on Twilight original audience readers by creating a franchise which can be compared to that of Lord of the Rings.
To attract another audience (mothers) a site called http://www.twilightformoms.com/ was created and used to show mothers how daughter friendly Twilight was as it's central protagonist was a virgin and the book was void of sexual scenes giving it another outlook and reason to watch.
In 2009 Metrodance, an independent UK distributor created an e-mail viral ling experience to promote urban thriller Shifty. The e-mail was used as a way of advertising allowing fans to send an e-mail to friends and family which appeared to accuse them of being linked to a drug related criminal investigation as it was said to have come from an official Shifty's website where the participant would be told they were "stitched up by a mate" and offered them the chance to do the same to someone else. However this was eventually taken down by the ASA for being offensive.
Therefore Paramount Pictures, Summit Entertainment and Metrodome group mainly focused on Internet campaigns, social networking sites and five minute widgets to advertise their movies resulting in extremely high success rates as Cloverfield, Twilight, and especially Shifty had relatively low budgets (Cloverfield - $21m, Twilight - $37m and Shifty - $100,000) showing the power of cheap marketing online now enforces over audience.
Institutions through vertical integration are now controlling all aspects of distribution under one roof through subsidiary arms, for example, Paramount owns Paramount Pictures, Viacom, Marvel and Nicholodeon as well as MTV.com allowing them to reach several different audiences regionally.
However in the case of Summit Entertainment (distributors of Twilight) the company is independent limiting its advantages as they also used Entertainment to distribute Twilight in the UK which may have cost extra out of the marketing budget losing money which shows the importance in subsidiary arms, in the success of the movies.
In conclusion the main factor in marketing film now is the Internet. Without it a huge audience may be lost. It only disadvantage is that an older generation which doesn't use the Internet is not appealed to successfully, however as seen in Susan Bergraff's study of who watches movies and why, the dating age of 16-25 is the main audience which institutions aspire to target in order to benefit from the "snuggle theory". Therefore in Twilight and Cloverfield success the use of the Internet resource triumph over television adverts and billboards which were later used once all mystery of the movies were gone appealing to the last minute audience. Also ticket sales sites have greatly influenced pre-ticket sales of the much awaited High School Musical 3 and Bond's Quantum of Solace.
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Examiners Report
General Comments on Question 2
Question two allowed for a wide-ranging number of responses across all of the media areas that candidates could address. The question also provided differentiation in the candidates’ responses, probably more so than in question one. However, there were a significant number of candidates (and centres) who did not seem to understand the concept of technological convergence, despite the fact that it is clearly indicated within the specification. On the other hand, there were plenty of candidates’ responses which met level four and level three for question two and clearly could address the question set and had been prepared well by centres.
Stronger candidates focused their responses on the issues of technological convergence and were able to argue the importance for the institution they studied, the products they distributed and produced and how audiences consumed these products. These candidates could also focus on how important, with reference to and in evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of technology convergence for both institution and audience.
On occasion, the most able candidates could argue that technological convergence is not important for the institutions, for example some video games rely on the exclusivity that was provided by the platform used. Where appropriate, candidates were awarded full marks for question two. The best answers usually dealt with the Internet and the ramifications of this or dealing with the media area study across a numbers of platforms.
Unfortunately, there were also a large number of candidates who failed to address the issue of technological convergence or simply did not understand the concept, despite it being an issue on page nineteen of the specification. There were also a number of brief and very short answers for question two. Lesser able candidates were able to discuss distribution and practice of synergy or focus on a discussion of digital initiatives, without entirely addressing the question that was set, therefore raising some questions about the relevance of the candidates’ answers. There was a common misconception of technological convergence at times interpreted as convergent media companies or the transformation of the novel adaptation of a film.
Question two allowed for a wide-ranging number of responses across all of the media areas that candidates could address. The question also provided differentiation in the candidates’ responses, probably more so than in question one. However, there were a significant number of candidates (and centres) who did not seem to understand the concept of technological convergence, despite the fact that it is clearly indicated within the specification. On the other hand, there were plenty of candidates’ responses which met level four and level three for question two and clearly could address the question set and had been prepared well by centres.
Stronger candidates focused their responses on the issues of technological convergence and were able to argue the importance for the institution they studied, the products they distributed and produced and how audiences consumed these products. These candidates could also focus on how important, with reference to and in evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of technology convergence for both institution and audience.
On occasion, the most able candidates could argue that technological convergence is not important for the institutions, for example some video games rely on the exclusivity that was provided by the platform used. Where appropriate, candidates were awarded full marks for question two. The best answers usually dealt with the Internet and the ramifications of this or dealing with the media area study across a numbers of platforms.
Unfortunately, there were also a large number of candidates who failed to address the issue of technological convergence or simply did not understand the concept, despite it being an issue on page nineteen of the specification. There were also a number of brief and very short answers for question two. Lesser able candidates were able to discuss distribution and practice of synergy or focus on a discussion of digital initiatives, without entirely addressing the question that was set, therefore raising some questions about the relevance of the candidates’ answers. There was a common misconception of technological convergence at times interpreted as convergent media companies or the transformation of the novel adaptation of a film.
Film Industry
Far too many candidates seemed to have been prepared with historical accounts of particular institutions which did not address contemporary issues of institutional or audience practices - Working Title was frequently used as a case study but with little contemporary material in evidence. Popular case studies included the study of UK film companies such as Working Title and Film Four, which provided plenty of promising material, particularly when their working practices were contrasted with Hollywood equivalents, such as the Dark Knight. Some centres had prepared candidates for this unit with single text studies (ie of an individual film), which clearly did not provide candidates with sufficient knowledge of wider institutional, and audience contexts to tackle the question set. Institutional questions, which dealt with, a comparison of successful American institutions versus less commercially successful home grown UK industries often worked well, for example, Bullet Boy and This is England.
In discussion of how important technological convergence is for the film industry, more able candidates could develop an argument which could discuss and evaluate how technological convergence enables effective digital distribution, supports viral marketing campaigns, such as the Dark Knight or The Simpsons, creates media synergy and, for example, the use of Sony BMG to record the soundtrack, and merchandising tie in deals. These able candidates could also evaluate how institutions and audiences used media technology across different platforms, for example on the iPod and other mobile devices/phones and the use of social networking sites to share and offer fan comments. Candidates also discussed downloading (including the issue of Internet piracy) films, but did not give specific examples of websites or how you could subsequently watch the movies. On occasion candidates could offer criticism that independent and often British film releases which do not have the budget of major conglomerate film studio’s had to find alternative non- convergent methods of distribution and marketing.
Centres need reminding that historical case studies of film studios, such as Hammer or Ealing film studios is not apart of the requirement for the study of film institution and audiences. At the same time if centres are using contemporary resources, such as The Boat That Rocked or Slumdog Millionaire, that they ensure candidates have an academic understanding of the film’s institution and audience and not simply rely upon the prepared reading of the text and its marketing campaign alone.
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