Standard release
The standard release routine is defined by a business model called 'release windows'. This system was brought in around the 80's time, on the border of home entertainment. This was a strategy to keep the different instances of the movie competing with one another. This allows the movie to take full advantage of each market at different times (TV, home, cinema) at different times.
Normally the film is released in cinemas first and then to DVD or Blue-ray. After an additional amount of months the film is then released on pay TV systems such as film flex on virgin media. This allows audiences to rent the movies for a short amount of time at home on their tv, but for a small fee of around £5. Two years after the theatrical release, the movie is made available for free-to-air TV.
Simultaneous release
A simultaneous release is when the movie is made available on all types of release (DVD, cinema, internet...) at the same time or with very little time difference.Simultaneous releases benefit consumers as they can choose the medium that suits them best. It benefits production studios too as they only have to run one marketing campaign for all releases. In the course years simultaneous release has gained approval, with Mark Cuban claiming movies should be made available on all media resources allowing viewers to choose whether to see the movie at home or in a theatre, and disapproval, with director M. Night Shyamalan claiming it could potentially destroy "movie magic".
Straight to video release
Where the movie goes straight to Dvd/Blue-ray where the audience can watch the film at home. As a result of strong DVD sales, films that go straight to video release make a good profit.
Industry
There are three areas of the film Industry:
- Production- funding the film, choosind and hiring actors, hiring a director(s) and technicians to produce the film.
- Distribution- human resources who can see the marketing potential of a film and create the right publicity to ensure the film makes a good profit
- Exhibition - Think about what type of cinema the film would be released in, how many screenings there would be and where the film would be released
Test screenings
This is where clips or the whole film are shown to a group of people. The peoples reactions are analysed (using the encoding/decoding model) and recorded and this is where the producers can edit parts of the film which didnt get as good reactions as other parts.
Marketing
Marketing is all about promoting the film so posters, tv adverts and magazine articles etc will be used to show the new film off to the public. Marketing builds peoples expectations of the films and introduces the films genre and also shows off the main characters. Distributors spend up to 30% of their budget on marketing alone.
Merchandising
Merchandising is all about the money making after the film has been released. Money is made by selling products such as toys and video games. TV programmes and sequels have also become increasingly popular to make after a film.
Film classification
All films are classified by the BBFC (British board of Film Classification) before being released to the public. Sometimes producers edit the film so that a lower classification can be aquired, this increases the chance of the film becoming a success.
Merchandising
Merchandising is all about the money making after the film has been released. Money is made by selling products such as toys and video games. TV programmes and sequels have also become increasingly popular to make after a film.
Film classification
All films are classified by the BBFC (British board of Film Classification) before being released to the public. Sometimes producers edit the film so that a lower classification can be aquired, this increases the chance of the film becoming a success.
- U- universal
- PG- parental guidance
- 12- over 12 year olds
- 12A- under 12 year olds only allowed with an adult
- 15- over 15 year olds
- 18- over 18 year olds
- R
